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Isaiah 26:9
ESV My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
NIV My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
NASB At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences Your judgments, The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
CSB I long for you in the night; yes, my spirit within me diligently seeks you, for when your judgments are in the land, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
NLT In the night I search for you; in the morning I earnestly seek you. For only when you come to judge the earth will people learn what is right.
KJV With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

What does Isaiah 26:9 mean?

Our most fundamental desire is to be with the Lord (Ecclesiastes 5:11). Isaiah has described the Lord as the desire of the souls of His people (Isaiah 26:7–8). Now the prophet makes it personal. He switches to expressing his personal longing for God. He says that his soul aches for the Lord in the night. This is often the loneliest and most reflective time of the day for people. For Isaiah, and for all who truly seek the Lord, the point of following God is not religious perfection or ritual rule-following. The prophet deeply desires to be with the Lord forever.

Translators differ on the second line in the verse. Isaiah either says that his spirit "earnestly seeks the Lord," or he says that he "longs for the Lord in the morning." In either case, Isaiah understands that his relationship with Yahweh is not merely about escaping the wrath of an angry God. Nor is it receiving rewards from a happy God. His relationship with His creator is one that he desires deep in his very core.

Paul expressed a similar longing in Romans 8:23–24:
"We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?"
The redemption of our bodies is the final step of our adoption as God's children in Christ. This redemption of our physical beings is also the last obstacle to our being together with the Lord in person. Isaiah and Paul together reveal that this is the truest longing of all of God's people. It is a longing we wait for, and one that will be fulfilled for all who come to the Lord through faith in Christ.

In the middle of this verse Isaiah begins a new thought, which will be continued (Isaiah 26:10). Only when God brings tangible consequences to the world will mankind understand what righteousness truly is (Exodus 9:14). The Lord's "judgments" may also mean, more generally, the revelation of His nature (Romans 1:18–20). God teaches the earth about His righteousness by bringing justice to those who violate it and uplifting those who follow His revealed word (Isaiah 5:16).
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