The prophet Isaiah is speaking to the people of Israel who have now been exiled from the city of Jerusalem, as God had warned them over many hundreds of years would happen to them if they did not keep His laws. He told them that all they had to do was follow Him. They were to stay humble, not worship false gods, and not intermarry with any of the other nations that surrounded them in the land God had given them. All of these things, they did. They were also told to completely drive out the nations from the lands they were given... they did not do this. Isaiah tells what is going on around him. The land is desolate now. The people are desolate. They are in famine. And they are crying out to God. But God has not forgotten his people. Israel is and always has been God's chosen people