Isaiah 8:21

Hardly bestead and hungry. Literally, “hard pressed and hungry,” or “greatly distressed and hungry” (RSV). Isaiah here refers to those who have rejected God and the light of His Word, in particular to those who rejected the prophetic message of chs. 7; 8. All such walk as it were through a land of darkness, in perplexity and distress, longing for something, they know not what, looking for something they can never find — apart from God. In gloom, bewilderment, without either light or hope, and angry at their plight, they blame their human leaders for the trouble in which they find themselves, and curse God because they must now reap the bitter results of disobedience. The prophet here aptly describes the experience of willful men of all ages. In ch. 9:1-8 his inspired vision glances briefly forward to the time of the first advent of Christ, the Light who would dispel the darkness of men’s souls by the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2; see on Matt. 1:23).