mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 51.xml

<div2 id="Is.lii" n="lii" next="Is.liii" prev="Is.li" progress="19.47%" title="Chapter LI">
<h2 id="Is.lii-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.lii-p0.2">CHAP. LI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.lii-p1" shownumber="no">This chapter is designed for the comfort and
encouragement of those that fear God and keep his commandments,
even when they walk in darkness and have no light. Whether it was
intended primarily for the support of the captives in Babylon is
not certain, probably it was; but comforts thus generally expressed
ought not to be so confined. Whenever the church of God is in
distress her friends and well-wishers may comfort themselves and
one another with these words, I. That God, who raised his church at
first out of nothing, will take care that it shall not perish,
<scripRef id="Is.lii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.1-Isa.51.3" parsed="|Isa|51|1|51|3" passage="Isa 51:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II. That the
righteousness and salvation he designs for his church are sure and
near, very near and very sure, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.4-Isa.51.6" parsed="|Isa|51|4|51|6" passage="Isa 51:4-6">ver.
4-6</scripRef>. III. That the persecutors of the church are weak
and dying creatures, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.7-Isa.51.8" parsed="|Isa|51|7|51|8" passage="Isa 51:7,8">ver. 7,
8</scripRef>. IV. That the same power which did wonders for the
church formerly is now engaged and employed for her protection and
deliverance, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.9-Isa.51.11" parsed="|Isa|51|9|51|11" passage="Isa 51:9-11">ver. 9-11</scripRef>.
V. That God himself, the Maker of the world, had undertaken both to
deliver his people out of their distress and to comfort them under
it, and sent his prophet to assure them of it, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.12-Isa.51.16" parsed="|Isa|51|12|51|16" passage="Isa 51:12-16">ver. 12-16</scripRef>. VI. That, deplorable as the
condition of the church now was (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.17-Isa.51.20" parsed="|Isa|51|17|51|20" passage="Isa 51:17-20">ver. 17-20</scripRef>), to the same woeful
circumstances her persecutors and oppressors should shortly be
reduced, and worse, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.21-Isa.51.23" parsed="|Isa|51|21|51|23" passage="Isa 51:21-23">ver.
21-23</scripRef>. The first three paragraphs of this chapter begin
with, "Hearken unto me," and they are God's people that are all
along called to hearken; for even when comforts are spoken to them
sometimes they "hearken not, through anguish of spirit" (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Exod.6.9" parsed="|Exod|6|9|0|0" passage="Ex 6:9">Exod. vi. 9</scripRef>); therefore they are again
and again called to hearken, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.1 Bible:Isa.51.4 Bible:Isa.51.7" parsed="|Isa|51|1|0|0;|Isa|51|4|0|0;|Isa|51|7|0|0" passage="Isa 51:1,4,7">ver.
1, 4, 7</scripRef>. The two other paragraphs of this chapter begin
with "Awake, awake;" in the former (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.9" parsed="|Isa|51|9|0|0" passage="Isa 51:9">ver. 9</scripRef>) God's people call upon him to awake
and help them; in the latter, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.17" parsed="|Isa|51|17|0|0" passage="Isa 51:17">ver.
17</scripRef>. God calls upon them to awake and help
themselves.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.lii-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51" parsed="|Isa|51|0|0|0" passage="Isa 51" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.lii-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.1-Isa.51.3" parsed="|Isa|51|1|51|3" passage="Isa 51:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lii-p1.14">
<h4 id="Is.lii-p1.15">Encouragement to the
Disconsolate. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p1.16">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after
righteousness, ye that seek the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p2.1">Lord</span>: look unto the rock <i>whence</i> ye are
hewn, and to the hole of the pit <i>whence</i> ye are digged.
  2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah <i>that</i>
bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased
him.   3 For the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p2.2">Lord</span> shall
comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will
make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p2.3">Lord</span>; joy and gladness shall be
found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lii-p3" shownumber="no">Observe, 1. How the people of God are here
described, to whom the word of this consolation is sent and who are
called upon to hearken to it, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.1" parsed="|Isa|51|1|0|0" passage="Isa 51:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. They are such as <i>follow after
righteousness,</i> such as are very desirous and solicitous both to
be justified and to be sanctified, are pressing hard after this, to
have the favour of God restored to them and the image of God
renewed on them. These are those <i>that seek the Lord,</i> for it
is only in the say of righteousness that we can seek him with any
hope of finding him. 2. How they are here directed to look back to
their original, and the smallness of their beginning: "<i>Look unto
the rock whence you were hewn</i>" (the idolatrous family in Ur of
the Chaldees, out of which Abraham was taken, the generation of
slaves which the heads and fathers of their tribes were in Egypt);
"look unto <i>the hole of the pit out of which you were digged,</i>
as clay, when God formed you into a people." Note, It is good for
those that are privileged by a new birth to consider what they were
by their first birth, how they were <i>conceived in iniquity and
shapen in sin.</i> That which is <i>born of the flesh is flesh.</i>
How hard was that rock out of which we were hewn, unapt to receive
impressions, and how miserable <i>the hole of that pit out of which
we were digged!</i> The consideration of this should fill us with
low thoughts of ourselves and high thoughts of divine grace. Those
that are now advanced would do well to remember how low they began
(<scripRef id="Is.lii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.2" parsed="|Isa|51|2|0|0" passage="Isa 51:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): "<i>Look
unto Abraham your father,</i> the father of all the faithful, of
all that follow after the righteousness of faith as he did
(<scripRef id="Is.lii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.4.11" parsed="|Rom|4|11|0|0" passage="Ro 4:11">Rom. iv. 11</scripRef>), <i>and unto
Sarah that bore you,</i> and whose daughters you all are as long as
you do well. Think how Abraham was <i>called alone,</i> and yet was
<i>blessed</i> and <i>multiplied;</i> and let that encourage you to
depend upon the promise of God even when a sentence of death seems
to be upon all the means that lead to the performance of it.
Particularly let it encourage the captives in Babylon, though they
are reduced to a small number, and few of them left, to hope that
yet they shall increase so as to replenish their own land again."
When Jacob is very small, yet he is not so small as Abraham was,
who yet became father of many nations. "Look unto Abraham, and see
what he got by trusting in the promise of God, and take example by
him to follow God with an implicit faith." 3. How they are here
assured that their present seedness of tears should at length end
in a harvest of joys, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.3" parsed="|Isa|51|3|0|0" passage="Isa 51:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. The church of God on earth, even the gospel Zion, has
sometimes had her deserts and waste places, many parts of the
church, through either corruption or persecution, made like a
wilderness, unfruitful to God or uncomfortable to the inhabitants;
but God will find out a time and way to <i>comfort Zion,</i> not
only by speaking comfortably to her, but by acting graciously for
her. God has comforts in store even for the <i>waste places</i> of
his church, for those parts of it that seem not regarded or valued.
(1.) He will make them fruitful, and so give them cause to rejoice;
her wildernesses shall put on a new face, and look pleasant as
Eden, and abound in all good fruits, <i>as the garden of the
Lord.</i> Note, It is the greatest comfort of the church to be made
serviceable to the glory of God, and to be as his garden in which
he delights. (2.) He will make them cheerful, and so give them
hearts to rejoice. With the <i>fruits of righteousness, joy and
gladness shall be found therein;</i> for the more holiness men
have, and the more good they do, the more gladness they have. And
where there is gladness, to their satisfaction, it is fit that
there should be thanksgiving, to God's honour; for whatever is the
matter of our rejoicing ought to be the matter of our thanksgiving;
and the returns of God's favour ought to be celebrated with the
voice of melody, which will be the more melodious when God gives
<i>songs in the night,</i> songs in the desert.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.lii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.4-Isa.51.8" parsed="|Isa|51|4|51|8" passage="Isa 51:4-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lii-p3.6">
<h4 id="Is.lii-p3.7">Encouragement to the
Disconsolate. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p3.8">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lii-p4" shownumber="no">4 Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto
me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make
my judgment to rest for a light of the people.   5 My
righteousness <i>is</i> near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine
arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on
mine arm shall they trust.   6 Lift up your eyes to the
heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall
vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment,
and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my
salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be
abolished.   7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness,
the people in whose heart <i>is</i> my law; fear ye not the
reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.   8
For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall
eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my
salvation from generation to generation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lii-p5" shownumber="no">Both these proclamations, as I may call
them, end alike with an assurance of the perpetuity of God's
righteousness and his salvation; and therefore we put them
together, both being designed for the comfort of God's people.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lii-p6" shownumber="no">I. Who they are to whom this comfort
belongs: "<i>My people,</i> and <i>my nation,</i> that I have set
apart for myself, that own me and are owned by me." Those are God's
people and his nation who are subject to him as their King and
their God, pay allegiance to him, and put themselves under his
protection accordingly. They are a people who <i>know
righteousness,</i> who not only have the means of knowledge, and to
whom righteousness is made known, but who improve those means, and
are able to form a right judgment of truth and falsehood, good and
evil. And, as they have good heads, so they have good hearts, for
they have the law of God in them, written and ruling there. Those
God owns for his people <i>in whose hearts his law is.</i> Even
those who know righteousness, and have the law of God in their
hearts, may yet be in great distress and sorrow, and loaded with
reproach and contempt; but their God will comfort them with the
righteousness they know and the law they have in their hearts.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lii-p7" shownumber="no">II. What the comfort is that belongs to
God's people. 1. That the gospel of Christ shall be preached and
published to the world: <i>A law shall proceed from me,</i> an
evangelical law, the law of Christ, the law of faith, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.2.3" parsed="|Isa|2|3|0|0" passage="Isa 2:3"><i>ch.</i> ii. 3</scripRef>. This law is his
judgment; for it is that law of liberty by which the world shall be
governed and judged. This shall not only go forth, but shall
continue and rest, it shall take firm footing and deep root in the
world. It shall rest, not only for the benefit of the Jews, who had
the first notice of it, but <i>for a light of the people</i> of
other nations. It is this law, this judgment, that we are required
to hearken and give ear to, at our peril; for how shall we escape
if we neglect it and turn a deaf ear to it? When a law proceeds
from God, <i>he that has ears to hear, let him hear.</i> 2. That
this law and judgment shall bring with them righteousness and
salvation, shall open a ready way to the children of men, that they
may be justified and saved, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.5" parsed="|Isa|51|5|0|0" passage="Isa 51:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>. These are called <i>God's righteousness</i> and
<i>his</i> salvation, because of his contriving and bringing them
about. The former is a righteousness which he will accept for us
and accept us for, and a righteousness which he will work in us and
graciously accept of. The latter is the <i>salvation of the
Lord,</i> for it arises from him and terminates in him. Observe,
There is no salvation without righteousness; and, wherever there is
the <i>righteousness of God,</i> there shall be his salvation. All
those, and those only, that are justified and sanctified shall be
glorified. 3. That this righteousness and salvation shall very
shortly appear: <i>My righteousness is near.</i> It is near in
time; behold, all things are now ready. It is near in place, not
far to seek, but the word is nigh us, and Christ in the word,
righteousness in the word, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.10.8" parsed="|Rom|10|8|0|0" passage="Ro 10:8">Rom. x.
8</scripRef>. <i>My salvation has gone forth.</i> The decree has
gone forth concerning it; it shall as certainly be introduced as if
it had gone forth already, and the time for it is at hand. 4. That
this evangelical righteousness and salvation shall not be confined
to the Jewish nation, but shall be extended to the Gentiles; <i>My
arms shall judge the people.</i> Those that will not yield to the
judgments of God's mouth shall be crushed by the judgments of his
hand. Some shall thus be judged by the gospel, for <i>for judgment
Christ came into this world;</i> but others, and those of <i>the
isles, shall wait upon him,</i> and bid his gospel, and the
commands as well as the comforts of it, welcome. It was a comfort
to God's people, to his nation, that multitudes should be added to
them, and the increase of their number should be the increase of
their strength and beauty. It is added, <i>And on my arm shall they
trust,</i> that <i>arm of the Lord</i> which is revealed in Christ,
<scripRef id="Is.lii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.53.1" parsed="|Isa|53|1|0|0" passage="Isa 53:1"><i>ch.</i> liii. 1</scripRef>.
Observe, God's arm shall judge the people that are impenitent, and
yet on his arm shall others trust and be saved by it; for it is to
us as we make it, a savour of life or of death. 5. That this
righteousness and salvation <i>shall be for ever,</i> and shall
never be abolished, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.8" parsed="|Isa|51|8|0|0" passage="Isa 51:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>. It is an everlasting righteousness that the Messiah
brings in (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Dan.9.24" parsed="|Dan|9|24|0|0" passage="Da 9:24">Dan. ix. 24</scripRef>), an
eternal redemption that he is the author of, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Heb.5.9" parsed="|Heb|5|9|0|0" passage="Heb 5:9">Heb. v. 9</scripRef>. As it shall spread through all the
nations of the earth, so it shall last through all the ages of the
world. We must never expect any other way of salvation, any other
covenant of peace or rule of righteousness, than what we have in
the gospel, and what we have there shall continue to the end,
<scripRef id="Is.lii-p7.8" osisRef="Bible:Matt.28.20" parsed="|Matt|28|20|0|0" passage="Mt 28:20">Mt. xxviii. 20</scripRef>. It is for
ever; for the consequences of it shall be to eternity, and by this
law of liberty men's everlasting state will be determined. This
perpetuity of the gospel and the blessed things it brings in is
illustrated by the fading and perishing of this world and all
things in it. Look up to the visible heavens above, which have
continued hitherto, and seem likely to continue, but they shall
<i>vanish like smoke</i> that soon spends itself and disappears;
they shall be rolled like a scroll, and their lights shall fall
like leaves in autumn. Look down to the earth beneath; that abides
too for a short <i>ever</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p7.9" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.4" parsed="|Eccl|1|4|0|0" passage="Ec 1:4">Eccl. i.
4</scripRef>), but it shall <i>wax old like a garment</i> that will
be the worse for wearing; <i>and those that dwell therein,</i> all
the inhabitants of the earth, even those that seem to have the best
settlement in it, <i>shall die in like manner:</i> the soul shall,
as to this world, vanish like smoke, and the body be thrown by like
a garment waxen old. They shall be easily crushed (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p7.10" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.19" parsed="|Job|4|19|0|0" passage="Job 4:19">Job iv. 19</scripRef>), and no loss of them. But
when <i>heaven and earth pass away,</i> when all flesh and the
glory of it wither as grass, the <i>word of the Lord endures for
ever,</i> and <i>not one iota or tittle of that shall fall to the
ground.</i> Those whose happiness is bound up in Christ's
righteousness and salvation will have the comfort of it when time
and days shall be no more.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lii-p8" shownumber="no">III. What use they are to make of this
comfort. If God's righteousness and salvation are near to them,
then let them <i>not fear the reproach of men,</i> of mortal
miserable men, nor be <i>afraid of their revilings</i> or spiteful
taunts, theirs who bid you sing them the songs of Zion, or who ask
you, in scorn, <i>Where is now your God?</i> Let not those who
embrace the gospel righteousness be afraid of those who will call
them <i>Beelzebub,</i> and will say all manner of evil against them
falsely. Let them not be afraid of them; let them not be disturbed
by these opprobrious speeches, nor made uneasy by them, as if they
would be the ruin of their reputation and honour and they must for
ever lie under the load of them. Let them not be afraid of their
executing their menaces, nor be deterred thereby from their duty,
nor frightened into any sinful compliances, nor driven to take any
indirect courses for their own safety. Those can bear but little
for Christ that cannot bear a hard word for him. Let us not fear
the reproach of men; for, 1. They will be quickly silenced
(<scripRef id="Is.lii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.8" parsed="|Isa|51|8|0|0" passage="Isa 51:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>The moth
shall eat them up like a garment,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.50.9" parsed="|Isa|50|9|0|0" passage="Isa 50:9"><i>ch.</i> l. 9</scripRef>. <i>The worm shall eat them
like wool,</i> or woollen cloth. If we have the approbation of a
living God, we may despise the censure of dying men; the matter is
not great what those say of us who must shortly be food for worms.
Or it intimates the judgments of God with which they shall be
visited, with which they shall be consumed, for their malice
against the people of God; they shall be slowly and silently, but
effectually destroyed, when God shall come to reckon with them
<i>for all their hard speeches,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Jude.1.14-Jude.1.15" parsed="|Jude|1|14|1|15" passage="Jude 1:14,15">Jude 14, 15</scripRef>. 2. The cause we suffer for
cannot be run down. The falsehood of their reproaches will be
detected, but truth shall triumph, and the righteousness of
religion's injured cause shall be for ever plain. Clouds darken the
sun, but give no obstruction to his progress.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.lii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.9-Isa.51.16" parsed="|Isa|51|9|51|16" passage="Isa 51:9-16" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lii-p8.5">
<h4 id="Is.lii-p8.6">Prayer in Behalf of Israel; Encouragement to
the People of God. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p8.7">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lii-p9" shownumber="no">9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p9.1">Lord</span>; awake, as in the ancient days,
in the generations of old. <i>Art</i> thou not it that hath cut
Rahab, <i>and</i> wounded the dragon?   10 <i>Art</i> thou not
it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that
hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass
over?   11 Therefore the redeemed of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p9.2">Lord</span> shall return, and come with singing unto
Zion; and everlasting joy <i>shall be</i> upon their head: they
shall obtain gladness and joy; <i>and</i> sorrow and mourning shall
flee away.   12 I, <i>even</i> I, <i>am</i> he that comforteth
you: who <i>art</i> thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man
<i>that</i> shall die, and of the son of man <i>which</i> shall be
made <i>as</i> grass;   13 And forgettest the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p9.3">Lord</span> thy maker, that hath stretched forth the
heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared
continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if
he were ready to destroy? and where <i>is</i> the fury of the
oppressor?   14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be
loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread
should fail.   15 But I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p9.4">Lord</span> thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves
roared: The <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p9.5">Lord</span> of hosts <i>is</i>
his name.   16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I
have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the
heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion,
Thou <i>art</i> my people.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lii-p10" shownumber="no">In these verses we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lii-p11" shownumber="no">I. A prayer that God would, in his
providence, appear and act for the deliverance of his people and
the mortification of his and their enemies. <i>Awake, awake! put on
strength, O arm of the Lord!</i> <scripRef id="Is.lii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.9" parsed="|Isa|51|9|0|0" passage="Isa 51:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. The arm of the Lord is Christ,
or it is put for God himself, as <scripRef id="Is.lii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.44.23" parsed="|Ps|44|23|0|0" passage="Ps 44:23">Ps.
xliv. 23</scripRef>. <i>Awake! why sleepest thou?</i> He that keeps
Israel neither slumbers 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; when it is stretched forth for
action, It awakes. God needs not to be reminded nor excited by us,
but he gives us leave thus to be humbly earnest with him for such
appearances of his power as will be for his own praise. "<i>Put on
strength,</i>" that is, "put forth strength: appear in thy
strength, as we appear in the clothes we put on," <scripRef id="Is.lii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.21.13" parsed="|Ps|21|13|0|0" passage="Ps 21:13">Ps. xxi. 13</scripRef>. 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 is, "do for us
now as thou didst for our fathers formerly, repeat <i>the wonders
they told us of,</i>" <scripRef id="Is.lii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Judg.6.13" parsed="|Judg|6|13|0|0" passage="Jdg 6:13">Judg. vi.
13</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lii-p12" shownumber="no">II. The pleas to enforce this prayer. 1.
They plead precedents, the experiences of their ancestors, and the
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. 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 plague after another, <i>and wounded</i>
Pharaoh, <i>the dragon,</i> the Leviathan (as he is called,
<scripRef id="Is.lii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.74.13-Ps.74.14" parsed="|Ps|74|13|74|14" passage="Ps 74:13,14">Ps. lxxiv. 13, 14</scripRef>); it
gave him his death's wound. It did wonders for Israel. <i>It dried
up the sea,</i> even <i>the waters of the great deep,</i> as far as
was requisite to open <i>a way</i> through the sea <i>for the
ransomed to pass over,</i>" <scripRef id="Is.lii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.10" parsed="|Isa|51|10|0|0" passage="Isa 51:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="Is.lii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.85.1-Ps.85.6" parsed="|Ps|85|1|85|6" passage="Ps 85:1-6">Ps. lxxxv. 1-6</scripRef>.
2. They plead promises (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.11" parsed="|Isa|51|11|0|0" passage="Isa 51:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>): <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 <scripRef id="Is.lii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.35.10" parsed="|Isa|35|10|0|0" passage="Isa 35:10"><i>ch.</i> xxxv.
10</scripRef>, 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>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lii-p13" shownumber="no">III. The answer immediately given to this
prayer (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.12" parsed="|Isa|51|12|0|0" passage="Isa 51:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>):
<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 (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.1.13" parsed="|Zech|1|13|0|0" passage="Zec 1:13">Zech. i. 13</scripRef>), <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
(<scripRef id="Is.lii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.40.1" parsed="|Isa|40|1|0|0" passage="Isa 40:1"><i>ch.</i> xl. 1</scripRef>); 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>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lii-p14" shownumber="no">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> <scripRef id="Is.lii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.12-Isa.51.13" parsed="|Isa|51|12|51|13" passage="Isa 51:12,13"><i>v.</i> 12, 13</scripRef>. God, who comforts his
people, would not have them disquiet themselves with amazing
perplexing fears of the reproach of men (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.7" parsed="|Isa|51|7|0|0" passage="Isa 51:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), or of their growing threatening
power and greatness, or of any mischief they may intend against us
or our people. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lii-p15" shownumber="no">(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> (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.9.20" parsed="|Ps|9|20|0|0" passage="Ps 9:20">Ps. ix.
20</scripRef>) and shall <i>die like men</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.81.7" parsed="|Ps|81|7|0|0" passage="Ps 81:7">Ps. lxxxi. 7</scripRef>), 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> (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.13" parsed="|Isa|51|13|0|0" passage="Isa 51:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), 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> (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Heb.2.15" parsed="|Heb|2|15|0|0" passage="Heb 2:15">Heb. ii.
15</scripRef>), and to bring upon ourselves that sore judgment
which is threatened, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.66-Deut.28.67" parsed="|Deut|28|66|28|67" passage="De 28:66,67">Deut. xxviii.
66, 67</scripRef>. <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 class="indent" id="Is.lii-p16" shownumber="no">(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, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.12-Isa.8.13" parsed="|Isa|8|12|8|13" passage="Isa 8:12,13"><i>ch.</i> viii. 12, 13</scripRef>. Happy is the man
that fears God always, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.28.14 Bible:Luke.12.4-Luke.12.5" parsed="|Prov|28|14|0|0;|Luke|12|4|12|5" passage="Pr 28:14,Lu 12:4,5">Prov.
xxviii. 14; Luke xii. 4, 5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lii-p17" shownumber="no">2. He comforts those that were in bonds,
<scripRef id="Is.lii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.14-Isa.51.15" parsed="|Isa|51|14|51|15" passage="Isa 51:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14, 15</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.65.7 Bible:Ps.89.9" parsed="|Ps|65|7|0|0;|Ps|89|9|0|0" passage="Ps 65:7,89:9">Ps. lxv. 7; lxxxix.
9</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Is.lii-p18" shownumber="no">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
(<scripRef id="Is.lii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.16" parsed="|Isa|51|16|0|0" passage="Isa 51:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>) 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
(<scripRef id="Is.lii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.12" parsed="|Isa|51|12|0|0" passage="Isa 51:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>); 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 (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:2Pet.1.21 Bible:1Cor.2.13" parsed="|2Pet|1|21|0|0;|1Cor|2|13|0|0" passage="2Pe 1:21,1Co 2:13">2 Pet. i. 21; 1 Cor. ii. 13</scripRef>); 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, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.49.2" parsed="|Isa|49|2|0|0" passage="Isa 49:2"><i>ch.</i>
xlix. 2</scripRef>), 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> (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.10.11" parsed="|Rev|10|11|0|0" passage="Re 10:11">Rev. x. 11</scripRef>),
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 (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p18.6" osisRef="Bible:Heb.1.2" parsed="|Heb|1|2|0|0" passage="Heb 1:2">Heb. i. 2</scripRef>), and by him formed the
Old-Testament church (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p18.7" osisRef="Bible:Zech.6.12" parsed="|Zech|6|12|0|0" passage="Zec 6:12">Zech. vi.
12</scripRef>), 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, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p18.8" osisRef="Bible:Col.1.20" parsed="|Col|1|20|0|0" passage="Col 1:20">Col. i.
20</scripRef>. Through him, according to the promise, <i>we look
for new heavens and a new earth</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p18.9" osisRef="Bible:2Pet.3.13" parsed="|2Pet|3|13|0|0" passage="2Pe 3:13">2
Pet. iii. 13</scripRef>), 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> (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p18.10" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.22" parsed="|Heb|12|22|0|0" passage="Heb 12:22">Heb. xii.
22</scripRef>) and <i>Jerusalem</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p18.11" osisRef="Bible:Gal.4.26" parsed="|Gal|4|26|0|0" passage="Ga 4:26">Gal. iv. 26</scripRef>); 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>
</div><scripCom id="Is.lii-p18.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.17-Isa.51.23" parsed="|Isa|51|17|51|23" passage="Isa 51:17-23" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lii-p18.13">
<h4 id="Is.lii-p18.14">Jerusalem's Affliction. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p18.15">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lii-p19" shownumber="no">17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which
hast drunk at the hand of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p19.1">Lord</span>
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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p19.2">Lord</span>,
the rebuke of thy God.   21 Therefore hear now this, thou
afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:   22 Thus saith thy
Lord the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lii-p19.3">Lord</span>, 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lii-p20" shownumber="no">God, having awoke for the comfort of his
people, here calls upon them to awake, as afterwards, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.52.1" parsed="|Isa|52|1|0|0" passage="Isa 52:1"><i>ch.</i> lii. 1</scripRef>. 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> (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.22.45" parsed="|Luke|22|45|0|0" passage="Lu 22:45">Luke xxii. 45</scripRef>),
and therefore, when the deliverance came, they are said to have
been <i>like those that dream,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.1" parsed="|Ps|136|1|0|0" passage="Ps 136:1">Ps.
cxxxvi. 1</scripRef>. Nay, it is a call to awake, not only from
sleep, but from death, like that to the dry bones to live,
<scripRef id="Is.lii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.37.9" parsed="|Ezek|37|9|0|0" passage="Eze 37:9">Ezek. xxxvii. 9</scripRef>. "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> (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Gal.4.25" parsed="|Gal|4|25|0|0" passage="Ga 4:25">Gal. iv.
25</scripRef>), and to have been under the power of <i>a spirit of
slumber</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.8" parsed="|Rom|11|8|0|0" passage="Ro 11:8">Rom. xi. 8</scripRef>);
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 class="indent" id="Is.lii-p21" shownumber="no">I. It is owned that Jerusalem had long been
in a very deplorable condition, and sunk into the depths of
misery.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lii-p22" shownumber="no">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 (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.75.8" parsed="|Ps|75|8|0|0" passage="Ps 75:8">Ps. lxxv.
8</scripRef>) 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 class="indent" id="Is.lii-p23" shownumber="no">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, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.18" parsed="|Isa|51|18|0|0" passage="Isa 51:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="Is.lii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.87.5" parsed="|Ps|87|5|0|0" passage="Ps 87:5">Ps. lxxxvii.
5</scripRef>), <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, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.74.9" parsed="|Ps|74|9|0|0" passage="Ps 74:9">Ps. lxxiv. 9</scripRef>. 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> (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.19" parsed="|Isa|51|19|0|0" passage="Isa 51:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>), 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 (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p23.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.47.9" parsed="|Isa|47|9|0|0" passage="Isa 47:9"><i>ch.</i> xlvii.
9</scripRef>), <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 (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p23.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.20" parsed="|Isa|51|20|0|0" passage="Isa 51:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>):
<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 (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p23.7" osisRef="Bible:Lam.1.12" parsed="|Lam|1|12|0|0" passage="La 1:12">Lam.
i. 12</scripRef>), 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 class="indent" id="Is.lii-p24" shownumber="no">II. It is promised that Jerusalem's
troubles shall at length come to an end, and be transferred to her
persecutors (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.21" parsed="|Isa|51|21|0|0" passage="Isa 51:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>): <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 (<scripRef id="Is.lii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.22" parsed="|Isa|51|22|0|0" passage="Isa 51:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>): "<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, <scripRef id="Is.lii-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.23" parsed="|Isa|51|23|0|0" passage="Isa 51:23"><i>v.</i>
23</scripRef>. 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
imperiously towards his people: <i>The cup of trembling shall be
put into their hand.</i> Babylon's case shall be as bad as ever
Jerusalem's was. Daniel's persecutors shall be thrown into Daniel's
den; let them see how they like it. And the Lord is known by these
judgments which he executes.</p>
</div></div2>