9 Let your hand be lifted up above your adversaries, and let all of your enemies be cut off.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
He confirms what is said in the last verse, and expresses in other words what he meant, and what we have explained, -- that though the Church must contend with many strong and violent enemies, it will not yet fail, for the Lord will supply it with strength from heaven. Exalted, he says, shall be thy hand, that all thine enemies may be cut off He promises not that the Church shall be in a quiet state, but victorious, and declares also that there will never be wanting enemies. This promise, then, ought to arm us for enduring patiently, as we cannot conquer except by fighting. As then there will be always enemies to oppose the Church of God; yea, to attempt its ruin, the Prophet says here, Exalted shall be thy hand above thine enemies. But it may be asked, When has this promise been fulfilled? For we know that since the people had been led away into the Babylonian exile, they had always been either tributaries, or kept under cruel tyranny, or at least had been unequal to their enemies. But this principle ought ever to be remembered, -- that the faithful ought to be satisfied with victory, -- that however hard they may be pressed, and however constant may be the contests which they have to carry on, and however wearisome, this one thing ought still to be sufficient for them -- that they shall not wholly perish. And it appears evident, that God's people have always been preserved by his invincible hand, however numerous have been their opposing enemies. We must also keep in mind what we have just heard, -- that the promise here is not made to the whole people, but to a residue only. And it surpasses the expectation of the whole world, that even a small member could have survived so many slaughters, by which they might have been swallowed up a hundred times. Now then we see that it had not been without reason promised to the faithful, that they should be made conquerors over all their enemies. But this has not been really fulfilled, except under the conflict of the cross. It now follows --
Their hand shall be lifted up upon their adversaries - The might of the Church is the Might of Christ in her, and the glory of the Church is His from whom it comes and to whom it returns. It is all one, whether this be said to Christ or to the "remnant of Jacob, that is, His Church. Her "enemies" are His, and her's only because they are His, and hate her as belonging to Him. They "shall be cut off," either ceasing to be His enemies, or ceasing to be, as Julian or Arius or antichrist, "whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His Mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His Coming" 2-Thessalonians 2:8. And in the end, Satan also, over whom Christ gave the Apostles "power to tread on all the power of the Enemy" Luke 10:19, shall be "bruised under our feet" Romans 16:20.
All thine enemies shall be cut off - The Assyrians, who had destroyed Israel; and the Babylonians, who had ruined Judah.
Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries,.... O remnant of Jacob or Israel, as the Targum; the church of God; now will be the time that it shall prevail over all the antichristian states; now will the Christian princes pour out the vials of God's wrath upon them; and they shall feel the strength and weight of their hand; which will fall heavy upon them, even to their utter destruction: or thine hand, O Messiah, the ruler in Israel, the man the peace that shall deliver from the Assyrian; and who will be at the head of his church and people, the remnant of Jacob, and destroy their enemies with the sword that proceeds out of his mouth:
and all thine enemies shall be cut off; all the enemies of Christ and his church; all the kings of the earth that shall gather against them, the beast and false prophet, with all their followers; see Revelation 19:19.
Thine hand shall be lifted up--In Isaiah 26:11 it is Jehovah's hand that is lifted up; here Israel's as Micah 5:8 implies, just as "Zion" is addressed and directed to "beat in pieces many people" (Micah 4:13; compare Isaiah 54:15, Isaiah 54:17). For Israel's foes are Jehovah's foes. When her hand is said to be lifted up, it is Jehovah's hand that strikes the foe by her (compare Exodus 13:9, with Exodus 14:8).
Thine hand - Thou people of God.
*More commentary available at chapter level.