51 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
Who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn
And to the [a]quarry from which you were dug.
2 “Look to Abraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he was but one I called him,
Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”
3 Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her waste places.
And her wilderness He will make like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.4 “Pay attention to Me, O My people,
And give ear to Me, O My [b]nation;
For a law will go forth from Me,
And I will [c]set My justice for a light of the peoples.
5 “My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The coastlands will wait for Me,
And for My arm they will wait expectantly.
6 “Lift up your eyes to the sky,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the sky will vanish like smoke,
And the earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die [d]in like manner;
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not [e]wane.
7 “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
A people in whose heart is My law;
Do not fear the reproach of man,
Nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8 “For the moth will eat them like a garment,
And the grub will eat them like wool.
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation to all generations.”
In this chapter, God is speaking to those who “pursue righteousness”. Now, that doesn’t mean those who are always righteous. In v. 7, He also calls them those who “know righteousness”. So at least they know what to do and are trying to do it, which is in contrast to God’s righteousness in v. 8: “My righteousness will be forever…”
In that vein, God calls them (and any of us who also want to “do rightly”), to look to the source. That is, “Look to the rock from which you were hewn…” Well, we’ve already kind of spoiled that, it’s God! In v. 2, He gives us an example of someone much like us. That is, Abraham wasn’t perfect, nor was Sarah, they lied, laughed at God, and more.
Yet their faith in God carried them through, or more accurately, God carried them through because they had the faith to follow Him in the beginning. God encourages them also in v. 6 that His righteousness will not wane, and also that His salvation will be forever. Though the inhabitants of the earth with “die like gnats” (us included, see the footnote in v. 6), that is not the end for those who trust in God.
So again, look to the example of Abraham and Sarah, not that they were perfect, but in Whom did they put their hope? We need to remember our source as well, from Whom comes our hope, our righteousness, and our salvation. Then, when we face the “reproach of man… and their revilings”, we need not waver. Instead, we can stand firm in the one true Rock, from which we were hewn, in whose image we were made, the Rock of our salvation.