CHAPTER 57 Ju1. 1 
Idol Worship Again Condemned 
The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the coming evil. 2He enters into peace; they rest in their beds, each one who walks in his uprightness. 3But draw near here, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the prostitute. 4Against whom do you sport yourselves? Against whom do you make a wide mouth, and stick out your tongue? Aren’t you children of disobedience, a seed of falsehood, 5you who inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; who kill the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? 6Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion; they, they are your lot; you have even poured a drink offering to them. You have offered an offering; but shall I be appeased for these things? 7On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed; there also you went up to offer sacrifice. 8Behind the doors and the posts you have set up your memorial: for you have uncovered to someone besides Me, and have gone up; you have enlarged your bed, and made you a covenant with them: you loved their bed wherever you saw it. 9You went to the king with oil and increased your perfumes, and sent your ambassadors far off, and debased yourself even to Sheol. 10You were wearied with the length of your way; yet you didn’t say, ‘It is in vain’. You found a reviving of your strength; therefore you weren’t faint. 11Of whom have you been afraid and in fear, that you lie, and have not remembered Me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven’t I held peace even of long time, and you don’t fear Me? 12I will declare your righteousness; and as for your works, they shall not profit you. 13When you cry, let those who you have gathered deliver you; but the wind shall take them, a breath shall carry them all away: but he who takes refuge in Me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My holy mountain.

A Promise of Help and Healing
14He will say, Cast up, cast up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of My people. 15For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a broken and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. 16For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always angry; for the spirit would faint before Me, and the souls who I have made. 17For the iniquity of his covetousness was I angry, and struck him; I hid Myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart. 18I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners. 19I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near, says Yahweh; and I will heal them. 20But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can’t rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt. 21There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.

Commentary

57:11 One thing that works against truthfulness is the neuroses that come from fear, the fearful tensions that arise between our real self and the false self. Fear and truth are opposed. This isn’t merely psychobabble. Consider God’s words about this in Is. 57:11: “Of whom have you been afraid and in fear, that you lie, and have not remembered Me?”. The life of brave faith, the life that is lived in the overcoming of fears, the fearless breaking out of our comfort zones… this is the true life, the life in which we have no need to lie nor believe in lies. But of course it’s hard, because we think that the truth, the reality, is what we see around us; whereas faith is believing in what is not seen. Yet actually what is not seen is the reality, and what is seen is very often a lie. And the true life is a life of faith in those things which are not yet visibly seen. 
57:14 Stumbling block- The ultimate rock of stumbling for the Jewish people is accepting Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ (Rom. 9:32,33; 1 Pet. 2:8). The preparation of the highway for Christ’s return involves Israel accepting Jesus as Christ. This is why we should preach to Israel in the last days, for the sooner they accept Christ, the quicker He will return.
57:15 I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a broken and humble spirit- This purposeful juxtaposition brings out the great paradox- that the God who is so high above humanity dwells together with the very lowest and most broken of humanity. Humility and broken spiritedness are of the highest value to God. The “high and holy place” of God’s dwelling contrasts with the “high and lofty mountain” where the humanly wise of Israel offered sacrifice to idols (:7). The ultimately humble man was the Lord Jesus. God doesn’t live in physical houses built by people, but in the humble heart of a man; and supremely, within the person of Christ. If we are in Him, God dwells in us.
57:19 Peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near - Eph. 2:13,14  alludes here, interpreting the “peace” as peace with God, offered to both Jews (“him who is near”) and the Gentiles “far off”. Acts 2:39 also has this passage in mind, when Peter offers the Spirit gift of salvation to those who are “far off”.