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