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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>I S A I A H.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. LI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This chapter is designed for the comfort and encouragement of those
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that fear God and keep his commandments, even when they walk in
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darkness and have no light. Whether it was intended primarily for the
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support of the captives in Babylon is not certain, probably it was; but
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comforts thus generally expressed ought not to be so confined. Whenever
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the church of God is in distress her friends and well-wishers may
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comfort themselves and one another with these words,
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I. That God, who raised his church at first out of nothing, will take
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care that it shall not perish,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. That the righteousness and salvation he designs for his church are
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sure and near, very near and very sure,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:4-6">ver. 4-6</A>.
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III. That the persecutors of the church are weak and dying creatures,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:7,8">ver. 7, 8</A>.
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IV. That the same power which did wonders for the church formerly is
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now engaged and employed for her protection and deliverance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:9-11">ver. 9-11</A>.
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V. That God himself, the Maker of the world, had undertaken both to
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deliver his people out of their distress and to comfort them under it,
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and sent his prophet to assure them of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:12-16">ver. 12-16</A>.
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VI. That, deplorable as the condition of the church now was
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:17-20">ver. 17-20</A>),
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to the same woeful circumstances her persecutors and oppressors should
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shortly be reduced, and worse,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:21-23">ver. 21-23</A>.
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The first three paragraphs of this chapter begin with, "Hearken unto
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me," and they are God's people that are all along called to hearken;
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for even when comforts are spoken to them sometimes they "hearken not,
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through anguish of spirit"
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+6:9">Exod. vi. 9</A>);
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therefore they are again and again called to hearken,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:1,4,7">ver. 1, 4, 7</A>.
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The two other paragraphs of this chapter begin with "Awake, awake;" in
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the former
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:9">ver. 9</A>)
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God's people call upon him to awake and help them; in the latter,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51: ">ver. 17</A>.
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God calls upon them to awake and help themselves.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa51_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa51_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa51_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Encouragement to the Disconsolate.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 706.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that
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seek the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: look unto the rock <I>whence</I> ye are hewn, and to
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the hole of the pit <I>whence</I> ye are digged.
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2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah <I>that</I> bare
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you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
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3 For the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her
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waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her
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desert like the garden of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; joy and gladness shall be
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found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Observe,
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1. How the people of God are here described, to whom the word of this
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consolation is sent and who are called upon to hearken to it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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They are such as <I>follow after righteousness,</I> such as are very
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desirous and solicitous both to be justified and to be sanctified, are
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pressing hard after this, to have the favour of God restored to them
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and the image of God renewed on them. These are those <I>that seek the
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Lord,</I> for it is only in the say of righteousness that we can seek
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him with any hope of finding him.
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2. How they are here directed to look back to their original, and the
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smallness of their beginning: "<I>Look unto the rock whence you were
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hewn</I>" (the idolatrous family in Ur of the Chaldees, out of which
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Abraham was taken, the generation of slaves which the heads and fathers
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of their tribes were in Egypt); "look unto <I>the hole of the pit out
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of which you were digged,</I> as clay, when God formed you into a
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people." Note, It is good for those that are privileged by a new birth
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to consider what they were by their first birth, how they were
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<I>conceived in iniquity and shapen in sin.</I> That which is <I>born
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of the flesh is flesh.</I> How hard was that rock out of which we were
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hewn, unapt to receive impressions, and how miserable <I>the hole of
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that pit out of which we were digged!</I> The consideration of this
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should fill us with low thoughts of ourselves and high thoughts of
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divine grace. Those that are now advanced would do well to remember how
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low they began
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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"<I>Look unto Abraham your father,</I> the father of all the faithful,
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of all that follow after the righteousness of faith as he did
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:11">Rom. iv. 11</A>),
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<I>and unto Sarah that bore you,</I> and whose daughters you all are as
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long as you do well. Think how Abraham was <I>called alone,</I> and yet
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was <I>blessed</I> and <I>multiplied;</I> and let that encourage you to
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depend upon the promise of God even when a sentence of death seems to
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be upon all the means that lead to the performance of it. Particularly
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let it encourage the captives in Babylon, though they are reduced to a
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small number, and few of them left, to hope that yet they shall
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increase so as to replenish their own land again." When Jacob is very
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small, yet he is not so small as Abraham was, who yet became father of
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many nations. "Look unto Abraham, and see what he got by trusting in
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the promise of God, and take example by him to follow God with an
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implicit faith."
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3. How they are here assured that their present seedness of tears
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should at length end in a harvest of joys,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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The church of God on earth, even the gospel Zion, has sometimes had her
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deserts and waste places, many parts of the church, through either
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corruption or persecution, made like a wilderness, unfruitful to God or
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uncomfortable to the inhabitants; but God will find out a time and way
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to <I>comfort Zion,</I> not only by speaking comfortably to her, but by
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acting graciously for her. God has comforts in store even for the
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<I>waste places</I> of his church, for those parts of it that seem not
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regarded or valued.
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(1.) He will make them fruitful, and so give them cause to rejoice; her
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wildernesses shall put on a new face, and look pleasant as Eden, and
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abound in all good fruits, <I>as the garden of the Lord.</I> Note, It
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is the greatest comfort of the church to be made serviceable to the
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glory of God, and to be as his garden in which he delights.
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(2.) He will make them cheerful, and so give them hearts to rejoice.
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With the <I>fruits of righteousness, joy and gladness shall be found
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therein;</I> for the more holiness men have, and the more good they do,
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the more gladness they have. And where there is gladness, to their
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satisfaction, it is fit that there should be thanksgiving, to God's
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honour; for whatever is the matter of our rejoicing ought to be the
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matter of our thanksgiving; and the returns of God's favour ought to be
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celebrated with the voice of melody, which will be the more melodious
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when God gives <I>songs in the night,</I> songs in the desert.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa51_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa51_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa51_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa51_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa51_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Encouragement to the Disconsolate.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 706.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my
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nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my
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judgment to rest for a light of the people.
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5 My righteousness <I>is</I> near; my salvation is gone forth, and
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mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me,
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and on mine arm shall they trust.
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6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth
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beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the
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earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein
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shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and
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my righteousness shall not be abolished.
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7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in
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whose heart <I>is</I> my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither
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be ye afraid of their revilings.
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8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm
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shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever,
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and my salvation from generation to generation.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Both these proclamations, as I may call them, end alike with an
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assurance of the perpetuity of God's righteousness and his salvation;
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and therefore we put them together, both being designed for the comfort
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of God's people. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. Who they are to whom this comfort belongs: "<I>My people,</I> and
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<I>my nation,</I> that I have set apart for myself, that own me and are
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owned by me." Those are God's people and his nation who are subject to
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him as their King and their God, pay allegiance to him, and put
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themselves under his protection accordingly. They are a people who
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<I>know righteousness,</I> who not only have the means of knowledge,
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and to whom righteousness is made known, but who improve those means,
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and are able to form a right judgment of truth and falsehood, good and
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evil. And, as they have good heads, so they have good hearts, for they
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have the law of God in them, written and ruling there. Those God owns
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for his people <I>in whose hearts his law is.</I> Even those who know
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righteousness, and have the law of God in their hearts, may yet be in
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great distress and sorrow, and loaded with reproach and contempt; but
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their God will comfort them with the righteousness they know and the
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law they have in their hearts.</P>
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<P>
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II. What the comfort is that belongs to God's people.
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1. That the gospel of Christ shall be preached and published to the
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world: <I>A law shall proceed from me,</I> an evangelical law, the law
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of Christ, the law of faith,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+2:3"><I>ch.</I> ii. 3</A>.
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This law is his judgment; for it is that law of liberty by which the
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world shall be governed and judged. This shall not only go forth, but
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shall continue and rest, it shall take firm footing and deep root in
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the world. It shall rest, not only for the benefit of the Jews, who had
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the first notice of it, but <I>for a light of the people</I> of other
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nations. It is this law, this judgment, that we are required to hearken
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and give ear to, at our peril; for how shall we escape if we neglect it
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and turn a deaf ear to it? When a law proceeds from God, <I>he that has
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ears to hear, let him hear.</I>
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2. That this law and judgment shall bring with them righteousness and
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salvation, shall open a ready way to the children of men, that they may
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be justified and saved,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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These are called <I>God's righteousness</I> and <I>his</I> salvation,
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because of his contriving and bringing them about. The former is a
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righteousness which he will accept for us and accept us for, and a
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righteousness which he will work in us and graciously accept of. The
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latter is the <I>salvation of the Lord,</I> for it arises from him and
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terminates in him. Observe, There is no salvation without
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righteousness; and, wherever there is the <I>righteousness of God,</I>
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there shall be his salvation. All those, and those only, that are
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justified and sanctified shall be glorified.
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3. That this righteousness and salvation shall very shortly appear:
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<I>My righteousness is near.</I> It is near in time; behold, all things
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are now ready. It is near in place, not far to seek, but the word is
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nigh us, and Christ in the word, righteousness in the word,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+10:8">Rom. x. 8</A>.
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<I>My salvation has gone forth.</I> The decree has gone forth
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concerning it; it shall as certainly be introduced as if it had gone
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forth already, and the time for it is at hand.
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4. That this evangelical righteousness and salvation shall not be
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confined to the Jewish nation, but shall be extended to the Gentiles;
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<I>My arms shall judge the people.</I> Those that will not yield to the
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judgments of God's mouth shall be crushed by the judgments of his hand.
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Some shall thus be judged by the gospel, for <I>for judgment Christ
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came into this world;</I> but others, and those of <I>the isles, shall
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wait upon him,</I> and bid his gospel, and the commands as well as the
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comforts of it, welcome. It was a comfort to God's people, to his
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nation, that multitudes should be added to them, and the increase of
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their number should be the increase of their strength and beauty. It is
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added, <I>And on my arm shall they trust,</I> that <I>arm of the
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Lord</I> which is revealed in Christ,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:1"><I>ch.</I> liii. 1</A>.
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Observe, God's arm shall judge the people that are impenitent, and yet
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on his arm shall others trust and be saved by it; for it is to us as we
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make it, a savour of life or of death.
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5. That this righteousness and salvation <I>shall be for ever,</I> and
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shall never be abolished,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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It is an everlasting righteousness that the Messiah brings in
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+9:24">Dan. ix. 24</A>),
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an eternal redemption that he is the author of,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+5:9">Heb. v. 9</A>.
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As it shall spread through all the nations of the earth, so it shall
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last through all the ages of the world. We must never expect any other
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way of salvation, any other covenant of peace or rule of righteousness,
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than what we have in the gospel, and what we have there shall continue
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to the end,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+28:20">Mt. xxviii. 20</A>.
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It is for ever; for the consequences of it shall be to eternity, and by
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this law of liberty men's everlasting state will be determined. This
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perpetuity of the gospel and the blessed things it brings in is
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illustrated by the fading and perishing of this world and all things in
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it. Look up to the visible heavens above, which have continued
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hitherto, and seem likely to continue, but they shall <I>vanish like
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smoke</I> that soon spends itself and disappears; they shall be rolled
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like a scroll, and their lights shall fall like leaves in autumn. Look
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down to the earth beneath; that abides too for a short <I>ever</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+1:4">Eccl. i. 4</A>),
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but it shall <I>wax old like a garment</I> that will be the worse for
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wearing; <I>and those that dwell therein,</I> all the inhabitants of
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the earth, even those that seem to have the best settlement in it,
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<I>shall die in like manner:</I> the soul shall, as to this world,
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vanish like smoke, and the body be thrown by like a garment waxen old.
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They shall be easily crushed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+4:19">Job iv. 19</A>),
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and no loss of them. But when <I>heaven and earth pass away,</I> when
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all flesh and the glory of it wither as grass, the <I>word of the Lord
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endures for ever,</I> and <I>not one iota or tittle of that shall fall
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to the ground.</I> Those whose happiness is bound up in Christ's
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righteousness and salvation will have the comfort of it when time and
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days shall be no more.</P>
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<P>
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III. What use they are to make of this comfort. If God's righteousness
|
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and salvation are near to them, then let them <I>not fear the reproach
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of men,</I> of mortal miserable men, nor be <I>afraid of their
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revilings</I> or spiteful taunts, theirs who bid you sing them the
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songs of Zion, or who ask you, in scorn, <I>Where is now your God?</I>
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Let not those who embrace the gospel righteousness be afraid of those
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who will call them <I>Beelzebub,</I> and will say all manner of evil
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against them falsely. Let them not be afraid of them; let them not be
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disturbed by these opprobrious speeches, nor made uneasy by them, as if
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they would be the ruin of their reputation and honour and they must for
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|
ever lie under the load of them. Let them not be afraid of their
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executing their menaces, nor be deterred thereby from their duty, nor
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frightened into any sinful compliances, nor driven to take any indirect
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courses for their own safety. Those can bear but little for Christ that
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cannot bear a hard word for him. Let us not fear the reproach of men;
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for,
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1. They will be quickly silenced
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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<I>The moth shall eat them up like a garment,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+50:9"><I>ch.</I> l. 9</A>.
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<I>The worm shall eat them like wool,</I> or woollen cloth. If we have
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the approbation of a living God, we may despise the censure of dying
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men; the matter is not great what those say of us who must shortly be
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food for worms. Or it intimates the judgments of God with which they
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shall be visited, with which they shall be consumed, for their malice
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against the people of God; they shall be slowly and silently, but
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|
effectually destroyed, when God shall come to reckon with them <I>for
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all their hard speeches,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:14,15">Jude 14, 15</A>.
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2. The cause we suffer for cannot be run down. The falsehood of their
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reproaches will be detected, but truth shall triumph, and the
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righteousness of religion's injured cause shall be for ever plain.
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Clouds darken the sun, but give no obstruction to his progress.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa51_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa51_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa51_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa51_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa51_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa51_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa51_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa51_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Prayer in Behalf of Israel; Encouragement to the People of God.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 706.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; awake, as
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in the ancient days, in the generations of old. <I>Art</I> thou not it
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that hath cut Rahab, <I>and</I> wounded the dragon?
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10 <I>Art</I> thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of
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the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for
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the ransomed to pass over?
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11 Therefore the redeemed of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall return, and come
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with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy <I>shall be</I> upon their
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head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; <I>and</I> sorrow and
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mourning shall flee away.
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12 I, <I>even</I> I, <I>am</I> he that comforteth you: who <I>art</I> thou,
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that thou shouldest be afraid of a man <I>that</I> shall die, and of
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the son of man <I>which</I> shall be made <I>as</I> grass;
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13 And forgettest the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy maker, that hath stretched forth
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the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast
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|
feared continually every day because of the fury of the
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|
oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where <I>is</I> the
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fury of the oppressor?
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14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that
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he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.
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15 But I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God, that divided the sea, whose
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waves roared: The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts <I>is</I> his name.
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16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered
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thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens,
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and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou
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<I>art</I> my people.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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In these verses we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. A prayer that God would, in his providence, appear and act for the
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|
deliverance of his people and the mortification of his and their
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|
enemies. <I>Awake, awake! put on strength, O arm of the Lord!</I>
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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The arm of the Lord is Christ, or it is put for God himself, as
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:23">Ps. xliv. 23</A>.
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<I>Awake! why sleepest thou?</I> He that keeps Israel neither slumbers
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|
nor sleeps; but, when we pray that he would awake, we mean that he
|
|
would make it to appear that he watches over his people and is always
|
|
awake to do them good. The arm of the Lord is said to awake when the
|
|
power of God exerts itself with more than ordinary vigour on his
|
|
people's behalf. When a hand or arm is benumbed we say, It is asleep;
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|
when it is stretched forth for action, It awakes. God needs not to be
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|
reminded nor excited by us, but he gives us leave thus to be humbly
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|
earnest with him for such appearances of his power as will be for his
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|
own praise. "<I>Put on strength,</I>" that is, "put forth strength:
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|
appear in thy strength, as we appear in the clothes we put on,"
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|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+21:13">Ps. xxi. 13</A>.
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|
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|
The church sees her case bad, her enemies many and mighty, her friends
|
|
few and feeble; and therefore she depends purely upon the strength of
|
|
God's arm for her relief. "<I>Awake, as in the ancient days,</I>" that
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|
is, "do for us now as thou didst for our fathers formerly, repeat
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|
<I>the wonders they told us of,</I>"
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|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:13">Judg. vi. 13</A>.</P>
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<P>
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|
II. The pleas to enforce this prayer.
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1. They plead precedents, the experiences of their ancestors, and the
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|
great things God had done for them. "Let the arm of the Lord be made
|
|
bare on our behalf; for it has done great things formerly in defence of
|
|
the same cause, and we are sure it is neither shortened nor weakened.
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|
It did wonders against the Egyptians, who enslaved and oppressed God's
|
|
son, his first-born; it <I>cut Rahab</I> to pieces with one direful
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|
plague after another, <I>and wounded</I> Pharaoh, <I>the dragon,</I>
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|
the Leviathan (as he is called,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:13,14">Ps. lxxiv. 13, 14</A>);
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|
it gave him his death's wound. It did wonders for Israel. <I>It dried
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|
up the sea,</I> even <I>the waters of the great deep,</I> as far as was
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|
requisite to open <I>a way</I> through the sea <I>for the ransomed to
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|
pass over,</I>"
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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|
God is never at a loss for a way to accomplish his purposes concerning
|
|
his people, but will either find one or make one. Past experiences, as
|
|
they are great supports to faith and hope, so they are good pleas in
|
|
prayer. <I>Thou hast; wilt thou not?</I>
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+85:1-6">Ps. lxxxv. 1-6</A>.
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|
2. They plead promises
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
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|
<I>And the redeemed of the Lord shall return,</I> that is (as it may be
|
|
supplied), <I>thou hast said, They shall,</I> referring to
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+35:10"><I>ch.</I> xxxv. 10</A>,
|
|
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|
where we find this promise, that <I>the redeemed of the Lord,</I> when
|
|
they are released out of their captivity in Babylon, <I>shall come with
|
|
singing unto Zion.</I> Sinners, when they are brought out of the
|
|
slavery of sin into the glorious liberty of God's children, may come
|
|
singing, as a bird got loose out of the cage. The souls of believers,
|
|
when they are delivered out of the prison of the body, come to the
|
|
heavenly Zion with singing. Then this promise will have its full
|
|
accomplishment, and we may plead it in the mean time. He that designs
|
|
such joy for us at last will he not work such deliverances for us in
|
|
the mean time as our case requires? When the saints come to heaven they
|
|
<I>enter into the joy of their Lord;</I> it crowns their heads with
|
|
immortal honour; it fills their hearts with complete satisfaction.
|
|
<I>They shall obtain</I> that <I>joy and gladness</I> which they could
|
|
never obtain in this vale of tears. In this world of changes it is a
|
|
short step from joy to sorrow, but in that world <I>sorrow and mourning
|
|
shall flee away,</I> never to return or come in view again.</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The answer immediately given to this prayer
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I, even, I, am he that comforteth you.</I> They prayed for the
|
|
operations of his power; he answers them with the consolations of his
|
|
grace, which may well be accepted as an equivalent. If God do not wound
|
|
the dragon, and dry the sea, as formerly, yet, if he comfort us in soul
|
|
under our afflictions, we have no reason to complain. If God do not
|
|
answer immediately <I>with the saving strength of his right hand,</I>
|
|
we must be thankful if he answer us, as an angel himself was answered
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+1:13">Zech. i. 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>with good words and comfortable words.</I> See how God resolves to
|
|
comfort his people: <I>I, even I,</I> will do it. He had ordered his
|
|
ministers to do it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:1"><I>ch.</I> xl. 1</A>);
|
|
|
|
but, because they cannot reach the heart, he takes the work into his
|
|
own hands: <I>I, even I,</I> will do it. See how he glories in it; he
|
|
takes it among the titles of his honour to be <I>the God that comforts
|
|
those that are cast down;</I> he delights in being so. Those whom God
|
|
comforts are comforted indeed; nay, his undertaking to comfort them is
|
|
comfort enough to them.</P>
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|
|
|
<P>
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|
|
|
1. He comforts those that were in fear; and fear has torment, which
|
|
calls for comfort. The fear of man has a snare in it which we have need
|
|
of comfort to preserve us from. He comforts the timorous by chiding
|
|
them, and that is no improper way of comforting either others or
|
|
ourselves: <I>Why art thou cast down, and why disquieted?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
God, who comforts his people, would not have them disquiet themselves
|
|
with amazing perplexing fears of the reproach of men
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
or of their growing threatening power and greatness, or of any mischief
|
|
they may intend against us or our people. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The absurdity of those fears. It is a disparagement to us to give
|
|
way to them: <I>Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid?</I> In the
|
|
original, the pronoun is feminine, <I>Who art thou, O woman!</I>
|
|
unworthy the name of a man? Such a weak and womanish thing it is to
|
|
give way to perplexing fears.
|
|
|
|
[1.] It is absurd to be in such dread of a dying man. What! <I>afraid
|
|
of a man that shall die,</I> shall certainly and shortly die, <I>of the
|
|
son of man who shall be made as grass,</I> shall wither and be trodden
|
|
down or eaten up? The greatest men, and the most formidable, that are
|
|
<I>the terror of the mighty in the land of the living,</I> are <I>but
|
|
men</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+9:20">Ps. ix. 20</A>)
|
|
|
|
and shall <I>die like men</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+81:7">Ps. lxxxi. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
are but grass sprung out of the earth, cleaving to it, and retiring
|
|
again into it. Note, We ought to look upon every man as a man that
|
|
shall die. Those we admire, and love, and trust to, are men that shall
|
|
die; let us not therefore delight too much in them nor depend too much
|
|
upon them. Those we fear we must look upon as frail and mortal, and
|
|
consider what a foolish thing it is for the servants of the living God
|
|
to be afraid of dying men, that are here to-day and gone tomorrow.
|
|
|
|
[2.] It is absurd to <I>fear continually every day</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
to put ourselves upon a constant rack, so as never to be easy, nor to
|
|
have any enjoyment of ourselves. Now and then a danger may be imminent
|
|
and threatening, and it may be prudent to fear it; but to be always in
|
|
a toss, jealous of dangers at every step, and to tremble at the shaking
|
|
of every leaf, is to make ourselves all our lifetime <I>subject to
|
|
bondage</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+2:15">Heb. ii. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
and to bring upon ourselves that sore judgment which is threatened,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+28:66,67">Deut. xxviii. 66, 67</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou shalt fear, day and night.</I>
|
|
|
|
[3.] It is absurd to fear beyond what there is cause: "Thou art
|
|
<I>afraid of the fury of the oppressor.</I> It is true, there is an
|
|
oppressor, and he is furious, and he designs, it may be, when he has an
|
|
opportunity, to do thee a mischief, and it will be thy wisdom therefore
|
|
to stand upon thy guard; but thou art afraid of him, <I>as if he were
|
|
ready to destroy,</I> as if he were just now going to cut thy throat,
|
|
and as if there were no possibility of preventing it." A timorous
|
|
spirit is thus apt to make the worst of every thing, and to apprehend
|
|
the danger greater and nearer than really it is. Sometimes God is
|
|
pleased at once to show us the folly of so doing: "<I>Where is the fury
|
|
of the oppressor?</I> It is gone in an instant, and the danger is over
|
|
ere thou art aware." His heart is turned, or his hands are tied.
|
|
<I>Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise,</I> and the king of Babylon no
|
|
more. What has become of all the furious oppressors of God's Israel,
|
|
that hectored them, and threatened them, and were a terror to them?
|
|
they passed away, and, lo, they were not; and so shall these.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The impiety of those fears: "Thou art <I>afraid of a man that
|
|
shall die, and forgettest the Lord thy Maker,</I> who is also the Maker
|
|
of all the world, who <I>has stretched forth the heavens and laid the
|
|
foundations of the earth,</I> and therefore has all the hosts and all
|
|
the powers of both at his command and disposal." Note, Our inordinate
|
|
fear of man is a tacit forgetfulness of God. When we disquiet ourselves
|
|
with the fear of man we forget that there is a God above him, and that
|
|
the greatest of men have no power but what is given them from above; we
|
|
forget the providence of God, by which he orders and overrules all
|
|
events according to the counsel of his own will; we forget the promises
|
|
he has made to protect his people, and the experiences we have had of
|
|
his care concerning us, and his seasonable interposition for our relief
|
|
many a time, when we thought the oppressor ready to destroy; we forget
|
|
our Jehovah-jirehs, monuments of mercy in the mount of the Lord. Did we
|
|
remember to make God our fear and our dread, we should not be so much
|
|
afraid as we are of the frowns of men,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:12,13"><I>ch.</I> viii. 12, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Happy is the man that fears God always,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+28:14,Lu+12:4,5">Prov. xxviii. 14; Luke xii. 4, 5</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He comforts those that were in bonds,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
See here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) What they do for themselves: <I>The captives exile hastens that he
|
|
may be loosed</I> and may return to his own country, from which he is
|
|
banished; his care is <I>that he may not die in the pit</I> (not die a
|
|
prisoner, through the inconveniences of his confinement), and that
|
|
<I>his bread should not fail,</I> either the bread he should have to
|
|
keep him alive in prison or that which should bear his charges home;
|
|
his stock is low, and therefore he hastens to be loosed. Now some
|
|
understand this as his fault. He is distrustfully impatient of delays,
|
|
cannot wait God's time, but thinks he is undone and must die in the pit
|
|
if he be not released immediately. Others take it to be his praise,
|
|
that when the doors are thrown open he does not linger, but applies
|
|
himself with all diligence to procure his discharge. And then it
|
|
follows, <I>But I am the Lord thy God,</I> which intimates,
|
|
|
|
(2.) What God will do for them, even that which they cannot do for
|
|
themselves. God has all power in his hand to help the captive exiles;
|
|
for he has <I>divided the sea,</I> when the roaring of its waves was
|
|
more frightful than any of the impotent menaces of proud oppressors. He
|
|
has <I>stilled</I> or <I>quieted the sea,</I> so some think it should
|
|
be read,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:7,89:9">Ps. lxv. 7; lxxxix. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is not only a proof of what God can do, but a resemblance of what
|
|
he has done, and will do, for his people; he will find out a way to
|
|
still the threatening storm, and bring them safely into the harbour.
|
|
<I>The Lord of hosts is his name,</I> his name for ever, the name by
|
|
which his people have long known him. And, as he is able to help them,
|
|
so he is willing and engaged to do it; for he is <I>thy God,</I> O
|
|
captive-exile! thine in covenant. This is a check to the desponding
|
|
captives. Let them not conclude that they must either be loosed
|
|
immediately or die in the pit; for he that is the Lord of hosts can
|
|
relieve them when they are brought ever so low. It is also an
|
|
encouragement to the diligent captives, who, when liberty is
|
|
proclaimed, are willing to lose no time; let them know that the Lord is
|
|
their God, and, while they thus strive to help themselves, they may be
|
|
sure he will help them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He comforts all his people who depended upon what the prophets said
|
|
to them in the name of the Lord, and built their hopes upon it. When
|
|
the deliverances which the prophets spoke of either did not come so
|
|
soon as they looked for them or did not come up to the height of their
|
|
expectation they began to be cast down in their own eyes; but, as to
|
|
this, they are encouraged
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>)
|
|
|
|
by what God says to his prophet, not to this only, but to all his
|
|
prophets, nor to this, or them, principally, but to Christ, the great
|
|
prophet. It is a great satisfaction to those to whom the message is
|
|
sent to hear the God of truth and power say to his messenger, as he
|
|
does here, <I>I have put my words in thy mouth, that</I> by them <I>I
|
|
may plant the heavens.</I> God undertook to comfort his people
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>);
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|
|
|
but still he does it by his prophets, by his gospel; and, that he may
|
|
do it by these, he here tells us,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That his word in them is very true. He owns what they have said to
|
|
be what he had directed and enjoined them to say: "<I>I have put my
|
|
words in thy mouth,</I> and therefore he that receives thee and them
|
|
receives me." This is a great stay to our faith, that Christ's doctrine
|
|
was not his, but his that sent him, and that the words of the prophets
|
|
and apostles were God's own words, which he put into their mouths.
|
|
God's Spirit not only revealed to them the things themselves they spoke
|
|
of, but dictated to them the words they should speak
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+1:21,1Co+2:13">2 Pet. i. 21; 1 Cor. ii. 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
so that these are the true sayings of God, of a God that cannot lie.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That it is very safe: I have <I>covered thee in the shadow of my
|
|
hand</I> (as before,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+49:2"><I>ch.</I> xlix. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
which speaks the special protection not only of the prophets, but of
|
|
their prophecies, not only of Christ, but of Christianity, of the
|
|
gospel of Christ; it is not only the faithful word of God which the
|
|
prophets deliver to us, but it shall be carefully preserved till it
|
|
have its accomplishment for the use of the church, notwithstanding the
|
|
restless endeavours of the powers of darkness to extinguish this light.
|
|
They shall <I>prophesy again</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+10:11">Rev. x. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
though not in their persons, yet in their writings, which God has
|
|
always <I>covered in the shadow of his hand,</I> preserved by a special
|
|
providence, else they would have been lost ere this.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That this word, when it comes to be accomplished, will be very
|
|
great and will not fall short of the pomp and grandeur of the prophecy:
|
|
"<I>I have put my words in thy mouth,</I> not that by the performance
|
|
of them I may plant a nation, or found a city, but <I>that I may plant
|
|
the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth,</I> may do that for
|
|
my people which will be a new creation." This must look as far forward
|
|
as to the great work done by the gospel of Christ and the setting up of
|
|
his holy religion in the world. As God by Christ made the world at
|
|
first
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+1:2">Heb. i. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
and by him formed the Old-Testament church
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+6:12">Zech. vi. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
so by him, and the words put into his mouth, he will set up,
|
|
|
|
[1.] A new world, will again plant the heavens and found the earth.
|
|
Sin having put the whole creation into disorder, Christ's taking away
|
|
the sin of the world put all into order again. <I>Old things have
|
|
passed away, all things have become new;</I> things in heaven and
|
|
things on earth are reconciled, and so put into a new posture,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+1:20">Col. i. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Through him, according to the promise, <I>we look for new heavens and a
|
|
new earth</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+3:13">2 Pet. iii. 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
and to this the prophets bear witness.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He will set up a new church, a New-Testament church: <I>He will
|
|
say unto Zion, Thou art my people.</I> The gospel church is called
|
|
<I>Zion</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:22">Heb. xii. 22</A>)
|
|
|
|
and <I>Jerusalem</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:26">Gal. iv. 26</A>);
|
|
|
|
and, when the Gentiles are brought into it, it shall be said unto them,
|
|
<I>You are my people.</I> When God works great deliverances for his
|
|
church, and especially when he shall complete the salvation of it in
|
|
the great day, he will thereby own that poor despised handful to be his
|
|
people, whom he has chosen and loved.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa51_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa51_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa51_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa51_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa51_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa51_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa51_23"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jerusalem's Affliction.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 706.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the
|
|
hand of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs
|
|
of the cup of trembling, <I>and</I> wrung <I>them</I> out.
|
|
18 <I>There is</I> none to guide her among all the sons <I>whom</I> she
|
|
hath brought forth; neither <I>is there any</I> that taketh her by the
|
|
hand of all the sons <I>that</I> she hath brought up.
|
|
19 These two <I>things</I> are come unto thee; who shall be sorry
|
|
for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the
|
|
sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?
|
|
20 Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the
|
|
streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, the rebuke of thy God.
|
|
21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but
|
|
not with wine:
|
|
22 Thus saith thy Lord the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and thy God <I>that</I> pleadeth
|
|
the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand
|
|
the cup of trembling, <I>even</I> the dregs of the cup of my fury;
|
|
thou shalt no more drink it again:
|
|
23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee;
|
|
which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and
|
|
thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them
|
|
that went over.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
God, having awoke for the comfort of his people, here calls upon them
|
|
to awake, as afterwards,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+52:1"><I>ch.</I> lii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is a call to awake not so much out of the sleep of sin (though that
|
|
also is necessary in order to their being ready for deliverance) as out
|
|
of the stupor of despair. When the inhabitants of Jerusalem were in
|
|
captivity they, as well as those who remained upon the spot, were so
|
|
overwhelmed with the sense of their troubles that they had no heart or
|
|
spirit to mind any thing that tended to their comfort or relief; they
|
|
were as the disciples in the garden, <I>sleeping for sorrow</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+22:45">Luke xxii. 45</A>),
|
|
|
|
and therefore, when the deliverance came, they are said to have been
|
|
<I>like those that dream,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+136:1">Ps. cxxxvi. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nay, it is a call to awake, not only from sleep, but from death, like
|
|
that to the dry bones to live,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+37:9">Ezek. xxxvii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Awake, and look about thee, that thou mayest see the day of thy
|
|
deliverance dawn, and mayest be ready to bid it welcome. Recover thy
|
|
senses; sink not under thy load, but stand up, and bestir thyself for
|
|
thy own help." This may be applied to the Jerusalem that was in the
|
|
apostle's time, which is said to have been <I>in bondage with her
|
|
children</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:25">Gal. iv. 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
and to have been under the power of <I>a spirit of slumber</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:8">Rom. xi. 8</A>);
|
|
|
|
they are called to awake, and mind the things that belonged to their
|
|
everlasting peace, and then the cup of trembling should be taken out of
|
|
their hands, peace should be spoken to them, and they should triumph
|
|
over Satan, who had blinded their eyes and lulled them asleep. Now,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. It is owned that Jerusalem had long been in a very deplorable
|
|
condition, and sunk into the depths of misery.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. She had lain under the tokens of God's displeasure. He had put into
|
|
her hand <I>the cup of his fury,</I> that is, her share of his
|
|
displeasure. The dispensations of his providence concerning her had
|
|
been such that she had reason to think he was angry with her. She had
|
|
provoked him to anger most bitterly, and was made to taste the bitter
|
|
fruits of it. The cup of God's fury is, and will be, a <I>cup of
|
|
trembling</I> to all those that have it put into their hands: damned
|
|
sinners will find it so to eternity. It is said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+75:8">Ps. lxxv. 8</A>)
|
|
|
|
that <I>the dregs of the cup,</I> the loathsome sediments in the bottom
|
|
of it, <I>all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink
|
|
them;</I> but here Jerusalem, having made herself as the wicked of the
|
|
earth, is compelled to wring them out and drink them; for wherever
|
|
there has been a cup of fornication, as there had been in Jerusalem's
|
|
hand when she was idolatrous, sooner or later there will be a cup of
|
|
fury, a cup of trembling. Therefore <I>stand in awe and sin
|
|
not.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Those that should have helped her in her distress failed her, and
|
|
were either unable or unwilling to help her, as might have been
|
|
expected,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
She is intoxicated with the cup of God's fury, and, being so, staggers,
|
|
and is very unsteady in her counsels and attempts. She knows not what
|
|
she says or does, much less knows she what to say or do; and, in this
|
|
unhappy condition, <I>of all the sons that she has brought forth</I>
|
|
and brought up, that she was borne and educated (and there were many
|
|
famous ones, for of Zion it was said <I>that this and that man were
|
|
born there,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+87:5">Ps. lxxxvii. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>there is none to guide her,</I> none to take her by the hand to keep
|
|
her either from falling or from shaming herself, to lend either a hand
|
|
to help her out of her trouble or a tongue to comfort her under it.
|
|
Think it not strange if wise and good men are disappointed in their
|
|
children, and have not that succour from them which they expected, but
|
|
those that were arrows in their hand prove arrows in their heart, when
|
|
Jerusalem herself has none of all her sons, prince, priest, nor
|
|
prophet, that has such a sense either of duty or gratitude as to help
|
|
her when she has most need of help. Thus they complain,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+74:9">Ps. lxxiv. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
There is <I>none to tell us how long.</I> Now that which aggravated
|
|
this disappointment was,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That her trouble was very great, and yet there was none to pity or
|
|
help her: <I>These two things have come unto thee</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
to complete thy desolation and destruction, even <I>the famine and the
|
|
sword,</I> two sore judgments, and very terrible. Or the two things
|
|
were the <I>desolation and destruction</I> by which the city was wasted
|
|
and the famine and sword by which the citizens perished. Or the two
|
|
things were the trouble itself (made up of desolation, destruction,
|
|
famine, and sword) and her being helpless, forlorn, and comfortless,
|
|
under it. "Two sad things indeed, to be in this woeful case, and to
|
|
have none to pity thee, to sympathize with thee in thy griefs, or to
|
|
help to bear the burden of thy cares, to have none to comfort thee, by
|
|
suggesting that to thee which might help to alleviate thy grief or
|
|
doing that for thee which might help to redress thy grievances." Or
|
|
these two things that had come upon Jerusalem are the same with the two
|
|
things that were afterwards to come upon Babylon
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:9"><I>ch.</I> xlvii. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>loss of children and widowhood</I>--piteous case, and yet, "when
|
|
thou hast brought it upon thyself by thy own sin and folly, <I>who
|
|
shall be sorry for thee?</I>--a case that calls for comfort, and yet,
|
|
when thou art froward under thy trouble, frettest, and makest thyself
|
|
uneasy, <I>by whom shall I comfort thee?</I>" Those that will not be
|
|
counselled cannot be helped.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That those who should have been her comforters were their own
|
|
tormentors
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They have fainted,</I> as quite dispirited and driven to despair;
|
|
they have no patience in which to keep possession of their own souls
|
|
and the enjoyment of themselves, nor any confidence in God's promise,
|
|
by which to keep possession of the comfort of that. They throw
|
|
themselves upon the ground, in vexation at their troubles, and there
|
|
<I>they lie at the head of all the streets,</I> complaining to all that
|
|
pass by
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+1:12">Lam. i. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
pining away for want of necessary food; there they lie like <I>a wild
|
|
bull in a net,</I> fretting and raging, struggling and pulling, to help
|
|
themselves, but entangling themselves so much the more, and making
|
|
their condition the worse by their own passions and discontents. Those
|
|
that are of a meek and quiet spirit are, under affliction, like a dove
|
|
in a net, mourning indeed, but silent and patient. Those that are of a
|
|
froward peevish spirit are like a wild bull in a net, uneasy to
|
|
themselves, vexatious to their friends, and provoking to their God:
|
|
<I>They are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of our God.</I>
|
|
God is angry with them, and contends with them, and they are full of
|
|
that only, and take no notice of his wise and gracious designs in
|
|
afflicting them, never enquire wherefore he contends with them, and
|
|
therefore nothing appears in them but anger at God and quarrelling with
|
|
him. They are displeased at God for the dispensations of his providence
|
|
concerning them, and so they do but make bad worse. This had long been
|
|
Jerusalem's woeful case, and God took cognizance of it. But,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. It is promised that Jerusalem's troubles shall at length come to an
|
|
end, and be transferred to her persecutors
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Nevertheless hear this, thou afflicted.</I> It is often the lot of
|
|
God's church to be afflicted, and God has always something to say to
|
|
her then which she will do well to hearken to. "Thou art <I>drunken,
|
|
not</I> as formerly <I>with wine,</I> not with the intoxicating cup of
|
|
Babylon's whoredoms and idolatries, but with the cup of affliction.
|
|
Know then, for thy comfort,"
|
|
|
|
1. "That the Lord Jehovah is thy Lord and thy God, for all this." It
|
|
is expressed emphatically
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thus saith thy Lord, the Lord, and thy God</I>--the Lord, who is
|
|
able to help thee, and has wherewithal to relieve thee,--<I>thy</I>
|
|
Lord, who has an incontestable right to thee, and will not alienate
|
|
it,--thy God, in covenant with thee, and who has undertaken to make
|
|
thee happy." Whatever the distresses of God's people may be, he will
|
|
not disown his relation to them, nor have they lost their interest in
|
|
him and in his promise.
|
|
|
|
2. "That he is the God <I>who pleads the cause of his people,</I> as
|
|
their patron and protector, who takes what is done against them a done
|
|
against himself." The cause of God's people, and of that holy religion
|
|
which they profess, is a righteous cause, otherwise the righteous God
|
|
would not appear for it; yet it may for a time be run down, and seem as
|
|
if it were lost. But God will plead it, either by convincing the
|
|
consciences or confounding the mischievous projects of those that fight
|
|
against it. He will plead it by clearing up the equity and excellency
|
|
of it to the world and by giving success to those that act in defence
|
|
of it. It is his own cause; he has espoused it, and therefore will
|
|
plead it with jealousy.
|
|
|
|
3. That they should shortly take leave of their troubles and bid a
|
|
final farewell to them: "<I>I will take out of thy hand the cup of
|
|
trembling,</I> that bitter cup; it shall pass from thee." Throwing away
|
|
the cup of trembling will not do, nor saying, "We will not, we cannot,
|
|
drink it;" but, if we patiently submit, he that put it into out hands
|
|
will himself take it out of our hands. Nay, it is promised, "<I>Thou
|
|
shalt no more drink it again.</I> God has let fall his controversy with
|
|
thee, and will not revive the judgment."
|
|
|
|
4. That their persecutors and oppressors should be made to drink of the
|
|
same bitter cup of which they had drunk so deeply,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
See here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) How insolently they had abused and trampled upon the people of
|
|
God: <I>They have said to thy soul,</I> to thee, to thy life, <I>Bow
|
|
down, that we may go over.</I> Nay, they have said it to thy
|
|
conscience, taking a pride and pleasure in forcing thee to worship
|
|
idols. Herein the New-Testament Babylon treads in the steps of that old
|
|
oppressor, tyrannizing over men's consciences, giving law to them,
|
|
putting them upon the rack, and compelling them to sinful compliances.
|
|
Those that set up an infallible head and judge, requiring an implicit
|
|
faith in his dictates and obedience to his commands, do in effect say
|
|
to men's souls, <I>Bow down, that we may go over,</I> and they say it
|
|
with delight.
|
|
|
|
(2.) How meanly the people of God (having by their sin lost much of
|
|
their courage and sense of honour) truckled to them: <I>Thou hast laid
|
|
thy body as the ground.</I> Observe, The oppressors required souls to
|
|
be subjected to them, that every man should believe and worship just as
|
|
they would have them. But all they could gain by their threats and
|
|
violence was that people laid their bodies on the ground; they brought
|
|
them to an external and hypocritical conformity, but conscience cannot
|
|
be forced, nor is it mentioned to their praise that they yielded thus
|
|
far. But observe,
|
|
|
|
(3.) How justly God will reckon with those who have carried it so
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imperiously towards his people: <I>The cup of trembling shall be put
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into their hand.</I> Babylon's case shall be as bad as ever Jerusalem's
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was. Daniel's persecutors shall be thrown into Daniel's den; let them
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see how they like it. And the Lord is known by these judgments which he
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executes.</P>
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