mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 63.xml

<div2 id="Is.lxiv" n="lxiv" next="Is.lxv" prev="Is.lxiii" progress="24.83%" title="Chapter LXIII">
<h2 id="Is.lxiv-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.lxiv-p0.2">CHAP. LXIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.lxiv-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. God coming towards his
people in ways of mercy and deliverance, and this is to be joined
to the close of the foregoing chapter, where it was said to Zion,
"Behold, thy salvation comes;" for here it is shown how it comes,
<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.1-Isa.63.6" parsed="|Isa|63|1|63|6" passage="Isa 63:1-6">ver. 1-6</scripRef>. II. God's
people meeting him with their devotions, and addressing themselves
to him with suitable affections; and this part of the chapter is
carried on to the close of the next. In this we have, 1. A thankful
acknowledgment of the great favours God had bestowed upon them,
<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.7" parsed="|Isa|63|7|0|0" passage="Isa 63:7">ver. 7</scripRef>. 2. The magnifying
of these favours, from the consideration of God's relation to them
(<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.8" parsed="|Isa|63|8|0|0" passage="Isa 63:8">ver. 8</scripRef>), his compassionate
concern for them (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.9" parsed="|Isa|63|9|0|0" passage="Isa 63:9">ver. 9</scripRef>),
their unworthiness (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.10" parsed="|Isa|63|10|0|0" passage="Isa 63:10">ver.
10</scripRef>), and the occasion which it gave both him and them to
call to mind former mercies, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.11-Isa.63.14" parsed="|Isa|63|11|63|14" passage="Isa 63:11-14">ver.
11-14</scripRef>. 3. A very humble and earnest prayer to God to
appear for them in their present distress, pleading God's mercy
(<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.15" parsed="|Isa|63|15|0|0" passage="Isa 63:15">ver. 15</scripRef>), their relation
to him (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.16" parsed="|Isa|63|16|0|0" passage="Isa 63:16">ver. 16</scripRef>), their
desire towards him (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.17" parsed="|Isa|63|17|0|0" passage="Isa 63:17">ver.
17</scripRef>), and the insolence of their enemies, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.18-Isa.63.19" parsed="|Isa|63|18|63|19" passage="Isa 63:18,19">ver. 18, 19</scripRef>. So that, upon the
whole, we learn to embrace God's promises with an active faith, and
then to improve them, and make use of them, both in prayers and
praises.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.lxiv-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63" parsed="|Isa|63|0|0|0" passage="Isa 63" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.lxiv-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.1-Isa.63.6" parsed="|Isa|63|1|63|6" passage="Isa 63:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lxiv-p1.13">
<h4 id="Is.lxiv-p1.14">The Triumphs of the Messiah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxiv-p1.15">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lxiv-p2" shownumber="no">1 Who <i>is</i> this that cometh from Edom, with
dyed garments from Bozrah? this <i>that is</i> glorious in his
apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak
in righteousness, mighty to save.   2 Wherefore <i>art
thou</i> red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that
treadeth in the wine-fat?   3 I have trodden the winepress
alone; and of the people <i>there was</i> none with me: for I will
tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their
blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my
raiment.   4 For the day of vengeance <i>is</i> in mine heart,
and the year of my redeemed is come.   5 And I looked, and
<i>there was</i> none to help; and I wondered that <i>there was</i>
none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me;
and my fury, it upheld me.   6 And I will tread down the
people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will
bring down their strength to the earth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p3" shownumber="no">It is a glorious victory that is here
enquired into first and then accounted for. 1. It is a victory
obtained by the providence of God over the enemies of Israel; over
the Babylonians (say some), whom Cyrus conquered and God by him,
and they will have the prophet to make the first discovery of him
in his triumphant return when he is in the country of Edom: but
this can by no means be admitted, because the country of Babylon is
always spoken of as the land of the north, whereas Edom lay south
from Jerusalem, so that the conqueror would not return through that
country; the victory therefore is obtained over the Edomites
themselves, who had triumphed in the destruction of Jerusalem by
the Chaldeans (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.137.7" parsed="|Ps|137|7|0|0" passage="Ps 137:7">Ps. cxxxvii.
7</scripRef>) and cut off those who, making their way as far as
they could from the enemy, escaped to the Edomites (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Obad.1.12-Obad.1.13" parsed="|Obad|1|12|1|13" passage="Ob 1:12,13">Obad. 12, 13</scripRef>), and were therefore
reckoned with when Babylon was; for no doubt that prophecy was
accomplished, though we do not meet in history with the
accomplishment of it (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.49.13" parsed="|Jer|49|13|0|0" passage="Jer 49:13">Jer. xlix.
13</scripRef>), <i>Bozrah shall become a desolation.</i> Yet this
victory over Edom is put as an instance or specimen of the like
victories obtained over other nations that had been enemies to
Israel. This over the Edomites is named for the sake of the old
enmity of Esau against Jacob (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.27.41" parsed="|Gen|27|41|0|0" passage="Ge 27:41">Gen.
xxvii. 41</scripRef>) and perhaps with an allusion to David's
glorious triumphs over the Edomites, by which it should seem, more
than by any other of his victories, he <i>got himself a name,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p3.5" passage="Ps 60:1,2Sa 8:13,14">Ps. lx., <i>title,</i> 2
Sam. viii. 13, 14</scripRef>. But this is not all: 2. It is a
victory obtained by the grace of God in Christ over our spiritual
enemies. We find the garments dipped in blood adorning him whose
name is called <i>The Word of God,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Rev.19.13" parsed="|Rev|19|13|0|0" passage="Re 19:13">Rev. xix. 13</scripRef>. And who that is we know very
well; for it is through him that we are more than conquerors over
those principalities and powers which on the cross he spoiled and
triumphed over.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p4" shownumber="no">In this representation of the victory we
have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p5" shownumber="no">I. An admiring question put to the
conqueror, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.1-Isa.63.2" parsed="|Isa|63|1|63|2" passage="Isa 63:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1,
2</scripRef>. It is put by the church, or by the prophet in the
name of the church. He sees a mighty hero returning in triumph from
a bloody engagement, and makes bold to ask him two questions:—1.
Who he is. He observes him to come from the country of Edom, to
come in such apparel as was glorious to a soldier, not embroidered
or laced, but besmeared with blood and dirt. He observes that he
does not come as one either frightened or fatigued, but that he
<i>travels in the greatness of his strength,</i> altogether
unbroken.</p>
<verse id="Is.lxiv-p5.2" type="stanza">
<l class="t1" id="Is.lxiv-p5.3">Triumphant and victorious he appears,</l>
<l class="t1" id="Is.lxiv-p5.4">And honour in his looks and habit wears.</l>
<l class="t2" id="Is.lxiv-p5.5">How strong he treads! how stately doth he go!</l>
<l class="t1" id="Is.lxiv-p5.6">Pompous and solemn is his pace,</l>
<l class="t1" id="Is.lxiv-p5.7">And full of majesty, as is his face;</l>
<l class="t2" id="Is.lxiv-p5.8">Who is this mighty hero—who?—</l>
</verse>
<attr id="Is.lxiv-p5.9"><span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxiv-p5.10">Mr. Norris</span>.  
   </attr>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p6" shownumber="no">The question, <i>Who is this?</i> perhaps
means the same with that which Joshua put to the same person when
he appeared to him with his sword drawn (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.5.13" parsed="|Josh|5|13|0|0" passage="Jos 5:13">Josh. v. 13</scripRef>): <i>Art thou for us or for our
adversaries?</i> Or, rather, the same with that which Israel put in
a way of adoration (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.15.11" parsed="|Exod|15|11|0|0" passage="Ex 15:11">Exod. xv.
11</scripRef>): <i>Who is a God like unto thee?</i> 2. The other
question it, "<i>Wherefore art thou red in thy apparel?</i> What
hard service hast thou been engaged in, that thou carriest with
thee these marks of toil and danger?" Is it possible that one who
has such majesty and terror in his countenance should be employed
in the mean and servile work of <i>treading the wine-press?</i>
Surely it is not. That which is really the glory of the Redeemer
seems, <i>primâ facie—at first,</i> a disparagement to him, as it
would be to a mighty prince to do the work of the wine-dressers and
husbandmen; for he <i>took upon him the form of a servant,</i> and
carried with him the marks of servitude.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p7" shownumber="no">II. An admirable answer returned by
him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p8" shownumber="no">1. He tells who he is: <i>I that speak in
righteousness, mighty to save.</i> He is the Saviour. God was
Israel's Saviour out of the hand of their oppressors; the Lord
Jesus is ours; his name, <i>Jesus,</i> signifies a <i>Saviour,</i>
for he <i>saves his people from their sins.</i> In the salvation
wrought he will have us to take notice, (1.) Of the truth of his
promise, which is therein performed: He speaks <i>in
righteousness,</i> and will therefore make good every word that he
has spoken with which he will have us to compare what he does,
that, setting the word and the work the one over against the other,
what he does may ratify what he has said and what he has said may
justify what he does. (2.) Of the efficacy of his power, which is
therein exerted: He is <i>mighty to save,</i> able to bring about
the promised redemption, whatever difficulties and oppositions may
lie in the way of it.</p>
<verse id="Is.lxiv-p8.1" type="stanza">
<l class="t1" id="Is.lxiv-p8.2">'Tis I who to my promise faithful stand,</l>
<l class="t2" id="Is.lxiv-p8.3">I, who the powers of death, hell, and the grave,</l>
<l class="t1" id="Is.lxiv-p8.4">Have foil'd with this all-conquering hand,</l>
<l class="t2" id="Is.lxiv-p8.5">I, who most ready am, and mighty too, to save.</l>
</verse>
<attr id="Is.lxiv-p8.6"><span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxiv-p8.7">Mr. Norris</span>.  
   </attr>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p9" shownumber="no">2. He tells how he came to appear in this
hue (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.3" parsed="|Isa|63|3|0|0" passage="Isa 63:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>I
have trodden the wine-press alone.</i> Being compared to one that
treads in the wine-fat, such is his condescension, in the midst of
his triumphs, that he does not scorn the comparison, but admits it
and carries it on. He does indeed <i>tread the wine-press,</i> but
it is <i>the great wine-press of the wrath of God</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.14.19" parsed="|Rev|14|19|0|0" passage="Re 14:19">Rev. xiv. 19</scripRef>), in which we sinners
deserved to be cast; but Christ was pleased to cast our enemies
into it, and to <i>destroy him that had the power of death,</i>
that he might deliver us. And of this the bloody work which God
sometimes made among the enemies of the Jews, and which is here
foretold, was a type and figure. Observe the account the conqueror
gives of his victory.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p10" shownumber="no">(1.) He gains the victory purely by his own
strength: <i>I have trodden the wine-press alone,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.3" parsed="|Isa|63|3|0|0" passage="Isa 63:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. When God delivered his
people and destroyed their enemies, if he made use of instruments,
he did not need them. But among his people, for whom the salvation
was to be wrought, no assistance offered itself; they were weak and
helpless, and had no ability to do any thing for their own relief;
they were desponding and listless, and had no heart to do any
thing; they were not disposed to give the least stroke or struggle
for liberty, neither the captives themselves nor any of their
friends for them (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.5" parsed="|Isa|63|5|0|0" passage="Isa 63:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>): "<i>I looked, and there was none to help,</i> as one
would have expected, nothing of a bold active spirit appeared among
them; nay, there was not only none to lead, but, which was more
strange, <i>there was none to uphold,</i> none that would come in
as a second, that had the courage to join with Cyrus against their
oppressors; <i>therefore my arm brought</i> about <i>the salvation;
not by</i> created <i>might or power,</i> but <i>by the Spirit of
the Lord of hosts,</i> my own arm." Note, God can help when all
other helpers fail; nay, that is his time to help, and therefore
for that very reason he will put forth his own power so much the
more gloriously. But this is most fully applicable to Christ's
victories over our spiritual enemies, which he obtained by a single
combat. He trod the wine-press of his Father's wrath alone, and
triumphed over principalities and powers <i>in himself,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Col.2.15" parsed="|Col|2|15|0|0" passage="Col 2:15">Col. ii. 15</scripRef>. <i>Of the
people there was none with him;</i> for, when he entered the lists
with the powers of darkness, <i>all his disciples forsook him and
fled.</i> There was <i>non to help,</i> none that could, none that
durst; and he might well wonder that among the children of men,
whose concern it was, there was not only <i>none to uphold,</i> but
that there were so many to oppose and hinder it if they could.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p11" shownumber="no">(2.) He undertakes the war purely out of
his own zeal. It is <i>in his anger,</i> it is <i>in his fury,</i>
that he <i>treads down</i> his enemies (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.3" parsed="|Isa|63|3|0|0" passage="Isa 63:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), and that <i>fury upholds
him</i> and carries him on in this enterprise, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.5" parsed="|Isa|63|5|0|0" passage="Isa 63:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. God wrought salvation for the
oppressed Jews purely because he was very angry with the oppressing
Babylonians, angry at their idolatries and sorceries, their pride
and cruelty, and the injuries they did to his people, and, as they
increased their abominations and grew more insolent and outrageous,
his anger increased to fury. Our Lord Jesus wrought out our
redemption in a holy zeal for the honour of his Father and the
happiness of mankind, and a holy indignation at the daring attempts
Satan had made upon both; this zeal and indignation upheld him
throughout his whole undertaking. Two branches there were of this
zeal that animated him:—[1.] He had a zeal against his and his
people's enemies: <i>The day of vengeance is in my heart</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.4" parsed="|Isa|63|4|0|0" passage="Isa 63:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), the day
fixed in the eternal counsels for taking vengeance on them; this
was written in his heart, so that he could not forget it, could not
let it slip; his heart was full of it, and it lay as a charge, as a
weight, upon him, which made him push on this holy war with so much
vigour. Note, There is a day fixed for divine vengeance, which may
be long deferred, but will come at last; and we may be content to
wait for it, for the Redeemer himself does so, though his heart is
upon it. [2.] He had a zeal for his people, and for all that he
designed to make sharers in the intended salvation: "<i>The year of
my redeemed has come,</i> the year appointed for their redemption."
There was a year fixed for the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt,
and God kept time to a day (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.12.41" parsed="|Exod|12|41|0|0" passage="Ex 12:41">Exod. xii.
41</scripRef>); so there was for their release out of Babylon
(<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.9.2" parsed="|Dan|9|2|0|0" passage="Da 9:2">Dan. ix. 2</scripRef>); so there was
for Christ's coming to destroy the works of the devil; so there is
for all the deliverances of the church, and the deliverer has an
eye to it. Observe, <i>First,</i> With what pleasure he speaks of
his people; they are his <i>redeemed;</i> they are his own, dear to
him. Though their redemption is not yet wrought out, yet he calls
them <i>his redeemed,</i> because it shall as surely be done as if
it were done already. <i>Secondly,</i> With what pleasure he speaks
of his people's redemption; how glad he is that <i>the time has
come,</i> though he is likely to meet with a sharp encounter. "Now
that the year of my redeemed has come, <i>Lo, I come;</i> delay
shall be no longer. <i>Now will I arise,</i> saith the Lord. <i>Now
thou shalt see what I will do to Pharaoh.</i>" Note, The promised
salvation must be patiently waited for till the time appointed
comes; yet we must attend the promises with our prayers. Does
Christ say, <i>Surely I come quickly;</i> let our hearts reply,
<i>Even so come;</i> let the <i>year of the redeemed come.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p12" shownumber="no">(3.) He will obtain a complete victory over
them all. [1.] Much is already done; for he now appears <i>red in
his apparel;</i> such abundance of blood is shed that the
conqueror's garments are all stained with it. This was predicted,
long before, by dying Jacob, concerning <i>Shiloh</i> (that is,
<i>Christ</i>), that he should <i>wash his garments in wine and his
clothes in the blood of grapes,</i> which perhaps this alludes to,
<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.11" parsed="|Gen|49|11|0|0" passage="Ge 49:11">Gen. xlix. 11</scripRef>.</p>
<verse id="Is.lxiv-p12.2" type="stanza">
<l class="t1" id="Is.lxiv-p12.3">With ornamental drops bedeck'd I stood,</l>
<l class="t1" id="Is.lxiv-p12.4">And wrote my vict'ry with my en'my's blood.</l>
</verse>
<attr id="Is.lxiv-p12.5"><span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxiv-p12.6">Mr. Norris</span>.  
   </attr>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p13" shownumber="no">In the destruction of the antichristian
powers we meet with abundance of blood shed (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.14.20 Bible:Rev.19.13" parsed="|Rev|14|20|0|0;|Rev|19|13|0|0" passage="Re 14:20,19:13">Rev. xiv. 20, xix. 13</scripRef>), which yet,
according to the dialect of prophecy, may be understood
spiritually, and doubtless so may this here. [2.] More shall yet be
done (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.6" parsed="|Isa|63|6|0|0" passage="Isa 63:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>I
will tread down the people</i> that yet stand it out against me,
<i>in my anger;</i> for the victorious Redeemer, when the <i>year
of the redeemed shall have come,</i> will go on <i>conquering and
to conquer,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.2" parsed="|Rev|6|2|0|0" passage="Re 6:2">Rev. vi. 2</scripRef>.
When he begins he will also make an end. Observe how he will
complete his victories over the enemies of his church.
<i>First,</i> He will infatuate them; he will make them drunk, so
that there shall be neither sense nor steadiness in their counsels;
they shall drink of the cup of his fury, and that shall intoxicate
them: or he will make them <i>drunk with their own blood,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.17.6" parsed="|Rev|17|6|0|0" passage="Re 17:6">Rev. xvii. 6</scripRef>. Let those that
make themselves drunk with the cup of riot (and then they are in
their fury) repent and reform, lest God make them drunk with the
<i>cup of trembling,</i> the cup of his fury. <i>Secondly,</i> He
will enfeeble them; he will <i>bring down their strength,</i> and
so bring them down <i>to the earth;</i> for what strength can hold
out against Omnipotence?</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.lxiv-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.7-Isa.63.14" parsed="|Isa|63|7|63|14" passage="Isa 63:7-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lxiv-p13.6">
<h4 id="Is.lxiv-p13.7">Acknowledgments of Divine
Goodness. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxiv-p13.8">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lxiv-p14" shownumber="no">7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxiv-p14.1">Lord</span>, <i>and</i> the praises of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxiv-p14.2">Lord</span>, according to all that the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxiv-p14.3">Lord</span> hath bestowed on us, and the
great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed
on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of
his lovingkindnesses.   8 For he said, Surely they <i>are</i>
my people, children <i>that</i> will not lie: so he was their
Saviour.   9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the
angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he
redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of
old.   10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit:
therefore he was turned to be their enemy, <i>and</i> he fought
against them.   11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses,
<i>and</i> his people, <i>saying,</i> Where <i>is</i> he that
brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock?
where <i>is</i> he that put his holy Spirit within him?   12
That led <i>them</i> by the right hand of Moses with his glorious
arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting
name?   13 That led them through the deep, as a horse in the
wilderness, <i>that</i> they should not stumble?   14 As a
beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxiv-p14.4">Lord</span> caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy
people, to make thyself a glorious name.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p15" shownumber="no">The prophet is here, in the name of the
church, taking a review, and making a thankful recognition, of
God's dealings with his church all along, ever since he founded it,
before he comes, in the latter end of this chapter and in the next,
as a watchman upon the walls, earnestly to pray to God for his
compassion towards her in her present deplorable state; and it was
usual for God's people, in their prayers, thus to look back.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p16" shownumber="no">I. Here is a general acknowledgment of
God's goodness to them all along, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.7" parsed="|Isa|63|7|0|0" passage="Isa 63:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. It was said, in general, of
God's prophets and people (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.62.6" parsed="|Isa|62|6|0|0" passage="Isa 62:6"><i>ch.</i>
lxii. 6</scripRef>) that they <i>made mention of the Lord;</i> now
here we are told what it is in God that they do especially delight
to make mention of, and that is his goodness, which the prophet
here so makes mention of as if he thought he could never say enough
of it. He mentions the <i>kindness of God</i> (which never appeared
so evident, so eminent, as in his love to mankind in <i>sending his
Son</i> to save us, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Titus.3.4" parsed="|Titus|3|4|0|0" passage="Tit 3:4">Tit. iii.
4</scripRef>), his loving-kindness, kindness that shows itself in
every thing that is endearing; nay, so plenteous are the springs,
and so various the streams, of divine mercy, that he speaks of it
in the plural number—<i>his loving-kindnesses;</i> for, if we
would count the fruits of his loving-kindness, they are <i>more in
number than the sand.</i> With his loving-kindnesses he mentions
his <i>praises,</i> that is, the thankful acknowledgments which the
saints make of his loving-kindness, and the angels too. It must be
mentioned, to God's honour, what a tribute of praise is paid to him
by all his creatures in consideration of his loving-kindness. See
how copiously he speaks, 1. Of the goodness that is from God, the
gifts of his loving-kindness—<i>all that the Lord has bestowed</i>
on us in particular, relating to life and godliness, in our
personal and family capacity. Let every man speak for himself,
speak as he has found, and he must own that he has had a great deal
bestowed upon him by the divine bounty. But we must also mention
the favours bestowed upon his church, his <i>great goodness towards
the house of Israel, which he has bestowed on them.</i> Note, We
must bless God for the mercies enjoyed by others as well as for
those enjoyed by ourselves, and reckon that bestowed on ourselves
which is bestowed on <i>the house of Israel.</i> 2. Of the goodness
that is in God. God does good because he is good; what he bestowed
upon us must be traced up to the original; it is <i>according to
his mercies</i> (not according to our merits) and <i>according to
the multitude of his loving-kindnesses,</i> which can never be
spent. Thus we should magnify God's goodness, and speak honourably
of it, not only when we plead it (as David, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.51.1" parsed="|Ps|51|1|0|0" passage="Ps 51:1">Ps. li. 1</scripRef>), but when we praise it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p17" shownumber="no">II. Here is particular notice taken of the
steps of God's mercy to Israel ever since it was formed into a
nation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p18" shownumber="no">1. The expectations God had concerning them
that they would conduct themselves well, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.8" parsed="|Isa|63|8|0|0" passage="Isa 63:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. When he brought them out of
Egypt and took them into covenant with himself he said, "<i>Surely
they are my people,</i> I take them as such, and am willing to hope
they will approve themselves so, <i>children that will not
lie,</i>" that will not <i>dissemble with God</i> in their
covenantings with him, nor treacherously depart from him by
breaking their covenant and starting aside like a broken bow. They
said, more than once, <i>All that the Lord shall say unto us we
will do and will be obedient;</i> and thereupon he took them to be
his peculiar people, saying, <i>Surely they will not lie.</i> God
deals fairly and faithfully with them, and therefore expects they
should deal so with him. They are <i>children of the covenant</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.3.25" parsed="|Acts|3|25|0|0" passage="Ac 3:25">Acts iii. 25</scripRef>), children of
those that clave unto the Lord, and therefore it may be hoped that
they will tread in the steps of their fathers' constancy. Note,
God's people are <i>children that will not lie;</i> for those that
will are not his children but the devil's.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p19" shownumber="no">2. The favour he showed them with an eye to
these expectations: <i>So he was their Saviour</i> out of the
bondage of Egypt and all the calamities of their wilderness-state,
and many a time since he had been their Saviour. See particularly
(<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.9" parsed="|Isa|63|9|0|0" passage="Isa 63:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>) what he did
for them as their Saviour. (1.) The principle that moved him to
work salvation for them; it was <i>in his love and in his pity,</i>
out of mere compassion to them and a tender affection for them, not
because he either needed them or could be benefited by them. This
is strangely expressed here: <i>In all their affliction he was
afflicted;</i> not that the Eternal Mind is capable of grieving or
God's infinite blessedness of suffering the least damage or
diminution (God cannot be afflicted); but thus he is pleased to
show forth the love and concern he has for his people in their
affliction; thus far he sympathizes with them, that he takes what
injury is done to them as done to himself and will reckon for it
accordingly. Their cries move him (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.3.7" parsed="|Exod|3|7|0|0" passage="Ex 3:7">Exod.
iii. 7</scripRef>), and he appears for them as vigorously as if he
were pained in their pain. <i>Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me?</i> This is matter of great comfort to God's people in their
affliction that God is so far from <i>afflicting willingly</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.3.33" parsed="|Lam|3|33|0|0" passage="La 3:33">Lam. iii. 33</scripRef>) that, if they
humble themselves under his hand, he is <i>afflicted in their
affliction,</i> as the tender parents are in the severe operations
which the case of a sick child calls for. There is another reading
of these words in the original: <i>In all their affliction there
was no affliction;</i> though they were in great affliction, yet
the property of it was so altered by the grace of God sanctifying
it to them for their good, the rigour of it was so mitigated and it
was so allayed and balanced with mercies, they were so wonderfully
supported and comforted under it, and it proved so short, and ended
so well, that it was in effect no affliction. The troubles of the
saints are not that to them which they are to others; they are not
afflictions, but medicines; saints are enabled to call them
<i>light,</i> and <i>but for a moment,</i> and, with an eye to
heaven as all in all, to make nothing of them. (2.) The person
employed in their salvation—<i>the angel of his face,</i> or
presence. Some understand it of a created angel. The highest angel
in heaven, even the angel of his presence, that attends next the
throne of his glory, is not thought too great, too good, to be sent
on this errand. Thus the little ones' angels are said to be those
that <i>always behold the face of our Father,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.18.10" parsed="|Matt|18|10|0|0" passage="Mt 18:10">Matt. xviii. 10</scripRef>. But this is rather
to be understood of Jesus Christ, the eternal Word, that angel of
whom God spoke to Moses (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.20-Exod.23.21" parsed="|Exod|23|20|23|21" passage="Ex 23:20,21">Exod.
xxiii. 20, 21</scripRef>), whose <i>voice Israel was to obey.</i>
He is called <i>Jehovah,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p19.6" osisRef="Bible:Exod.13.21 Bible:Exod.14.21 Bible:Exod.14.24" parsed="|Exod|13|21|0|0;|Exod|14|21|0|0;|Exod|14|24|0|0" passage="Ex 13:21,14:21,24">Exod. xiii. 21; xiv. 21, 24</scripRef>. He is
the angel of the covenant, God's messenger to the world, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p19.7" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.1" parsed="|Mal|3|1|0|0" passage="Mal 3:1">Mal. iii. 1</scripRef>. He is the <i>angel of
God's face,</i> for he is the <i>express image of his person;</i>
and the glory of God shines in the face of Christ. He that was to
work out the eternal salvation, as an earnest of that, wrought out
the temporal salvations that were typical of it. (3.) The progress
and perseverance of this favour. He not only redeemed them out of
their bondage, but <i>he bore them and carried them all the days of
old;</i> they were weak, but he supported them by his power,
sustained them by his bounty; when they were burdened, and ready to
sink, he bore them up; in the wars they made upon the nations he
stood by them and bore them out; though they were peevish, he bore
with them and suffered their manners, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p19.8" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.18" parsed="|Acts|13|18|0|0" passage="Ac 13:18">Acts xiii. 18</scripRef>. He carried them as the nursing
father does the child, though they would have tired any arms but
his; he carried them as the eagle her young upon her wings,
<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p19.9" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.11" parsed="|Deut|32|11|0|0" passage="De 32:11">Deut. xxxii. 11</scripRef>. And it was
a long time that he was <i>troubled with them</i> (if we may so
speak): it was <i>all the days of old;</i> his care of them was not
at an end even when they had grown up and were settled in Canaan.
All this was <i>in his love and pity, ex mero motu—of his mere
good-will;</i> he loved them because he would love them, as he
says, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p19.10" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.7-Deut.7.8" parsed="|Deut|7|7|7|8" passage="De 7:7,8">Deut. vii. 7, 8</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p20" shownumber="no">3. Their disingenuous conduct towards him,
and the trouble they thereby brought upon themselves (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.10" parsed="|Isa|63|10|0|0" passage="Isa 63:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>But they
rebelled.</i> Things looked very hopeful and promising; one would
have thought that they should have continued dutiful children to
God, and then there was no doubt but he would have continued a
gracious Father to them; but here is a sad change on both sides,
and <i>on them be the breach.</i> (1.) They revolted from their
allegiance to God and took up arms against him: <i>They rebelled,
and vexed his Holy Spirit</i> with their unbelief and murmuring,
besides the iniquity of the golden calf; and this had been their
way and manner ever since. Though he was ready to say of them,
<i>They will not lie,</i> though he had done so much for them,
<i>borne them and carried them,</i> yet they thus ill requited him,
like <i>foolish people and unwise,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.6" parsed="|Deut|32|6|0|0" passage="De 32:6">Deut. xxxii. 6</scripRef>. This grieved him, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.95.10" parsed="|Ps|95|10|0|0" passage="Ps 95:10">Ps. cxv. 10</scripRef>. The ungrateful
rebellions of God's children against him are a vexation to his Holy
Spirit. (2.) Thereupon he justly withdrew his protection, and not
only so, but made war upon them, as a prince justly does upon the
rebels. He who had been so much their friend was <i>turned to be
their enemy and fought against them,</i> by one judgment after
another, both in the wilderness and after their settlement in
Canaan. See the malignity and mischievousness of sin; it makes God
an enemy even to those for whom he has done the part of a good
friend, and makes him angry who was all love and pity. See the
folly of sinners; they wilfully lose him for a friend who is the
most desirable friend, and make him their enemy who is the most
formidable enemy. This refers especially to those calamities that
were of late brought upon them by their captivity in Babylon for
their idolatries and other sins. That which is both the original
and the great aggravation of their troubles was that God was
<i>turned to be their enemy.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p21" shownumber="no">4. A particular reflection made, on this
occasion, upon what God did for them when he first formed them into
a people: <i>Then he remembered the days of old,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.11" parsed="|Isa|63|11|0|0" passage="Isa 63:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p22" shownumber="no">(1.) This may be understood either of the
people or of God. [1.] We may understand it of the people. Israel
then (spoken of as a single person) <i>remembered the days of
old,</i> looked into their Bibles, read the story of God's bringing
their fathers out of Egypt, considered it more closely than ever
they did before, and reasoned upon it, as Gideon did (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.6.13" parsed="|Judg|6|13|0|0" passage="Jdg 6:13">Judg. vi. 13</scripRef>), <i>Where are all the
wonders that our fathers told us of? "Where is he that brought them
up</i> out of Egypt? Is he not as able to bring us up out of
Babylon? <i>Where is the Lord God of Elijah? Where is the Lord God
of our fathers?</i>" This they consider as an inducement and an
encouragement to them to repent and return to him; their fathers
were a provoking people and yet found him a pardoning God; and why
may not they find him so if they return to him? They also use it as
a plea with God in prayer for the turning again of their captivity,
like that <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.9-Isa.51.10" parsed="|Isa|51|9|51|10" passage="Isa 51:9,10"><i>ch.</i> li. 9,
10</scripRef>. Note, When the present days are dark and cloudy it
is good to <i>remember the days of old,</i> to recollect our own
and others' experiences of the divine power and goodness and make
use of them, to look back upon <i>the years of the right hand of
the Most High</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.77.5 Bible:Ps.77.10" parsed="|Ps|77|5|0|0;|Ps|77|10|0|0" passage="Ps 77:5,10">Ps. lxxvii. 5,
10</scripRef>), and remember that he is <i>God, and changes
not.</i> [2.] We may understand it of God; he put himself in mind
of the days of old, of his covenant with Abraham (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Lev.26.42" parsed="|Lev|26|42|0|0" passage="Le 26:42">Lev. xxvi. 42</scripRef>); he said, <i>Where is
he that brought Israel up out of the sea?</i> stirring up himself
to come and save them with this consideration, "Why should not I
appear for them now as I did for their fathers, who were as
undeserving, as ill-deserving, as they are?" See how far off divine
mercy will go, how far back it will look, to find out a reason for
doing good to his people, when no present considerations appear but
what make against them. Nay, it makes that a reason for relieving
them which might have been used as a reason for abandoning them. He
might have said, "I have delivered them formerly, but they have
again brought trouble upon themselves (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.19.19" parsed="|Prov|19|19|0|0" passage="Pr 19:19">Prov. xix. 19</scripRef>); there <i>I will deliver them
no more,</i>" <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:Judg.10.13" parsed="|Judg|10|13|0|0" passage="Jdg 10:13">Judg. x. 13</scripRef>.
But no; mercy rejoices against judgment, and turns the argument the
other way: "I have formerly delivered them and therefore will
now."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p23" shownumber="no">(2.) Which way soever we take it, whether
the people plead it with God or God with himself, let us view the
particulars, and they agree very much with the confession and
prayer which the children of the captivity made upon a solemn
fast-day (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.5" parsed="|Neh|9|5|0|0" passage="Ne 9:5">Neh. ix. 5</scripRef>,
&amp;c.), which may serve as a comment on these verses which call
to mind <i>Moses and his people,</i> that is, what God did by Moses
for his people, especially in bringing them through the Red Sea,
for that is it that is here most insisted on; for it was a work
which he much gloried in and which his people therefore may in a
particular manner encourage themselves with the remembrance of.
[1.] God <i>led them by the right hand of Moses</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.12" parsed="|Isa|63|12|0|0" passage="Isa 63:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>) and the wonder-working
rod in his hand. <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.77.20" parsed="|Ps|77|20|0|0" passage="Ps 77:20">Ps. lxxvii.
20</scripRef>, <i>Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand
of Moses.</i> It was not Moses that led them, any more than it was
Moses that fed them (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:John.6.32" parsed="|John|6|32|0|0" passage="Joh 6:32">John vi.
32</scripRef>), but God by Moses; for it was he that qualified
Moses for, called him to, assisted and prospered him in that great
undertaking. Moses is here called <i>the shepherd of his flock;</i>
God was the owner of the flock and the chief shepherd of Israel
(<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p23.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.80.1" parsed="|Ps|80|1|0|0" passage="Ps 80:1">Ps. lxxx. 1</scripRef>); but Moses was
a shepherd under him, and he was inured to labour and patience, and
so fitted for this pastoral care, by his being trained up to
<i>keep the flock of his father Jethro.</i> Herein he was a type of
Christ the good shepherd, that <i>lays down his life for the
sheep,</i> which was more than Moses did for Israel, though he did
a great deal for them. [2.] He <i>put his holy Spirit within him;
the Spirit of God was among them,</i> and not only his providence,
but his grace, did work for them. <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p23.6" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.20" parsed="|Neh|9|20|0|0" passage="Ne 9:20">Neh.
ix. 20</scripRef>, <i>Thou gavest thy good Spirit to instruct
them.</i> The spirit of wisdom and courage, as well as the Spirit
of prophecy, was put into Moses, to qualify him for that service
among them to which he was called; and some of his spirit was put
upon the seventy elders, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p23.7" osisRef="Bible:Num.11.17" parsed="|Num|11|17|0|0" passage="Nu 11:17">Num. xi.
17</scripRef>. This was a great blessing to Israel, that they had
among them not only inspired writings, but inspired men. [3.] He
carried them safely through the Red Sea, and thereby saved them out
of the hands of Pharaoh. <i>First, He divided the water before
them</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p23.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.12" parsed="|Isa|63|12|0|0" passage="Isa 63:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>),
so that it gave them not only passage, but protection, not only
opened them a lane, but erected them a wall on either side.
<i>Secondly, He led them through the deep as a horse in the
wilderness,</i> or <i>in the plain</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p23.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.13" parsed="|Isa|63|13|0|0" passage="Isa 63:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>); they and their wives and
children, with all their baggage, went as easily and readily
through the bottom of the sea (though we may suppose it muddy or
stony, or both) as a horse goes along upon even ground; so that
they did not stumble, though it was an untrodden path, which
neither they nor any one else ever went before. If God make us a
way, he will make it plain and level; the road he opens to his
people he will lead them in. <i>Thirdly,</i> To complete the mercy,
he <i>brought them up out of the sea,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p23.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.11" parsed="|Isa|63|11|0|0" passage="Isa 63:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. Though the ascent, it is
likely, was very steep, dirty, slippery, and unconquerable (at
least by the women and children, and the men, considering how they
were loaded, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p23.11" osisRef="Bible:Exod.12.34" parsed="|Exod|12|34|0|0" passage="Ex 12:34">Exod. xii. 34</scripRef>,
and how fatigued), yet God by his power brought them up from the
depths of the earth; and it was a kind of resurrection to them; it
was as <i>life from the dead.</i> [4.] He brought them safely to a
place of rest: <i>As a beast goes down into the valley,</i>
carefully and gradually, so <i>the Spirit of the Lord caused him to
rest.</i> Many a time in their march through the wilderness they
had resting-places provided for them by the direction of the Spirit
of the Lord in Moses, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p23.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.11" parsed="|Isa|63|11|0|0" passage="Isa 63:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. And at length they were made to rest finally in
Canaan, and the Spirit of the Lord gave them that rest according to
the promise. It is by the Spirit of the Lord that God's Israel are
caused to return to God and repose in him as their rest. [5.] All
this he did for them by his own power, for his own praise.
<i>First,</i> It was by his own power, as the God of nature, that
has all the powers of nature at his command; he did it with his
glorious arm, <i>the arm of his gallantry,</i> or <i>bravery;</i>
so the word signifies. It was not Moses's rod, but God's glorious
arm, that did it. <i>Secondly,</i> It was for his own praise, to
<i>make himself an everlasting name</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p23.13" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.12" parsed="|Isa|63|12|0|0" passage="Isa 63:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>), <i>a glorious name</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p23.14" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.14" parsed="|Isa|63|14|0|0" passage="Isa 63:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), that he
might be glorified, everlastingly glorified, upon this account.
This is that which God is doing in the world with his glorious arm,
he is making to himself a glorious name, and it shall last to
endless ages, when the most celebrated names of the great ones of
the earth shall be written in the dust.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.lxiv-p23.15" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.15-Isa.63.19" parsed="|Isa|63|15|63|19" passage="Isa 63:15-19" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lxiv-p23.16">
<h4 id="Is.lxiv-p23.17">Earnest Pleadings. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxiv-p23.18">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lxiv-p24" shownumber="no">15 Look down from heaven, and behold from the
habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where <i>is</i> thy
zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy
mercies toward me? are they restrained?   16 Doubtless thou
<i>art</i> our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel
acknowledge us not: thou, <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxiv-p24.1">O Lord</span>,
<i>art</i> our father, our redeemer; thy name <i>is</i> from
everlasting.   17 <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxiv-p24.2">O Lord</span>, why
hast thou made us to err from thy ways, <i>and</i> hardened our
heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of
thine inheritance.   18 The people of thy holiness have
possessed <i>it</i> but a little while: our adversaries have
trodden down thy sanctuary.   19 We are <i>thine:</i> thou
never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p25" shownumber="no">The foregoing praises were intended as an
introduction to this prayer, which is continued to the end of the
next chapter, and it is an affectionate, importunate, pleading
prayer. It is calculated for the time of the captivity. As they had
promises, so they had prayers, prepared for them against that time
of need, that they might take with them words in turning to the
Lord, and say unto him what he himself taught them to say, in which
they might the better hope to prevail, the words being of God's own
inditing. Some good interpreters think this prayer looks further,
and that it expresses the complaints of the Jews under their last
and final rejection from God and destruction by the Romans; for
there is one passage in it (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.64.4" parsed="|Isa|64|4|0|0" passage="Isa 64:4"><i>ch.</i>
lxiv. 4</scripRef>) which is applied to the grace of the gospel by
the apostle (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.2.9" parsed="|1Cor|2|9|0|0" passage="1Co 2:9">1 Cor. ii. 9</scripRef>),
that grace for the rejecting of which they were rejected. In these
verses we may observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p26" shownumber="no">I. The petitions they put up to God. 1.
That he would take cognizance of their case and of the desires of
their souls towards him: <i>Look down from heaven, and behold,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.15" parsed="|Isa|63|15|0|0" passage="Isa 63:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. They knew
very well that God sees all, but they prayed that he would regard
them, would condescend to favour them, would look upon them with an
eye of compassion and concern, as he looked upon the affliction of
his people in Egypt when he was about to appear for their
deliverance. In begging that he would only look down upon them and
behold them they did in effect appeal to his justice against their
enemies, and pray for judgment against them (as Jehoshaphat,
<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.20.11-2Chr.20.12" parsed="|2Chr|20|11|20|12" passage="2Ch 20:11,12">2 Chron. xx. 11, 12</scripRef>,
<i>Behold, how they reward us. Wilt thou not judge them?</i>),
implicitly confiding in his mercy and wisdom as to the way in which
he will relieve them (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.25.18" parsed="|Ps|25|18|0|0" passage="Ps 25:18">Ps. xxv.
18</scripRef>, <i>Look upon my affliction and my pain): Look down
from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory.</i> God's
holiness is his glory. Heaven is his habitation, the throne of his
glory, where he most manifests his glory, and whence he is said to
look down upon the earth, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.33.14" parsed="|Ps|33|14|0|0" passage="Ps 33:14">Ps. xxxiii.
14</scripRef>. His holiness is in a special manner celebrated there
by the blessed angels (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p26.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.6.3 Bible:Rev.4.8" parsed="|Isa|6|3|0|0;|Rev|4|8|0|0" passage="Isa 6:3,Re 4:8"><i>ch.</i> vi. 3; Rev. iv. 8</scripRef>); there
his holy ones attend him, and are continually about him; so that it
is the <i>habitation of his holiness.</i> It is an encouragement to
all his praying people, who desire to be holy as he is holy, that
he <i>dwells in a holy place.</i> 2. That he would take a course
for their relief (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p26.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.17" parsed="|Isa|63|17|0|0" passage="Isa 63:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>): "<i>Return;</i> change thy way towards us, and
proceed not in thy controversy with us; return in mercy, and let us
have not only a gracious look towards us, but thy gracious presence
with us." God's people dread nothing more than his departures from
them and desire nothing more than his returns to them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p27" shownumber="no">II. The complaints they made to God. Two
things they complained of:—1. That they were given up to
themselves, and God's grace did not recover them, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.17" parsed="|Isa|63|17|0|0" passage="Isa 63:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. It is a strange
expostulation, "<i>Why hast thou made us to err from thy ways,</i>
that is, many among us, the generality of us; and this complaint we
have all of us some cause to make that <i>thou hast hardened our
heart from thy fear.</i>" Some make it to be the language of those
among them that were impious and profane; when the prophets
reproved them for the <i>error of their ways,</i> their <i>hardness
of heart,</i> and <i>contempt of God's word and commandments,</i>
they with a daring impudence charged their sin upon God, made him
the author of it, and asked <i>why doth he then find fault?</i>
Note, Those are wicked indeed that lay the blame of their
wickedness upon God. But I rather take it to be the language of
those among them that lamented the unbelief and impenitence of
their people, not accusing God of being the author of their
wickedness, but complaining of it to him. They owned that they had
<i>erred from God's ways,</i> that their <i>hearts</i> had been
<i>hardened from his fear,</i> that they had not received the
impressions which the fear of God ought to make upon them and this
was the cause of all their errors from his ways; or <i>from his
fear</i> may mean from the true worship of God, and that is a hard
heart indeed which is alienated from the service of a God so
incontestably great and good. Now this they complain of, as their
great misery and burden, that God had for their sins left them to
this, had permitted them to <i>err from his ways</i> and had justly
withheld his grace, so that their <i>hearts were hardened from his
fear.</i> When they ask, <i>Why hast thou done this?</i> it is not
as charging him with wrong, but lamenting it as a sore judgment.
God had <i>caused them to err and hardened their hearts,</i> not
only by withdrawing his Spirit from them, because they had grieved,
and vexed, and quenched him (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.10" parsed="|Isa|63|10|0|0" passage="Isa 63:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), but by a judicial sentence
upon them (<i>Go, make the heart of this people fat,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p27.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.6.9-Isa.6.10" parsed="|Isa|6|9|6|10" passage="Isa 6:9,10"><i>ch.</i> vi. 9, 10</scripRef>) and by his
providences concerning them, which had proved sad occasions for
their departure from him. David complains of his banishment,
because in it he was in effect bidden to <i>go and serve other
gods,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p27.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.26.19" parsed="|1Sam|26|19|0|0" passage="1Sa 26:19">1 Sam. xxvi. 19</scripRef>.
Their troubles had alienated many of them from God, and prejudiced
them against his service; and, because the <i>rod of the wicked had
lain long on their lot,</i> they were ready to <i>put forth their
hand unto iniquity</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p27.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.125.3" parsed="|Ps|125|3|0|0" passage="Ps 125:3">Ps. cxxv.
3</scripRef>), and this was the thing they complained most of;
their afflictions were their temptations, and to many of them
invincible ones. Note, Convinced consciences complain most of
spiritual judgments and dread that most in an affliction which
draws them from God and duty. 2. That they were given up to their
enemies, and God's providence did not rescue and relieve them
(<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p27.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.18" parsed="|Isa|63|18|0|0" passage="Isa 63:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>Our
adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.</i> As it was a grief
to them that in their captivity the generality of them had lost
their affection to God's worship, and had their hearts hardened
from it by their affliction, so it was a further grief that they
were deprived of their opportunities of worshipping God in solemn
assemblies. They complained not so much of the adversaries treading
down their houses and cities as of their treading down God's
sanctuary, because thereby God was immediately affronted, and they
were robbed of the comforts they valued most and took most pleasure
in.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxiv-p28" shownumber="no">III. The pleas they urged with God for
mercy and deliverance. 1. They pleaded the tender compassion God
used to show to his people and his ability and readiness to appear
for them, <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.15" parsed="|Isa|63|15|0|0" passage="Isa 63:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>.
The most prevailing arguments in prayer are those that are taken
<i>from God himself;</i> such these are. <i>Where is thy zeal and
thy strength?</i> God has a zeal for his own glory, and for the
comfort of his people; his name is <i>Jealous;</i> and he is a
jealous God; and he has strength proportionable to secure his own
glory and the interest of his people, in despite of all opposition.
Now where are these? Have they not formerly appeared? Why do they
not appear now? It cannot be that divine zeal, which is infinitely
wise and just, should be cooled, that divine strength, which is
infinite, should be weakened. Nay, his people had experienced not
only <i>his zeal and his strength, but the sounding of his
bowels,</i> or rather the yearning of them, such a degree of
compassion to them as in men causes a commotion and agitation
within them, as <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.11.8" parsed="|Hos|11|8|0|0" passage="Ho 11:8">Hos. xi. 8</scripRef>,
<i>My heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled
together;</i> and <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p28.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.31.20" parsed="|Jer|31|20|0|0" passage="Jer 31:20">Jer. xxxi.
20</scripRef>, <i>My bowels are troubled</i> (or sound) <i>for
him.</i> "Thus God used to be affected towards his people, and to
express a <i>multitude of mercies towards them;</i> but where are
they now? <i>Are they restrained?</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p28.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.77.9" parsed="|Ps|77|9|0|0" passage="Ps 77:9">Ps. lxxvii. 9</scripRef>. Has God, who so often
remembered to be gracious, now forgotten to be so? <i>Has he in
anger shut up his tender mercies?</i> It can never be." Note, We
may ground good expectations of further mercy upon our experiences
of former mercy. 2. They pleaded God's relation to them as their
Father (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p28.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.16" parsed="|Isa|63|16|0|0" passage="Isa 63:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>):
"Thy tender mercies are not restrained, for they are the tender
mercies of a father, who, though he may be for a time displeased
with his child, will yet, through the force of natural affection,
soon be reconciled. <i>Doubtless thou art our Father,</i> and
therefore thy bowels will yearn towards us." Such good thoughts of
God as these we should always keep up in our hearts. <i>However it
be, yet God is good;</i> for he is our Father. They own themselves
fatherless if he be not their Father, and so cast themselves upon
him with whom <i>the fatherless findeth mercy,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p28.6" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.3" parsed="|Hos|14|3|0|0" passage="Ho 14:3">Hos. xiv. 3</scripRef>. It was the honour of
their nation that <i>they had Abraham to their father</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p28.7" osisRef="Bible:Matt.3.9" parsed="|Matt|3|9|0|0" passage="Mt 3:9">Matt. iii. 9</scripRef>), who was the
friend of God, and Israel, who was a prince with God; but what the
better were they for that unless they had God himself for their
Father? "Abraham and Israel cannot help us; they have not the power
that God has; they are dead long since, and are <i>ignorant of us,
and acknowledge us not;</i> they know not what our case is, nor
what our wants are, and therefore know not which way to do us a
kindness. If Abraham and Israel were alive with us, they would
intercede for us and advise us; but they have gone to the other
world, and we know not that they have any communication at all with
this world, and therefore they are not capable of doing us any
kindness any further than that we have the honour of being called
their children." When the father is dead <i>his sons come to honour
and he knows it not,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p28.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.14.21" parsed="|Job|14|21|0|0" passage="Job 14:21">Job xiv.
21</scripRef>. "But <i>thou, O Lord! art our Father still</i> (the
fathers of our flesh may call themselves <i>ever-loving;</i> but
they are not <i>ever-living;</i> it is God only that is the
immortal Father, that always knows us, and is never at a distance
from us), and therefore <i>our Redeemer from everlasting is thy
name,</i> the name by which we will know and own thee. It is the
name by which from of old thou hast been known; thy people have
always looked upon thee as the God to whom they might appeal to
redress their grievances and plead their cause. Nay" (according to
the sense some give of this place), "though Abraham and Israel not
only cannot, but would not, help us, thou wilt. They have not the
pity thou hast. We are so degenerate and corrupt that Abraham and
Israel would not own us for their children, yet we fly to thee as
our Father. Abraham cast out his son Ishmael; Jacob disinherited
his son Reuben and cursed Simeon and Levi; but our heavenly Father,
in pardoning sin, is <i>God, and not man,</i>" <scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p28.9" osisRef="Bible:Hos.11.9" parsed="|Hos|11|9|0|0" passage="Ho 11:9">Hos. xi. 9</scripRef>. 3. They pleaded God's interest in
them, that he was their Lord, their owner and proprietor: "We are
thy servants; what service we can do thou art entitled to, and
therefore we ought not to serve strange kings and strange gods:
<i>Return for thy servants' sake.</i>" As a father finds himself
obliged by natural affection to relieve and protect his child, so a
master thinks himself obliged in honour to rescue and protect his
servant: "<i>We are thine</i> by the strongest engagements, as well
as the highest endearments. Thou hast borne rule over us;
therefore, Lord, assert thy own interest, maintain thy own right;
for <i>we are called by thy name,</i> and therefore whither shall
we go but to thee, to be righted and protected? <i>We are thine,
save us</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p28.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.94" parsed="|Ps|119|94|0|0" passage="Ps 119:94">Ps. cxix.
94</scripRef>), thy own, acknowledge us. We are the <i>tribes of
thy inheritance,</i> not only thy servants, but thy tenants; we are
thine, not only to do work for thee, but to pay rent to thee. The
tribes of Israel are God's inheritance, whence issue the little
praise and worship that he receives from this lower world; and wilt
thou suffer thy own servants and tenants to be thus abused?" 4.
They pleaded that they had had but a short enjoyment of the land of
promise and the privileges of the sanctuary (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p28.11" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.18" parsed="|Isa|63|18|0|0" passage="Isa 63:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>The people of thy holiness
have possessed it but a little while.</i> From Abraham to David
were but fourteen generations, and from David to the captivity but
fourteen more (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p28.12" osisRef="Bible:Matt.1.17" parsed="|Matt|1|17|0|0" passage="Mt 1:17">Matt. i. 17</scripRef>),
and that was but a little while in comparison with what might have
been expected from the promise of the <i>land of Canaan for an
everlasting possession</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lxiv-p28.13" osisRef="Bible:Gen.17.8" parsed="|Gen|17|8|0|0" passage="Ge 17:8">Gen. xvii.
8</scripRef>) and from the power that was put forth to bring them
into that land and settle them in it. "Though we are <i>the people
of thy holiness,</i> distinguished from other people and
consecrated to thee, yet we are soon dislodged." But this they
might thank themselves for; they were, in profession, the <i>people
of God's holiness,</i> but it was their wickedness that turned them
out of the possession of that land. 5. They pleaded that those who
had and kept possession of their land were such as were strangers
to God, such as he had no service or honour from: "<i>Thou never
didst bear rule over them,</i> nor did they ever yield thee any
obedience; they <i>were not called by thy name,</i> but professed
relation to other gods and were the worshippers of them. Will God
suffer those that do not stand in any relation to him to trample
upon those that do?" Some give another reading of this: "<i>We have
become as those over whom thou didst never bear rule and who were
never called by thy name;</i> we are rejected and abandoned,
despised and trampled upon, as if we never had been in thy service
nor had thy name called upon us." Thus the shield of <i>Saul was
vilely cast away, as though he had not been anointed with oil.</i>
But the covenant that seems to be forgotten shall be remembered
again.</p>
</div></div2>