As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.
The prophet in these verses looks back upon what God had done with them, both in mercy and judgment, and sings unto God of both, and then looks forward upon what he hoped God would do for them. Observe, I. His reviews and reflections are mixed. When he looks back upon the state of the church he finds, 1.
Commenting on Isaiah 26:12-19
Isa 26:16-18 The tephillâh now returns to the retrospective glance already cast in Isa 26:8, Isa 26:9 into that night of affliction, which preceded the redemption that had come. “Jehovah, in trouble they missed Thee, poured out light supplication when Thy chastisement came upon them.
Commenting on Isaiah 26:16-18
As a woman with child, [that] draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, [and] crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. (q) That is, in extreme sorrow.