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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
I S A I A H.
CHAP. LVII.
The prophet, in this chapter, makes his observations,
I. Upon the deaths of good men, comforting those that were taken away
in their integrity and reproving those that did not make a due
improvement of such providences,
II. Upon the gross idolatries and spiritual whoredoms which the Jews
were guilty of, and the destroying judgments they were thereby bringing
upon themselves,
III. Upon the gracious returns of God to his people to put an end to
their captivity and re-establish their prosperity,
| Death of the Righteous. | B. C. 706. |
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1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and
merciful men are taken away, none considering that the
righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
2 He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds,
each one walking in his uprightness.
The prophet, in the close of the foregoing chapter, had condemned the
watchmen for their ignorance and sottishness; here he shows the general
stupidity and senselessness of the people likewise. No wonder they were
inconsiderate when their watchmen were so, who should have awakened
them to consideration. We may observe here,
I. The providence of God removing good men apace out of this world.
The righteous, as to this world, perish; they are gone
and their place knows them no more. Piety exempts none from the arrests
of death, nay, in persecuting times, the most righteous are most
exposed to the violences of bloody men. The first that died died a
martyr. Righteousness delivers from the sting of death, but not from
the stroke of it. They are said to perish because they are
utterly removed from us, and to express the great loss which this world
sustains by the removal of them, not that their death is their undoing,
but it often proves an undoing to the places where they lived and were
useful. Nay, even merciful men are taken away, those good men
that are distinguished from the righteous, for whom some would even
dare to die,
Rom. v. 7.
Those are often removed that could be worst spared; the fruitful trees
are cut down by death and the barren left still to cumber the ground.
Merciful men are often taken away by the hands of men’s malice. Many
good works they have done, and for some of them they are stoned. Before
the captivity in Babylon perhaps there was a more than ordinary
mortality of good men, so that there were scarcely any left,
The godly ceased, and the faithful failed,
II. The careless world slighting these providences, and disregarding
them: No man lays it to heart, none considers it. There are very
few that lament it as a public loss, very few that take notice of it as
a public warning. The death of good men is a thing to be laid to heart
and considered more than common deaths. Serious enquiries ought to be
made, wherefore God contends with us, what good lessons are to be
learned by such providences, what we may do to help to make up the
breach and to fill up the room of those that are removed. God is justly
displeased when such events are not laid to heart, when the voice of
the rod is not heard nor the intentions of it answered, much more when
it is rejoiced in, as the slaying of the witnesses is,
Some of God’s choicest blessings to mankind, being thus easily parted
with, are really undervalued; and it is an evidence of very great
incogitancy. Little children, when they are little, least lament the
death of their parents, because they know not what a loss it is to
them.
III. The happiness of the righteous in their removal.
1. They are taken away from the evil to come, then when it is
just coming,
(1.) In compassion to them, that they may not see the evil
nor share in it, nor be in temptation by it. When the deluge is coming
they are called into the ark, and have a hiding-place and rest in
heaven when there was none for them under heaven.
(2.) In wrath to the world, to punish them for all the injuries they
have done to the righteous and merciful ones; those are taken away that
stood in the gap to turn away the judgments of God, and then what can
be expected but a deluge of them? It is a sign that God intends war
when he calls home his ambassadors.
2. They go to be easy out of the reach of that evil. The righteous man,
who while he lived walked in his uprightness, when he dies enters
into peace and rests in his bed. Note,
(1.) Death is gain, and rest, and bliss, to those only who walked in
their uprightness, and who, when they die, can appeal to God concerning
it, as Hezekiah
Now, Lord, remember it.
(2.) Those that practised uprightness, and persevered in it to the end,
shall find it well with them when they die. Their souls then enter into
peace, into the world of peace, where peace is in perfection and where
there is no trouble. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord. Their
bodies rest in their beds. Note, The grave is a bed of rest to all the
Lord’s people; there they rest from all their labours,
And the more weary they were the more welcome will that rest be to
them,
This bed is made in the darkness, but that makes it the more quiet; it
is a bed out of which they shall rise refreshed in the morning of the
resurrection.
| A Charge against the People. | B. C. 706. |
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3 But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of
the adulterer and the whore.
4 Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a
wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of
transgression, a seed of falsehood,
5 Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree,
slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the
rocks?
6 Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion;
they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink
offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive
comfort in these?
7 Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even
thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.
8 Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy
remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than
me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a
covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest
it.
9 And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst
increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and
didst debase thyself even unto hell.
10 Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst
thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine
hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.
11 And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast
lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart?
have not I held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not?
12 I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they
shall not profit thee.
We have here a high charge, but a just one no doubt, drawn up against
that wicked generation out of which God’s righteous ones were removed,
because the world was not worthy of them. Observe,
I. The general character here given of them, or the name and title by
which they stand indicted,
v. 3.
They are told to draw near and hear the charge, are set to the bar, and
arraigned there as sons of the sorceress, or of a witch, the
seed of an adulterer and a whore, that is, they were such
themselves, they were strongly inclined to be such, and their ancestors
were such before them. Sin is sorcery and adultery, for it is departing
from God and dealing with the devil. They were children of
disobedience. “Come,” says the prophet, “draw near hither, and I
will read you your doom; to the righteous death will bring peace and
rest, but not to you; you are children of transgression and a
seed of falsehood
(v. 4),
that have it by kind, and have it woven into your very nature, to
backslide from God and to deal treacherously with him,”
II. The particular crimes laid to their charge.
1. Scoffing at God and his word. They were a generation of scorners
(v. 4):
“Against whom do you sport yourselves? You think it is only
against the poor prophets whom you trample upon as contemptible men,
but really it is against God himself, who sends them, and whose message
they deliver.” Mocking the messengers of the Lord was Jerusalem’s
measure-filling sin, for what was done to them God took as done to
himself. When they were reproved for their sins, and threatened with
the judgments of God, they ridiculed the word of God with the rudest
and most indecent gestures and expressions of disdain. They sported
themselves, and made themselves merry, with that which should have made
them serious, and under which they should have humbled themselves.
They made wry mouths at the prophets, and drew out the tongue, contrary
to all the laws of good breeding; nor did they treat God’s prophets
with the common civility with which they would have treated a
gentleman’s servant that had been sent to them on an errand. Note,
Those who mock at God, and bid defiance to his judgments, had best
consider who it is towards whom they conduct themselves so
insolently.
2. Idolatry. This was that sin which the people of the Jews were most
notoriously guilty of before the captivity; but that affliction cured
them of it. In Isaiah’s time it abounded, witness the abominable
idolatries of Ahaz (which some think are particularly referred to here)
and of Manasseh.
(1.) They were dotingly fond of their idols, were inflamed with them,
as those that burn in unlawful unnatural lusts,
They were mad upon their idols,
Jer. l. 38.
They inflamed themselves with them by their violent passions in the
worship of them, as those of Baal’s prophets that leaped upon the
altar, and cut themselves,
1 Kings xviii. 26, 28.
Note, Vile corruptions, the more they are gratified the more they are
inflamed. They worshipped their idols under every green tree, in
the open air, and in the shade; yet that did not cool the heat of their
impetuous lusts, but rather the charming beauty of the green trees made
them the more fond of their idols which they worshipped there. Thus
that in nature which is pleasing, instead of drawing them to the God of
nature, drew them from him. The flame of their zeal in the worship of
false gods may shame us for our coldness and indifference in the
worship of the true God. They strove to inflame themselves, but we
distract and deaden ourselves.
(2.) They were barbarous and unnaturally cruel in the worship of their
idols. They slew their children, and offered them in sacrifice to their
idols, not only in the valley of the son of Hinnom, the headquarters of
that monstrous idolatry, but in other valleys, in imitation of that,
and under the cliffs of the rock, in dark and solitary places,
the fittest for such works of darkness.
(3.) They were abundant and insatiable in their idolatries. They never
thought they could have idols enough, nor could spend enough upon them
and do enough in their service. The Syrians had once a notion of the
God of Israel that he was a God of the hills, but not a God of the
valleys
but these idolaters, to make sure work, had both.
[1.] They had gods of the valleys, which they worshipped in the low
places by the water side
(v. 6):
Among the smooth stones of the valley, or brook, is thy
portion. If they saw a smooth carved stone, though set up but for a
way-mark or a mere-stone, they were ready to worship it, as the papists
do crosses. Or in stony valleys they set up their gods, which they
called their portion, and took for their lot, as God’s people
take him for their lot and portion. But these gods of stone would
really be no better a portion for them, no better a lot, than the
smooth stones of the stream near which they were set up, for sometimes
they worshipped their rivers. “They, they, are the lot which
thou trustest to and art pleased with, but thou shalt be put off with
it for thy lot, and miserable will thy case be.” See the folly of
sinners, who take the smooth stones of the stream for their portion,
when they might have the precious stones of God’s Jerusalem, and the
high priest’s ephod, to portion themselves with. Having taken these
idols for their lot and portion, they stick at no charge in doing
honour to them: “To them hast thou poured a drink-offering, and
offered a meat-offering, as if they had given thee thy meat and
drink.” They loved their idols better than their children, for their
own tables must be robbed to replenish the altars of their idols. Have
we taken the true God for our portion? Is he, even he, our lot? Let us
then serve him with our meat and drink, not, as they did, by depriving
ourselves of the use of them, but by eating and drinking to his glory.
Here, in a parenthesis, comes in an expression of God’s just resentment
of this wickedness of theirs: Should I receive comfort in
these–in such a people as this? Can those expect that God will
take any pleasure in them, or accept their devotions at his altar, who
thus serve Baal with the gifts of his providence? God takes comfort in
his people, while they are faithful to him; but what comfort can he
take in them when those that should be his witnesses against the
idolatries of the world do themselves fall in with them? Should I
have compassion on these? (so some), or should I repent me
concerning these? so others. “How can they expect that I should
spare them, and either adjourn or abate their punishment, when they are
so very provoking? Shall I not visit for these things?”
[2.] They had gods of the hills too
(v. 7):
“Upon a lofty and high mountain (as if thou wouldst vie with the
high and lofty One himself,
hast thou set thy bed, thy idol, thy idol’s temple and altar,
the bed of thy uncleanness, where thou committest spiritual whoredom,
with all the wantonness of an idolatrous fancy, and in direct violation
of the covenant of thy God. Thither wentest thou up readily
enough, though it was up-hill, to offer sacrifice.” Some think
this bespeaks the impudence they arrived at in their idolatries; at
first they had some sense of shame, when they worshipped their idols in
the valleys, in obscure places; but they soon conquered that, and came
to do it upon the lofty high mountains. They were not ashamed, neither
could they blush.
[3.] As if these were not enough, they had household-gods too, their
lares and penates. Behind the doors and the posts
(v. 8),
where the law of God should be written for a memorandum to them of
their duty, they set up the remembrance of their idols, not so much to
keep up their own remembrance of them (they were so fond of them that
they could not forget them), but to show to others how mindful they
were of them, and to put their children in mind of them, and possess
them betimes with a veneration for these dunghill deities.
[4.] As they were insatiable in their idolatries, so they were
inseparable from them. They were hardened in their wickedness; they
worshipped their idols openly and in public view, as being neither
ashamed of the sin nor afraid of the punishment; they went as publicly,
and in as great crowds, to the idol-temples, as ever they had gone to
God’s house. This was like an impudent harlot, discovering
themselves to another than God, making profession of another than
the true religion. They took a pride in making proselytes to their
idolatries, and not only went up themselves to their high places, but
enlarged their bed, that is, their idol-temples, and (as the
margin reads the following words) thou hewedst it for thyself larger
than theirs, than theirs from whom thou copiedst it, and tookest
the platform of it, as Ahaz of his altar from that which he saw at
Damascus,
And being thus involved over head and ears, as it were, in their
idolatries, there is no parting them from them. Ephraim is now joined
to idols both in love and league. First, In league: “Thou
hast made a covenant with them, with the idols, with the
idol-worshippers, to live and die together.” This was a complete
renunciation of their covenant with God and an avowed resolution to
persist in their apostasy from him. Secondly, In love: “Thou
lovedst their bed, that is, the temple of an idol, wherever thou
sawest it.” Justly therefore were they given up to their own hearts’
lusts.
3. Another sin charged upon them is their trusting in and seeking to
foreign aids and succours, and contracting a communion with the Gentile
powers
(v. 9):
Thou wentest to the king, which some understand of the idol they
worshipped, particularly Moloch, which signifies a king.
“Thou didst every thing to ingratiate thyself with those idols, didst
offer incense and sweet ointments at their altars.” Or it may be meant
of the king of Assyria, whom Ahaz made his court to, or of the king of
Babylon, whose ambassadors Hezekiah caressed, or of other kings of the
nations whose idolatrous usages they admired and were desirous to learn
and imitate, and for that end went and sent to cultivate an
acquaintance and correspondence with them, that they might be like them
and strengthen themselves by an alliance with them. See here,
(1.) What an expense they were at in forming and procuring this grand
alliance. They went with ointments and perfumes, either
bestowed upon themselves, to beautify their own faces and so make
themselves considerable and worthy the friendship of the greatest king,
or to be presented to those whose favour they were ambitious of,
because a man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great
men. “When the first present of rich perfumes was thought too little,
thou didst increase them;” and thus many seek the ruler’s favour,
forgetting that, after all, every man’s judgment proceeds from the
Lord. So fond were they of those heathen princes that they not only
went themselves, in all their airs, to those that were near them, but
sent messengers to those that were afar off,
(2.) How much they hereby disparaged themselves and laid the honour of
their crown and nation in the dust: Thou didst debase thyself even
unto hell. They did so by their idolatries. It is a dishonour to
the children of men, who are endued with the powers of reason, to
worship that as their god which is the creature of their own fancy and
the work of their own hands, to bow down to the stock of a tree. It is
much more a dishonour to the children of God, who are blessed with the
privilege of divine revelation, to forsake such a God as they know
theirs to be for a thing of nought, their own mercies for lying
vanities. They likewise debased themselves by truckling to their
heathen neighbours, and depending upon them, when they had a God to go
to who is all-sufficient and in covenant with them. How did those shame
themselves to the highest degree, and sink themselves to the lowest,
that forsook the fountain of life for broken cisterns and the rock of
ages for broken reeds! Note, Sinners disparage and debase themselves;
the service of sin is an ignominious slavery; and those who thus debase
themselves to hell will justly have their portion there.
III. The aggravations of their sin.
1. They had been tired with disappointments in their wicked courses,
and yet they would not be convinced of the folly of them
(v. 10):
“Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; thou hast
undertaken a mighty task, to find out true satisfaction and happiness
in that which is vanity and a lie.” Those that set up idols, instead of
God, for the object of their worship, and princes, instead of God, for
the object of their hope and confidence, and think thus to better
themselves and make themselves easy, go a great way about, and will
never come to their journey’s end: Thou art wearied in the
multitude, or multiplicity, of thy ways (so some read it):
those that forsake the only right way wander endlessly in a thousand
by-paths, and lose themselves in the many inventions which they have
sought out. They weary themselves with fresh chases and fierce ones,
but never gain their point, like the Sodomites, that wearied
themselves to find the door
and could not find it at last. The pleasures of sin will soon surfeit,
but never satisfy; a man may quickly tire himself in the pursuit of
them, but can never repose himself in the enjoyment of them. They found
this by experience. The idols they had often worshipped never did them
any kindness; the kings they courted distressed them, and helped them
not; and yet they were so wretchedly besotted that they could not say,
“There is no hope; it is in vain any longer to expect that
satisfaction in creature-confidences, and in the worship of idols,
which we have so often looked for, and never met with.” Note, Despair
of happiness in the creature, and of satisfaction in the service of
sin, is the first step towards a well-grounded hope of happiness in God
and a well-fixed resolution to keep to his service; and those are
inexcusable who have had sensible convictions of the vanity of the
creature, and yet will not be brought to say, “There is no hope to be
happy short of the Creator.”
2. Though they were convinced that the way they were in was a sinful
way, yet, because they had found some present sensual pleasure and
worldly profit by it, they could not persuade themselves to be sorry
for it: “Thou hast found the life of thy hand” (or the living
of it); thou boastest how fortune smiles upon thee, and therefore
thou art not grieved, any more than Ephraim when he said
(Hos. xii. 8),
“I have become rich; I have found out substance.” Note,
Prosperity in sin is a great bar to conversion from sin. Those that
live at ease in their sinful projects, are tempted to think God favours
them, and therefore they have nothing to repent of. Some read it
ironically, or by way of question: “Thou hast found the life of thy
hand, hast found true satisfaction and happiness, no doubt thou hast;
hast thou not? And therefore thou art so far from being grieved that
thou blessest thyself in thy own evil way; but review thy gains once
more, and come to a balance of profit and loss, and then say, What
fruit hast thou of those things whereof thou art ashamed and for which
God shall bring thee into judgment?”
3. They had dealt very unworthily with God by their sin; for,
(1.) It should seem they pretended that the reason why they left God
was because he was too terrible a majesty for them to deal with; they
must have gods that they could be more free and familiar with. “But,”
says God, “of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast
lied, that thou hast dealt falsely and treacherously with me, and
dissembled in thy covenants with me and prayers to me? What did I ever
do to frighten thee from me? What occasion have I given thee to think
hardly of me, that thou hast gone to seek a kinder master?”
(2.) However, it is certain that they had no true reverence of God nor
any serious regard to him. So that question is commonly understood,
“Of whom hast thou been afraid, or feared? Of none; for thou
hast not feared me whom thou shouldst fear; for thou hast lied to me.”
Those that dissemble with God make it to appear they stand in no awe of
him. “Thou hast not remembered me, neither what I have said nor
what I have done, neither the promises nor the threatenings, nor the
performances of either; thou hast not laid them to thy heart, as
thou wouldst have done if thou hadst feared me.” Note, Those who lay
not the word of God and his providences to their hearts do thereby show
that they have not the fear of God before their eyes. And multitudes
are ruined by fearlessness, forgetfulness, and mere carelessness; they
do not aright nor to good purpose fear any thing, remember any thing,
nor lay any thing to heart. Nay,
(3.) They were hardened in their sin by the patience and forbearance of
God. “Have not I held my peace of old, and for a long time?
These things thou hast done and I kept silence. And therefore, as it
follows here, thou fearest me not;” as if because God had spared long
he would never punish,
Because he kept silence the sinner thought him altogether such a one as
himself, and stood in no awe of him.
IV. Here is God’s resolution to call them to an account, though he had
long borne with them
(v. 12):
“I will declare (like that,
But I will reprove thee), I will declare thy righteousness,
which thou makest thy boast of, and let the world see, and thyself too,
to thy confusion, that it is all a sham, all a cheat, it is not what it
pretends to be. When thy righteousness comes to be examined it will be
found that it was unrighteousness, and that there was no sincerity in
all thy pretensions. I will declare thy works, what they have
been and what the gain thou pretendest to have gotten by them, and it
will appear that at long-run they shall not profit thee, nor
turn to any account.” Note, Sinful works, as they are works of
darkness, and there is no reason nor righteousness in them, so they are
unfruitful works and there is nothing got by them; and, however they
look now, it will be made to appear so another day. Sin profits not,
nay, it ruins and destroys.
| Vanity of Idols; Divine Greatness and Condescension. | B. C. 706. |
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13 When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the
wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he
that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall
inherit my holy mountain;
14 And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take
up the stumbling block out of the way of my people.
15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth
eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy
place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of
the contrite ones.
16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always
wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls
which I have made.
Here,
I. God shows how insufficient idols and creatures were to relieve and
succour those that worshipped them and confided in them
(v. 13):
“When thou criest in thy distress and anguish, lamentest thy
misery and callest for help, let thy companies deliver thee, thy
idol-gods which thou hast heaped to thyself companies of, the troops of
the confederate forces which thou hast relied so much upon, let them
deliver thee if they can; expect no other relief than what they can
give.” Thus God said to Israel, when in their trouble they called upon
him
(Judg. x. 14),
Go, and cry to the gods which you have chosen, let them deliver
you. But in vain is salvation hoped for from them: The wind
shall carry them all away, the wind of God’s wrath, that breath of
his mouth which shall slay the wicked; they have made themselves as
chaff, and therefore the wind will of course hurry them away. Vanity
they are, and vanity shall take them away, to vanity they shall
be reduced, and vanity shall be their recompence. Both the idols and
their worshippers shall come to nothing.
II. He shows that there was a sufficiency, an all-sufficiency, in him
for the comfort and deliverance of all those that put their confidence
in him and made their application to him. Their safety and satisfaction
appear the more comfortable because their hopes are crowned with
fruition, when those that seek to other helpers have their hopes
frustrated: “He that puts his trust in me, and in me only, he
shall be happy, both for soul and body, for this world and the
other.”
1. Observe, in general,
(1.) Those that trust in God’s providence take the best course to
secure their secular interests. They shall possess the land, as
much of it as is good for them, and what they have they shall have it
from a good hand and hold it by a good title.
They shall dwell in the land, and verily they shall be fed.
(2.) Those that trust in God’s grace take the best course to secure
their sacred interests. They shall inherit my holy mountain.
They shall enjoy the privileges of the church on earth, and be brought
at length to the joys of heaven; and no wind shall carry them away.
2. More particularly,
(1.) The captives, that trust in God, shall be released
(v. 14):
They shall say (that is, the messengers of his providence, in
that great event shall say), Cast you up, cast you up, prepare the
way. When God’s time shall have come for their deliverance the way
of bringing it about shall be made plain and easy, obstacles shall be
removed, difficulties that seemed insuperable shall be speedily got
over, and all things shall concur both to accelerate and facilitate
their return. See
This refers to the provision which the gospel, and the grace of it,
have made for our ready passage through this world to a better. The way
of religion is now cast up; it is a highway; ministers’ business is to
direct people in it, and to help them over the discouragements they
meet with, that nothing may offend them.
(2.) The contrite, that trust in God, shall be revived,
v. 15.
Those that trusted to idols and creatures for help went with their
ointments and perfumes
(v. 9);
but here God shows that those who may expect help from him are such as
are destitute of, and set themselves at a distance from, the gaieties
of the world and the delights of sense. God’s glory appears here very
bright,
[1.] In his greatness and majesty: He is the high and lofty One that
inhabits eternity. Let this inspire us with very high and
honourable thoughts of the God with whom we have to do, First,
That his being and perfections are exalted infinitely above every
creature, not only above what they have themselves, but above what they
can conceive concerning him, far above all their blessing and
praise,
Neh. ix. 5.
He is the high and lofty One, and there is no creature like him,
nor any to be compared with him. The language likewise intimates his
sovereign dominion over all and the incontestable right he has to give
both law and judgment to all. He is higher than the highest
(Eccl. v. 8),
than the highest heavens,
Ps. cxiii. 4.
Secondly, That with him there is neither beginning of days nor
end of life, nor change of time; he is both immortal and immutable. He
only has immortality,
1 Tim. vi. 16.
He has it of himself, and he has it constantly; he inhabits it, and
cannot be dispossessed of it. We must shortly remove into eternity, but
God always inhabits it. Thirdly, That there is an infinite
rectitude in his nature, and an exact conformity with himself and a
steady design of his own glory in all that he does; and this appears in
every thing by which he has made himself known, for his name is
holy, and all that desire to be acquainted with him must know
him as a holy God. Fourthly, That the peculiar residence and
manifestation of his glory are in the mansions of light and bliss
above: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and will have all
the world to know it.” Whoever have any business with God must direct
to him as their Father in heaven, for there he dwells. These great
things are here said of God to inspire us with a holy reverence of him,
to encourage our confidence in him, and to magnify his compassion and
condescension to us, that though he is thus high yet he has respect
unto the lowly; he that rides on the heavens by his name JAH stoops to
concern himself for poor widows and fatherless,
Ps. lxviii. 4, 5.
[2.] In his grace and mercy. He has a tender pity for the humble and
contrite, for those that are so in respect of their state. If they be
his people, he will not overlook them though they are poor and low in
the world, and despised and trampled upon by men; but he here refers to
the temper of their mind; he will have a tender regard to those who,
being in affliction, accommodate themselves to their affliction, and
bring their mind to their condition, be it ever so low and ever so sad
and sorely broken–those that are truly penitent for sin, who mourn in
secret for it, and have a dread of the wrath of God, which they have
made themselves obnoxious to, and are submissive under all his rebukes.
Now, First, With these God will dwell. He will visit them
graciously, will converse familiarly with them by his word and Spirit,
as a man does with those of his own family; he will be always nigh to
them and present with them. He that dwells in the highest heavens
dwells in the lowest hearts and inhabits sincerity as surely as he
inhabits eternity. In these he delights. Secondly, He will
revive their heart and spirit, will speak that to them, and work that
in them by the word and Spirit of his grace, which will be reviving to
them, as a cordial to one that is ready to faint. He will give them
reviving joys and hopes sufficient to counterbalance all the griefs and
fears that break their spirits. He dwells with them, and his presence
is reviving.
(3.) Those with whom he contends, if they trust in him, shall be
relieved, and received into favour,
He will revive the heart of the contrite ones, for he will not
contend for ever. Nothing makes a soul contrite so much as God’s
contending, and therefore nothing revives it so much as his ceasing his
controversy. Here is,
[1.] A gracious promise. It is not promised that he will never be angry
with his people, for their sins are displeasing to him, or that he will
never contend with them, for they must expect the rod; but he will
not contend for ever, nor be always wroth. As he is not soon angry,
so he is not long angry. He will not always chide. Though he contend
with them by convictions of sin, he will not contend for ever; but,
instead of the spirit of bondage, they shall receive the Spirit of
adoption. He has torn, but he will heal. Though eh contend with them by
the rebukes of providence, yet the correction shall not last always,
shall not last long, shall last no longer than there is need
(1 Pet. i. 6),
no longer than they can bear, no longer than till it has done its work.
Though their whole life be calamitous, yet their end will be peace, and
so will their eternity be.
[2.] A very compassionate consideration, upon which this promise is
grounded: “If I should contend for ever, the spirit would fail
before me, ever the souls which I have made.” Note, First,
God is the Father of spirits,
Those with whom he will not always contend are the souls that he has
made, that he gave being to by creation and a new being to by
regeneration. Secondly, Though the Lord is for the body, yet he
concerns himself chiefly for the souls of his people, that the spirit
do not fail, and its graces and comforts. Thirdly, When
troubles last long, the spirit even of good men is apt to fail. They
are tempted to entertain hard thoughts of God, to think it in vain to
serve him; they are ready to put comfort away from them, and to despair
of relief, and then the spirit fails. Fourthly, It is in
consideration of this that God will not contend for ever; for he will
not forsake the work of his own hands nor defeat the purchase of his
Son’s blood. The reason is taken not from our merit, but from our
weakness and infirmity; for he remembers that we are flesh
and that flesh is weak.
| The Divine Forbearance and Mercy. | B. C. 706. |
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17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote
him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way
of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him
also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that
is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I
will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot
rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
The body of the people of Israel, in this account of God’s dealings
with them, is spoken of as a particular person
(v. 17, 18),
but divided into two sorts, differently dealt with–some who were sons
of peace, to whom peace is spoken
(v. 19),
and others who were not, who have nothing to do with peace,
Observe here,
I. The just rebukes which that people were brought under for their sin:
For the iniquity of his covetousness I was wroth, and smote him.
Covetousness was a sin that abounded very much among that people.
From the least to the greatest of them, every one is given to
covetousness. Those that did not worship images were yet carried
away by this spiritual idolatry: for such is covetousness; it is making
money the god,
No marvel that the people were covetous when their watchmen themselves
were notoriously so,
Yet, covetous as they were, in the service of their idols they were
prodigal,
v. 6.
And it is hard to say whether their profuseness in that or their
covetousness in every thing else was more provoking. But for this
iniquity, among others, God was angry with them, and brought one
judgment after another upon them, and their destruction at last by the
Chaldeans.
1. God was wroth. He resented it, took it very ill that a people who
were devoted to himself, and portioned in himself, should be so
entirely given up to the world and choose that for their portion.
Note, Covetousness is an iniquity that is very displeasing to the God
of heaven. It is a heart-sin, but he sees it, and therefore
hates it, and looks upon it with jealousy, because it sets up a rival
with him in the soul. It is a sin which men bless themselves in
and in which their neighbours bless them
(Ps. x. 3);
but God abhors it.
2. He motes him, reproved him for it by his prophets, corrected him by
his providence, punished him in those very things he so doted upon and
was covetous of. Note, Sinners shall be made to feel from the anger of
God. Those whom he is wroth with he smites; and covetousness
particularly lays men under the tokens of God’s displeasure. Those that
set their hearts upon the wealth of this world are disappointed of it
or it is embittered to them; it is either clogged with a cross or
turned into a curse.
3. God hid himself from him when he was under these rebukes, and
continued wroth with him. When we are under the rod, if God manifest
himself to us, we may bear it the better; but if he both smite us and
hide himself from us, send us no prophets, speak to us no comfortable
word, show us no token for good, if he tear and go away
(Hos. v. 14),
we are very miserable.
II. Their obstinacy and incorrigibleness under these rebukes: He
went on frowardly in the way of his heart, in his evil way. He was
not sensible of the displeasure of God that he was under. He felt the
smart of the rod, but had no regard at all to the hand; the more he was
crossed in his worldly pursuits the more eager he was in them. He
either would not see his error or if he saw it would not amend it.
Covetousness was the way of his heart; it was what he was inclined to
and intent upon, and he would not be reclaimed, but in his distress
he trespassed yet more,
2 Chron. xxviii. 22.
See the strength of the corruption of men’s hearts, and the sinfulness
of sin, which will take its course in despite of God himself and all
the flames of his wrath. See also how insufficient afflictions of
themselves are to reform men, unless God’s grace work with them.
III. God’s wonderful return in mercy to them, notwithstanding the
obstinacy of the generality of them.
1. The greater part of them went on frowardly, but there were some
among them that were mourners for the obstinacy of the rest; and with
an eye to them, or rather for his own name’s sake, God determines not
to contend for ever with them. With the froward God may justly
show himself froward
and walk contrary to those that walk contrary to him,
When this sinner here went on frowardly in the way of his heart, one
would think it should have followed, “I have seen his ways and will
destroy him, will abandon him, will never have any thing more to do
with him.” But such are the riches of divine mercy and grace, and so do
they rejoice against judgment, that it follows, I have seen his ways
and will heal him. See how God’s goodness takes occasion from man’s
badness to appear so much the more illustrious; and where sin has
abounded grace much more abounds. God’s reasons of mercy are fetched
from within himself, for in us there appears nothing but what is
provoking: “I have seen his ways, and yet I will heal him for my own
name’s sake.” God knew how bad the people were, and yet would not cast
them off. But observe the method. God will first give him grace, and
then, and not till then, give him peace: “I have seen his way, that he
will never turn to me of himself, and therefore I will turn him.” Those
whom God has mercy in store for he has grace in readiness for, to
prepare and qualify them for that mercy which they were running from as
fast as they could.
(1.) God will heal him of his corrupt and vicious disposition, will
cure him of his covetousness, though it be ever so deeply rooted in him
and his heart have been long exercised to covetous practices. There is
no spiritual disease so inveterate, but almighty grace can conquer it.
(2.) God will lead him also; not only amend what was amiss in
him, that he may cease to do evil, but direct him into the way of duty,
that he may learn to do well. He goes on frowardly, as Saul, yet
breathing out threatenings and slaughter, but God will lead him into a
better mind, a better path. And them,
(3.) He will restore those comforts to him which he had forfeited and
lost, and for the return of which he had thus prepared him. There was a
wonderful reformation wrought upon captives in Babylon, and then a
wonderful redemption wrought for them, which brought comfort to them,
to their mourners, to those among them that mourned for their own sins,
the sins of their people, and the desolations of the sanctuary. To
those mourners the mercy would be most comfortable, and to them God had
an eye in working it out. Blessed are those that mourn, for to them
comfort belongs, and they shall have it.
2. Now, as when that people went into captivity some of them were good
figs, very good, others of them bad figs, very bad, and accordingly
their captivity was to them for their good or for their hurt
so, when they came out of captivity, still some of them were good,
others bad, and the deliverance was to them accordingly.
(1.) To those among them that were good their return out of captivity
was peace, such peace as was a type and earnest of the peace which
should be preached by Jesus Christ
(v. 19):
I create the fruit of the lips, peace.
[1.] God designed to give them matter for praise and thanksgiving, for
that is the fruit of the lips
the calves of the lips,
Hos. xiv. 2.
I create this. Creation is out of nothing, and this is surely
out of worse than nothing, when God creates matter of praise for those
that went on frowardly in the way of their heart.
[2.] In order to this, peace shall be published: Peace, peace
(perfect peace, all kinds of peace) to him that is afar off from
the general rendezvous, or from the head-quarters, as well as to him
that is near. Peace with God; though he has contended with them, he
will be reconciled and will let fall his controversy. Peace of
conscience, a holy security and serenity of mind, after the many
reproaches of conscience and agitations of spirit they had been under
their captivity. Thus God creates the fruit of the lips, fresh matter
for thanksgiving; for, when he speaks peace to us, we must speak
praises to him. This peace is itself of God’s creating. He, and he
only, can work it; it is the fruit of the lips, of his lips–he
commands it, of the minister’s lips–he speaks it by them,
It is the fruit of preaching lips and praying lips; it is the fruit of
Christ’s lips, whose lips drop as a honeycomb; for to him this is
applied,
He came and preached peace to you who were afar off, you
Gentiles as well as to the Jews, who were nigh-to after-ages, who were
afar off in time, as well as to those of the present age.
(2.) To those among them that were wicked, though they might return
with the rest, their return was no peace,
The wicked, wherever he is, in Babylon or in Jerusalem, carries about
with him the principle of his own uneasiness, and is like the troubled
sea. God healed those to whom he spoke peace
(v. 19):
I will heal them; all shall be well again and set to rights; but
the wicked would not be healed by the grace of God and therefore shall
not be healed by his comforts. They are always like the sea in a storm,
for they carry about with them,
[1.] Unmortified corruptions. They are not cured and conquered, and
their ungoverned lusts and passions make them like the troubled sea
when it cannot rest, vexatious to all about them and therefore uneasy
to themselves, noisy and dangerous. When the intemperate heats of the
spirit break out in scurrilous and abusive language, then the troubled
sea casts forth mire and dirt.
[2.] Unpacified consciences. They are under a frightful apprehension of
guilt and wrath, that they cannot enjoy themselves; when they seem
settled they are in disquietude, when they seem merry they are in
heaviness; like Cain, who always dwelt in the land of shaking. The
terrors of conscience disturb all their enjoyments, and cast forth such
mire and dirt as make them a burden to themselves. Though this does not
appear (it may be) at present, yet it is a certain truth, what this
prophet had said before
and here repeats
(v. 21),
There is no peace to the wicked, no reconciliation to God (nor
can they be upon good terms with him, while they go on still in their
trespasses), no quietness or satisfaction in their own mind, no real
good, no peace in death, because no hope. My God hath said it,
and all the world cannot unsay it, That there is no peace to those that
allow themselves in any sin. What have they to do with peace?
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