Time after Pentecost · Proper 20 · Year A
Isaiah 55:6-9
Invitation to the Thirsty
September 20, 2026
Overview & Insights
“Seek the Lord while he may be found, call on him while he is near.” (Isaiah 55:6)
An Invitation to Sing: Once again a return to a focus on Ms Jerusalem follows the servant passage, as happened after 49:1–6 and 50:4–11. There were hints there that Ms Jerusalem’s restoration was the correlate of Ms Babylon’s humiliation in chapter 47. Chapter 54 is the systematic exposition of that theme. The prophet takes up five images of Ms Jerusalem which once again resume the themes of the people’s prayers (we are like a childless and abandoned woman, the victim of angry abuse—literally, we are a battered and insecure city) before coming to a striking conclusion.
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Commentary
Isaiah 55:1-9 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching
A Reformed preaching commentary on the free invitation and God's higher ways.
Isaiah 55 - An Invitation to Abundant Life Enduring Word · David Guzik
A verse-by-verse evangelical study of the call to seek the LORD and his abundant pardon.
Isaiah 55:6 Commentaries BibleHub
Classic commentaries gathered verse by verse on seeking the LORD and his higher ways.
Isaiah 55:6 Verse-by-Verse Commentary StudyLight
A large library of expositors stacked verse by verse for a further voice on the passage.
Isaiah Commentaries and Sermons Precept Austin
A gateway to inductive word studies and cross references across Isaiah.
Background & Word Study
Isaiah 55 (Hebrew and English) Sefaria
The Hebrew of the invitation alongside English with linked Jewish commentary for the OT reading.
Isaiah 55:6 Interlinear BibleHub
The Hebrew of the passage word by word with parsing and Strong's numbers.
Isaiah 40-66 Overview BibleProject
An animated overview of the second half of Isaiah that frames this call to return to God.
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
What does Isaiah 55 invite?
The chapter calls the thirsty to come to the Lord for free grace, and here urges seeking him while he is near, for his thoughts and ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8–9). Mercy is held out to all who turn.
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