1, 2. What exultant song of praise is set forth at Isaiah 26:1-6, and why?

THE abasing of the ‘town of tyrannical nations’ calls for a victory song! (Isaiah 25:3) Appropriately, then, the prophecy at Isaiah chapter 26, verses 1 to 6, sets forth an exultant song of praise to the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. It is even now being sung “in the land of Judah,” Judah meaning “Lauded.” Here, again, the King James Version uses the expression “the LORD JEHOVAH” where the divine name is doubled. But how much more thrilling are the words of that song as they appear in the New World Translation, where this and all other occurrences of the divine name are rendered correctly!

² Listen now to that melodious song: “We have a strong city. He [Jehovah] sets salvation itself for walls and rampart. Open the gates, you men, that the righteous nation that is keeping faithful conduct may enter. The inclination that is well supported you will safeguard in continuous peace, because it is in you that one is made to trust. Trust in Jehovah, you people, for all times, for in Jah Jehovah is the Rock of times indefinite. For he has laid low those inhabiting the height, the elevated town. He abases it, he abases it to the earth; he brings it in touch with the dust. The foot will trample it down, the feet of the afflicted one, the steps of the lowly ones.” What a joy to be among the trusting ones who now share in singing this song​—Jehovah’s Witnesses!

 4, 5. (a) What is “the elevated town,” and how do Jehovah’s people trample it down in a figurative way? (b) When does the prophecy of Isaiah 26:10 have its major fulfillment, and how so? (c) What other application does this prophecy have?

⁴ As we sound the warning that Jehovah is about to lay low “the elevated town,” “Babylon the Great,” it is heartening to see the afflicted and lowly ones of earth embracing the good news of the Kingdom. (Revelation 18:2, 4, 5) In a figurative way they, too, trample down that “elevated town,” not by sharing in the destructive work, but by taking part in declaring the day of Jehovah’s vengeance upon that corrupt system. (Isaiah 61:1, 2) For decades now, Jehovah’s Witnesses have shown kindness even to the wicked by calling at their homes with the lifesaving Kingdom message. But the result has been as stated at Isaiah 26:10: “Though the wicked one should be shown favor, he simply will not learn righteousness. In the land of straightforwardness he will act unjustly and will not see the eminence of Jehovah.”