mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 58.xml

<div2 id="Is.lix" n="lix" next="Is.lx" prev="Is.lviii" progress="22.69%" title="Chapter LVIII">
<h2 id="Is.lix-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.lix-p0.2">CHAP. LVIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.lix-p1" shownumber="no">The prophet, in this chapter, has his commission
and charge renewed to reprove the sinners in Zion, particularly the
hypocrites, to show them their transgressions, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.1" parsed="|Isa|58|1|0|0" passage="Isa 58:1">ver. 1</scripRef>. It is intended for admonition and
warning to all hypocrites, and is not to be confined to those of
any one age. Some refer it primarily to those at that time when
Isaiah prophesied; see <scripRef id="Is.lix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.14 Bible:Isa.29.13" parsed="|Isa|33|14|0|0;|Isa|29|13|0|0" passage="Isa 33:14,Isa 29:13">chap. xxxiii. 14; xxix. 13</scripRef>. Others
to the captives in Babylon, the wicked among them, to whom the
prophet had declared there was no peace <scripRef id="Is.lix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.57.21" parsed="|Isa|57|21|0|0" passage="Isa 57:21">ch. lvii. 21</scripRef>. Against the terror of that
word they thought to shelter themselves with their external
performances, particularly their fastings, which they kept up in
Babylon, and for some time after their return to their own land,
<scripRef id="Is.lix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.3" parsed="|Zech|7|3|0|0" passage="Zec 7:3">Zech. vii. 3</scripRef>, &amp;c. The
prophet therefore here shows them that their devotions would not
entitle them to peace while their conversations were not at all of
a piece with them. Others think it is principally intended against
the hypocrisy of the Jews, especially the Pharisees before and in
our Saviour's time: they boasted of their fastings, but Christ (as
the prophet here) showed them their transgressions (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.1-Matt.23.39" parsed="|Matt|23|1|23|39" passage="Mt 23:1-39">Matt. xxiii.</scripRef>), much the same with
those they are here charged with. Observe, I. The plausible
profession of religion which they made, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.2" parsed="|Isa|58|2|0|0" passage="Isa 58:2">ver. 2</scripRef>. II. The boasts they made of that
profession, and the blame they laid upon God for taking no more
notice of it, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.3" parsed="|Isa|58|3|0|0" passage="Isa 58:3">ver. 3</scripRef>. III.
The sins they are charged with, which spoiled the acceptableness of
their fasts, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.4-Isa.58.5" parsed="|Isa|58|4|58|5" passage="Isa 58:4,5">ver. 4, 5</scripRef>.
IV. Instructions given them how to keep fasts aright, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.6-Isa.58.7" parsed="|Isa|58|6|58|7" passage="Isa 58:6,7">ver. 6, 7</scripRef>. V. Precious promises
made to those who do so keep fasts, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.8-Isa.58.12" parsed="|Isa|58|8|58|12" passage="Isa 58:8-12">ver. 8-12</scripRef>. VI. The like precious promises
made to those that sanctify sabbaths aright, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.13-Isa.58.14" parsed="|Isa|58|13|58|14" passage="Isa 58:13,14">ver. 13, 14</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.lix-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58" parsed="|Isa|58|0|0|0" passage="Isa 58" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.lix-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.1-Isa.58.2" parsed="|Isa|58|1|58|2" passage="Isa 58:1-2" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lix-p1.14">
<h4 id="Is.lix-p1.15">A Charge against the People. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lix-p1.16">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lix-p2" shownumber="no">1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a
trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of
Jacob their sins.   2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to
know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not
the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of
justice; they take delight in approaching to God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p3" shownumber="no">When our Lord Jesus promised to send the
Comforter he added, <i>When he shall come he shall convince</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.lix-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:John.16.7-John.16.8" parsed="|John|16|7|16|8" passage="Joh 16:7,8">John xvi. 7, 8</scripRef>); for
conviction must prepare for comfort, and must also separate between
the precious and the vile, and mark out those to whom comfort does
not belong. God had appointed this prophet to comfort his people
(<scripRef id="Is.lix-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.40.1" parsed="|Isa|40|1|0|0" passage="Isa 40:1"><i>ch.</i> xl. 1</scripRef>); here he
appoints him to convince them, and show them their sins.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p4" shownumber="no">I. He must tell them how very bad they
really were, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.1" parsed="|Isa|58|1|0|0" passage="Isa 58:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>.
1. He must deal faithfully and plainly with them. "Though they are
called <i>the people of God</i> and <i>the house of Jacob,</i>
though they wear an honourable title and character, by which they
are interested in many glorious privileges, yet do not flatter
them, but show them their transgressions and their sins, be
particular in telling them their faults, what sins are committed
among them, which they do not know of, nay, what sins are committed
by them which they do not acknowledge to be sins; though in some
things they are reformed, let them know that in other things they
are still as bad as ever. Show them their transgressions and their
sins, that is, all their transgressions in their sins, their sins
and all the aggravations of them," <scripRef id="Is.lix-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.16.21" parsed="|Lev|16|21|0|0" passage="Le 16:21">Lev. xvi. 21</scripRef>. Note, (1.) God sees sin in his
people, in the house of Jacob, and is displeased with it. (2.) They
are often unapt and unwilling to see their own sins, and need to
have them shown them, and to be told, <i>Thus and thus thou hast
done.</i> 2. He must be vehement and in good earnest herein, must
<i>cry aloud, and not spare,</i> not spare them (not touch them
with his reproofs as if he were afraid of hurting them, but search
the wound to the bottom, lay it bare to the bone), not spare
himself or his own pains, but cry as loud as he can; though he
spend his strength and waste his spirits, though he get their
ill-will by it and get himself into an ill name, yet he must not
spare. He must lift up his voice like a trumpet, to make those hear
of their faults that were apt to be deaf when admonition was
addressed to them. He must give his reproofs in the most powerful
and pressing manner possible, as one who desired to be heeded. The
trumpet does not give an uncertain sound, but, though loud and
shrill, is intelligible; so must his alarms be, giving them warning
of the fatal consequences of sin, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.33.3" parsed="|Ezek|33|3|0|0" passage="Eze 33:3">Ezek. xxxiii. 3</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p5" shownumber="no">II. He must acknowledge how very good they
seemed to be, notwithstanding (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.2" parsed="|Isa|58|2|0|0" passage="Isa 58:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): <i>Yet they seek me daily.</i>
When the prophet went about to show them their transgressions they
pleaded that they could see no transgressions which they were
guilty of; for they were diligent and constant in attending on
God's worship—and what more would he have of them? Now,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p6" shownumber="no">1. He owns the matter of fact to be true.
As far as hypocrites do that which is good, they shall not be
denied the praise of it; let them make their best of it. It is
owned that they have a form of godliness. (1.) They go to church,
and observe their hours of prayer: <i>They seek me daily;</i> they
are very constant in their devotions and never omit them nor suffer
any thing to put them by. (2.) They love to hear good preaching;
<i>They delight to know my ways,</i> as Herod, who heard John
gladly, and the stony ground, that received the seed of the word
with joy; it is to them <i>as a lovely song,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lix-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.33.32" parsed="|Ezek|33|32|0|0" passage="Eze 33:32">Ezek. xxxiii. 32</scripRef>. (3.) They seem to take
great pleasure in the exercises of religion and to be in their
element when they are at their devotions: <i>They delight in
approaching to God,</i> not for his sake to whom they approach, but
for the sake of some pleasing circumstance, the company, or the
festival. (4.) They are inquisitive concerning their duty and seem
desirous only to know it, making no question but that then they
should do it: <i>They ask of me the ordinances of justice,</i> the
rules of piety in the worship of God, the rules of equity in their
dealings with men, both which are ordinances of justice. (5.) They
appear to the eye of the world as if they made conscience of doing
their duty: <i>They are as a nation that did righteousness and
forsook not the ordinances of their God;</i> others took them for
such, and they themselves pretended to be such. Nothing lay open to
view that was a contradiction to their profession, but they seemed
to be such as they should be. Note, Men may go a great way towards
heaven and yet come short; nay, may go to hell with a good
reputation. But,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p7" shownumber="no">2. He intimates that this was so far from
being a cover or excuse for their sin that really it was an
aggravation of it: "Show them their sins which they go on in
notwithstanding their knowledge of good and evil, sin and duty, and
the convictions of their consciences concerning them."</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.lix-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.3-Isa.58.7" parsed="|Isa|58|3|58|7" passage="Isa 58:3-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lix-p7.2">
<h4 id="Is.lix-p7.3">A Charge against the People. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lix-p7.4">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lix-p8" shownumber="no">3 Wherefore have we fasted, <i>say they,</i> and
thou seest not? <i>wherefore</i> have we afflicted our soul, and
thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find
pleasure, and exact all your labours.   4 Behold, ye fast for
strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye
shall not fast as <i>ye do this</i> day, to make your voice to be
heard on high.   5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day
for a man to afflict his soul? <i>is it</i> to bow down his head as
a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes <i>under him?</i> wilt
thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lix-p8.1">Lord</span>?   6 <i>Is</i> not this the fast that
I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy
burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every
yoke?   7 <i>Is it</i> not to deal thy bread to the hungry,
and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when
thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not
thyself from thine own flesh?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p9" shownumber="no">Here we have, I. The displeasure which
these hypocrites conceived against God for not accepting the
services which they themselves had a mighty opinion of (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.3" parsed="|Isa|58|3|0|0" passage="Isa 58:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>Wherefore have we
fasted, say they, and thou seest not?</i> Thus they went in the way
of Cain, who was angry at God, and resented it as a gross affront
that his offering was not accepted. Having gone about to put a
cheat upon God by their external services, here they go about to
pick a quarrel with God for not being pleased with their services,
as if he had not done fairly or justly by them. Observe, 1. How
they boast of themselves, and magnify their own performances:
"<i>We have fasted, and afflicted our souls;</i> we have not only
sought God daily (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.2" parsed="|Isa|58|2|0|0" passage="Isa 58:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), but have kept some certain times of more solemn
devotion." Some think this refers to the yearly fast (which was
called <i>the day of atonement</i>), others to their arbitrary
occasional fasts. Note, It is common for unhumbled hearts to be
proud of their professions of humiliation, as the Pharisee
(<scripRef id="Is.lix-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.18.12" parsed="|Luke|18|12|0|0" passage="Lu 18:12">Luke xviii. 12</scripRef>), <i>I fast
twice in the week.</i> 2. What they expected from their
performances. They thought God should take great notice of them,
and own himself a debtor to them for their services. Note, It is a
common thing for hypocrites, while they perform the external
services of religion, to promise themselves that acceptance with
God which he has promised only to the sincere; as if they must be
accepted of course, or for a compliment. 3. How heinously they take
it that God had not put some particular marks of his favour upon
them, that he had not immediately delivered them out of their
troubles and advanced them to honour and prosperity. They charge
God with injustice and partiality, and seem resolved to throw up
their religion, and justify themselves in doing so with this, that
they had found no <i>profit in praying</i> to God, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.21.14-Job.21.15 Bible:Mal.3.14" parsed="|Job|21|14|21|15;|Mal|3|14|0|0" passage="Job 21:14,15,Mal 3:14">Job xxi. 14, 15; Mal. iii.
14</scripRef>. Note, Reigning hypocrisy often breaks out in daring
impiety and an open contempt and reproach of God and religion for
that which the hypocrisy itself must bear all the blame of. Sinners
reflect upon religion as a hard and melancholy service, and on
which there is nothing to be got by, when really it is owing to
themselves that it seems so to them, because they are not sincere
in it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p10" shownumber="no">II. The true reason assigned why God did
not accept their fastings, nor answer the prayers they made on
their fast-days; it was because they did not fast aright—<i>to
God, even to him,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lix-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.5" parsed="|Zech|7|5|0|0" passage="Zec 7:5">Zech. vii.
5</scripRef>. They fasted indeed, but they persisted in their sins,
and did not, as the Ninevites, turn every one from his evil way;
but <i>in the day of their fast,</i> notwithstanding the professed
humiliations and covenants of that day, they went on to <i>find
pleasure,</i> that is, to do whatsoever seemed right in their own
eyes, lawful or unlawful, <i>quicquid libet, licet—making their
inclinations their law;</i> though they seemed to afflict their
souls, they still gratified their lusts as much as ever. 1. They
were as covetous and unmerciful as ever: "<i>You exact all your
labours</i> from your servants, and will neither release them
according to the law nor relax the rigour of their servitude." This
was their fault before the captivity, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.8-Jer.34.9" parsed="|Jer|34|8|34|9" passage="Jer 34:8,9">Jer. xxxiv. 8, 9</scripRef>. It was no less their
fault after their captivity, notwithstanding all their solemn
fasts, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.5.5" parsed="|Neh|5|5|0|0" passage="Ne 5:5">Neh. v. 5</scripRef>. "<i>You
exact all your dues,</i> your <i>debts</i>" (so some read it); "you
are as rigorous and severe in extorting what you demand from those
that are poor as ever you were, though it was at the close of the
yearly fast that the release was proclaimed." 2. They were
contentious and spiteful (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.4" parsed="|Isa|58|4|0|0" passage="Isa 58:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>): <i>Behold, you fast for strife and debate.</i> When
they proclaimed a fast to deprecate God's judgments, they pretended
to search for those sins which provoked God to threaten them with
his judgments, and under that pretence perhaps particular persons
were falsely accused, as Naboth in the day of Jezebel's fast,
<scripRef id="Is.lix-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.21.12" parsed="|1Kgs|21|12|0|0" passage="1Ki 21:12">1 Kings xxi. 12</scripRef>. Or the
contending parties among them upon those occasions were bitter and
severe in their reflections one upon another, one side crying out,
"It is owing to you," and the other, "It is owing to you, that our
deliverance is not wrought." Thus, instead of judging themselves,
which is the proper work of a fast-day, they condemned one another.
They <i>fasted for strife,</i> with emulation which should make the
most plausible appearance on a fast-day and humour the matter best.
Nor was it only tongue-quarrels that were fomented in the times of
their fasting, but they came to blows too: <i>You smite with the
fist of wickedness.</i> The cruel task-masters beat their servants,
and the creditors their insolvent debtors, whom they delivered to
the tormentors; they abused poor innocents <i>with wicked
hands.</i> Now while they thus <i>continued in sin,</i> in those
very sins which were directly contrary to the intention of a
fasting day, (1.) God would not allow them the use of such
solemnities: "<i>You shall not fast</i> at all if you fast <i>as
you do this day, causing your voice to be heard on high,</i> in the
heat of your clamours one against another, or in your devotions,
which you perform so as to make them to be taken notice of for
ostentation. <i>Bring me no more</i> of these empty, noisy, <i>vain
oblations,</i>" <scripRef id="Is.lix-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.13" parsed="|Isa|1|13|0|0" passage="Isa 1:13"><i>ch.</i> i.
13</scripRef>. Note, Those are justly forbidden the honour of a
profession of religion that will not submit to the power of it.
(2.) He would not accept of them in the use of them: "<i>You shall
not fast,</i> that is, it shall not be looked upon as a fast, nor
shall the voice of your prayers on those days be heard on high in
heaven." Note, Those that fast and pray, and yet go on in their
wicked ways, do but mock God and deceive themselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p11" shownumber="no">III. Plain instructions given concerning
the true nature of a religious fast.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p12" shownumber="no">1. In general, a fast is intended, (1.) For
the honouring and pleasing of God. It must be such a performance as
he has chosen (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.5" parsed="|Isa|58|5|0|0" passage="Isa 58:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>); it must be <i>an acceptable day to the Lord,</i> in
the duties of which we must study to approve ourselves to him and
obtain his favour, else it is not a fast, else there is nothing
done to any purpose. (2.) For the humbling and abasing of
ourselves. A fast is <i>a day to afflict the soul;</i> if it do not
express a genuine sorrow for sin, and do not promote a real
mortification of sin, it is not a fast; the law of the day of
atonement was that on that day they should <i>afflict their
souls,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lix-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.16.29" parsed="|Lev|16|29|0|0" passage="Le 16:29">Lev. xvi. 29</scripRef>.
That must be done on a fast-day which is a real affliction to the
soul, as far as it is yet unregenerate and unsanctified, though a
real pleasure and advantage to the soul as far as it is itself.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p13" shownumber="no">2. It concerns us therefore to enquire, on
a fast-day, what it is that will be acceptable to God, and
afflictive to our corrupt nature, and tending to its
mortification.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p14" shownumber="no">(1.) We are here told negatively what is
not the fast that God has chosen, and which does not amount to the
afflicting of the soul. [1.] It is not enough to look demure, to
put on a grave and melancholy aspect, to bow down the head like a
bulrush that is withered and broken: as the hypocrites, that were
<i>of a sad countenance, and disfigured their faces, that they
might appear unto men to fast,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lix-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.6.16" parsed="|Matt|6|16|0|0" passage="Mt 6:16">Matt. vi. 16</scripRef>. Hanging down the head did indeed
well enough become the publican, whose heart was truly humbled and
broken for sin, and who therefore, in token of that, <i>would not
so much as lift up his eyes to heaven</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.18.13" parsed="|Luke|18|13|0|0" passage="Lu 18:13">Luke xviii. 13</scripRef>); but when it was only
mimicked, as here, it was justly ridiculed: it is but <i>hanging
down the head like a bulrush,</i> which nobody regards or takes any
notice of. As the hypocrite's humiliations are but like the hanging
down of a bulrush, so his elevations in his hopes are but like the
<i>flourishing of a bulrush</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.8.11-Job.8.12" parsed="|Job|8|11|8|12" passage="Job 8:11,12">Job viii. 11, 12</scripRef>), which, <i>while it is
yet in its greenness, withers before any other herb.</i> [2.] It is
not enough to do penance, to mortify the body a little, while the
body of sin is untouched. It is not enough for a man <i>to spread
sackcloth and ashes under him,</i> which may indeed give him some
uneasiness for the present, but will soon be forgotten when he
returns to <i>stretch himself upon his beds of ivory,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lix-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.4" parsed="|Amos|6|4|0|0" passage="Am 6:4">Amos vi. 4</scripRef>. <i>Wilt thou call this a
fast?</i> No, it is but the shadow and carcase of a fast. <i>Wilt
thou call this an acceptable day to the Lord?</i> No, it is so far
from being so that the hypocrisy of it is an abomination to him.
Note, The shows of religion, though they show ever so fair in the
eye of the world, will not be accepted of God without the substance
of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p15" shownumber="no">(2.) We are here told positively what is
the fast that God has chosen, what that is which will recommend a
fast-day to the divine acceptance, and what is indeed afflicting
the soul, that is, crushing and subduing the corrupt nature. It
<i>is not afflicting the soul for a day</i> (as some read it,
<scripRef id="Is.lix-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.5" parsed="|Isa|58|5|0|0" passage="Isa 58:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>) that will
serve; no, it must be the business of our whole lives. It is here
required, [1.] That we be just to those with whom we have dealt
hardly. The fast that God has chosen consists in reforming our
lives and undoing what we have done amiss (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.6" parsed="|Isa|58|6|0|0" passage="Isa 58:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>To loose the bands of
wickedness,</i> the bands which we have wickedly tied, and by which
others are bound out from their right or bound down under severe
usage. Those which perhaps were at first bands of justice, tying
men to pay a due debt, become, when the debt is exacted with rigour
from those whom Providence has reduced and emptied, <i>bands of
wickedness,</i> and they must be loosed, or they will bring us into
bonds of guilt much more terrible. It is <i>to undo the heavy
burden</i> laid on the back of the poor servant, under which he is
ready to sink. It is <i>to let the oppressed go free</i> from the
oppression which makes his life bitter to him. "Let the prisoner
for debt that has nothing to pay be discharged, let the vexatious
action be quashed, let the servant that is forcibly detained beyond
the time of his servitude be released, and thus <i>break every
yoke;</i> not only let go those that are wrongfully kept under the
yoke, but break the yoke of slavery itself, that it may not serve
again another time nor any by made again to serve under it." [2.]
That we be charitable to those that stand in need of charity,
<scripRef id="Is.lix-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.7" parsed="|Isa|58|7|0|0" passage="Isa 58:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. The
particulars in the <scripRef id="Is.lix-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.6" parsed="|Isa|58|6|0|0" passage="Isa 58:6">former
verse</scripRef> <i>may</i> be taken as acts of charity, that we
not only release those whom we have unjustly oppressed—that is
justice, but that we contribute to the rescue and ransom of those
that are oppressed by others, to the release of captives and the
payment of the debts of the poor; but those in this verse are
<i>plainly</i> acts of charity. This then is the fast that God has
chosen. <i>First,</i> To provide food for those that want it. This
is put first, as the most necessary, and which the poor can but a
little while live without. It is <i>to break thy bread to the
hungry.</i> Observe, "It must be <i>thy</i> bread, that which is
honestly got (not that which thou hast robbed others of), the bread
which thou thyself hast occasion for, the bread of thy allowance."
We must deny ourselves, that we may have to give to him that
needeth. "Thy bread which thou hast spared from thyself and thy
family, on the fast-day, if that, or the value of it, be not given
to the poor, it is the miser's fast, which he makes a hand of; it
is fasting for the world, not for God. This is the true fast, to
break thy bread to the hungry, not only to give them that which is
already broken meat, but to break bread on purpose for them, to
give them loaves and not to put them off with scraps."
<i>Secondly,</i> To provide lodging for those that want it: It is
<i>to take care of the poor that are cast out,</i> that are forced
from their dwelling, turned out of house and harbour, <i>are cast
out as rebels</i> (so some critics render it), that are attainted,
and whom therefore it is highly penal to protect. "If they suffer
unjustly, make no difficulty of sheltering them; do not only find
out quarters for them and pay for their lodging elsewhere, but,
which is a greater act of kindness, bring them to thy own house,
make them thy own guests. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers:
for though thou mayest not, as some have done, thereby entertain
angels, thou mayest entertain Christ himself, who will recompense
it in the resurrection of the just. <i>I was a stranger and you
took me in." Thirdly,</i> To provide clothing for those that want
it: "<i>When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him,</i> both to
shelter him from the injuries of the weather and to enable him to
appear decently among his neighbours; give him clothes to come to
church in, and in these and other instances <i>hide not thyself
from thy own flesh.</i>" Some understand it more strictly of a
man's own kindred and relations: "If those of thy own house and
family fall into decay, thou art <i>worse than an infidel</i> if
thou dost not <i>provide</i> for them." <scripRef id="Is.lix-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.5.8" parsed="|1Tim|5|8|0|0" passage="1Ti 5:8">1 Tim. v. 8</scripRef>. Others understand it more
generally; all that partake of the human nature are to be looked
upon as our own flesh, for have we not all one Father? And for this
reason we must not hide ourselves from them, not contrive to be out
of the way when a poor petitioner enquires for us, not look another
way when a moving object of charity and compassion presents itself;
let us remember that they are flesh of our flesh and therefore we
ought to sympathize with them, and in doing good to them we really
do good to our own flesh and spirit too in the issue; for thus
<i>we lay up for ourselves a good foundation,</i> a good bond,
<i>for the time to come.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.lix-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.8-Isa.58.12" parsed="|Isa|58|8|58|12" passage="Isa 58:8-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lix-p15.7">
<h4 id="Is.lix-p15.8">A Charge against the People; Encouragement
to Israelites Indeed. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lix-p15.9">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lix-p16" shownumber="no">8 Then shall thy light break forth as the
morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy
righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lix-p16.1">Lord</span> shall be thy rereward.   9 Then shalt
thou call, and the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lix-p16.2">Lord</span> shall
answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I <i>am.</i> If thou
take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the
finger, and speaking vanity;   10 And <i>if</i> thou draw out
thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall
thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness <i>be</i> as the
noonday:   11 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lix-p16.3">Lord</span>
shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and
make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and
like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.   12 And
<i>they that shall be</i> of thee shall build the old waste places:
thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou
shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths
to dwell in.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p17" shownumber="no">Here are precious promises for those to
feast freely and cheerfully upon by faith who keep the fast that
God has chosen; let them know that God will make it up to them.
Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p18" shownumber="no">I. A further account of the duty to be done
in order to our interest in these promises (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.9-Isa.58.10" parsed="|Isa|58|9|58|10" passage="Isa 58:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>); and here, as before, it
is required that we both do justly and love mercy, that we cease to
do evil and learn to do well. 1. We must abstain from all acts of
violence and fraud. "Those must be <i>taken away from the midst of
thee,</i> from the midst of <i>thy person,</i> out of <i>thy
heart</i>" (so some); "thou must not only refrain from the practice
of injury, but mortify in thee all inclination and disposition
towards it." Or <i>from the midst of thy people.</i> Those in
authority must not only not be oppressive themselves, but must do
all they can to prevent and restrain oppression in all within their
jurisdiction. They must not only <i>break the yoke</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.6" parsed="|Isa|58|6|0|0" passage="Isa 58:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), but take away the yoke,
that those who have been oppressed may never be re-enslaved (as
they were <scripRef id="Is.lix-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.10-Jer.34.11" parsed="|Jer|34|10|34|11" passage="Jer 34:10,11">Jer. xxxiv. 10,
11</scripRef>); they must likewise <i>forbear threatening</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.lix-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Eph.6.9" parsed="|Eph|6|9|0|0" passage="Eph 6:9">Eph. vi. 9</scripRef>) and take away
the <i>putting forth of the finger,</i> which seems to have been
then, as sometimes with us, a sign of displeasure and the
indication of a purpose to correct. Let not the finger be put forth
to point at those that are poor and in misery, and so to expose
them to contempt; such expressions of contumely as are provoking,
and the products of ill-nature, ought to be banished from all
societies. And let them not <i>speak vanity,</i> flattery or fraud,
to one another, but let all conversation be governed by sincerity.
Perhaps that dissimulation which is the bane of friendship is meant
by the putting forth of the finger (as <scripRef id="Is.lix-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.6.13" parsed="|Prov|6|13|0|0" passage="Pr 6:13">Prov. vi. 13</scripRef> by <i>teaching with the
finger</i>), or it is putting forth the finger with the ring on it,
which was the badge of authority, and which therefore they produced
when they spoke iniquity, that is, gave unrighteous sentences. 2.
We must abound in all acts of charity and beneficence. We must not
only give alms according as the necessities of the poor require,
but, (1.) We must give freely and cheerfully, and from a principle
of charity. We must <i>draw out our soul to the hungry</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.lix-p18.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.10" parsed="|Isa|58|10|0|0" passage="Isa 58:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), not only
draw out the money and reach forth the hand, but do this from the
heart, heartily, and without grudging, from a principle of
compassion and with a tender affection to such as we see to be in
misery. Let the heart go along with the gift; for God loves a
cheerful giver, and so does a poor man too. When our Lord Jesus
healed and fed the multitude it was as having compassion on them.
(2.) We must give plentifully and largely, so as not to tantalize,
but to <i>satisfy, the afflicted soul:</i> "Do not only feed the
hungry, but gratify the desire of the afflicted, and, if it lies in
your power, make them easy." What are we born for, and what have we
our abilities of body, mind, and estate for, but to do all the good
we can in this world with them? And the poor we have always with
us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p19" shownumber="no">II. Here is a full account of the blessings
and benefits which attend the performance of this duty. If a
person, a family, a people, be thus disposed to every thing that is
good, let them know for their comfort that they shall find God
their bountiful rewarder and what they lay out in works of charity
shall be abundantly made up to them. 1. God will surprise them with
the return of mercy after great affliction, which shall be as
welcome as the light of the morning after a long and dark night
(<scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.8" parsed="|Isa|58|8|0|0" passage="Isa 58:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>"Then
shall thy light break forth as the morning</i> and (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.10" parsed="|Isa|58|10|0|0" passage="Isa 58:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>) <i>thy light shall
rise in obscurity.</i> Though thou hast been long buried alive thou
shalt recover thy eminency; though long overwhelmed with grief,
thou shalt again look pleasant as the dawning day." Those that are
cheerful in doing good God will make cheerful in enjoying good; and
this also is a special <i>gift of God,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.24" parsed="|Eccl|2|24|0|0" passage="Ec 2:24">Eccl. ii. 24</scripRef>. Those that have shown mercy
shall find mercy. Job, who in his prosperity had done a great deal
of good, had friends raised up for him by the Lord when he was
reduced, who helped him with their substance, so that his light
rose in obscurity. "Not only thy light, which is sweet, but thy
health too, or the healing of the wounds thou hast long complained
of, shall spring forth speedily; all thy grievances shall be
redressed, and thou shalt renew thy youth and recover thy vigour."
Those that have helped others out of trouble will obtain help of
God when it is their turn. 2. God will put honour upon them. Good
works shall be recompensed with a good name; this is included in
that <i>light which rises out of obscurity.</i> Though a man's
extraction be mean, his family obscure, and he has no external
advantages to gain him honour, yet, if he do good in his place,
that will procure him respect and veneration, and his darkness
shall by this means become <i>as the noon-day,</i> that is, he
shall become very eminent and shine brightly in his generation. See
here what is the surest way for a man to make himself illustrious;
let him study to do good. He that would be the greatest of all, and
best-loved, let him by humility and industry make himself a servant
of all. "<i>Thy righteousness shall answer for thee</i> (as Jacob
says, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.33" parsed="|Gen|30|33|0|0" passage="Ge 30:33">Gen. xxx. 33</scripRef>), that
is, it shall silence reproaches, nay, it shall bespeak thee more
praises than thy humility can be pleased with." He that has
<i>given to the poor, his righteousness</i> (that is, the honour of
it) <i>endures for ever,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.112.9" parsed="|Ps|112|9|0|0" passage="Ps 112:9">Ps. cxii.
9</scripRef>. 3. They shall always be safe under the divine
protection: "<i>Thy righteousness shall go before</i> thee as thy
vanguard, to secure thee from enemies that charge thee in the
front, and <i>the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward,</i> the
gathering host, to bring up those of thee that are weary and are
left behind, and to secure thee from the enemies, that, like
Amalek, fall upon thy rear." Observe, How good people are safe on
all sides. Let them look which way they will, behind them or before
them; let them look backward or forward; they see themselves safe,
and find themselves easy and quiet from the fear of evil. And
observe what it is that is their defence; it is their
righteousness, and the glory of the Lord, that is, as some suppose,
Christ; for it is by him that we are justified, and God is
glorified. He it is that goes before us, and is the captain of our
salvation, as he is the Lord our righteousness; he it is that is
our rearward, on whom alone we can depend for safety when our sins
pursue us and are ready to take hold on us. Or, "God himself in his
providence and grace shall both go before thee as thy guide to
conduct thee, and attend thee as thy rearward to protect thee, and
this shall be the reward of thy righteousness and so shall be for
the glory of the Lord as the rewarder of it." 4. God will be always
nigh unto them, to hear their prayers, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.9" parsed="|Isa|58|9|0|0" passage="Isa 58:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. As, on the one hand, he that
shuts his ears to the cry of the poor shall himself cry and God
will not hear him; so, on the other hand, he that is liberal to the
poor, his prayers shall come up with his alms for a memorial before
God, as Cornelius's did (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.7" osisRef="Bible:Acts.10.4" parsed="|Acts|10|4|0|0" passage="Ac 10:4">Acts x.
4</scripRef>): "<i>Then shalt thou call,</i> on thy fast-days,
which ought to be days of prayer, <i>and the Lord shall answer,</i>
shall give thee the things thou callest to him for; <i>thou shalt
cry</i> when thou art in any distress or sudden fright, <i>and he
shall say, Here I am.</i>" This is a very condescending expression
of God's readiness to hear prayer. When God calls to us by his word
it becomes us to say, <i>Here we are; what saith our Lord unto his
servants?</i> But that God should say to us, <i>Behold me, here I
am,</i> is strange. When we cry to him, as if he were at a
distance, he will let us know that he is near, even at our right
hand, nearer than we thought he was. <i>It is I, be not afraid.</i>
When danger is near our protector is nearer, <i>a very present
help.</i> "Here I am, ready to give you what you want, and do for
you what you desire; what have you to say to me?" God is attentive
to the prayers of the upright, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.130.2" parsed="|Ps|130|2|0|0" passage="Ps 130:2">Ps.
cxxx. 2</scripRef>. No sooner do they call to him than he answers,
<i>Ready, ready.</i> Wherever they are praying, God says, "Here I
am hearing; I am <i>in the midst of you.</i>" He is <i>nigh unto
them in all things,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.9" osisRef="Bible:Deut.4.7" parsed="|Deut|4|7|0|0" passage="De 4:7">Deut. iv.
7</scripRef>. 6. God will direct them in all difficult and doubtful
cases (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.11" parsed="|Isa|58|11|0|0" passage="Isa 58:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>):
<i>The Lord shall guide thee continually.</i> While we are here, in
the wilderness of this world, we have need of continual direction
from heaven; for, if at any time we be left to ourselves, we shall
certainly miss our way; and therefore it is to those who are good
in God's sight that he gives the wisdom which in all cases is
profitable to direct, and he will be to them <i>instead of
eyes,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.11" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.26" parsed="|Eccl|2|26|0|0" passage="Ec 2:26">Eccl. ii. 26</scripRef>. His
providence will make their way plain to them, both what is their
duty and what will be most for their comfort. 6. God will give them
abundance of satisfaction in their own minds. As the world is a
wilderness in respect of wanderings, so that they need to be guided
continually, so also is it in respect of wants, which makes it
necessary that they should have continual supplies, as Israel in
the wilderness had not only the pillar of cloud to guide them
continually, but manna and water out of the rock to satisfy their
souls in drought, <i>in a dry and thirsty land where no water
is,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.12" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.1" parsed="|Ps|63|1|0|0" passage="Ps 63:1">Ps. lxiii. 1</scripRef>. To a
good man God gives not only wisdom and knowledge, but joy; he is
satisfied in himself with the testimony of his conscience and the
assurances of God's favour. "These will <i>satisfy thy soul,</i>
will put gladness into thy heart, even <i>in the drought</i> of
affliction; <i>these will make fat thy bones,</i> and fill them
with marrow, will give thee that pleasure which will be a support
to thee as the bones to the body, that joy of the Lord which will
be thy strength. <i>He shall give thy bones rest</i>" (so some read
it), "rest from the pain and sickness which they have laboured
under and been chastened with;" so it agrees with that promise made
to the merciful. The Lord will <i>make all his bed in his
sickness,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.13" osisRef="Bible:Ps.41.3" parsed="|Ps|41|3|0|0" passage="Ps 41:3">Ps. xli. 3</scripRef>.
"<i>Thou shalt be like a watered garden,</i> so flourishing and
fruitful in graces and comforts, <i>and like a spring of water,</i>
like a garden that has a spring of water in it, <i>whose waters
fail not</i> either in droughts or in frosts." The principle of
holy love in those that are good shall be a <i>well of living
water,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.14" osisRef="Bible:John.4.14" parsed="|John|4|14|0|0" passage="Joh 4:14">John iv. 14</scripRef>. As
a spring of water, though it is continually sending forth its
streams, is yet always full, so the charitable man abounds in good
as he abounds in doing good and is never the poorer for his
liberality. He that waters shall himself be watered. 7. They and
their families shall be public blessings. It is a good reward to
those that are fruitful and useful to be rendered more so, and
especially to have those who descend from them to be so too. This
is here promised (<scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.15" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.12" parsed="|Isa|58|12|0|0" passage="Isa 58:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>): "Those that now are of thee, thy princes, and
nobles, and great men, shall have such authority and influence as
they never had;" or, "<i>Those that</i> hereafter <i>shall be of
thee,</i> thy posterity, shall be serviceable to their generation,
as thou art to thine." It completes the satisfaction of a good man,
as to this world, to think that those that come after him shall be
doing good when he is gone. 1. They shall re-edify cities that have
been long in ruins, <i>shall build the old waste places,</i> which
had lain so long desolate that the rebuilding of them was quite
despaired of. This was fulfilled when the captives, after their
return, repaired the cities of Judah, and dwelt in them, and many
of those in Israel too, which had lain waste ever since the
carrying away of the ten tribes. 2. They shall carry on and finish
that good work which was begun long before, and shall be helped
over the obstructions which had retarded the progress of it:
<i>They shall raise up</i> to the top that building <i>the
foundation of</i> which was laid long since and has been for
<i>many generations</i> in the rearing. This was fulfilled when the
building of the temple was revived after it had stood still for
many years, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.16" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.5.2" parsed="|Ezra|5|2|0|0" passage="Ezr 5:2">Ezra v. 2</scripRef>. Or,
"They shall raise up foundations which shall continue for many
generations yet to come;" they shall do that good which shall be of
lasting consequence. 3. They shall have the blessing and praise of
all about them: "<i>Thou shalt be called</i> (and it shall be to
thy honour) <i>the repairer of the breach,</i> the breach made by
the enemy in the wall of a besieged city, which whoso has the
courage and dexterity to make up, or make good, gains great
applause." Happy are those who make up the breach at which virtue
is running out and judgments are breaking in. "Thou shalt be <i>the
restorer of paths,</i> safe and quiet paths, not only to travel in,
but <i>to dwell in,</i> so safe and quiet that people shall make no
difficulty of building their houses by the road-side." The sum is
that, if they keep such fasts as God has chosen, he will settle
them again in their former peace and prosperity, and there shall be
none to make them afraid. See <scripRef id="Is.lix-p19.17" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.5 Bible:Zech.7.9 Bible:Zech.8.3-Zech.8.5" parsed="|Zech|7|5|0|0;|Zech|7|9|0|0;|Zech|8|3|8|5" passage="Zec 7:5,9,8:3-5">Zech. vii. 5, 9; viii. 3-5</scripRef>. It teaches
us that those who do justly and love mercy shall have the comfort
thereof in this world.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.lix-p19.18" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.13-Isa.58.14" parsed="|Isa|58|13|58|14" passage="Isa 58:13-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lix-p19.19">
<h4 id="Is.lix-p19.20">The Sanctification of the
Sabbath. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lix-p19.21">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lix-p20" shownumber="no">13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath,
<i>from</i> doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath
a delight, the holy of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lix-p20.1">Lord</span>,
honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor
finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking <i>thine own</i> words:
  14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lix-p20.2">Lord</span>; and I will cause thee to ride upon the
high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob
thy father: for the mouth of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lix-p20.3">Lord</span> hath spoken <i>it.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p21" shownumber="no">Great stress was always laid upon the due
observance of the sabbath day, and it was particularly required
from the Jews when they were captives in Babylon, because by
keeping that day, in honour of the Creator, they distinguished
themselves from the worshippers of the gods that have not made the
heavens and the earth. See <scripRef id="Is.lix-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.56.1-Isa.56.2" parsed="|Isa|56|1|56|2" passage="Isa 56:1,2"><i>ch.</i> lvi. 1, 2</scripRef>, where keeping the
sabbath is joined, as here, with <i>keeping judgment</i> and
<i>doing justice.</i> Some, indeed, understand this of the day of
atonement, which they think is the fast spoken of in the former
part of the chapter, and which is called a <i>sabbath of rest,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.lix-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.23.32" parsed="|Lev|23|32|0|0" passage="Le 23:32">Lev. xxiii. 32</scripRef>. But, as the
fasts before spoken of seem to be those that were occasional, so
this sabbath is doubtless the weekly sabbath, that great sign
between God and his professing people—his appointing it a sign of
his favour to them and their observing it a sign of their obedience
to him. Now observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p22" shownumber="no">I. How the sabbath is to be sanctified
(<scripRef id="Is.lix-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.13" parsed="|Isa|58|13|0|0" passage="Isa 58:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>); and, there
remaining still a sabbatism for the people of God, this law of the
sabbath is still binding to us on our Lord's day.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p23" shownumber="no">1. Nothing must be done that puts contempt
upon the sabbath day, or looks like having mean thoughts of it,
when God has so highly dignified it. We must <i>turn away our foot
from the sabbath,</i> from trampling upon it, as profane
atheistical people do, from travelling on that day (so some); we
must turn away our foot <i>from doing our pleasure on that holy
day,</i> that is, from living at large, and taking a liberty to do
what we please on sabbath days, without the control and restraint
of conscience, or from indulging ourselves in the pleasures of
sense, in which the modern Jews wickedly place the sanctification
of the sabbath, though it is as great a profanation of it as any
thing. On sabbath days we must not walk in <i>our own ways</i>
(that is, not follow our callings), not <i>find our own
pleasure</i> (that is, not follow our sports and recreations); nay,
we must not <i>speak our own words,</i> words that concern either
our callings or our pleasures; we must not allow ourselves a
liberty of speech on that day as on other days, for we must then
mind God's ways, make religion the business of the day; we must
choose the things that please him; and speak his words, speak of
divine things as we sit in the house and walk by the way. In all we
say and do we must put a difference between this day and other
days.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p24" shownumber="no">2. Every thing must be done that puts an
honour on the day and is expressive of our high thoughts of it. We
must call it <i>a delight,</i> not a <i>task and a burden;</i> we
must delight ourselves in it, in the restraints it lays upon us and
the services it obliges us to. We must be in our element when we
are worshipping God, and in communion with him. <i>How amiable are
thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!</i> We must not only count it a
delight, but call it so, must openly profess the complacency we
take in the day and the duties of it. We must call it so to God, in
thanksgiving for it and earnest desire of his grace to enable us to
do the work of the day in its day, because we delight in it. We
must call it so to others, to invite them to come and share in the
pleasure of it; and we must call it so to ourselves, that we may
not entertain the least thought of wishing the sabbath gone that we
may sell corn. We must call it <i>the Lord's holy day, and
honourable.</i> We must call it <i>holy,</i> separated from common
use and devoted to God and to his service, must call it <i>the holy
of the Lord,</i> the day which he has sanctified to himself. Even
in Old-Testament times the sabbath was called <i>the Lord's
day,</i> and therefore it is fitly called so still, and for a
further reason, because it is the <i>Lord Christ's day,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.lix-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.1.10" parsed="|Rev|1|10|0|0" passage="Re 1:10">Rev. i. 10</scripRef>. It is holy
because it is the Lord's day, and upon both accounts it is
honourable. It is a beauty of holiness that is upon it; it is
ancient, and its antiquity is its honour; and we must make it
appear that we look upon it as honourable by honouring God on that
day. We put honour upon the day when we give honour to him that
instituted it, and to whose honour it is dedicated.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p25" shownumber="no">II. What the reward is of the
sabbath—sanctification, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.14" parsed="|Isa|58|14|0|0" passage="Isa 58:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>. If we thus <i>remember the sabbath day to keep it
holy,</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p26" shownumber="no">1. We shall have the comfort of it; the
work will be its own wages. <i>If we call the sabbath a delight,
then shall we delight ourselves in the Lord;</i> he will more and
more manifest himself to us as the delightful subject of our
thoughts and meditations and the delightful object of our best
affections. Note, The more pleasure we take in serving God the more
pleasure we shall find in it. If we go about duty with
cheerfulness, we shall go from it with satisfaction and shall have
reason to say, "It is good to be here, good to draw near to
God."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p27" shownumber="no">2. We shall have the honour of it: <i>I
will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,</i>
which denotes not only a great security (as that, <scripRef id="Is.lix-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.16" parsed="|Isa|32|16|0|0" passage="Isa 32:16"><i>ch.</i> xxxii. 16</scripRef>, <i>He shall
dwell on high</i>), but great dignity and advancement. "Thou shalt
ride in state, shalt appear conspicuous, and the eyes of all thy
neighbours shall be upon thee." It was said of Israel, when God led
them triumphantly out of Egypt, that <i>he made them to ride on the
high places of the earth,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lix-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.12-Deut.32.13" parsed="|Deut|32|12|32|13" passage="De 32:12,13">Deut.
xxxii. 12, 13</scripRef>. Those that honour God and his sabbath he
will thus honour. If God by his grace enable us to live above the
world, and so to manage it as not only not to be hindered by it,
but to be furthered and carried on by it in our journey towards
heaven, then he makes us <i>to ride on the high places of the
earth.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lix-p28" shownumber="no">3. We shall have the profit of it: I will
<i>feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father,</i> that is,
with all the blessings of the covenant and all the precious
products of Canaan (which was a type of heaven), for these were the
heritage of Jacob. Observe, The heritage of believers is what they
shall not only be portioned with hereafter, but fed with now, fed
with the hopes of it, and not flattered, fed with the earnests and
foretastes of it; and those that are so fed have reason to say that
they are well fed. In order that we may depend upon it, it is
added, "<i>The mouth of the Lord has spoken it;</i> you may take
God's word for it, for he cannot lie nor deceive; what his mouth
has spoken his hand will give, his hand will do, and not one iota
or tittle of his good promise shall fall to the ground."
<i>Blessed, therefore,</i> thrice blessed, <i>is he that doeth
this, and lays hold on it, that keeps the sabbath from polluting
it.</i></p>
</div></div2>