Isaiah 43:21 (DRB)

Passage

This people have I formed for myself, they shall shew forth my praise.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 43:19 Behold I do new things, and now they shall spring forth, verily you shall know them: I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:20 The beast of the field shall glorify me, the dragons and the ostriches: because I have given waters in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, to my chosen.

Isaiah 43:21 This people have I formed for myself, they shall shew forth my praise.

Isaiah 43:22 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob, neither hast thou laboured about me, O Israel.

Isaiah 43:23 Thou hast not offered me the ram of thy holocaust, nor hast thou glorified me with thy victims: I have not caused thee to serve with oblations, nor wearied thee with incense.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "people", "formed", "myself", "shall", "shew", "forth", and "praise". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "people" and "formed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "The beast of the field shall glorify..." into verse 22's "But thou hast not called upon me...", so "people" and "formed" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "people" and "formed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.