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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Isaiah XL].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>I S A I A H.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XL.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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At this chapter begins the latter part of the prophecy of this book,
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which is not only divided from the former by the historical chapters
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that come between, but seems to be distinguished from it in the scope
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and style of it. In the former part the name of the prophet was
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frequently prefixed to the particular sermons, besides the general
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title (as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+2:1,7:3,13:1"><I>ch.</I> ii. 1; vii. 3; xiii. 1</A>);
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but this is all one continued discourse, and the prophet not so much as
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once named. That consisted of many burdens, many woes; this consists of
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many blessings. There the distress which the people of God were in by
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the Assyrian, and their deliverance out of that, were chiefly
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prophesied of; but that is here spoken of as a thing past
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+52:4"><I>ch.</I> lii. 4</A>);
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and the captivity in Babylon, and their deliverance out of that, which
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were much greater events, of more extensive and abiding concern, are
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here largely foretold. Before God sent his people into captivity he
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furnished them with precious promises for their support and comfort in
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their trouble; and we may well imagine of what great use to them the
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glorious, gracious, light of this prophecy was, in that cloudy and dark
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day, and how much it helped to dry up their tears by the rivers of
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Babylon. But it looks further yet, and to greater things; much of
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Christ and gospel grace we meet with in the foregoing part of this
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book, but in this latter part we shall find much more; and, as if it
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were designed for a prophetic summary of the New Testament, it begins
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with that which begins the gospels, "The voice of one crying in the
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wilderness"
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:3"><I>ch.</I> xl. 3</A>),
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and concludes with that which concludes the book of the Revelation,
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"The new heavens and the new earth,"
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+66:22"><I>ch.</I> lxvi. 22</A>).
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Even Mr. White acknowledges that, as all the mercies of God to the
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Jewish nation bore some resemblance to those glorious things performed
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by our Saviour for man's redemption, so they are by the Spirit of God
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expressed in such terms as show plainly that while the prophet is
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speaking of the redemption of the Jews he had in his thoughts a more
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glorious deliverance. And we need not look for any further
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accomplishment of these prophecies yet to come; for if Jesus be he, and
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his kingdom be it, that should come, we are to look for no other, but
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the carrying on and completing of the same blessed work which was begun
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in the first preaching and planting of Christianity in the world.</P>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have,
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I. Orders given to preach and publish the glad tidings of redemption,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+401,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. These glad tidings introduced by a voice in the wilderness, which
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gives assurance that all obstructions shall be removed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:3-5">ver. 3-5</A>),
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and that, though all creatures fail and fade, the word of God shall be
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established and accomplished,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:5-8">ver. 5-8</A>.
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III. A joyful prospect given to the people of God of the happiness
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which this redemption should bring along with it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:9-11">ver. 9-11</A>.
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IV. The sovereignty and power of that God magnified who undertakes to
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work out this redemption,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:12-17">ver. 12-17</A>.
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V. Idols therefore triumphed over and idolaters upbraided with their
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folly,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:18-26">ver. 18-26</A>.
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VI. A reproof given to the people of God for their fears and
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despondencies, and enough said, in a few words, to silence these fears,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:27-31">ver. 27-31</A>.
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And we, through patience and comfort of this scripture, may have hope.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa40_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa40_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Evangelical Predictions.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 708.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
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2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her
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warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she
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hath received of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s hand double for all her sins.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here the commission and instructions given, not to this prophet
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only, but, with him, to all the Lord's prophets, nay, and to all
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Christ's ministers, to proclaim comfort to God's people.
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1. This did not only warrant, but enjoin, this prophet himself to
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encourage the good people who lived in his own time, who could not but
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have very melancholy apprehensions of things when they saw Judah and
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Jerusalem by their daring impieties ripening apace for ruin, and God in
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his providence hastening ruin upon them. Let them be sure that,
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notwithstanding all this, God had mercy in store for them.
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2. It was especially a direction to the prophets that should live in
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the time of captivity, when Jerusalem was in ruins; they must encourage
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the captives to hope for enlargement in due time.
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3. Gospel ministers, being employed by the blessed Spirit as
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comforters, and as helpers of the joy of Christians, are here put in
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mind of their business. Here we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. Comfortable words directed to God's people in general,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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The prophets have instructions from their God (for he is the <I>Lord
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God of the holy prophets,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+22:6">Rev. xxii. 6</A>)
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to comfort the people of God; and the charge is doubled, <I>Comfort
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you, comfort you</I>--not because the prophets are unwilling to do it
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(no, it is the most pleasant part of their work), but because sometimes
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the souls of God's people refuse to be comforted, and their comforters
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must repeat things again and again, ere they can fasten any thing upon
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them. Observe here,
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1. There are a people in the world that are God's people.
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2. It is the will of God that his people should be a comforted people,
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even in the worst of times.
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3. It is the work and business of ministers to do what they can for the
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comfort of God's people.
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4. Words of conviction, such as we had in the former part of this book,
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must be followed with words of comfort, such as we have here; for he
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that has torn will heal us.</P>
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<P>
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II. Comfortable words directed to Jerusalem in particular: "<I>Speak to
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the heart of Jerusalem</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>);
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speak that which will revive her heart, and be a cordial to her and to
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all that belong to her and wish her well. Do not whisper it, but <I>cry
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unto her:</I> cry aloud, to show saints their comforts as well as to
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show sinners their transgressions; make her hear it:"
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1. "That the days of her trouble are numbered and finished: <I>Her
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warfare is accomplished,</I> the set time of her servitude; the
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campaign is now at an end, and she shall retire into quarters of
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refreshment." Human life is a warfare
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+7:1">Job vii. 1</A>);
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the Christian life much more. But the struggle will not last always;
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the warfare will be accomplished, and then the good soldiers shall not
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only enter into rest, but be sure of their pay.
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2. "That the cause of her trouble is removed, and, when that is taken
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away, the effect will cease. Tell her that <I>her iniquity is
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pardoned,</I> God is reconciled to her, and she shall no longer be
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treated as one guilty before him." Nothing can be spoken more
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comfortably than this, <I>Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven
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thee.</I> Troubles are <I>then</I> removed in love when sin is
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pardoned.
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3. "That the end of her trouble is answered: <I>She has received of the
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Lord double for</I> the cure of <I>all her sins,</I> sufficient, and
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more than sufficient, to separate between her and her idols," the
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worship of which was the great sin for which God had a controversy with
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them, and from which he designed to reclaim them by their captivity in
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Babylon: and it had that effect upon them; it begat in them a rooted
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antipathy to idolatry, and was physic doubly strong for the purging out
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of that iniquity. Or it may be taken as the language of the divine
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compassion: <I>His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:16">Judges x. 16</A>),
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and, like a tender father, <I>since he spoke against them he earnestly
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remembered them</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+31:20">Jer. xxxi. 20</A>),
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and was ready to say that he had given them too much correction. They,
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being very penitent, acknowledged that God has <I>punished them less
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than their iniquities deserved;</I> but he, being very pitiful, owned,
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in a manner, that he had punished them more than they deserved. True
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penitents have indeed, in Christ and his sufferings, <I>received of the
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Lord's hand double for all their sins;</I> for the satisfaction Christ
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made by his death was of such an infinite value that it was more than
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double to the demerits of sin; <I>for God spared not his own
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Son.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Isa40_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa40_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa40_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa40_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa40_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa40_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Evangelical Predictions.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 708.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye
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the way of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, make straight in the desert a highway for
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our God.
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4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill
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shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and
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the rough places plain:
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5 And the glory of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall be revealed, and all flesh
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shall see <I>it</I> together: for the mouth of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath spoken
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<I>it.</I>
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6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh
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<I>is</I> grass, and all the goodliness thereof <I>is</I> as the flower of
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the field:
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7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> bloweth upon it: surely the people <I>is</I> grass.
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8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our
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God shall stand for ever.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The time to favour Zion, yea, the set time, having come, the people of
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God must be prepared, by repentance and faith, for the favours designed
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them; and, in order to call them to both these, we have here <I>the
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voice of one crying in the wilderness,</I> which <I>may</I> be applied
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to those prophets who were with the captives in their wilderness-state,
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and who, when they saw the day of their deliverance dawn, called
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earnestly upon them to prepare for it, and assured them that all the
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difficulties which stood in the way of their deliverance should be got
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over. It is a good sign that mercy is preparing for us if we find God's
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grace preparing us for it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:17">Ps. x. 17</A>.
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But it <I>must</I> be applied to John the Baptist; for, though God was
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the speaker, he was <I>the voice of one crying in the wilderness,</I>
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and his business was to <I>prepare the way of the Lord,</I> to dispose
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men's minds for the reception and entertainment of the gospel of
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Christ. The way of the Lord is prepared,</P>
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<P>
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I. By repentance for sin; that was it which John Baptist preached to
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all Judah and Jerusalem
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+3:2,5">Matt. iii. 2, 5</A>),
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and thereby <I>made ready a people prepared for the Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:17">Luke i. 17</A>.</P>
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<P>
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1. The alarm is given; let all take notice of it at their peril; God is
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coming in a way of mercy, and we must prepare for him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:3-5"><I>v.</I> 3-5</A>.
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If we apply it to their captivity, it may be taken as a promise that,
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whatever difficulties lie in their way, when they return they shall be
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removed. This voice in the wilderness (divine power going along with
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it) sets pioneers on work to level the roads. But it may be taken as a
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call to duty, and it is the same duty that we are called to, in
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preparation for Christ's entrance into our souls.
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(1.) We must get into such a frame of spirit as will dispose us to
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receive Christ and his gospel: "<I>Prepare you the way of the Lord;</I>
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prepare yourselves for him, and let all that be suppressed which would
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be an obstruction to his entrance. Make room for Christ: <I>Make
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straight a highway for him.</I>" If he prepare the end for us, we ought
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surely to prepare the way for him. Prepare for the Saviour; <I>lift up
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your heads, O you gates!</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+24:7,9">Ps. xxiv. 7, 9</A>.
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Prepare for the salvation, the great salvation, and other minor
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deliverances. Let us get to be fit for them, and then God will work
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them out. Let us not stand in our own light, nor put a bar in our own
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door, but find, or make, a highway for him, even in that which was
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desert ground. This is that for which he waits to be gracious.
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(2.) We must get our hearts levelled by divine grace. Those that are
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hindered from comfort in Christ by their dejections and despondencies
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are the valleys that must be exalted. Those that are hindered from
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comfort in Christ by a proud conceit of their own merit and worth are
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the mountains and hills that must be made low. Those that have
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entertained prejudices against the word and ways of God, that are
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untractable, and disposed to thwart and contradict even that which is
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plain and easy because it agrees not with their corrupt inclinations
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and secular interests, are the crooked that must be made straight and
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the rough places that must be made plain. Let but the gospel of Christ
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have a fair hearing, and it cannot fail of acceptance. This prepares
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the way of the Lord; and thus God will by his grace prepare his own way
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in all the vessels of mercy, whose hearts he opens as he did
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Lydia's.</P>
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<P>
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2. When this is done <I>the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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(1.) When the captives are prepared for deliverance Cyrus shall
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proclaim it, and those shall have the benefit of it, and those only,
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whose hearts the Lord shall stir up with courage and resolution to
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break through the discouragements that lay in their way, and to make
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nothing of the hills, and valleys, and all the rough places.
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(2.) When John Baptist has for some time preached repentance,
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mortification, and reformation, and so made ready a people prepared for
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the Lord
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:17">Luke i. 17</A>),
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then the Messiah himself shall be revealed in his glory, working
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miracles, which John did not, and by his grace, which is his glory,
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binding up and healing with consolations those whom John had wounded
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with convictions. And this revelation of divine glory shall be <I>a
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light to lighten the Gentiles. All flesh shall see it together,</I> and
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not the Jews only; they shall see and admire it, see it and bid it
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welcome; as the return out of captivity was taken notice of by the
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neighbouring nations,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+126:2">Ps. cxxvi. 2</A>.
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And it shall be the accomplishment of the word of God, not one
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<I>iota</I> or tittle of which shall fall to the ground: <I>The mouth
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of the Lord has spoken it,</I> and therefore the hand of the Lord will
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effect it.</P>
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<P>
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II. By confidence in the word of the Lord, and not in any creature.
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<I>The mouth of the Lord having spoken it,</I> the voice has this
|
|
further to cry (he that has ears to hear let him hear it), <I>The word
|
|
of our God shall stand for ever,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. By this accomplishment of the prophecies and promises of salvation,
|
|
and the performance of them to the utmost in due time, it appears that
|
|
the word of the Lord is sure and what may be safely relied on.
|
|
<I>Then</I> we are prepared for deliverance when we depend entirely
|
|
upon the word of God, build our hopes on that, with an assurance that
|
|
it will not make us ashamed: in a dependence upon this word we must be
|
|
brought to own that <I>all flesh is grass,</I> withering and fading.
|
|
|
|
(1.) The power of man, when it does appear against the deliverance, is
|
|
not to be feared; for it shall be as grass before the word of the Lord:
|
|
it shall wither and be trodden down. The insulting Babylonians, who
|
|
promise themselves that the desolations of Jerusalem shall be
|
|
perpetual, are but as grass which the spirit of the Lord blows upon,
|
|
makes nothing of, but blasts all its glory; for the word of the Lord,
|
|
which promises their deliverance, shall stand for ever, and it is not
|
|
in the power of their enemies to hinder the execution of it.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The power of man, when it would appear for the deliverance, is not
|
|
to be trusted to; for it is but as grass in comparison with the word of
|
|
the Lord, which is the only firm foundation for us to build our hope
|
|
upon. When God is about to work salvation for his people he will take
|
|
them off from depending upon creatures, and looking for it from hills
|
|
and mountains. They shall fail them, and their expectations from them
|
|
shall be frustrated: <I>The Spirit of the Lord shall blow upon
|
|
them;</I> for God will have no creature to be a rival with him for the
|
|
hope and confidence of his people; and, as it is his word only that
|
|
shall stand for ever, so in that word only our faith must stand. When
|
|
we are brought to this, then, and not till then, we are fit for
|
|
mercy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The word of our God, that glory of the Lord which is now to be
|
|
revealed, the gospel, and that grace which is brought with it to us and
|
|
wrought by it in us, shall stand for ever; and this is the satisfaction
|
|
of all believers, when they find all their creature-comforts withering
|
|
and fading like grass. Thus the apostle applies it to <I>the word which
|
|
by the gospel is preached unto us, and which lives and abides for ever
|
|
as the incorruptible seed by which we are born again,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+1:23-25">1 Pet. i. 23-25</A>.
|
|
|
|
To prepare the way of the Lord we must be convinced,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Of the vanity of the creature, that all flesh is grass, weak and
|
|
withering. We ourselves are so, and therefore cannot save ourselves;
|
|
all our friends are so, and therefore are unable to save us. All the
|
|
beauty of the creature, which might render it amiable, is but as the
|
|
flower of grass, soon blasted, and therefore cannot recommend us to God
|
|
and to his acceptance. We are dying creatures; all our comforts in this
|
|
word are dying comforts, and therefore cannot be the felicity of our
|
|
immortal souls. We must look further for a salvation, look further for
|
|
a portion.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Of the validity of the promise of God. We must be convinced that
|
|
the word of the Lord can do that for us which all flesh cannot--that,
|
|
forasmuch as it stands for ever, it will furnish us with a happiness
|
|
that will run parallel with the duration of our souls, which must live
|
|
for ever; for the things that are not seen, but must be believed, are
|
|
eternal.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_9"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_11"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Evangelical Predictions.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 708.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high
|
|
mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy
|
|
voice with strength; lift <I>it</I> up, be not afraid; say unto the
|
|
cities of Judah, Behold your God!
|
|
10 Behold, the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT> will come with strong <I>hand,</I> and his
|
|
arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward <I>is</I> with him, and his
|
|
work before him.
|
|
11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the
|
|
lambs with his arm, and carry <I>them</I> in his bosom, <I>and</I> shall
|
|
gently lead those that are with young.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
It was promised
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>that the glory of the Lord shall be revealed;</I> that is it with
|
|
the hopes of which God's people must be comforted. Now here we are
|
|
told,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. How it shall be revealed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. It shall be revealed to Zion and Jerusalem; notice shall be given of
|
|
it to the remnant that are left in Zion and Jerusalem, the poor of the
|
|
land, who were vine-dressers and husbandmen; it shall be told them that
|
|
their brethren shall return to them. This shall be told also to the
|
|
captives who belonged to Zion and Jerusalem, and retained their
|
|
affection for them. Zion is said to <I>dwell with the daughter of
|
|
Babylon</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+2:7">Zech. ii. 7</A>);
|
|
|
|
and there she receives notice of Cyrus's gracious proclamation; and so
|
|
the margin reads it, <I>O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion,</I>
|
|
&c., meaning the persons who were employed in publishing that
|
|
proclamation; let them do it with a good will, let them make the
|
|
country ring of it, and let them tell it to the sons of Zion in their
|
|
own language, <I>saying to them, Behold your God.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. It shall be published by Zion and Jerusalem (so the text reads it);
|
|
those that remain there, or that have already returned, when they find
|
|
the deliverance proceeding towards perfection, let them proclaim it in
|
|
the most public places, whence they may be best heard by all the cities
|
|
of Judah; let them proclaim it as loudly as they can: let them <I>lift
|
|
up their voice with strength,</I> and not be afraid of overstraining
|
|
themselves; let them not be afraid lest the enemy should hear it and
|
|
quarrel with them, or lest it should not prove true, or not such good
|
|
tidings as at first it appeared; let them say to the cities of Judah,
|
|
and all the inhabitants of the country, <I>Behold your God.</I> When
|
|
God is going on with the salvation of his people, let them
|
|
industriously spread the news among their friends, let them tell them
|
|
that it is God that has done it; whoever were the instruments, God was
|
|
the author; it is <I>their</I> God, a God in covenant with them, and he
|
|
does it as theirs, and they will reap the benefit and comfort of it.
|
|
"Behold him, take notice of his hand in it, and look above second
|
|
causes; behold, the God you have long looked for has come at last
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+25:9"><I>ch.</I> xxv. 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>This is our God, we have waited for him.</I>" This may refer to the
|
|
invitation which was sent forth from Jerusalem to the cities of Judah,
|
|
as soon as they had set up an altar, immediately upon their return out
|
|
of captivity, to come and join with them in their sacrifices,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+3:2-4">Ezra iii. 2-4</A>.
|
|
|
|
"When the worship of God is set up again, send notice of it to all your
|
|
brethren, that they may share with you in the comfort of it." But this
|
|
was to have its full accomplishment in the apostles' public and
|
|
undaunted preaching of the gospel to all nations, beginning at
|
|
Jerusalem. The voice crying in the wilderness gave notice that he was
|
|
coming; but now notice is given that he has come. <I>Behold the Lamb of
|
|
God;</I> take a full view of your Redeemer. Behold your King, behold
|
|
your God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. What that glory is which shall be revealed. "Your God will come,
|
|
will show himself,"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. "With the power and greatness of a prince
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He will come with strong hand,</I> too strong to be obstructed,
|
|
though it may be opposed. His strong hand shall subdue his people to
|
|
himself, and shall restrain and conquer his and their enemies. He will
|
|
come who is strong enough to break through all the difficulties that
|
|
lie in his way." Our Lord Jesus was full of power, a mighty Saviour.
|
|
Some read, it, <I>He will come against the mighty one,</I> and
|
|
overpower him, overcome him. Satan is the strong man armed; but our
|
|
Lord Jesus is stronger than he, and he shall make it to appear that he
|
|
is so, for,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He shall reign in defiance of all opposition: <I>His arm shall
|
|
rule,</I> shall overrule <I>for him,</I> for the fulfilling of his
|
|
counsels, to his own glory; for he is his own end.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He shall recompense to all according to their works, as a
|
|
righteous Judge: <I>His reward is with him;</I> he brings along with
|
|
him, as a returning prince, punishments for the rebels and preferments
|
|
for his loyal subjects.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He shall proceed and accomplish his purpose: <I>His work is before
|
|
him,</I> that is, he knows perfectly well what he has to do, which way
|
|
to go about it, and how to compass it. <I>He himself knows what he will
|
|
do.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. "With the pity and tenderness of a shepherd,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
God is the <I>Shepherd of Israel</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+80:1">Ps. lxxx. 1</A>);
|
|
|
|
Christ is the good Shepherd,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+10:11">John x. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
The same that rules with the strong hand of a prince leads and feeds
|
|
with the kind hand of a shepherd.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He takes care of all his flock, the little flock: <I>He shall feed
|
|
his flock like a shepherd.</I> His word is food for his flock to feed
|
|
on; his ordinances are fields for them to feed in; his ministers are
|
|
under-shepherds that are appointed to attend them.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He takes particular care of those that most need his care, the
|
|
lambs that are weak, and cannot help themselves, and are unaccustomed
|
|
to hardship, and <I>those that are with young,</I> that are therefore
|
|
heavy, and, if any harm be done them, are in danger of casting their
|
|
young. He particularly takes care for a succession, that it may not
|
|
fail or be cut off. The good Shepherd has tender care for children that
|
|
are towardly and hopeful, for young converts, that are setting out in
|
|
the way to heaven, for weak believers, and those that are of a
|
|
sorrowful spirit. These are the lambs of his flock, that shall be sure
|
|
to want nothing that their case requires.
|
|
|
|
[1.] He will gather them in the arms of his power; his strength shall
|
|
be made <I>perfect in their weakness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+12:9">2 Cor. xii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
He will gather them in when they wander, gather them up when they fall,
|
|
gather them together when they are dispersed, and gather them home to
|
|
himself at last; and all this with his own arm, out of which none shall
|
|
be able to pluck them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+10:28">John x. 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He will carry them in the bosom of his love and cherish them
|
|
there. When they tire or are weary, are sick and faint, when they meet
|
|
with foul ways, he will carry them on, and take care they are not left
|
|
behind.
|
|
|
|
[3.] He will gently lead them. By his word he requires no more
|
|
service, and by his providence he inflicts no more trouble, than he
|
|
will fit them for; for he considers their frame.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_17"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Evangelical Predictions.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 708.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and
|
|
meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the
|
|
earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the
|
|
hills in a balance?
|
|
13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, or <I>being</I> his
|
|
counsellor hath taught him?
|
|
14 With whom took he counsel, and <I>who</I> instructed him, and
|
|
taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and
|
|
showed to him the way of understanding?
|
|
15 Behold, the nations <I>are</I> as a drop of a bucket, and are
|
|
counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up
|
|
the isles as a very little thing.
|
|
16 And Lebanon <I>is</I> not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts
|
|
thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
|
|
17 All nations before him <I>are</I> as nothing; and they are
|
|
counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The scope of these verses is to show what a great and glorious being
|
|
the Lord Jehovah is, who is Israel's God and Saviour. It comes in here,
|
|
|
|
1. To encourage his people that were captives in Babylon to hope in
|
|
him, and to depend upon him for deliverance, though they were ever so
|
|
weak and their oppressors ever so strong.
|
|
|
|
2. To engage them to cleave to him, and not to turn aside after other
|
|
gods; for there are none to be compared with him.
|
|
|
|
3. To possess all those who receive the glad tidings of redemption by
|
|
Christ with a holy awe and reverence of God. Though it was said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Behold your God,</I> and
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>He shall feed his flock like a shepherd,</I> yet these
|
|
condescensions of his grace must not be thought of with any diminution
|
|
to the transcendencies of his glory. Let us see how great our God is,
|
|
and fear before him; for,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. His power is unlimited, and what no creature can compare with, much
|
|
less contend with,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. He has a vast reach. View the celestial globe, and you are
|
|
astonished at the extent of it; but the great God <I>metes the heavens
|
|
with a span;</I> to him they are but a hand-breadth, so large-handed is
|
|
he. View the terraqueous globe, and he has the command of that too. All
|
|
the waters in the world he can <I>measure in the hollow of his
|
|
hand,</I> where we can hold but a little water; and the dry land he
|
|
easily manages, for he <I>comprehends the dust of the earth in a
|
|
measure,</I> or with his three fingers; it is no more to him than a
|
|
<I>pugil,</I> or that which we take up between our thumb and two
|
|
fingers.
|
|
|
|
2. He has a vast strength, and can as easily move mountains and hills
|
|
as the tradesman heaves his goods into the scales and out of them
|
|
again; he poises them with his hand as exactly as if he weighed them in
|
|
a pair of balances. This may refer to the work of creation, when the
|
|
heavens were stretched out as exactly as that which is spanned, and the
|
|
earth and waters were put together in just proportions, as if they had
|
|
been measured, and the mountains made of such a weight as to serve for
|
|
ballast to the globe, and no more. Or it may refer to the work of
|
|
providence (which is a continued creation) and the consistency of all
|
|
the creatures with each other.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. His wisdom is unsearchable, and what no creature can give either
|
|
information or direction to,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:13,14"><I>v.</I> 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
As none can do what God has done and does, so none can assist him in
|
|
the doing of it or suggest any thing to him which he thought not of.
|
|
When the Lord by his Spirit made the world
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+26:13">Job xxvi. 13</A>)
|
|
|
|
there was none that directed his Spirit, or gave him any advice, either
|
|
what to do or how to do it. Nor does he need any counsellor to direct
|
|
him in the government of the world, nor is there any with whom he
|
|
consults, as the wisest kings do with those that <I>know law and
|
|
judgment,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+1:13">Esther i. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
God needs not to be told what is done, for he knows it perfectly; nor
|
|
needs he be advised concerning what is to be done, for he knows both
|
|
the right end and the proper means. This is much insisted upon here,
|
|
because the poor captives had no politicians among them to manage their
|
|
concerns at court or to put them in a way of gaining their liberty. "No
|
|
matter," says the prophet, "you have a God to act for you, who needs
|
|
not the assistance of statesmen." In the great work of our redemption
|
|
by Christ matters were concerted <I>before the world was,</I> when
|
|
there was one to <I>teach God in the path of judgment,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+2:7">1 Cor. ii. 7</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The nations of the world are nothing in comparison of him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:15,17"><I>v.</I> 15, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Take them all together, all the great and mighty nations of the earth,
|
|
kings the most pompous, kingdoms the most populous, both the most
|
|
wealthy; take the isles, the multitude of them, the isles of the
|
|
Gentiles: <I>Before him,</I> when they stand in competition with him or
|
|
in opposition to him, they are <I>as a drop of the bucket</I> compared
|
|
with the vast ocean, or <I>the small dust of the balance</I> (which
|
|
does not serve to turn it, and therefore is not regarded, it is so
|
|
small) in comparison with all the dust of the earth. <I>He takes them
|
|
up,</I> and throws them away from him, <I>as a very little thing,</I>
|
|
not worth speaking of. They are all in his eye <I>as nothing,</I> as if
|
|
they had no being at all; for they add nothing to his perfection and
|
|
all-sufficiency. <I>They are counted by him,</I> and are to be counted
|
|
by us in comparison of him, <I>less than nothing, and vanity.</I> When
|
|
he pleases, he can as easily bring them all into nothing as at first he
|
|
brought them out of nothing. When God has work to do he values not
|
|
either the assistance or the resistance of any creature. They are all
|
|
<I>vanity;</I> the word that is used for the chaos
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:2">Gen. i. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
to which they will at last be reduced. Let this beget in us high
|
|
thoughts of God and low thoughts of this world, and engage us to make
|
|
God, and not man, both our fear and our hope. This magnifies God's love
|
|
to the world, that, though it is of such small account and value with
|
|
him, yet, for the redemption of it, he <I>gave his only-begotten
|
|
Son,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+3:16">John iii. 16</A>.</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
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|
IV. The services of the church can make no addition to him nor do they
|
|
bear any proportion to his infinite perfections
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Lebanon is not sufficient to burn;</I> not the wood of it, to be for
|
|
the fuel of the altar, though it be so well stocked with cedars; not
|
|
the beasts of it, to be for sacrifices, though it be so well stocked
|
|
with cattle,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Whatever we honour God with, it falls infinitely short of the merit of
|
|
his perfection; for he is exalted <I>far above all blessing and
|
|
praise,</I> all burnt-offerings and sacrifices.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_26"> </A>
|
|
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|
<A NAME="Sec5"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Vanity of Idols.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 708.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye
|
|
compare unto him?
|
|
19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith
|
|
spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
|
|
20 He that <I>is</I> so impoverished that he hath no oblation
|
|
chooseth a tree <I>that</I> will not rot; he seeketh unto him a
|
|
cunning workman to prepare a graven image, <I>that</I> shall not be
|
|
moved.
|
|
21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told
|
|
you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the
|
|
foundations of the earth?
|
|
22 <I>It is</I> he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and
|
|
the inhabitants thereof <I>are</I> as grasshoppers; that stretcheth
|
|
out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to
|
|
dwell in:
|
|
23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges
|
|
of the earth as vanity.
|
|
24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown:
|
|
yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall
|
|
also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind
|
|
shall take them away as stubble.
|
|
25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith
|
|
the Holy One.
|
|
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these
|
|
<I>things,</I> that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them
|
|
all by names by the greatness of his might, for that <I>he is</I>
|
|
strong in power; not one faileth.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The prophet here reproves those,
|
|
|
|
1. Who represented God by creatures, and so changed his truth into a
|
|
lie and his glory into shame, who made images and then said that they
|
|
resembled God, and paid their homage to them accordingly.
|
|
|
|
2. Who put creatures in the place of God, who feared them more than
|
|
God, as if they were a match for him, or loved them more than God, as
|
|
if they were fit to be rivals with him. Twice the challenge is here
|
|
made, <I>To whom will you liken God?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>,
|
|
|
|
and again
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Holy One himself says, <I>To whom will you liken me?</I> This shows
|
|
the folly and absurdity,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Of corporal idolatry, making visible images of him who is
|
|
invisible, imagining the image to be animated by the deity, and the
|
|
deity to be presentiated by the image, which, as it was an instance of
|
|
the corruption of the human nature, so it was an intolerable injury to
|
|
the honour of the divine nature.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Of spiritual idolatry, making creatures equal with God in our
|
|
affections. Proud people make themselves equal with God; covetous
|
|
people make their money equal with God; and whatever we esteem or love,
|
|
fear or hope in, more than God, that creature we equal with God, which
|
|
is the highest affront imaginable to him who is <I>God over all.</I>
|
|
Now, to show the absurdity of this,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The prophet describes idols as despicable things and worthy of the
|
|
greatest contempt
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:19,20"><I>v.</I> 19, 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
"Look upon the better sort of them, which rich people set up, and
|
|
worship; they are made of some base metal, cast into what shape the
|
|
founder pleases, and that is gilded, or overlaid with plates of gold,
|
|
that it may pass for a golden image. It is a creature; for the workman
|
|
made it; <I>therefore it is not God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+8:6">Hos. viii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
It depended upon his will whether it should be a god at all, and of
|
|
what shape it should be. It is a cheat; for it is gold on the outside,
|
|
but within it is lead or copper, in this indeed representing the
|
|
deities, that they were not what they seemed to be, and deceived their
|
|
admirers. How despicable then are the worst sort of them--the poor
|
|
men's gods! <I>He that is so impoverished</I> that he has scarcely a
|
|
sacrifice to offer to his god when he has made him will yet not be
|
|
without an enshrined deity of his own; and, though he cannot procure
|
|
one of brass or stone, he will have a wooden one rather than none, and
|
|
for that purpose <I>chooses a tree that will not soon rot,</I> and of
|
|
that he will have his graven image made. Both agree to have their image
|
|
well fastened, that they may not be robbed of it. The better sort have
|
|
silver chains to fix theirs with; and, though it be but a wooden image,
|
|
care is taken that it <I>shall not be moved.</I>" Let us pause a little
|
|
and see,
|
|
|
|
1. How these idolaters shame themselves, and what a reproach they put
|
|
upon their own reason, in dreaming that gods of their own making
|
|
(<I>Nehushtans,</I> pieces of brass or logs of wood) should be able to
|
|
do them any kindness. Thus vain were they in their imaginations; and
|
|
how was their foolish heart darkened!
|
|
|
|
2. See how these idolaters shame us, who worship the only living and
|
|
true God. They spared no cost upon their idols; we grudge that as
|
|
waste which is spent in the service of our God. They took care that
|
|
their idols should not be moved; we wilfully provoke our God to depart
|
|
from us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He describes God as infinitely great, and worthy of the highest
|
|
veneration; so that between him and idols, whatever competition there
|
|
may be, there is no comparison. To prove the greatness of God he
|
|
appeals,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. To what they had <I>heard of him by the hearing of the ear,</I> and
|
|
the consent of all ages and nations concerning him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Have you not known</I> by the very light of nature? <I>Has it not
|
|
been told you by your fathers</I> and teachers, according to the
|
|
constant tradition received from their ancestors and predecessors, even
|
|
from the beginning?" (Those notices of God are as ancient as the
|
|
world.) "<I>Have you not understood</I> it as always acknowledged
|
|
<I>from the foundation of the earth,</I> that God is a great God, and a
|
|
great King above all gods?" It has been a truth universally admitted
|
|
that there is an infinite Being who is the fountain of all being. This
|
|
is understood not only ever since the beginning of the world, but from
|
|
and by the origin of the universe. It is founded upon the foundation of
|
|
the earth. The invisible things of God are <I>clearly seen from the
|
|
creation of the world,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+1:20">Rom. i. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thou mayest not only ask thy father, and he shall tell thee this, and
|
|
thy elders
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:7">Deut. xxxii. 7</A>);
|
|
|
|
but <I>ask those that go by the way</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:29">Job xxi. 29</A>),
|
|
|
|
ask the first man you meet, and he will say the same. Some read it,
|
|
<I>Will you not know? Will you not hear it?</I> For those that are
|
|
ignorant of this are willingly ignorant; the light shines in their
|
|
faces, but they shut their eyes against it. Now that which is here said
|
|
of God is,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That he has the command of all the creatures. The heaven and the
|
|
earth themselves are under his management: <I>He sits upon the
|
|
circle,</I> or globe, <I>of the earth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that has the special residence of his glory in the upper world
|
|
maintains a dominion over this lower world, gives law to it, and
|
|
directs all the motions of it to his own glory. He sits undisturbed
|
|
upon the earth, and so establishes it. He is still stretching out the
|
|
heavens, his power and providence keep them still stretched out, and
|
|
will do so till the day comes that they shall be rolled together like a
|
|
scroll. He spreads them out as easily as we draw a curtain to and fro,
|
|
opening these curtains in the morning and drawing them close again at
|
|
night. And the heaven is to this earth <I>as a tent to dwell in;</I> it
|
|
is a canopy drawn over our heads, <I>et quod tegit omnia cœlum--and it
|
|
encircles all.</I>--Ovid. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:2">Ps. civ. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That the children of men, even the greatest and mightiest, are as
|
|
nothing before him. The numerous inhabitants of this earth are in his
|
|
eye as grasshoppers in ours, so little and inconsiderable, of such
|
|
small value, of such little use, and so easily crushed. Proud men's
|
|
lifting up themselves is but like the grasshopper's leap; in an instant
|
|
they must stoop down to the earth again. If the spies thought
|
|
themselves grasshoppers before the sons of Anak
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+13:33">Num. xiii. 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
what are we before the great God? Grasshoppers live but awhile, and
|
|
live carelessly, not like the ant; so do the most of men.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That those who appear and act against him, how formidable soever
|
|
they may be to their fellow-creatures, will certainly be humble and
|
|
brought down by the mighty hand of God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:23,24"><I>v.</I> 23, 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Princes and judges, who have great authority, and abuse it to the
|
|
support of oppression and injustice, make nothing of those about them;
|
|
<I>as for all their enemies they puff at them</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:5,12:5">Ps. x. 5; xii. 5</A>);
|
|
|
|
but, when the great God takes them to task, he brings them to nothing;
|
|
he humbles them, and tames them, and makes them as vanity, little
|
|
regarded, neither feared nor loved. He makes them utterly unable to
|
|
stand before his judgments, which shall either,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Prevent their settlement in their authority: <I>They shall not be
|
|
planted; they shall not be sown;</I> and those are the two ways of
|
|
propagating plants, either by seed or slips. Nay, if they should gain a
|
|
little interest, and so be planted or sown, yet <I>their stock shall
|
|
not take root in the earth,</I> they shall not continue long in power.
|
|
Eliphaz saw the foolish taking root, but <I>suddenly cursed their
|
|
habitation.</I> And then how soon is the fig-tree withered away! Or,
|
|
|
|
[2.] He will blast them when they think they are settled. He does but
|
|
<I>blow upon them,</I> and then <I>they shall wither,</I> and come to
|
|
nothing, and <I>the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.</I> For
|
|
God's wrath, though it seem at first to blow slightly upon them, will
|
|
soon become a mighty whirlwind. When God judges he will overcome.
|
|
Those that will not bow before him cannot stand before him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He appeals to what <I>their eyes saw of him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Lift up your eyes on high;</I> be not always poring on this earth"
|
|
(<I>O curvæ in terras animæ et cœlestium
|
|
inanes!--Degenerate minds, that can bend so towards the earth, having
|
|
nothing celestial in them!</I>), "but sometimes look up" (<I>Os homini
|
|
sublime dedit, cœlumque tueri jussit--Heaven gave to man an erect
|
|
countenance, and bade him gaze on the stars</I>); "behold the glorious
|
|
lights of heaven, consider who has created them. They neither made nor
|
|
marshalled themselves; doubtless, therefore, there is a God that gave
|
|
them their being, power, and motion." What we see of the creature
|
|
should lead us to the Creator. The idolaters, when they lifted up their
|
|
eyes and beheld the hosts of heaven, being wholly immerged in sense,
|
|
looked no further, but worshipped them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+4:19,Job+31:26">Deut. iv. 19; Job xxxi. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Therefore the prophet here directs us to make use of our reason as well
|
|
as our senses, and to consider who created them, and to pay our homage
|
|
to him. Give him the glory of his sovereignty over them--He <I>brings
|
|
out their host by number,</I> as a general draws out the squadrons and
|
|
battalions of his army; of the knowledge he has of them--<I>He calls
|
|
them all by names,</I> proper names, according as their place and
|
|
influence are
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+147:4">Ps. cxlvii. 4</A>);
|
|
|
|
and of the use he makes of them; when he calls them out to any service,
|
|
so obsequious are they that, <I>by the greatness of his might, not one
|
|
of them fails,</I> but, as when <I>the stars in their courses fought
|
|
against Sisera,</I> every one does that to which he is appointed. To
|
|
make these creatures therefore rivals with God, which are such ready
|
|
servants to him, is an injury to them as well as an affront to him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa40_31"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec6"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jehovah's Grandeur and Compassion.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 708.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is
|
|
hid from the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
|
|
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, <I>that</I> the
|
|
everlasting God, the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, the Creator of the ends of the earth,
|
|
fainteth not, neither is weary? <I>there is</I> no searching of his
|
|
understanding.
|
|
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to <I>them that have</I> no
|
|
might he increaseth strength.
|
|
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men
|
|
shall utterly fall:
|
|
31 But they that wait upon the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall renew <I>their</I>
|
|
strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall
|
|
run, and not be weary; <I>and</I> they shall walk, and not faint.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
I. The prophet reproves the people of God, who are now supposed to be
|
|
captives in Babylon for their unbelief and distrust of God, and the
|
|
dejections and despondencies of their spirit under their affliction
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Why sayest thou, O Jacob!</I> to thyself and to those about thee,
|
|
<I>My way is hidden from the Lord?</I> Why dost thou make hard and
|
|
melancholy conclusions concerning thyself and thy present case as if
|
|
the latter were desperate?"
|
|
|
|
1. The titles he here gives them were enough to shame them out of their
|
|
distrusts: <I>O Jacob! O Israel!</I> Let them remember whence they took
|
|
these names--from one who had found God faithful to him and kind in all
|
|
his straits; and why they bore these names--as God's professing people,
|
|
a people in covenant with him.
|
|
|
|
2. The way of reproving them is by reasoning with them: "Why? Consider
|
|
whether thou hast any ground to say so." Many of our foolish frets and
|
|
foolish fears would vanish before a strict enquiry into the causes of
|
|
them.
|
|
|
|
3. That which they are reproved for is an ill-natured, ill-favoured,
|
|
word they spoke of God, as if he had cast them off. There seems to be
|
|
an emphasis laid upon their saying it: Why <I>sayest</I> thou and
|
|
<I>speakest</I> thou? It is bad to have evil thoughts rise in our mind,
|
|
but it is worse to put an <I>imprimatur--a sanction</I> to them, and
|
|
turn them into evil words. David reflects with regret upon what he
|
|
said in his haste, when he was in distress.
|
|
|
|
4. The ill word they said was a word of despair concerning their
|
|
present calamitous condition. They were ready to conclude,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That God would not heed them: "<I>My way is hidden from the
|
|
Lord;</I> he takes no notice of our straits, nor concerns himself any
|
|
more in our concernments. There are such difficulties in our case that
|
|
even divine wisdom and power will be nonplussed." A man <I>whose way is
|
|
hidden</I> is one whom <I>God has hedged in,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+3:23">Job iii. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That God could not help them: "<I>My judgment is passed over from
|
|
my God;</I> my case is past relief, so far past it that God himself
|
|
cannot redress the grievances of it. <I>Our bones are dried.</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+37:11">Ezek. xxxvii. 11</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He reminds them of that which, if duly considered, was sufficient
|
|
to silence all those fears and distrust. For their conviction, as
|
|
before for the conviction of idolaters
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
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he appeals to what they had known and what they had heard. Jacob and
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Israel were a knowing people, or might have been, and their knowledge
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came by hearing; for Wisdom cried in their chief places of concourse.
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Now, among other things, they had heard that <I>God had spoken once,
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twice,</I> yea, many a time they had <I>heard it, That power belongs
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unto God</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+62:11">Ps. lxii. 11</A>),
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That is,</P>
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<P>
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1. He is himself an almighty God. He must needs be so, for he is <I>the
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everlasting God, even Jehovah.</I> He was from eternity; he will be to
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eternity; and therefore with him there is no deficiency, no decay. He
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has his being of himself, and therefore all his perfections must needs
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be boundless. He is without beginning of days or end of life, and
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therefore with him there is no change. He is also <I>the Creator of the
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ends of the earth,</I> that is, of the whole earth and all that is in
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|
it from end to end. He therefore is the rightful owner and ruler of
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all, and must be concluded to have an absolute power over all and an
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all-sufficiency to help his people in their greatest straits. Doubtless
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he is still as able to save his church as he was at first to make the
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world.
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(1.) He has wisdom to contrive the salvation, and that wisdom is never
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at a loss: <I>There is no searching of his understanding,</I> so as to
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countermine the counsels of it and defeat its intentions; no, nor so as
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to determine what he will do, for he has ways by himself, ways in the
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sea. None can say, "Thus far God's wisdom can go, and no further;" for,
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when we know not what to do, he knows.
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(2.) He has power to bring about the salvation, and that power is never
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exhausted: <I>He faints not, nor is weary;</I> he upholds the whole
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creation, and governs all the creatures, and is neither tired nor
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toiled; and therefore, no doubt, he has power to relieve his church,
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when it is brought ever so low, without weakness or weariness.</P>
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<P>
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2. He gives strength and power to his people, and helps them by
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|
enabling them to help themselves. He that is the strong God is the
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strength of Israel.
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(1.) He can help the weak,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
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Many a time <I>he gives power to the faint,</I> to those that are ready
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|
to faint away; and <I>to those that have no might he</I> not only
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|
gives, but <I>increases strength,</I> as there is more and more
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|
occasion for it. Many out of bodily weakness are wonderfully
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|
recovered, and made strong, by the providence of God: and many that are
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feeble in spirit, timorous and faint-hearted, unfit for services and
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sufferings, are yet strengthened by the grace of God <I>with all might
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in the inward man.</I> To those who are sensible of their weakness, and
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ready to acknowledge they have no might, God does in a special manner
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increase strength; for, <I>when we are weak</I> in ourselves, <I>then
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are we strong in the Lord.</I>
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(2.) He will help the willing, will help those who, in a humble
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dependence upon him, help themselves, and will do well for those who do
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their best,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:30,31"><I>v.</I> 30, 31</A>.
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Those who trust to their own sufficiency, and are so confident of it
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|
that they neither exert themselves to the utmost nor seek unto God for
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his grace, are <I>the youth</I> and <I>the young men,</I> who are
|
|
strong, but are apt to think themselves stronger than they are. And
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they <I>shall faint and be weary,</I> yea, they <I>shall utterly
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|
fail</I> in their services, in their conflicts, and under their
|
|
burdens; they shall soon be made to see the folly of trusting to
|
|
themselves. <I>But those that wait on the Lord,</I> who make conscience
|
|
of their duty to him, and by faith rely upon him and commit themselves
|
|
to his guidance, shall find that God will not fail them.
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[1.] They shall have grace sufficient for them: They <I>shall renew
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|
their strength</I> as their work is renewed, as there is new occasion;
|
|
they shall be anointed, and their lamps supplied, with fresh oil. God
|
|
will be their <I>arm every morning,</I>
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:2"><I>ch.</I> xxxiii. 2</A>.
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If at any time they have been foiled and weakened they shall recover
|
|
themselves, and so renew their strength. Heb. <I>They shall change
|
|
their strength,</I> as their work is changed--doing work, suffering
|
|
work; they shall have strength to labour, strength to wrestle, strength
|
|
to resist, strength to bear. As the day so shall the strength be.
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[2.] They shall use this grace for the best purposes. Being
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|
strengthened, <I>First,</I> They shall soar upward, upward towards God:
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|
<I>They shall mount up with wings like eagles,</I> so strongly, so
|
|
swiftly, so high and heaven-ward. In the strength of divine grace,
|
|
their souls shall ascend above the world, and even enter into the
|
|
holiest. Pious and devout affections are the eagles' wings on which
|
|
gracious souls mount up,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+25:1">Ps. xxv. 1</A>.
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<I>Secondly,</I> They shall press forward, forward towards heaven. They
|
|
shall walk, they shall run, the way of God's commandments, cheerfully
|
|
and with alacrity (they <I>shall not be weary</I>), constantly and with
|
|
perseverance (they <I>shall not faint</I>); and therefore in due season
|
|
they shall reap. Let Jacob and Israel therefore, in their greatest
|
|
distresses, continue waiting upon God, and not despair of timely and
|
|
effectual relief and succour from him.</P>
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