Isaiah 51:1

The Lord appealed to the righteous in Israel to listen to Him (cf. Isaiah 50:10). Watts believed the speaker, through Isaiah 51:4, was Darius. [Note: Watts, Isaiah 34-66, p. 204.] These were the Israelites who sincerely wanted to trust and obey God, but found it difficult to do so because impending captivity seemed to contradict God’s promises. The Lord directed them to consider their history, their origin.

"Abraham was the rock from which his descendants were hewn-having a rocklike quality imparted to him by God’s faithfulness and grace." [Note: Archer, p. 645.]