LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

ISAIAH 26:16KJV
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Isaiah 26:16 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 26:16 mean?

Isaiah 26:16 describes how people turned to the LORD in times of distress, seeking Him through prayer when they were experiencing His discipline. The verse shows that hardship led them to reach out to God more earnestly.

In this part of Isaiah, the people of Israel are pictured as calling on God during a period of trouble or suffering, recognizing that their difficulties are connected to God's correction. The verse highlights a pattern where people often remember God and pray more sincerely when facing hardship, especially when they sense that God is using those troubles to teach or correct them.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 26:16

  • "trouble" (צַר H6862, tsar): This word often means a tight spot or distress. Here, it emphasizes that the people's prayers came from a place of real difficulty, not just casual need.
  • "visited" (פָּקַד H6485, paqad): In this context, "visited" can mean to turn to or seek out. It suggests that the people deliberately approached God because of their situation.
  • "prayer" (לַחַשׁ H3908, lachash): This word can mean a whispered or murmured prayer, hinting at quiet, perhaps desperate, pleading rather than public or formal prayer.
  • "chastening" (מוּסָר H4148, musar): This word refers to discipline or correction. It shows that the trouble was understood as God's way of teaching or correcting His people.

Why Isaiah 26:16 matters

  • Isaiah 26:16 clarifies that suffering or discipline can prompt people to seek God more earnestly, rather than turning away from Him.
  • The verse connects the people's prayers directly to God's correction, showing that hardship can have a purpose in bringing people back to God.
  • This verse fits into the wider theme of Isaiah 26, where trust in God and His justice are central, and it highlights the honest, sometimes desperate, nature of prayer during times of trial.

Where else these words appear

“out” Hebrew H6694 · used in 3 verses

  • Job 28:2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.
  • Job 29:6 When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;

“prayer” Hebrew H3908 · used in 5 verses

  • Ecclesiastes 10:11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.
  • Isaiah 3:3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
  • Isaiah 3:20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,

“chastening” Hebrew H4148 · used in 50 verses

  • Deuteronomy 11:2 And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,
  • Proverbs 7:22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
  • Proverbs 23:12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

“trouble” Hebrew H6862 · used in 102 verses

  • Genesis 14:20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
  • Psalms 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
  • Psalms 136:24 And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.