_Hearken to Me_ THE THRICE “HEARKEN” These paragraphs are exceedingly dramatic. We become conscious that we are approaching a revelation of unparalleled sublimity which shall be in Scripture what heart or brain or eye is in the human body. And as we consider the thrice “Hearken” of this paragraph,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Look unto Abraham your father_ ABRAHAM, OR THE CHRISTIAN’S ROCK I. THE DEALINGS OF GOD WITH ABRAHAM. 1. God “called him alone.” How merciful this call! Our own call to renounce this world, and to seek a better, even a heavenly country, is to be traced, like Abraham’s, to the undeserved mercy of... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the Lord shall comfort Zion_ ZION COMFORTED I. THERE IS A LOW ESTATE, OF THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSAL CHURCH, AND OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES OF IT, AND LIKEWISE OF INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS. II. THERE ARE GRACIOUS PROMISES OF REVIVAL, of restored fertility and productiveness. III. THE MODE IT WHICH THESE BL... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hearken unto Me, My people_ THE ABSOLUTE IN HUMAN HISTORY Time works mighty changes in human life. Amidst the ceaseless whirl of mutation, is there nothing unchangeable? Is life made up entirely of volatile contingencies? Has it no absolute elements? Oh, for a rock in this ebbing sea, where we m... [ Continue Reading ]
_My righteousness is near_ GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION The Gospel of Christ shall be preached and published to the world. “A law shall proceed from Me” (Isaiah 51:4), an evangelical law, the law of Christ, the law of faith (Isaiah 2:3). I. THIS SHALL BRING WITH IT RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATI... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lift up your eyes to the heavens._ THE ETERNITY OF RELIGION From the thought of the universality of religion the prophet rises to that of its eternity, which is here expressed by a contrast of surprising boldness between the “things which are seen” and the “things which are not seen.” (_Prof. J.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness_ CHRISTIANS ENCOURAGED AGAINST THE FEAR OF MAN I. THE PERSONS ADDRESSED. 1. Those who “know righteousness.” 2. They have the law of God in their heart. II. THE ADDRESS MADE TO THEM. “Hearken unto Me,”_ etc. _ 1. Let us remember who is the speaker of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord_ THE AWAKING OF ZION (with Isaiah 52:1 (A)):--Both these verses are, I think, to be regarded as spoken by one voice, that of the Servant of the Lord. In the one, as Priest and Intercessor, He lifts the prayers of earth to heaven in His own holy han... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return_ GREAT DELIVERANCES The return of the light of morning after the darkness of the night; of a fine summer after a cold and cheerless winter; of health and strength after a season of sickness and pain, is refreshing and delightful, and demands the gra... [ Continue Reading ]
_I, even I, am He that comforteth you_ DIVINE COMFORT IS STRENGTH They prayed for the operations of His power (Isaiah 51:9); He answers them with the consolations of His grace, which may well be accepted as an equivalent. (_M. Henry_.) OUR TRUE COMFORTER I. THE LORD COMFORTS ALL WHO TRUST HIM,... [ Continue Reading ]
_And forgettest the Lord thy Maker_ GOD THE CREATOR What is it to create the heavens and the earth? Who has seen the process of creation? I see a man shape a piece of iron or of wood into a useful instrument, and the process seems simple enough. But here I see the hand that works and the material... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I have put My words in thy mouth_ THE SEED-CORN OF A NEW WORLD The words in their mouth are the seed-corn of a new world in the midst of the old. (_F_. _Delitzsch, D.D_.) COMMISSIONED, ENDOWED, PRESERVED Like the first creation, the new is a gradual process, advancing from age to age. I.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem_ BRIGHTER TIME FOR EXILED ISRAEL: Jerusalem is pictured as a woman, prostrate through misfortune, lying helplessly as though drunken, on the roadside, her sons unable to guide or assist her: but she is to stand up; the past is now solemnly reversed. ; and the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus saith thy Lord_ GOD OUR ADVOCATE How can God be both judge and advocate? Maybe Isaiah would have said, “I see it not clearly myself yet.” But the riddle is all explained when you bear in mind the distinction of the persons in the Godhead. He pleads His people’s cause for them by the Son, an... [ Continue Reading ]