Isaiah 63:11

“Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, &c.] Which may be understood either of the Lord, who remembered his lovingkindnesses towards these people, and his tender mercies which had been ever of old; the covenant he made with their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the wonders he did for them in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, by the hand of Moses; his intercession to him on their behalf, and the many great and good things he did for them; and therefore determined not now to cast them off altogether, but to do as he had done before; and, to stir up himself thereunto, puts the following questions: where is he? &c.; so the Targum paraphrases it, “he had mercy…”

“remembered--Notwithstanding their perversity, He forgot not His covenant of old; therefore He did not wholly forsake them (Lev 26:40-42, Lev 26:44-45; Psa 106:45-46); the Jews make this their plea with God, that He should not now forsake them. saying--God is represented, in human language, mentally speaking of Himself and His former acts of love to Israel, as His ground for pitying them notwithstanding their rebellion. sea--Red Sea. shepherd--Moses; or if the Hebrew be read plural, "shepherds," Moses, Aaron, and the other leaders (so Psa 77:20). put . . . Spirit . . . within him--Hebrew, "in the inward parts of him," that is, Moses; or it refers to the flock, "in the midst of his people"…”

“Then he remembered - He did not forget his solemn premises to be their protector and their God. For their crimes they were subjected to punishment, but God did not forget that they were his people, nor that he had entered into covenant with them. The object of this part of the petition seems to be, to recall the fact that in former times God had never wholly forsaken them, and to plead that the same thing might occur now. Even in the darkest days of adversity, God still remembered his promises, and interposed to save them. Such they trusted it would be still. Moses and his people - Lowth renders this, ‘Moses his servant,’ supposing that a change had occurred in the Hebrew text. It would be…”

“He remembered - This relates, either To the people, and then he is collectively taken, and so it looks like the language of the people in Babylon, and must be read, he shall remember. Or, It may look back to their condition in the wilderness, and thus they may properly say, Where is he? Or that God who delivered his people of old, to do the like for us now? There is a like phrase used by God, as it were recollecting himself, Where is he? Where am I with my former bowels, that moved me to help them of old? His people - What great things he had done for them by Moses. The sea - Here God speaks of himself, as in the former clause, that divided the sea for them. Shepherds - Moses and Aaron. Holy…”

“he remembered: Lev 26:40-45; Deu 4:30, Deu 4:31; Psa 25:6, Psa 77:5-11, Psa 89:47-50, Psa 143:5; Luk 1:54, Luk 1:55 Where is he that brought: Isa 63:15, Isa 51:9, Isa 51:10; Exo 14:30, Exo 32:11, Exo 32:12; Num 14:13, Num 14:14-25; Jer 2:6 shepherd: or, shepherds, Psa 77:20 where is he that put: Num 11:17, Num 11:25, Num 11:29; Neh 9:20; Dan 4:8; Hag 2:5; Zac 4:6 Isaiah 63:12”

“Israel being brought to a right mind in the midst of this state of punishment, longed fro the better past to return. "Then His people remembered the days of the olden time, of Moses: Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is He who put the spirit of His holiness in the midst of them; who caused the arm of His majesty to go at the right of Moses; who split the waters before them, to make Himself an everlasting name: who caused them to pass through abysses of the deep, like the horse upon the plain, without their stumbling? Like the cattle which goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of Jehovah brought them to rest: thus hast Thou led Thy people,…”