Matthew Poole and continuators on Isaiah 44:18

18. They have not known, nor understood ; for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.

This sheweth, That they want common discretion, and have not the understanding of a Man in them.

To wit, God; who is easily understood, and is oft expressed by this pronoun, He; and to whom this very act is frequently ascribed in other places of Scripture: And therefore Men need not be shie in ascribing it to God here. Which yet is to be soberly understood; not as if God did make Men wicked, but onely permits them so to be, and orders, and over-rules their Wickedness to his own glorious Ends. And such passages as these are added in such cases, to give an account of the prodigious madness of Sinners herein; because, as they wilfully shut their own Eyes▪ & harden their own Hearts, so God judicially blinds and hardens them, and sends strong Delusions upon them, and gives them up to believe Lies, and then it is no wonder if they fall into such dotages.

Marginal references: Chap. 45. 20.; Heb. daubed.