Isaiah gives the answer in an earlier text, Isaiah 48:9–11. Speaking of his mercy to Israel, God says: For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. Behind and beneath the sovereign exercises of God’s mercy as king is an unwavering passion for the honor of his name and the display of his glory.
