Isaiah 50 commentary

Those who have professed to be people of God, and seem to be dealt severely with, are apt to complain, as if God had been hard with them. Here is an answer for such murmurings; God never deprived any of their advantages, except for their sins. The Jews were sent into Babylon for their idolatry, a sin which broke the covenant; and they were at last rejected for crucifying the Lord of glory. God called on them to leave their sins, and prevent their own ruin. Last of all, the Son came to his own, but his own received him not. When God calls men to happiness, and they will not answer, they are justly left to be miserable. To silence doubts concerning his power, proofs of it are given. The wonders which attended his sufferings and death, proclaimed that he was the Son of God, Matt. 27:54.

As Jesus was God and man in one person, we find him sometimes speaking, or spoken of, as the Lord God; at other times, as man and the servant of Jehovah. He was to declare the truths which comfort the broken, contrite heart, those weary of sin, harassed with afflictions. And as the Holy Spirit was upon him, that he might speak as never man spake; so the same Divine influence daily wakened him to pray, to preach the gospel, and to receive and deliver the whole will of the Father. The Father justified the Son when he accepted the satisfaction he made for the sin of man. Christ speaks in the name of all believers. Who dares to be an enemy to those unto whom he is a Friend? or who will contend with those whom he is an Advocate? Thus St. Paul applies it, Rom. 8:33.

A child of God is afraid of incurring his displeasure. This grace usually appears most in believers when in darkness, when other graces appear not. Those that truly fear God, obey the voice of Christ. A sincere servant of God may for a long time be without views of eternal happiness. What is likely to be an effectual cure in this sad case? Let him trust in the name of the Lord; and let him stay himself upon the promises of the covenant, and build his hopes on them. Let him trust in Christ, trust in that name of his, The Lord our Righteousness; stay himself upon God as his God, in and through a Mediator. Presuming sinners are warned not to trust in themselves. Their own merit and sufficiency are light and heat to them. Creature-comforts are as sparks, short-lived, and soon gone; yet the children of this world, while they last, seek to warm themselves by them, and walk with pride and pleasure in the light of them. Those that make the world their comfort, and their own righteousness their confidence, will certainly meet with bitterness in the end. A godly man's way may be dark, but his end shall be peace and everlasting light. A wicked man's way may be pleasant, but his end and abode for ever will be utter darkness.

CHAPTER 50

Is 50:1-11. The Judgments on Israel Were Provoked by Their Crimes, yet They Are Not Finally Cast Off by God.

1. Where ... mothers divorcement--Zion is "the mother"; the Jews are the children; and God the Husband and Father (Is 54:5; 62:5; Jr 3:14). Gesenius thinks that God means by the question to deny that He had given "a bill of divorcement" to her, as was often done on slight pretexts by a husband (De 24:1), or that He had "sold" His and her "children," as a poor parent sometimes did (Ex 21:7; 2Ki 4:1; Ne 5:5) under pressure of his "creditors"; that it was they who sold themselves through their own sins. Maurer explains, "Show the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom ... ; produce the creditors to whom ye have been sold; so it will be seen that it was not from any caprice of Mine, but through your own fault, your mother has been put away, and you sold" (Is 52:3). Horsley best explains (as the antithesis between "I" and "yourselves" shows, though Lowth translates, "Ye are sold") I have never given your mother a regular bill of divorcement; I have merely "put her away" for a time, and can, therefore, by right as her husband still take her back on her submission; I have not made you, the children, over to any "creditor" to satisfy a debt; I therefore still have the right of a father over you, and can take you back on repentance, though as rebellious children you have sold yourselves to sin and its penalty (1Ki 21:25).

bill ... whom--rather, "the bill with which I have put her away" [Maurer].

2. I--Messiah.

no man--willing to believe in and obey Me (Is 52:1, 3). The same Divine Person had "come" by His prophets in the Old Testament (appealing to them, but in vain, Jr 7:25, 26), who was about to come under the New Testament.

hand shortened--the Oriental emblem of weakness, as the long stretched-out hand is of power (Is 59:1). Notwithstanding your sins, I can still "redeem" you from your bondage and dispersion.

dry up ... sea--(Ex 14:21). The second exodus shall exceed, while it resembles in wonders, the first (Is 11:11, 15; 51:15).

make ... rivers ... wilderness--turn the prosperity of Israel's foes into adversity.

fish stinketh--the very judgment inflicted on their Egyptian enemies at the first exodus (Ex 7:18, 21).

3. heavens ... blackness--another of the judgments on Egypt to be repeated hereafter on the last enemy of God's people (Ex 10:21).

sackcloth--(Re 6:12).

4. Messiah, as "the servant of Jehovah" (Is 42:1), declares that the office has been assigned to Him of encouraging the "weary" exiles of Israel by "words in season" suited to their case; and that, whatever suffering it is to cost Himself, He does not shrink from it (Is 50:5, 6), for that He knows His cause will triumph at last (Is 50:7, 8).

learned--not in mere human learning, but in divinely taught modes of instruction and eloquence (Is 49:2; Ex 4:11; Mt 7:28, 29; 13:54).

speak a word in season--(Pr 15:23; 25:11). Literally, "to succor by words," namely, in their season of need, the "weary" dispersed ones of Israel (De 28:65-67). Also, the spiritual "weary" (Is 42:3; Mt 11:28).

wakeneth morning by morning, &c.--Compare "daily rising up early" (Jr 7:25; Mr 1:35). The image is drawn from a master wakening his pupils early for instruction.

wakeneth ... ear--prepares me for receiving His divine instructions.

as the learned--as one taught by Him. He "learned obedience," experimentally, "by the things which He suffered"; thus gaining that practical learning which adapted Him for "speaking a word in season" to suffering men (He 5:8).

5. opened ... ear--(See on Is 42:20; Is 48:8); that is, hath made me obediently attentive (but Maurer, "hath informed me of my duty"), as a servant to his master (compare Psa 40:6-8, with Php 2:7; Is 42:1; 49:3, 6; 52:13; 53:11; Mt 20:28; Lu 22:27).

not rebellious--but, on the contrary, most willing to do the Father's will in proclaiming and procuring salvation for man, at the cost of His own sufferings (He 10:5-10).

6. smiters--with scourges and with the open hand (Is 52:14; Mr 14:65). Literally fulfilled (Mt 27:26; 26:27; Lu 18:33). To "pluck the hair" is the highest insult that can be offered an Oriental (2Sa 10:4; La 3:30). "I gave" implies the voluntary nature of His sufferings; His example corresponds to His precept (Mt 5:39).

spitting--To spit in another's presence is an insult in the East, much more on one; most of all in the face (Job 30:10; Mt 27:30; Lu 18:32).

7. Sample of His not being "discouraged" (Is 42:4; 49:5).

set ... face like ... flint--set Myself resolutely, not to be daunted from My work of love by shame or suffering (Eze 3:8, 9).

8. (Is 49:4). The believer, by virtue of his oneness with Christ, uses the same language (Psa 138:8; Ro 8:32-34). But "justify" in His case, is God's judicial acceptance and vindication of Him on the ground of His own righteousness (Lu 23:44-47; Ro 1:4; 1Ti 3:16, with which compare 1Pe 3:18); in their case, on the ground of His righteousness and meritorious death imputed to them (Ro 5:19).

stand together--in judgment, to try the issue.

adversary--literally, "master of my cause," that is, who has real ground of accusation against me, so that he can demand judgment to be given in his favor (compare Zec 3:1, &c. Re 12:10).

9. (Compare "deal," or "proper," Is 52:13, Margin; Is 53:10; Psa 118:6; Jr 23:5).

as a garment--(Is 51:6, 8; Psa 102:26). A leading constituent of wealth in the East is change of raiment, which is always liable to the inroads of the moth; hence the frequency of the image in Scripture.

10. Messiah exhorts the godly after His example (Is 49:4, 5; 42:4) when in circumstances of trial ("darkness," Is 47:5), to trust in the arm of Jehovah alone.

Who is, &c.--that is, Whosoever (Jud 7:3).

obeyeth ... servant--namely, Messiah. The godly "honor the Son, even as they honor the Father" (Joh 5:23).

darkness--(Mi 7:8, 9). God never had a son who was not sometimes in the dark. For even Christ, His only Son, cried out, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

light--rather, "splendor"; bright sunshine; for the servant of God is never wholly without "light" [Vitringa]. A godly man's way may be dark, but his end shall be peace and light. A wicked man's way may be bright, but his end shall be utter darkness (Psa 112:4; 97:11; 37:24).

let him trust in the name of the Lord--as Messiah did (Is 50:8, 9).

11. In contrast to the godly (Is 50:10), the wicked, in times of darkness, instead of trusting in God, trust in themselves (kindle a light for themselves to walk by) (Ec 11:9). The image is continued from Is 50:10, "darkness"; human devices for salvation (Pr 19:21; 16:9, 25) are like the spark that goes out in an instant in darkness (compare Job 18:6; 21:17, with Psa 18:28).

sparks--not a steady light, but blazing sparks extinguished in a moment.

walk--not a command, but implying that as surely as they would do so, they should lie down in sorrow (Jr 3:25). In exact proportion to mystic Babylon's previous "glorifying" of herself shall be her sorrow (Mt 25:30; 8:12; Re 18:7).

Thus saith the Lord - This chapter has been understood of the prophet himself; but it certainly speaks more clearly about Jesus of Nazareth than of Isaiah, the son of Amos.

Where is the bill "Where is this bill" - Husbands, through moroseness or levity of temper, often sent bills of divorcement to their wives on slight occasions, as they were permitted to do by the law of Moses, Deu 24:1. And fathers, being oppressed with debt, often sold their children, which they might do for a time, till the year of release, Exo 21:7. That this was frequently practiced, appears from many passages of Scripture, and that the persons and the liberty of the children were answerable for the debts of the father. The widow, 2Kgs 4:1, complains "that the creditor is come to take unto him her two sons to be bondmen." And in the parable, Mat 18:25 : "The lord, forasmuch as his servant had not to pay, commands him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made." Sir John Chardin's MS. note on this place of Isaiah is as follows: En Orient on paye ses dettes avec ses esclaves, car ils sont des principaux meubles; et en plusieurs lieux on les paye aussi de ses enfans. "In the east they pay their debts by giving up their slaves, for these are their chief property of a disposable kind; and in many places they give their children to their creditors." But this, saith God, cannot be my case, I am not governed by any such motives, neither am I urged by any such necessity. Your captivity therefore and your afflictions are to be imputed to yourselves, and to your own folly and wickedness.

Their fish stinketh "Their fish is dried up" - For תבאש tibaosh, stinketh, read תיבש tibash, is dried up; so it stands in the Bodl. MS., and it is confirmed by the Septuagint, ξηρανθησονται, they shall be dried up.

Neither turned away back "Neither did I withdraw myself backward" - Eleven MSS. and the oldest edition prefix the conjunction ו vau; and so also the Septuagint and Syriac.

And my cheeks to them that plunked off the hair - The greatest indignity that could possibly be offered. See the note on Isa 7:20 (note).

I hid not my face from shame and spitting - Another instance of the utmost contempt and detestation. It was ordered by the law of Moses as a severe punishment, carrying with it a lasting disgrace; Deu 25:9. Among the Medes it was highly offensive to spit in any one's presence, Herod. 1:99; and so likewise among the Persians, Xenophon, Cyrop. Lib. i., p. 18. "They abhor me; they flee far from me;

They forbear not to spit in my face." Job 30:10. "And Jehovah said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days?" Num 22:14. On which place Sir John Chardin remarks, that "spitting before any one, or spitting upon the ground in speaking of any one's actions, is through the east an expression of extreme detestation." - Harmer's Observ. 2:509. See also, of the same notions of the Arabs in this respect, Niebuhr, Description de l'Arabie, p. 26. It so evidently appears that in those countries spitting has ever been an expression of the utmost detestation, that the learned doubt whether in the passages of Scripture above quoted any thing more is meant than spitting, - not in the face, which perhaps the words do not necessarily imply, - but only in the presence of the person affronted. But in this place it certainly means spitting in the face; so it is understood in St. Luke, where our Lord plainly refers to this prophecy: "All things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished; for he shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked and spitefully entreated, and spitted on, εμπτυσθησεται, "Luk 18:31, Luk 18:32, which was in fact fulfilled; και ηρξεαντο τινες εμπτυειν αυτῳ, "and some began to spit on him," Mar 14:65, Mar 15:19. If spitting in a person's presence was such an indignity, how much more spitting in his face?

Therefore have I set my face like a flint - The Prophet Ezekiel, Eze 2:8, Eze 2:9, has expressed this with great force in his bold and vehement manner: "Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces,

And thy forehead strong against their foreheads:

As an adamant, harder than a rock, have I made thy forehead;

Fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks,

Though they be a rebellious house."

Who will contend with me - The Bodleian MS. and another add the word הוא hu; מי הוא יריב mi hu yarib, as in the like phrase in the next verse; and in the very same phrase Job 13:19, and so likewise in many other places, Job 17:3; Job 41:1. Sometimes on the like occasions it is מי זה mi zeh, and מי הוא זה mi hu zeh, "Who is this one?" The word has probably been lost out of the present text; and the reading of the MSS. above mentioned seems to be genuine.

Who is among you that feareth the Lord - I believe this passage has been generally, if not dangerously, misunderstood. It has been quoted, and preached upon, to prove that "a man might conscientiously fear God, and be obedient to the words of the law and the prophets; obey the voice of his servant-of Jesus Christ himself, that is, be sincerely and regularly obedient to the moral law and the commands of our blessed Lord, and yet walk in darkness and have no light, no sense of God's approbation, and no evidence of the safety of his state. "This is utterly impossible; for Jesus hath said, "He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." If there be some religious persons who, under the influence of morbid melancholy, are continually writing bitter things against themselves, the word of God should not be bent down to their state. There are other modes of spiritual and Scriptural comfort. But does not the text speak of such a case? And are not the words precise in reference to it? I think not: and Bishop Lowth's translation has set the whole in the clearest light, though he does not appear to have been apprehensive that the bad use I mention had been made of the text as it stands in our common Version. The text contains two questions, to each of which a particular answer is given: -

Q. 1. "Who is there among you that feareth Jehovah?

Ans. Let him hearken unto the voice of his servant.

Q. 2. Who that walketh in darkness and hath no light?

Ans. Let him trust in the name of Jehovah;

And lean himself (prop himself) upon his God."

Now, a man awakened to a sense of his sin and misery, may have a dread of Jehovah, and tremble at his word, and what should such a person do? Why he should hear what God's servant saith: "Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden; and I will give you rest." There may be a sincere penitent, walking in darkness, having no light of salvation; for this is the case of all when they first begin to turn to God. What should such do? They should trust, believe on, the Lord Jesus, who died for them, and lean upon his all-sufficient merits for the light of salvation which God has promised. Thus acting, they will soon have a sure trust and confidence that God for Christ's sake has forgiven them their sin, and thus they shall have the light of life.

That obeyeth the voice of his servant "Let him hearken unto the voice of his servant" - For שמע shomea, pointed as the participle, the Septuagint and Syriac read ישמע yishma, future or imperative. This gives a much more elegant turn and distribution to the sentence.

Ye that kindle a fire - The fire of their own kindling, by the light of which they walk with security and satisfaction, is an image designed to express, in general, human devices and mere worldly policy, exclusive of faith, and trust in God; which, though they flatter themselves for a while with pleasing expectations and some appearance of success, shall in the end turn to the confusion of the authors. Or more particularly, as Vitringa explains it, it may mean the designs of the turbulent and factious Jews in the times succeeding those of Christ, who, in pursuit of their own desperate schemes, stirred up the war against the Romans, and kindled a fire which consumed their city and nation.

That compass yourselves about with sparks "Who heap the fuel round about" - "מגוזלי megozeley, accendentes, Syr.; forte leperunt pro מאזרי meazzerey מאירי meirey; nam sequitur אור ur." - Secker. Lud. Capellus, in his criticism on this place, thinks it should be מאזרי meazzerey, from the Septuagint, κατισχυοντες.

There are others who are widely different from those already described. Without faith, repentance, or a holy life, they are bold in their professed confidence in God - presumptuous in their trust in the mercy of God; and, while destitute of all preparation for and right to the kingdom of heaven, would think it criminal to doubt their final salvation! Living in this way, what can they have at the hand of God but an endless bed of sorrow! Ye shall lie down in sorrow.

But there is a general sense, and accordant to the design of the prophecy, in which these words may be understood and paraphrased: Behold, all ye that kindle a fire - provoke war and contention; compass yourselves about with sparks - stirring up seditions and rebellions: walk in the light of your fire - go on in your lust of power and restless ambition. Ye shall lie down in sorrow - it will turn to your own perdition. See the Targum. This seems to refer to the restless spirit of the Jews, always stirring up confusion and strife; rebelling against and provoking the Romans, till at last their city was taken, their temple burnt to the ground, and upwards of a million of themselves destroyed, and the rest led into captivity!

Thus saith the Lord - The scope of this and the next chapter, is to vindicate God's justice and to convince the Jews that they were the causes of their own calamities. Behold - You can blame none but yourselves and your own sins, for all your captivities and miseries.

Wherefore - The general accusation delivered in the last words he now proves by particular instances. When - When I, first by my prophets, came to call them to repentance. No man - That complied with my call. To answer - To come at my call. Is my hand - What is the reason of this contempt? Is it because you think I am either unwilling or unable to save you? A wilderness - As dry and fit for travelling as a wilderness.

I clothe - When it is necessary to save my people, I cover them with thick and dark clouds black as sackcloth, Rev 6:12.

Given me - This and the following passages may be in some sort understood of the prophet Isaiah, but they are far more evidently and eminently verified in Christ, and indeed seem to be meant directly of him. The tongue - All ability of speaking plainly, and convincingly, and persuasively. Weary - Burdened with the sense of his, deplorable condition. Wakeneth - Me, from time to time, and continually. To hear - He by his Divine power assists me to the practice of all his commands and my duties, with all attention and diligence.

I gave - I patiently yielded up myself to those who smote me.

Justifieth - God will clear up my righteousness, and shew by many and mighty signs and wonders, that I lived and died his faithful servant. Let him come - l am conscious of mine own innocency, and I know that God will give sentence for me.

They - Mine accusers and enemies. The moth - Shall be cut off and consumed by a secret curse.

The voice - Of Christ, who is called God's servant, by way of eminency and to intimate that though he was God, yet he would take upon himself the form of a servant. In darkness - Not in sin, but in misery, that lives in a disconsolate and calamitous condition. No light - No comfort. Trust - Let him fix his faith and hope in the mercy, and faithfulness, of the Lord, declared in his word, and in his interest in God, who by the mediation of this servant is reconciled to him and made his God.

All ye - You that reject the light which God hath set up, and seek for comfort and safety, by your own inventions. Walk - Use your utmost endeavours to get comfort from these devices. This - This shall be the fruit of all, you shall receive nothing but vexation and misery.

1 THus saith the LORD , Where is the bill of your mothers divorcement , whom I have put away: or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you ? Behold, for your Iniquities have ye sold your selves▪ and for your transgressions is your mother put away .

This is another Sermon begun here, and continued in the next Chapter. The main scope of it is to vindicate Gods Justice, and to convince the Jews that they were the causes of all their calamities which they imputed to God.

God had formerly espoused the Israelites to himself in a kind of Matrimonial Covenant, but seemed to cast them off when he sent them to Babylon, and did wholly reject them afterward from being his People, and took the Gentiles into their stead; which great and wonderful change was foretold in the Old Testament, as hath been already observed, and we shall see again, and accomplished in the New. And because God foresaw that those strange dispensations would provoke the Jews to murmur and quarrel with God, for casting them off without sufficient cause, as indeed they were always prone to accuse God, and to vindicate themselves, he bids them produce their Bill of divorce: For those Husbands which put away their Wives meerly out of Levity or Passion, were obliged to give their Wives a Bill of divorce, which vindicated the Wives Innocency, and declared that the Husbands Will and Pleasure was the cause of the Divorce; of which see the notes on Deut. 24. 1. Mat. 19. 3.

Have I any creditors to whom I was obliged or willing to sell you for the payment of my Debts? Produce then the Bill of sale to witness against me. Parents might, and in some cases were forced to [illegible: 1+ letters]ll their Children to their Creditors: of which see on Exod. 21. 7. & 2 Kin. 4. 1.

You can blame none but your selves and your own sins, for all your captivities and miseries.

Marginal references: Hos. 2. 2.; See 2 Kings 4. 1.

2 Wherefore when I came , was there no man ? when I called , was there none to answer ? Is my hand shortned at all, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver ? Behold, at my rebuke, I dry up the sea: I make the rivers a wilderness : their fish stinketh because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.

The general Accusation delivered in the last words he now proveth by particular Instances.

When I, first by my Prophets, and at last by my Son, came unto them, to call them to Repentance, and to redeem and deliver them, as it is explained in the following clauses of this verse.

That regarded and received me, that complied with my Call and Offer of Grace, as it follows. Whereby he implies that the Generality of the Jews were guilty of gross Infidelity, and obstinate Disobedience, and therefore might justly be rejected.

Called them to Repentance, or to come unto me, or to do my Will, as Masters call their Servants.

To come at my Call, to obey my Commands.

What is the reason of this horrible contempt and Rebellion? Is it because you expect no good from me, but think that I am either unwilling or unable to save you? Because you see no Miracles wrought for you to save you from the Babylonians, and because my Son, your Messiah, cometh not with Pomp and Power, as you expect, but in the form of a Servant, poor, and exposed to contempt and death; do you therefore believe that my power to deliver you is less than it was?

Heb. I will dry up, or, I can dry up; the future verb being put potentially. As I did it once, so I can and will do it again, when occasion requires it.

As dry and fit for travel as a Wilderness.

l This Phrase is borrowed from Psal. 106. 9. and it is used Mat. 8. 26. At my word or Command, whereby I rebuke and check its proud waves.

Marginal references: Num. 11. 23. Ch. 59. 1.; Nah. 1. 4.; Ex. 14. 21.; Josh. 3. 16.

3 I cloath the heavens with blackness , and I make sackcloth their covering .

Or, I will or can cloath, &c. What I once did in Egypt, when I drew black curtains before all the heavenly Lights, and caused an unparallel'd and amazing Darkness for three days together, to the great terrour of mine Enemies, so I can and will do still when it is necessary to save my People. And therefore you have no reason to distrust me.

I cover them with thick and dark Clouds black as Sackcloath, as is said, Rev. 6. 12. or as that stuff of which the Tents of Kedar were made, Cant. 1. 5. From this and some other Expressions it appears, that they wore a black sackcloth, which also was most sutable to the state of mourners, by whom it was used.

4 The LORD GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned , that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary : he wakeneth morning by morning , he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned .

God having asserted his own power to shew the groundlessness of the Infidelity of the Jews, he proceeds to shew what excellent and effectual means he used to bring them to Repentance and Salvation; which he mentions as a great aggravation of their Unbelief and Rebellion, which by this means was without all excuse. This and the following passages may be in some sort understood of the Prophet Isaiah, though but obscurely and imperfectly, but they are far more evidently and eminently verified in Christ, and indeed seem to be meant directly of him. For seeing there are many other passages in this Prophecy, which are directly meant of Christ, and of his Ministry, a[illegible: 1+ letters]d not at all of the Prophet, why may not this be added to the number of them? especially considering that there is nothing here which forceth us to understand this place of Isaiah, and several of these passages are expounded of Christ in the New Testament, as is confessed. Besides, this seems to suit best with the coherence: For according to this exposition the same person speaketh here who hath spoken in all the foregoing Verses of the Chapter, even the Lord himself considered as Man, because he was both God and Man, as is abundantly evident from many Scriptures, both of the old and new Testament, as hath been already proved, and will hereafter be more fully evinc[illegible: 1+ letters]d.

An ability of speaking plainly, and convincingly, and persuadingly, and in all points so as becometh a person taught of God, and filled with all Divine and Heavenly Wisdom and Knowledg, and with a singular skill of winning Souls, and of working upon Mens Hearts and Consciences.

Burdened with the sense of his sad and deplorable condition, in which case a word of comfort is most seasonable and acceptable. This was the proper and principal design of Christs Ministry, to give Rest and Comfort to distressed Souls, according to what is said, with respect to this place, Mat. 11. 28. And all the Doctrines, Reproofs, and Threatnings of Christ were directed to this end, to make men fit for Comfort and Salvation.

To wit, me, the Pronoun being oft understood: or, as it follows, mine ear.

From time to time, and continually.

Because human Nature is of itself weak and sloathful, he by his Divine Power assisteth and stirreth me up to the observation and practice of all his Commands and my Duties.

Either 1. As learned Men or Teachers use to awaken their Scholars to hear, and learn of them from time to time: Or rather 2. As those that are or desire and endeavour to be learned, use to hear with all possible attention and diligence: For this title of learned is in the former part of the verse given not to the Teacher, who is said to be God, but to the person taught by him.

Marginal references: Mat. 11. 28.

5 The LORD GOD hath opened mine ear , and I was not rebellious , neither turned away back .

Hath revealed unto me: or rather, hath given me a power and Will to hear and receive his commands, as this Phrase is used, Psal. 40. 6. Isa. 35. 5. and elsewhere.

I readily did and suffered what he required of me.

The same thing repeated in other words. I did not turn away mine Ear from hearing any of Gods Commands, nor my feet from going where God sent me, how difficult or dangerous soever my employment was. He seems to allude to the former Prophets who had, di[illegible: 1+ letters]rs of them, shrunk back, and for a time refused such work as God called them to, as Moses, Exod. 3. 11, 13. Ionas, ch. 1. 3. and others.

Marginal references: Joh. 14. 31▪ Phil. 2. 8. Heb. 10. 5, &c▪

6 I gave my back to the smiters , and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair : I h[illegible: 1+ letters]d not my face from shame and spitting .

I patiently yielded up my self, and turned my back to those who smote me. I was willing not only to do, but to suffer the Will of God, and the injuries of men. This and the following passages were literally fulfilled in Christ, as is expresly affirmed, Mat. 26. 57, 67. & 27. 26, 30. and elsewhere; but we read of no such thing concerning Isaiah. And therefore it is most safe and reasonable to understand it of Christ; the rather because it is not usual with the Prophets to commend themselves so highly, as the Prophet here commends the person of whom he speaketh.

Which was a contumely or punishment inflicted upon Malefactors, Neh. 13. 25.

From all manner of reproachful usages, but did knowingly and willingly submit my self thereunto.

Spitting in a mans Face was used in token of contempt and detestation, Numb. 12. 14. Iob 30. 10. And this was literally fulfilled in Christ, Mat. 26. 67.

Marginal references: Mat. 26. 67. & 27. 26.; Lam. 3. 30▪

7 For the LORD GOD will help me , therefore shall I not be confounded : therefore have I set my face like a flint , and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

Or rather, But, as this particle is oft rendred. For Gods favour is here opposed to the injuries of Men.

Though as a man I am weak & inconsiderable, yet God will strengthen me to go through my great and hard work.

Therefore I assure my self of success in my employment, and of victory over all mine Enemies.

I have hardened my self with resolution and courage against all opposition. So this or the like Phrase is used, Ezek. 3. 8, 9. which elsewhere signifies obstinacy and impudence▪ as Ier. 5. 3. Zech. 7. 12. so that it notes any settled and unmoveable purpose, whether good or evil.

8 He is near that justifieth me , who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me .

God, though he seem to be at a distance, and to hide his face from me, yet he is in truth at my right hand, and ready to help me.

That will publickly acquit me from all the calumnies of mine adversaries, who say that I am a transgressor of the Law, a false Teacher and Deceiver, a Blasphemer, and a Devil, and the like, in which opinion they are confirmed by my Death and Sufferings. But God will clear up my Righteousness, and shew by many and mighty signs and wonders, that he is well pleased with me and that I lived and died his faithful Servant.

I challenge all my Accusers to stand and appear before the Judge Face to Face, and to produce all their charges against me: for I am conscious of mine own Innocency, and I know that God will give sentence for me.

Marginal references: Rom. 8. 32, 33.; Heb. the master of my cause, or suit.

9 Behold, the LORD GOD will help me, who is he that shall condemn me , lo, they all shall wax old as a garment: the moth shall eat them up .

That dare attempt it, or can justly do it.

Mine Accusers and Enemies.

Shall pine away in their iniquity, as God threatned Lev. 26. 39. shall be cut off and consumed by a secret curse and Judgment of God, which is compared to a moth, Hos. 5. 12. whilest I shall survive and flourish, and the pleasure of God shall prosper in my hands, as is said, Isa. 53. 10.

Marginal references: Ch. 51. 8.

10 Who is among you that feareth the LORD , that obeyeth the voice of his servant , that walketh in darkness , and hath no light ? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God .

He now turneth his Speech from the unbelieving and rebellious Jews to those of them who were or should be pious.

Of the same person of whom he hath hitherto spoken, of Christ, who is called Gods Servant, Isa. 52. 13. & 53. 11. partly by way of eminency, and partly to intimate that although he was God, yet he should take upon himself the form of a Servant, as is said, Phil. 2. 7. He hereby signifies that the Grace of God, and the comfort here following belongeth to none but to those that hear and believe this great Prophet of the Church; which also was declared by Moses, Deut. 18. [illegible: 1+ letters]5. compared with Act. 3. 22, 23.

Not in sin, which is oft called, darkness, as walking in darkness is put for living in wickedness, 1 Ioh. 1. 6. but in misery, which also frequently cometh under the name of darkness: that liveth in a most disconsolate and calamitous condition, together with great despondency or dejection of Spirit.

No comfort nor hope left.

Let him fix his Faith and Hope in the name, i. e. in the most excellent and amiable nature, and infinite perfections, and especially in the free Grace, and Mercy, and Faithfulness, of the Lord, declared in his word, and in his propriety or interest in God, who by the mediation of this Servant is reconciled to him and made his God.

Marginal references: Ch. [illegible: 1+ letters]8. 8, 10. & 59. 9, 10.

11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire , that compass your selves about with sparks : walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled . This shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow .

That you may enjoy the light and comfort of it, as it is explained in the following words. You that reject the light which God hath set up, and refuse the counsel of his Servant, and seek for Comfort, and Safety, and the Knowledg of Gods Mind, and the enjoyment of his favour by your own inventions; which was the common errour of the Jews in all Ages, and especially in the days of the Messiah, when they refused him and that way of Righteousness and Salvation which he appointed, and rested upon their own Traditions and devices, going about to establish their own Righteousness, and not submitting unto the Righteousness of God, as it is expressed, Rom. 10. 3.

Indeavouring to warm and refresh your selves on all sides.

Or rather, with Firebrands, as this very word is fitly rendred, Prov. 26. 18. which is better than sparks or flames, which is there put in the margent, because firebrands only, and not sparks or flames, are capable of being thrown by one man at another. And this word is no where else used in Scripture. He mentions fire-brands, either to imply that these fires yielded more smoak than heat or light: or because these were the usual materials of a fire.

Use your utmost endeavours to get comfort and satisfaction from these devices.

This shall be the fruit of all, through my just Judgment, that instead of that comfort and security which you expect by these means, you shall receive nothing but vexation and misery, which shall pursue you both living and dying: for this word, which is here rendred lie down, is frequently used for dying, as Gen. 47. 30. Iob 21. 26. and elsewhere. Or it is a metaphor from a man that lying down on his Bed for rest and ease, meets with nothing but trouble and pain, as Iob complain'd, chap. 7. 13, 14.

Marginal references: Joh. 9. 39.

Isa 50:1

The words are no longer addressed to Zion, but to her children. “Thus saith Jehovah, Where is your mother’s bill of divorce, with which I put her away? Or where is one of my creditors, to whom I sold you? Behold, for your iniquities are ye sold, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.” It was not He who had broken off the relation in which He stood to Zion; for the mother of Israel, whom Jehovah had betrothed to Himself, had no bill of divorce to show, with which Jehovah had put her away and thus renounced for ever the possibility of receiving her again (according to Deu 24:1-4), provided she should in the meantime have married another. Moreover, He had not yielded to outward constraint, and therefore given her up to a foreign power; for where was there on of His creditors (there is not any one) to whom He would have been obliged to relinquish His sons, because unable to pay His debts, and in this way to discharge them? - a harsh demand, which was frequently made by unfelling creditors of insolvent debtors (Exo 21:7; 2Ki 4:1; Mat 18:25). On nōsheh, a creditor, see at Isa 24:2. Their present condition was indeed that of being sold and put away; but this was not the effect of despotic caprice, or the result of compulsion on the part of Jehovah. It was Israel itself that had broken off the relation in which it stood to Jehovah; they had been sold through their own faults, and “for your transgressions is your mother put away.” Instead of וּבפשׁעיה we have וּבפשׁעיכם. This may be because the church, although on the one hand standing higher and being older than her children (i.e., her members at any particular time), is yet, on the other hand, orally affected by those to whom she has given birth, who have been trained by her, and recognised by her as her own.

Isa 50:2-3

The radical sin, however, which has lasted from the time of the captivity down to the present time, is disobedience to the word of God. This sin brought upon Zion and her children the judgment of banishment, and it was this which made it last so long. “Why did I come, and there was no one there? Why did I call, and there was no one who answered? Is my hand too short to redeem? or is there no strength in me to deliver? Behold, through my threatening I dry up the sea; turn streams into a plain: their fish rot, because there is no water, and die for thirst. I clothe the heavens in mourning, and make sackcloth their covering.” Jehovah has come, and with what? It follows, from the fact of His bidding them consider, that His hand is not too short to set Israel loose and at liberty, that He is not so powerless as to be unable to draw it out; that He is the Almighty, who by His mere threatening word (Psa 106:9; Psa 104:7) can dry up the sea, and turn streams into a hard and barren soil, so that the fishes putrefy for want of water (Exo 7:18, etc.), and die from thirst (thâmōth a voluntative used as an indicative, as in Isa 12:1, and very frequently in poetical composition); who can clothe the heavens in mourning, and make sackcloth their (dull, dark) covering (for the expression itself, compare Isa 37:1-2); who therefore, fiat applicatio, can annihilate the girdle of waters behind which Babylon fancies herself concealed (see Isa 42:15; Isa 44:27), and cover the empire, which is now enslaving and torturing Israel, with a sunless and starless night of destruction (Isa 13:10). It follows from all this, that He has come with a gospel of deliverance from sin and punishment; but Israel has given no answer, has not received this message of salvation with faith, since faith is assent to the word of God. And in whom did Jehovah come? Knobel and most of the commentators reply, “in His prophets.” This answer is not wrong, but it does not suffice to show the connection between what follows and what goes before. For there it is one person who speaks; and who is that, but the servant of Jehovah, who is introduced in these prophecies with dramatic directness, as speaking in his own name? Jehovah has come to His people in His servant. We know who was the servant of Jehovah in the historical fulfilment. It was He whom even the New Testament Scriptures describe as τὸν παῖδα τοῦ κυρίου, especially in the Acts (Act 3:13, Act 3:26; Act 4:27, Act 4:30). It was not indeed during the Babylonian captivity that the servant of Jehovah appeared in Israel with the gospel of redemption; but, as we shall never be tired of repeating, this is the human element in these prophecies, that they regard the appearance of the “servant of Jehovah,” the Saviour of Israel and the heathen, as connected with the captivity: the punishment of Israel terminating, according to the law of the perspective foreshortening of prophetic vision, with the termination of the captivity - a connection which we regard as one of the strongest confirmations of the composition of these addresses before the captivity, as well as of Isaiah’s authorship. But this ἀνθρώπινον does not destroy the θεῖον in them, inasmuch as the time at which Jesus appeared was not only similar to that of the Babylonian captivity, but stood in a causal connection with it, since the Roman empire was the continuation of the Babylonian, and the moral state of the people under the iron arm of the Roman rule resembled that of the Babylonian exiles (Eze 2:6-7). At the same time, whatever our opinion on this point may be, it is perfectly certain that it is to the servant of Jehovah, who was seen by the prophet in connection with the Babylonian captivity, that the words “wherefore did I come” refer.

Isa 50:4

He in whom Jehovah came to His nation, and proclaimed to it, in the midst of its self-induced misery, the way and work of salvation, is He who speaks in Isa 50:4 : “The Lord Jehovah hath given me a disciple’s tongue, that I may know how to set up the wearied with words: He wakeneth every morning; wakeneth mine ear to attend in disciple’s manner.” The word limmūdı̄m, which is used in the middle of the verse, and which is the older word for the later talmidı̄m, μαθηταί, as in Isa 8:16; Isa 54:13, is repeated at the close of the verse, according to the figure of palindromy, which is such a favourite figure in both parts of the book of Isaiah; and the train of thought, “He wakeneth morning by morning, wakeneth mine ear,” recals to mind the parallelism with reservation which is very common in the Psalms, and more especially the custom of a “triolet-like” spinning out of the thoughts, from which the songs of “degrees” (or ascending steps, shı̄r hamma‛ălōth) have obtained their name. The servant of Jehovah affords us a deep insight here into His hidden life. The prophets received special revelations from God, for the most part in the night, either in dreams or else in visions, which were shown them in a waking condition, but yet in the more susceptible state of nocturnal quiet and rest. Here, however, the servant of Jehovah receives the divine revelations neither in dreams nor visions of the night; but every morning (babbōqer babbōqer as in Isa 28:19), i.e., when his sleep is over, Jehovah comes to him, awakens his ear, by making a sign to him to listen, and then takes him as it were into the school after the manner of a pupil, and teaches him what and how he is to preach. Nothing indicates a tongue befitting the disciples of God, so much as the gift of administering consolation; and such a gift is possessed by the speaker here. “To help with words him that is exhausted” (with suffering and self-torture): עוּת, Arab. gât̬, med. Vav, related to אוּשׁ, חוּשׁ, signifies to spring to a person with words to help, Aq. ὑποστηρίσαι, Jer. sustentare. The Arabic gât̬, med. Je, to rain upon or water (Ewald, Umbreit, etc.), cannot possibly be thought of, since this has no support in the Hebrew; still less, however, can we take עוּת as a denom. from עת, upon which Luther has founded his rendering, “to speak to the weary in due season” (also Eng. ver.). דּבר is an accusative of more precise definition, like אשׁר in Isa 50:1 (cf., Isa 42:25; Isa 43:23). Jerome has given the correct rendering: “that I may know how to sustain him that is weary with a word.”

Isa 50:5-6

His calling is to save, not to destroy; and for this calling he has Jehovah as a teacher, and to Him he has submitted himself in docile susceptibility and immoveable obedience. Isa 50:5 “The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear; and I, I was not rebellious, and did not turn back.” He put him into a position inwardly to discern His will, that he might become the mediator of divine revelation; and he did not set himself against this calling (mârâh, according to its radical meaning stringere, to make one’s self rigid against any one, ἀντιτείνειν), and did not draw back from obeying the call, which, as he well knew, would not bring him earthly honour and gain, but rather shame and ill-treatment. Ever since he had taken the path of his calling, he had not drawn timidly back from the sufferings with which it was connected, but had rather cheerfully taken them upon him. V.6 “I offered my back to smiters, and my cheeks to them that pluck off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.” He offered his back to such as smote it, his cheeks to such as plucked out the hair of his beard (mârat as in Neh 13:25). He did not hide his face, to cover it up from actual insults, or from being spit upon (on kelimmōth with  rōq, smiting on the cheek, κολαφίζειν, strokes with rods, ῥαπίζειν, blows upon the head, τύπτειν εἰς τὴν κεφαλήν with ἐμπτύειν, compare Mat 26:67; Mat 27:30; Joh 18:22). The way of his calling leads through a shameful condition of humiliation. What was typified in Job (see Isa 30:10; Isa 17:6), and prefigured typically and prophetically in the Psalms of David (see Psa 22:7; Psa 69:8), finds in him its perfect antitypical fulfilment.

Isa 50:7

But no shame makes him faint-hearted; he trusts in Him who hath called him, and looks to the end. “But the Lord Jehovah will help me; therefore have I not suffered myself to be overcome by mockery: therefore did I make my face like the flint, and knew that I should not be put to shame.” The ו introduces the thought with which his soul was filled amidst all his sufferings. In נכלמתּי לא he affirms, that he did not suffer himself to be inwardly overcome and overpowered by kelimmâh. The consciousness of his high calling remained undisturbed; he was never ashamed of that, nor did he turn away from it. The two על־כּן stand side by side upon the same line. He made his face kachallâmı̄sh (from châlam, related to gâlam in Isa 49:21, with the substantive termination ı̄sh: see Jeshurun, p. 229), i.e., he made it as unfelling as a flint-stone to the attacks of his foes (cf., Eze 3:8-9). The lxx renders this ἔθηκα τὸ πρόσωπον μου ὡς στερεὰν πέτραν; but ἐστήριξα τὸ πρός, which is the rendering given to פני שׂים in Jer 21:10, would have been just the proper rendering here (see Luk 9:51). In “holy hardness of endurance,” as Stier says, he turned his face to his antagonists, without being subdued or frightened away, and was well assured that He whose cause he represented would never leave him in the lurch.

Isa 50:8-9

In the midst of his continued sufferings he was still certain of victory, feeling himself exalted above every human accusation, and knowing that Jehovah would acknowledge him; whereas his opponents were on the way to that destruction, the germ of which they already carried with them. “He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me?! We will draw near together! Who is my adversary in judgment?! Let him draw near to me! Behold, the Lord Jehovah will help me; who is he that could condemn me?! Behold, they all shall fall to pieces like a garment; the moth shall eat them up.” הצדּיו and הרשׁיע are forensic antitheses: the former signifies to set one forth, both practically and judicially, as righteous (2Sa 15:4; Psa 82:3); the latter as guilty, רשׁע (Deu 25:1; Psa 109:7). נעמדה, which has lost the principal tone on account of the following יחד (יּהד), has munach instead of  metheg in the antepenultimate. Ba‛al mishpâtı̄ means, “he who has a judicial cause of lawsuit against me,” just as in Roman law the dominus litis is distinguished from the procurator, i.e., from the person who represents him in court (syn. ba‛al debhârı̄m, Exo 24:14, and 'ı̄sh rı̄bhı̄ in Job 31:35; compare Isa 41:11). מי־הוּא are connected, and form an emphatic τίς, Rom 8:34 (Ewald §325,a). “All of them” (kullâm): this refers to all who are hostile to him. They fall to pieces like a worn-out garment, and fall a prey to the moth which they already carry within them - a figure which we meet with again in Isa 51:8 (cf., Job 13:28; Hos 5:12), and one which, although apparently insignificant, is yet really a terrible one, inasmuch as it points to a power of destruction working imperceptibly and slowly, but yet effecting the destruction of the object selected with all the greater certainty.

Isa 50:10-11

Thus far we have the words of the servant. The prophecy opened with words of Jehovah (Isa 50:1-3), and with such words it closes, as we may see from the expression, “this shall ye have at my hand,” in Isa 50:11. The first word of Jehovah is addressed to those who fear Him, and hearken to the voice of His servant. Isa 50:10 “Who among you is fearing Jehovah, hearkening to the voice of His servant? He that walketh in darkness, and without a ray of light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and stay himself upon his God.” The question is asked for the purpose of showing to any one who could reply, “I am one, or wish to be such an one,” what his duty and his privileges are. In the midst of the apparent hopelessness of his situation (chăshēkhı̄m the accusative of the object, and plural to chăshēkhâh, Isa 8:22), and of his consequent despondency of mind, he is to trust in the name of Jehovah, that firmest and surest of all grounds of trust, and to stay himself upon his God, who cannot forsake or deceive him. He is to believe (Isa 7:9; Isa 28:16; Hab 2:4) in God and the word of salvation, for בטח and נשׁען are terms applied to that fiducia fidei which is the essence of faith. The second word of Jehovah is addressed to the despisers of His word, of which His servant is the bearer. Isa 50:11 “Behold, all ye that kindle fire, that equip yourselves with burning darts, away into the glow of your fire, and into the burning darts that ye have kindled! This comes to you from my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” The fire is not the fire of divine wrath (Jer 17:4), but the fire of wickedness (rish‛âh, Isa 9:17), more especially that hellish fire with which an evil tongue is set on fire (Jam 3:6); for the zı̄qōth (equivalent to ziqqōth, from zēq = zinq, from zânaq, to spring, to let fly, Syr. to shoot or hurl), i.e., shots, and indeed burning arrows (Psa 7:14), are figurative, and stand for the blasphemies and anathemas which they cast at the servant of Jehovah. It is quite unnecessary to read מאירי instead of מאזּרי, as Hitzig, Ewald, and Knobel propose, or even, contrary to all usage of speech, מאורי. The former is the more pictorial: they gird burning darts, accingunt malleolos, i.e., they equip or arm themselves with them for the purpose of attack (Isa 45:5). But the destruction which they prepare for the servant of Jehovah becomes their own. They themselves have to go into the midst of the burning fire and the burning darts, that they have set on fire. The hand of Jehovah suddenly inverts the position; the fire of wrath becomes the fire of divine judgment, and this fire becomes their bed of torment. The lxx has it correctly, ἐν λύπῃ κοιμηθήσεσθε. The Lamed indicates the situation (Ewald, §217,d). תּשׁכּבוּן with the tone upon the last syllable gives a dictatorial conclusion. It has a terrible sound, but still more terrible (apart from the future state) is the historical fulfilment that presents itself to the eye.

Expostulations with Israel. (b. c. 706.)

1 Thus saith the Lord , Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. 2 Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst. 3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

Those who have professed to be the people of God, and yet seem to be dealt severely with, are apt to complain of God, and to lay the fault upon him, as if he had been hard with them. But, in answer to their murmurings, we have here,

I. A challenge given them to prove, or produce any evidence, that the quarrel began on God's side, v. 1. They could not say that he had done them any wrong or had acted arbitrarily. 1. He had been a husband to them; and husbands were then allowed a power to put away their wives upon any little disgust: if their wives found not favour in their eyes, they made nothing of giving them a bill of divorce, Deut. xxiv. 1; Matt. xix. 7. But they could not say that God had dealt so with them. It is true they were now separated from him, and had abode many days without ephod, altar, or sacrifice; but whose fault was that? They could not say that God had given their mother a bill of divorce; let them produce it if they can, for a bill of divorce was given into the hand of her that was divorced. 2. He had been a father to them; and fathers had then a power to sell their children for slaves to their creditors, in satisfaction for the debts they were not otherwise able to pay. Now it is true the Jews were sold to the Babylonians then, and afterwards to the Romans; but did God sell them for payment of his debts? No, he was not indebted to any of those to whom they were sold, or, if he had sold them, he did not increase his wealth by their price, Ps. xliv. 12. When God chastens his children, it is neither for his pleasure (Heb. xii. 10) nor for his profit. All that are saved are saved by a prerogative of grace, but those that perish are cut off by an act of divine holiness and justice, not of absolute sovereignty.

II. A charge exhibited against them, showing them that they were themselves the authors of their own ruin: "Behold, for your iniquities, for the pleasure of them and the gratification of your own base lusts, you have sold yourselves, for your iniquities you are sold; not as children are sold by their parents, to pay their debts, but as malefactors are sold by the judges, to punish them for their crimes. You sold yourselves to work wickedness, and therefore God justly sold you into the hands of your enemies, 2 Chron. xii. 5, 8. It is for your transgressions that your mother is put away, for her whoredoms and adulteries," which were always allowed to be a just cause of divorce. The Jews were sent into Babylon for their idolatry, a sin which broke the marriage covenant, and were at last rejected for crucifying the Lord of glory; these were the iniquities for which they were sold and put away.

III. The confirmation of this challenge and this charge. 1. It is plain that it was owing to themselves that they were cast off; for God came and offered them his favour, offered them his helping hand, either to prevent their trouble or to deliver them out of it, but they slighted him and all the tenders of his grace. "Do you lay it upon me?" (says God); "tell me, then, wherefore, when I came, was there no man to meet me, when I called, was there none to answer me?" v. 2. God came to them by his servants the prophets, demanding the fruits of his vineyard (Matt. xxi. 34); he sent them his messengers, rising up betimes and sending them (Jer. xxxv. 15); he called to them to leave their sins, and so prevent their own ruin: but was there no man, or next to none, that had any regard to the warnings which the prophets gave them, none that answered the calls of God, or complied with the messages he sent them; and this was it for which they were sold and put away. Because they mocked the messengers of the Lord, therefore, God brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16, 17. Last of all he sent unto them his Son. He came to his own, but his own received him not; he called them to himself, but there were none that answered; he would have gathered Jerusalem's children together, but they would not; they knew not, because they would not know, the things that belonged to their peace, nor the day of their visitation, and for that transgression it was that they were put away and their house was left desolate, Matt. xxi. 41; xxiii. 37, 38; Luke xix. 41, 42. When God calls men to happiness, and they will not answer, they are justly left to be miserable. 2. It is plain that it was not owing to a want of power in God, for he is almighty, and could have recovered them from so great a death; nor was it owing to a want of power in Christ, for he is able to save to the uttermost. The unbelieving Jews in Babylon thought they were not delivered because their God was not able to deliver them; and those in Christ's time were ready to ask, in scorn, Can this man save us? For himself he cannot save. "But" (says God) "is my hand shortened at all, or is it weakened?" Can any limits be set to Omnipotence? Cannot he redeem who is the great Redeemer? Has he no power to deliver whose all power is? To put to silence, and for ever to put to shame, their doubts concerning his power, he here gives unquestionable proofs of it. (1.) He can, when he pleases, dry up the seas, and make the rivers a wilderness. He did so for Israel when he redeemed them out of Egypt, and he can do so again for their redemption out of Babylon. It is done at his rebuke, as easily as with a word's speaking. He can so dry up the rivers as to leave the fish to die for want of water, and to putrefy. When God turned the waters of Egypt into blood he slew the fish, Ps. cv. 29. The expression our Saviour sometimes used concerning the power of faith, that it will remove mountains and plant sycamores in the sea, is not unlike this; if their faith could do that, no doubt their faith would save them, and therefore they were inexcusable if they perished in unbelief. (2.) He can, when he pleases, eclipse the lights of heaven, clothe them with blackness, and make sackcloth their covering (v. 3) by thick and dark clouds interposing, which he balances, Job xxxvi. 32; xxxvii. 16.

Work and Sufferings of the Messiah. (b. c. 706.)

4 The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. 5 The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. 6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. 7 For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.   8 He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.

Our Lord Jesus, having proved himself able to save, here shows himself as willing as he is able. We suppose the prophet Isaiah to say something of himself in these verses, engaging and encouraging himself to go on in his work as a prophet, notwithstanding the many hardships he met with, not doubting but that God would stand by him and strengthen him; but, like David, he speaks of himself as a type of Christ, who is here prophesied of and promised to be the Saviour.

I. As an acceptable preacher. Isaiah, a a prophet, was qualified for the work to which he was called, so were the rest of God's prophets, and others whom he employed as his messengers; but Christ was anointed with the Spirit above his fellows. To make the man of God perfect, he has, 1. The tongue of the learned, to know how to give instruction, how to speak a word in season to him that is weary, v. 4. God, who made man's mouth, gave Moses the tongue of the learned, to speak for the terror and conviction of Pharaoh, Exod. iv. 11, 12. He gave to Christ the tongue of the learned, to speak a word in season for the comfort of those that are weary and heavily laden under the burden of sin, Matt. xi. 28. Grace was poured into his lips, and they are said to drop sweet-smelling myrrh. See what is the best learning of a minister, to know how to comfort troubled consciences, and to speak pertinently, properly, and plainly, to the various cases of poor souls. An ability to do this is God's gift, and it is one of the best gifts, which we should covet earnestly. Let us repose ourselves in the many comfortable words which Christ has spoken to the weary. 2. The ear of the learned, to receive instruction. Prophets have as much need of this as of the tongue of the learned; for they must deliver what they are taught and no other, must hear the word from God's mouth diligently and attentively, that they may speak it exactly, Ezek. iii. 17. Christ himself received that he might give. None must undertake to be teachers who have not first been learners. Christ's apostles were first disciples, scribes instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, Matt. xiii. 52. Nor is it enough to hear, but we must hear as the learned, hear and understand, hear and remember, hear as those that would learn by what we hear. Those that would hear as the learned must be awake, and wakeful; for we are naturally drowsy and sleepy, and unapt to hear at all, or we hear by the halves, hear and do not heed. Our ears need to be wakened; we need to have something said to rouse us, to awaken us out of our spiritual slumbers, that we may hear as for our lives. We need to be awakened morning by morning, as duly as the day returns, to be awakened to do the work of the day in its day. Our case calls for continual fresh supplies of divine grace, to free us from the dulness we contract daily. The morning, when our spirits are most lively, is a proper time for communion with God; then we are in the best frame both to speak to him (my voice shalt thou hear in the morning) and to hear from him. The people came early in the morning to hear Christ in the temple (Luke xxi. 38), for, it seems, his were morning lectures. And it is God that wakens us morning by morning. If we do any thing to purpose in his service, it is he who, as our Master, calls us up; and we should doze perpetually if he did not waken us morning by morning.

II. As a patient sufferer, v. 5, 6. One would think that he who was commissioned and qualified to speak comfort to the weary should meet with no difficulty in his work, but universal acceptance. It is however quite otherwise; he has both hard work to do and hard usage to undergo; and here he tells us with what undaunted constancy he went through with it. We have no reason to question but that the prophet Isaiah went on resolutely in the work to which God had called him, though we read not of his undergoing any such hardships as are here supposed; but we are sure that the prediction was abundantly verified in Jesus Christ: and here we have, 1. His patient obedience in his doing work. "The Lord God has not only wakened my ear to hear what he says, but has opened my ear to receive it, and comply with it" (Ps. xl. 6, 7, My ear hast thou opened; then said I, Lo, I come); for when he adds, I was not rebellious, neither turned away back, more is implied than expressed—that he was willing, that though he foresaw a great deal of difficulty and discouragement, though he was to take pains and give constant attendance as a servant, though he was to empty himself of that which was very great and humble himself to that which was very mean, yet he did not fly off, did not fail, nor was discouraged. He continued very free and forward to his work even when he came to the hardest part of it. Note, As a good understanding in the truths of God, so a good will to the work and service of God, is from the grace of God. 2. His obedient patience in his suffering work. I call it obedient patience because he was patient with an eye to his Father's will, thus pleading with himself, This commandment have I received of my Father, and thus submitting to God, Not as I will, but as thou wilt. In this submission he resigned himself, (1.) To be scourged: I gave my back to the smiters; and that not only by submitting to the indignity when he was smitten, but by permitting it (or admitting it rather) among the other instances of pain and shame which he would voluntarily undergo for us. (2.) To be buffeted: I gave my cheeks to those that not only smote them, but plucked off the hair of the beard, which was a greater degree both of pain and of ignominy. (3.) To be spit upon: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. He could have hidden his face from it, could have avoided it, but he would not, because he was made a reproach of men, and thus he would answer to the type of Job, that man of sorrows, of whom it is said that they smote him on the cheek reproachfully (Job xvi. 10), which was an expression not only of contempt, but of abhorrence and indignation. All this Christ underwent for us, and voluntarily, to convince us of his willingness to save us.

III. As a courageous champion, v. 7-9. The Redeemer is as famous for his boldness as for his humility and patience, and, though he yields, yet he is more than a conqueror. Observe, 1. The dependence he has upon God. What was the prophet Isaiah's support was the support of Christ himself (v. 7): The Lord God will help me; and again, v. 9. Those whom God employs he will assist, and will take care they want not any help that they or their work call for. God, having laid help upon his Son for us, gave help to him, and his hand was all along with the man of his right hand. Nor will he only assist him in his work, but accept of him (v. 8): He is near that justifieth. Isaiah, no doubt, was falsely accused and loaded with reproach and calumny, as other prophets were; but he despised the reproach, knowing that God would roll it away and bring forth his righteousness as the light, perhaps in this world (Ps. xxxvii. 6), at furthest in the great day, when there will be a resurrection of names as well as bodies, and the righteous shall shine forth as the morning sun. And so it was verified in Christ; by his resurrection he was proved to be not the man that he was represented, not a blasphemer, not a deceiver, not an enemy to Cæsar. The judge that condemned him owned he found no fault in him; the centurion, or sheriff, that had charge of his execution, declared him a righteous man: so near was he that justified him. But it was true of him in a further and more peculiar sense: the Father justified him when he accepted the satisfaction he made for the sin of man, and constituted him the Lord our righteousness, who was made sin for us. He was justified in the Spirit, 1 Tim. iii. 16. He was near who did it; for his resurrection, by which he was justified, soon followed his condemnation and crucifixion. He was straightway glorified, John xiii. 32. 2. The confidence he thereupon has of success in his undertaking: "If God will help me, if he will justify me, will stand by me and bear me out, I shall not be confounded, as those are that come short of the end they aimed at and the satisfaction they promised themselves: I know that I shall not be ashamed." Though his enemies did all they could to put him to shame, yet he kept his ground, he kept his countenance, and was not ashamed of the work he had undertaken. Note, Work for God is work that we should not be ashamed of; and hope in God is hope that we shall not be ashamed of. Those that trust in God for help shall not be disappointed; they know whom they have trusted, and therefore know they shall not be ashamed. 3. The defiance which in this confidence he bids to all opposers and opposition: "God will help me, and therefore have I set my face like a flint." The prophet did so; he was bold in reproving sin, in warning sinners (Ezek. iii. 8, 9), and in asserting the truth of his predictions. Christ did so; he went on in his work, as Mediator, with unshaken constancy and undaunted resolution; he did not fail nor was discouraged; and here he challenges all his opposers, (1.) To enter the lists with him: Who will contend with me, either in law or by the sword? Let us stand together as combatants, or as the plaintiff and defendant. Who is my adversary? Who is the master of my cause? so the word is, "Who will pretend to enter an action against me? Let him appear, and come near to me, for I will not abscond." Many offered to dispute with Christ, but he put them to silence. The prophet speaks this in the name of all faithful ministers; those who keep close to the pure word of God, in delivering their message, need not fear contradiction; the scriptures will bear them out, whoever contends with them. Great is the truth and will prevail. Christ speaks this in the name of all believers, speaks it as their champion. Who dares be an enemy to those whom he is a friend to, or contend with those for whom he is an advocate? Thus St. Paul applies it (Rom. viii. 33): Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? (2.) He challenges them to prove any crime upon him (v. 9): Who is he that shall condemn me? The prophet perhaps was condemned to die; Christ we are sure was; and yet both could say, Who is he that shall condemn? For there is no condemnation to those whom God justifies. There were those that did condemn them, but what became of them? They all shall wax old as a garment. The righteous cause of Christ and his prophets shall outlive all opposition. The moth shall eat them up silently and insensibly; a little thing will serve to destroy them. But the roaring lion himself shall not prevail against God's witnesses. All believers are enabled to make this challenge, Who is he that shall condemn? It is Christ that died.

The Disconsolate Encouraged. (b. c. 706.)

10 Who is among you that feareth the Lord , that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord , and stay upon his God. 11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

The prophet, having the tongue of the learned given him, that he might give to every one his portion, here makes use of it, rightly dividing the word of truth. It is the summary of the gospel. He that believes shall be saved (he that trusts in the name of the Lord shall be comforted, though for a while he walk in darkness and have no light), but he that believes not shall be damned; though for a while he walk in the light of his own fire, yet he shall lie down in sorrow.

I. Comfort is here spoken to disconsolate saints, and they are encouraged to trust in God's grace, v. 10. Here observe, 1. What is always the character of a child of God. He is one that fears the Lord with a filial fear, that stands in awe of his majesty and is afraid of incurring his displeasure. This is a grace that usually appears most in good people when they walk in darkness, when other graces appear not. They then tremble at his word (ch. lxvi. 2) and are afraid of his judgments, Ps. cxix. 120. He is one that obeys the voice of God's servant, is willing to be ruled by the Lord Jesus, as God's servant in the great work of man's redemption, one that yields a sincere obedience to the law of Christ and cheerfully comes up to the terms of his covenant. Those that truly fear God will obey the voice of Christ. 2. What is sometimes the case of a child of God. It is supposed that though he has in his heart the fear of God, and faith in Christ, yet for a time he walks in darkness and has no light, is disquieted and has little or no comfort. Who is there that does so? This intimates that it is a case which sometimes happens among the professors of religion, yet not very often; but, whenever it happens, God takes notice of it. It is no new thing for the children and heirs of light sometimes to walk in darkness, and for a time not to have any glimpse or gleam of light. This is not meant so much of the comforts of this life (those that fear God, when they have ever so great an abundance of them, do not walk in them as their light) as of their spiritual comforts, which relate to their souls. They walk in darkness when their evidences for heaven are clouded, their joy in God is interrupted, the testimony of the Spirit is suspended, and the light of God's countenance is eclipsed. Pensive Christians are apt to be melancholy, and those who fear always are apt to fear too much. 3. What is likely to be an effectual cure in this sad case. He that is thus in the dark, (1.) Let him trust in the name of the Lord, in the goodness of his nature, and that which he has made known of himself, his wisdom, power, and goodness. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, let his run into that. Let him depend upon it that if he walk before God, which a man may do though he walk in the dark, he shall find God all-sufficient to him. (2.) Let him stay himself upon his God, his in covenant; let him keep hold of his covenant-relation to God, and call God his God, as Christ on the cross, My God, My God. Let him stay himself upon the promises of the covenant, and build his hopes on them. When a child of God is ready to sink he will find enough in God to stay himself upon. Let him trust in Christ, for God's name is in him (Exod. xxiii. 21), trust in that name of his, The Lord our righteousness, and stay himself upon God as his God, in and through a Mediator.

II. Conviction is here spoken to presuming sinners, and they are warned not to trust in themselves, v. 11. Observe, 1. The description given of them. They kindle a fire, and walk in the light of that fire. They depend upon their own righteousness, offer all their sacrifices, and burn all their incense, with that fire (as Nadab and Abihu) and not with the fire from heaven. In their hope of acceptance with God they have no regard to the righteousness of Christ. They refresh and please themselves with a conceit of their own merit and sufficiency, and warm themselves with that. It is both light and heat to them. They compass themselves about with sparks of their own kindling. As they trust in their own righteousness, and not in the righteousness of Christ, so they place their happiness in their worldly possessions and enjoyments, and not in the favour of God. Creature-comforts are as sparks, short-lived and soon gone; yet the children of this world, while they last, warm themselves by them, and walk with pride and pleasure in the light of them. 2. The doom passed upon them. They are ironically told to walk in the light of their own fire. "Make your best of it, while it lasts. But what will be in the end thereof, what will it come to at last? This shall you have of my hand (says Christ, for to him the judgment is committed), you shall lie down in sorrow, shall go to bed in the dark." See Job xviii. 5, 6. His candle shall be put out with him. Those that make the world their comfort, and their own righteousness their confidence, will certainly meet with a fatal disappointment, which will be bitterness in the end. A godly man's way may be melancholy, but his end shall be peace and everlasting light. A wicked man's way may be pleasant, but his end and endless abode will be utter darkness.

CHAP. L.

Ver. 1. WHere is the bill of your mothers divorcement, Heb. abſciſſion: this bill was called by the Greeces, [non-Latin text not transcribed]: but none ſuch could here be produced or proved, as given by God to the Jewiſh State: but that the diſloyalty was theirs, and their dereliction on their part: God had neither rejected them though innocent (as ſome husbands did their wives out of a peeviſh and ſelfiſh humour) nor ſold them though obedient, as ſome fathers did their children for payment of their debts: for he is neither debter to any, nor non-ſolvent, Rom. 11.35, 36.

Behold for your iniquities ye have ſold your ſelves] O duram ſervitutem! O miſeram neceſſitatem! You have ſold your ſelves, as Ahab did, to work wickedneſs, 1 King. 25.29. and therefore I have juſtly ſold and abandoned you into the hands of your enemies, Judg. 2.13, 14. & 3.7, 8. Pſal. 44.11, 12.

Is your mother] i. e. The Synagogue, whereunto the Jews do yet ſtill adhere as to their mother: and the Lord did then acknowledge himſelf to be her husband, but now he hath worthily caſt her off.

Ver. 2. Wherefore when I came was there no man?] Chriſt came unto his own, but his own received him not, Joh. 1. This was condemnation, Joh. 3. their rebelling againſt the light of the Goſpel; this was the great offence, the damning ſin, the very cauſe of their utter rejection.

Is my hand ſhortned at all?] Or rather have not you by your obſtinacy and incredulity transfuſed as it were a dead Palſy into the hand of Omnipotency? Mar. 6.5. He could do there no mighty work becauſe of their unbelief; of ſo venemous a nature is that curſed ſin.

Behold at my rebuke I dry up the Sea] I have done it (you know) Pſam. 106.9. and can do it again. Be not therefore faithleſs but believing, as Joh. 20, 27.

Ver. 3. I clothe the heavens with blackneſſe] I did ſo in that three-daie darkneſs in Egypt, Exod. 10.21, 22. and ſhall do ſo again at the time of my Paſſion: I can therefore, doubtleſs deliver you not only from Babylon, but from ſin, death, and hell, by giving you an entrance into Heaven by the waters of Baptiſm, and by bringing you out of darkneſs into my marvelous light, 1 Pet. 2.9.

And make ſack-cloth their covering] Ita ut coelum pullata veſte obtenſum fuiſſe dixeris. So Rev 6.12.

Ver. 4. The Lord God] Heb. the Soveraign ſelf-being.

Hath given me] Me Iſaiah, but much more Jeſus Chriſt the Arch-Prophet of his Church, who ſpake as never man ſpoke, Joh. 7.46. See Matth. 7, 28, 29. Luke 4.22. Grace was poured into his lips, Pſal. 45.2. and it was no leſs poured out of his lips, whilſt together with his words there went forth a power, and he could perſwade as he pleaſed; for why? God had bleſſed him: ib.

The toung of the learned] A learned and elaborate ſpeech it had need to be that ſhall affect the heart. Matth. 13.52. Not every dolt can do it; but he who is an Interpreter, one amongſt a thouſand, 1 Theſ. 5.14. Job 33.23. who can ſpeak as the Oracles of God, 1 Pet. 4.11. ſell oyle to the wiſer Virgins, Matth. 25.9. comfort the feeble-minded, ſupport the weak, be patient or for bearant toward all men, O quam hoc non eſt omnium! Such a choice man, thus taught of God, is worth his weight in gold. Such an one was Luther, ſuch was Latimer, (who was Confeſſour general to all Proteſtants troubled in mind) Bradford, Greenham, Dod, Sibbs, &c.

That I might know how to ſpeak a word in ſeaſon] Tempeſtivare, to time or ſeaſon a word, to ſet it on the Wheels, as Solomon phraſeth it, Prov. 25.11. that it may be as apples of gold in pictures of ſilver, not only precious for matter, but delectable for order, Eccleſ. 12.10. Surely ſuch a ſpeaker hath joy by the anſwer of his mouth: and a word ſpoken in his ſeaſon how good is it? Prov. 15.23. This is the right Phyſick for the ſoul (as Heathens alſo hammered at) far beyond all Philoſophical diſcourſes, or any other conſolatiunculae creaturulae, as Luther fitly expreſſeth it.

Indeſinenter me informat ſpiritu, non autem per momenta, ut omnes Prophetas alios. Jun. He awakeneth morning by morning] He conſtaintly calleth me up betime, as a Maſter doth his ſcholar to his book and buſineſs, for the which the morn is fitteſt. Chriſts indefatigable aſſiduity in teaching his perverſe Country-men, left them without all excuſe, Joh. 15.22.

To hear as the learned] i. e. Attentively, as thoſe that would be learned, and are therefore [non-Latin text not transcribed] deſirous to hear. Ariſtotle calleth hearing the learned ſenſe.

Ver. 5. The Lord God hath opened mine ear] Removing all lets, and making the bore bigger, as it were thereby ſpeaking home to my heart, and making me morigerous and obedient, againſt all affronts and miſuſages. For here our Saviour ſetteth forth his active obedience, as in the next verſe his Paſſive.

De Temp. ſer. 114. Ver. 6. I gave my back to the ſmiters] Ecce pro impio Pietas flagellatur, &c. ſaith Ambroſe Behold the man (as Pilat once ſaid) the juſt man ſcourged for the unjuſt, (1 Pet. 3.18.) wiſdom derided for the fools ſake; truth denied for the lyars ſake; mercy afflicted for the cruel mans ſake, life dying for the dead mans ſake. What are all our ſufferings to his? how oft have we been whipped, depiled, deſpitefully ſpit upon, &c. for his ſake? Oh that I might have the maiden-head of that kind of ſuffering, ſaid One of the Martyrs in the Marian times! for I have not heard that you have yet whipped any: Biſhop Bonner, afterwards, with his own hands whipped ſome, and pulled a great part of their beards off.

I hid not my face from ſhame and spitting] That is, from ſhameful ſpitting: See Matth. 26, 47. & 27.3[illegible: 1 letter]. with the Notes. Diſcamus etiam hoc loco, ſaith Oecolampadius, Learn here alſo what is the character of a true Chriſtian Miniſter, namely to expreſs Chriſt to the world as much as may be, viz, by apt utterance, ſeaſonable comforts, divine learning, ready obedience, conſtant patience, exemplary innocence, diſcreet zeal, &c.

Ver. 7. For the Lord God will help me] And again, ver. 9. Behold the Lord God will help me. This lively hope held head above water. Hope we alſo perfectly (or, to the end) for the grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jeſus Chriſt, 1 Pet. 1.13.

Therefore ſhall I not be confounded] Heb. aſhamed, notwithſtanding the ſhame they ſeek to caſt upon me, ver. 6. I am as marble to which no dirt will ſtick.

Therefore I have ſet my face as a flint] Or, as ſteel (which is medulla ſive nucleus ferri, ſaith Pliny:) I have ſteeled my countenance, as Luke 9.51. See Ezek. 3.8, 9. So did Luther when he reſolved to appear at Wormes before the Emperour, though he were ſure to encounter as many devils there as were tiles upon the houſes.Act. & Mon. 776. See Acts 21.13.

Ver. 8. He is near that juſtifieth me] i. e. God the Father will ſhortly clear up mine innocency, and declare me to be the Son of God (my only crime now) with power by the reſurrection from the dead. Rom. 1.4.

Who will contend with me] So Joh. 8.46. & Rom. 8.33.34. where the Apoſtle Paul, as a ſtout ſouldier and imitatour of Chriſt, the Captain of his ſalvation, uſeth the ſame argument, and teacketh us to do likewiſe.

[non-Latin text not transcribed].Ver. 9. Behold the Lord God will help me] See ver. 7.

Who is he that ſhall condemn me] If Libanius could ſay of his friend Baſil (though of a different Religion) Let but him praiſe me, and I care not who diſpraiſeth me: how much better might Chriſt and may every good Chriſtian ſay the ſame of God!

Lo, they ſhall all wax old as a garment] The Scribes and Phariſees (thoſe old cankered carles) ſhall: for of them Hierom, Cyril and others underſtand it: The Romans (according as they feared, and therefore crucified Chriſt, Joh. 11.48.) came upon them and toke away both them and their Nation.

The moth ſhall eat them up] i. e. They ſhall be irrecoverably ruined, being once laid aſide by God as an old ore-worn garment, which is made thereby meat for mothes. Thus it befel Pilat (ſaith Lyra here) baniſhed by Tiberius; and thus it beſel the Prieſts, who were burnt by Titus in the Temple: who alſo added, that it was fit that thoſe which ſerved in the Temple ſhould periſh together with it.

Ver. 10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord] This Queſtion implyeth that there were not many ſuch among them: See the like, Hoſ. 14. ult.

That obeyeth] The fear of God frameth the heart to the obedience of faith, Eccleſ. 12.13.

That walketh in darkneſs and hath no light] That being for the time deſerted, are in a miſt: ſo as that ye cannot read your own graces, ſee your own comforts, but walk in darkneſs though children of light, and are in ſuch a ſtate as Paul and his company was, Acts 27.20. when they ſaw neither Sun nor Stars for many daies together, but were almoſt paſt hope.

Let him truſt in the name of the Lord] Let him do as thoſe above-mentioned did, caſt anchor, even in the darkeſt night of temptation, and pray ſtill for day, and it will dawn at length: before day-break the darkneſs is greateſt; ſo is it oft in this caſe. Here then as a child in the dark claſps about his father: ſo let the poor deſerted ſoul about God. Diſtruſt is worſe then diſtreſs: and although the liquour of faith is never pure in theſe veſſels of clay, without the ſees of diſtruſt, yet true faith will truſt in God where it cannot trace him, and by an aſſurance, of adherence at leaſt, get to Heaven through mourning: as Chriſt was taken up in a cloud, or as the kine that carried the Ark went right, but they lowed as they went.

And ſtay upon this God] As the vine doth upon ſome ſupport. Faith hath a catching quality at whatoever is near to lay hold on: like the branches of the Vine, it windeth about that which is next and ſtayes it ſelf upon it, ſpreading further and further ſtill. Fides eſt quae te pullaſtrum, Chriſtum gallinam facit, ſaith Luther.

Ver. 11. Behold all ye that kindle a fire] That inſtead of relying upon God, would relieve your ſelves by carnal ſhifts and fetches, a fire of your own kindling, or rather ſparkes of your own tinder-boxes, ſtrange fire, and not that of Gods Sanctuary: Or ſay they be your own good works you truſt to; like as the Phoenix gathereth ſweet odoriferous ſticks in Arabia together, and then blows them with her wings, and burns her ſelf with them.

That compaſs your ſelves about with ſparks] Away with thoſe tinder-boxes of yours; what are your ſparkles but ſuch as are ſmitten out of a flint, which 1. Yields no warmth or good light. 2. Are ſoon extinct. 3. Nevertheleſſe, you are ſure to lie down in ſorrow, to be caſt into utter darkneſſe, where you ſhall never ſee the light again till you ſee the whole world all on a light fire at the laſt day.

Walk in the light of your fire] Do ſo, if ye thing it good: but your light ſhall be put out into darkneſſe and worſe: like as lightning is followed by rending and roaring Thunder.

This ſhall ye have of my hand] This I will aſſure of: and having ſpoken it with my mouth, I will fulfil it with my hand.

Ye ſhall lie down in ſorrow] As ſick folk, who being in grievous pain and teen, would fain dye, but cannot: Cubatum ibitis, adignes, ad dolores & cruciatus. You ſhall make your beds in the bottom of Hell, as it is ſaid of the King of Babylon, chap. 14.11. and as of Pope Clement the fifth it was reported, that upon the death of a Nephew of his whom he had ſenſually abuſed,Jacob. Revius hiſt. Pont. p. 199. he ſent to a certain Magician to know how it went with his ſoul in the other world? The Magician ſhewed him to the meſſenger as lying in Hell in a bed of fire: Whereupon the Pope was ſo ſtruck with horrour, that he never held up his head more, but ſoon after dyed alſo.