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Isaiah Chapter
Fifty-eight
Isaiah 58
Chapter Contents
Hypocrisy reproved. (1
2) A counterfeit and a true fast
with promises to real godliness
and
(3-12) to the keeping the sabbath.
(13
14)
Commentary on Isaiah 58:1
2
(Read Isaiah 58:1
2)
The Holy Spirit had hypocrites of every age in view.
Self-love and timid Christians may say
Spare thyself; dislike to the cross and
other motives will say
"Spare the rich and powerful;" but God says
"Spare not:" and we must obey God
not men. We all need earnestly to
pray for God's assistance in examining ourselves. Men may go far toward heaven
yet come short; and they may go to hell with a good reputation.
Commentary on Isaiah 58:3-12
(Read Isaiah 58:3-12)
A fast is a day to afflict the soul; if it does not
express true sorrow for sin
and does not promote the putting away of sin
it
is not a fast. These professors had shown sorrow on stated or occasioned fasts.
But they indulged pride
covetousness
and malignant passions. To be liberal and
merciful is more acceptable to God than mere fasting
which
without them
is
vain and hypocritical. Many who seem humble in God's house
are hard at home
and harass their families. But no man's faith justifies
which does not work by
love. Yet persons
families
neighbourhoods
churches
or nations
show
repentance and sorrow for sin
by keeping a fast sincerely
and
from right
motives
repenting
and doing good works. The heavy yoke of sin and oppression
must be removed. As sin and sorrow dry the bones and weaken the strongest human
constitution; so the duties of kindness and charity strengthen and refresh both
body and mind. Those who do justly and love mercy
shall have the comfort
even
in this world. Good works will bring the blessing of God
provided they are
done from love to God and man
and wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit.
Commentary on Isaiah 58:13
14
(Read Isaiah 58:13
14)
The sabbath is a sign between God and his professing
people; his appointing it is a sign of his favour to them; and their observing
it is a sign of their obedience to him. We must turn from travelling on that
day; from doing our pleasure on that holy day
without the control and
restraint of conscience; or from indulging in the pleasures of sense. On
sabbath days we must not follow our callings
or our pleasures. In all we say
and do
we must put a difference between this day and other days. Even in Old
Testament times the sabbath was called the Lord's day
and is fitly called so
still; and for a further reason
it is the Lord Christ's day
Revelation 1:10. If we thus remember the sabbath
day to keep it holy
we shall have the comfort and profit of it
and have
reason to say
It is good to draw near to God.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Isaiah》
Isaiah 58
Verse 2
[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.
Yet —
They cover all their wickedness with a profession of religion.
Delight —
There are many men who take some pleasure in knowing God's will and word
and
yet do not conform their lives to it.
As — As if they were a
righteous people.
Forsook — As
if they were not guilty of any apostacy from God
or disobedience to God's
precepts.
Ask — As
if they resolved to observe them.
In approaching — In
coming to my temple to hear my word
and to offer sacrifices.
Verse 3
[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.
Afflicted —
Defrauded our appetites with fasting
of which this phrase is used
Leviticus 16:29.
Ye find —
Either you indulge yourselves in sensuality
as they did
Isaiah 22:13. But this does not agree with that
afflicting of their souls which they now professed
and which God acknowledges;
or you pursue and satisfy your own desires: though you abstain from bodily
food
you do not mortify your sinful inclinations.
Exact —
Your money
got by your labour
and lent to others
either for their need or
your own advantage
which you require either with usury
or at least with
rigour
when either the general law of charity
or God's particular law
commanded the release
or at least the forbearance of them.
Verse 4
[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.
Behold —
Your fasting days
wherein you ought in a special manner to implore the mercy
of God
and to shew compassion to men
you employ in injuring or quarrelling
with your brethren
your servants or debtors
or in contriving mischief against
them.
Heard — In
strife and debate. By way of ostentation.
Verse 5
[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?
Chosen —
Approve of
accept
or delight in
by a metonymy
because we delight in what we
freely chuse.
For a day —
This may be understood
either for a man to take a certain time to afflict his
soul in
and that either from even to even
Leviticus 23:32
or from morning to evening
or
for a little time.
Wilt thou call —
Canst thou suppose it to be so? A fast - It being such an one as has nothing in
it
but the dumb signs of a fast
nothing of deep humiliation appearing in it
or
real reformation proceeding from it.
Acceptable day — A
day that God will approve of.
Verse 6
[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?
The bands —
The cruel obligations of usury and oppression.
Verse 7
[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?
Cast out —
And thereby become wanderers
having no abiding place.
To thy house —
That thou be hospitable
and make thy house a shelter to them that have none of
their own left.
Hide not —
That seek no occasion to excuse thyself.
Thy own flesh —
Some confine this to our own kindred; but we can look on no man
but there we
contemplate our own flesh
and therefore it is barbarous
not only to tear
but
not to love and succour him. Therefore feed him as thou wouldest feed thyself
or be fed; shelter him as thou wouldest shelter thyself
or be sheltered;
clothe him as thou wouldest clothe thyself
or be clothed; if in any of these
respects thou wert in his circumstances.
Verse 8
[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.
Thy light —
Happiness and prosperity.
Break forth — It
shall not only appear
but break forth
dart itself forth
notwithstanding all
difficulties
as the sun breaks
and pierces through a cloud.
Thy health —
Another metaphor to express the same thing.
Righteousness —
The reward of thy righteousness.
Before thee — As
the morning-star goes before the sun.
The glory —
His glorious power and providence.
Thy rereward —
Thus the angel of his presence secured the Israelites when they came up out of
Egypt.
Verse 9
[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;
Answer — He
will give an effectual demonstration
that he hears thee.
Here l am — A
phrase that notes a person to be ready at hand to help.
Take away —
From among you.
The yoke —
All those pressures and grievances before mentioned.
Putting forth —
Done by way of scoff
or disdainful insulting.
Vanity —
Any kind of evil words.
Verse 10
[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:
Draw out —
Or
open
as when we open a store
to satisfy the wants of the needy.
Thy soul —
Thy affection
thy pity and compassion.
Thy darkness — In
the very darkness of the affliction itself thou shalt have comfort.
Verse 11
[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.
Guide thee —
Like a shepherd. And he adds continually to shew that his conduct and blessing
shall not be momentary
or of a short continuance
but all along as it was to
Israel in the wilderness.
Satisfy —
Thou shalt have plenty
when others are in scarcity.
Make fat —
This may be spoken in opposition to the sad effects of famine
whereby the
flesh is consumed away
that it cannot be seen
and the bones that were not
seen
stick out.
A garden — If
thou relieve the poor
thou shalt never be poor
but as a well-watered garden
always flourishing.
Fail not —
Heb. deceive not
a metaphor which farther notes also the continuance of this
flourishing state
which will not be like a land-flood
or brooks
that will
soon be dried up with drought. Thou shalt be fed with a spring of blessing
that will never fail.
Verse 12
[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.
They shall be of thee — Thy posterity.
Waste places —
Cities which have lain long waste; that shall continue for many generations to
come.
The breach —
Breach is put for breaches
which was made by God's judgment breaking in upon
them in suffering the walls of their towns and cities to be demolished.
Paths —
Those paths that led from city to city
which being now laid desolate
and
uninhabited
were grown over with grass
and weeds.
To dwell in —
These accommodations being recovered
their ancient cities might be fit to be
re-inhabited.
Verse 13
[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:
If — If thou take no
unnecessary journeys
or do any servile works on the sabbath-day.
A delight —
Performing the duties of it with chearfulness
delighting in the ordinances of
it.
Holy —
Dedicated to God
consecrated to his service.
Verse 14
[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.
In the Lord — In
his goodness and faithfulness to thee
and in the assurance of his love and
favour.
To ride —
Thou shalt be above the reach of danger.
Feed thee —
Thou shalt enjoy the good of the land of Canaan
which God promised as an
heritage to Jacob
and his seed
Genesis 35:12.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Isaiah》
58 Chapter 58
Verses 1-4
Cry aloud
spare not
“Cry aloud”
“Cry with the throat.
” Crying with the throat or from the lungs is here opposed to a simple motion
of the lips and tongue (1 Samuel 1:13). The common version
“Cry aloud
” is therefore substantially correct
though somewhat vague. The LXX
in like manner paraphrases it ἐν
ἰσχύι. J.D. Michaelis reads
“as loud as thou canst.” The positive
command is enforced by the negative one
“spare not
” as in Is
54:2. The loudness of the call is intended to suggest the
importance of thesubject
and
perhaps
the insensibility of those to be
convinced. The prophet here seems to turn away from avowed apostates to
hypocritical professors of the truth. (J. A. Alexander.)
Conviction before comfort
When our Lord Jesus
promised to send the Comforter
He added
“When He is 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 doth not belong. God had appointed this prophet to comfort His
people (Isaiah 40:1); here He appoints him to
convince them
and show them their sins. (M. Henry.)
The minister must be faithful
He must be vehement and in good earnest
must cry aloud
and not
spare. Not spare them
nor 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. The trumpet doth 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 (Ezekiel 33:3-4). (M. Henry.)
National sins protested against
I. TESTIFY AGAINST
SOME OF THE PREVAILING SINS AND CRYING ABOMINATIONS OF THIS LAND.
1. Pride.
2. Luxury.
3. Pleasure.
4. Gluttony.
5. Drunkenness.
6. Swearing.
7. Sabbath-breaking.
8. Lying.
9. Avarice.
10. Adultery and fornication.
11. Profane contempt of holy things.
12. The evil passions which agitate the bosoms of men
and which
receive the sanction of a large portion of the community--not as casual evils
but as principles of action
and tests of what is called highmindedness and
honour. Some of the most prevailing of these
when stripped of their specious
coverings
and exhibited in their proper character
are--ambition
envy
malice
and revenge.
13. Flagrant insincerity.
and wicked abuse of professed acts of
public worship.
14. Hardened impenitence.
II. URGE WITH
FAITHFULNESS AND IMPARTIALITY THE SENTENCE OF GOD DENOUNCED UPON EACH. (R.
Shittier.)
Selfish piety
Selfish piety is the popular piety of this age and land.
I. IT IS VERY
EARNEST. The piety’
of Israel at this time seems to have been anything but a
dull and inactive power; it was very busy.
1. It was earnest in study. “They seek Me daily
” etc. (Isaiah 58:2).
2. It is earnest in prayer. “They ask of Me the ordinances of
justice
” etc.
3. It is earnest in its self-sacrifice. It endures lastings and
self-mortifications (Isaiah 58:3).
4. It is earnest in its churchism. “Ye fast for strife and debate
”
etc. It would seem that the Israelites were divided into religious parties or
factions
some professing to be more orthodox than others. There was a rivalry
therefore
in their devotion; one tried to excel the other
and the competition
ran so high that they began to “smite each other with the fist.”
5. It is earnest in its professions. They made “their voice to be heard
on high.”
II. IT IS TERRIBLY
REPREHENSIBLE. The prophet is here called upon to “Cry aloud
spare not
” etc.
1. It is an insult to God. “He abhors the sacrifice where not the
heart is found.” This selfish piety is the most abhorrent of all impieties.
2. It is pernicious to souls. This selfish piety inflicts
incalculable injury upon its possessor: it warps the judgment
it deadens the
conscience
it awakens false hopes generates diseased affections and
dehumanizes the man. Nor is the injury confined to the possessor himself. (Homilist.)
Verses 1-14
Verse 2
Yet they seek Me daily
Hypocitical religion
When the prophet went about to show them their transgressions
they
pleaded they could see no transgressions they were guilty of; for they were
diligent in attending 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 the form of godliness.
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 that
they go on in
notwithstanding their knowledge of good and evil
sin and duty
and the convictions of their consciences concerning it. (M. Henry.)
Religious
but unsaved
Men may go a great way towards heaven
and yet come short; nay
may go to hell with a good reputation. (M. Henry.)
Two great problems
The prophet and the world may be considered as engaged in two
opposite problems. The problem which the world is ever seeking to discover is
to find out what is the least religion they may have
and yet be saved; the
problem which the prophet is here endeavoring to solve
is what is the most
religion you may have
and yet be lost. (D. Moore
M. A.)
Forms of religion
There are four distinct forms of Gospel service
all of which
if
accompanied by right affections towards God
afford just and scriptural
evidence of an accepted or reconciled state. These four forms of service
are--the habit of daily prayer
a love for the preached Word
an open
profession of Christ
and an apparent earnestness in inquiring after the ways
and will of God. These
however
are not in themselves decisive tests of
spiritual character; causes may operate to induce these outward observances
wholly distinct from the love of God in its governing and ruling power.
Education may prompt a man to acts of daily worship; by local sympathies
or by
the power of fashion
a man may be induced to make a religious profession; and
he may with much apparent earnestness be inquiring which is the way to life
eternal
when he has a secret mental reservation to keep the joys
the
comforts
and the forbidden delights of the present world. (M. Henry.)
Formalism
I. WHY MEN GO SO
FAR.
1. It is a sentiment of moral uneasiness which makes the formalist of
every grade and character.
2. But in estimating the causes which induce men to go certain
lengths in a religious life
we should not entirely omit the expectation of a
considerable degree of credit in the world; a secret pride at being numbered
among the people of God--an indefinite notion of outward prosperity as usually
following on a bold religious profession.
II. WHY IT IS THAT
THEY WILL NOT GO FURTHER
For this I shall assign two reasons.
1. Defective knowledge--an imperfect acquaintance with the way of
salvation. Men know not the end of Christ’s work
they know not the jealousy
with which He regards any interference with that work.
2. Defective obedience--they stop short of some form of Gospel
requirement with which they should comply.
III. APPLY SOME
TESTS OF SPIRITUAL SINCERITY. (M. Henry.)
Verses 3-7
Wherefore have we fasted?
--
Fasts
Fasts were a common feature of the old Israelitish religion (1 Kings 21:9; 1 Kings 21:12; Jeremiah 36:9). In Zechariah 8:19 we learn expressly that
during the exile four days were observed annually as fasts
in commemoration of
dates connected with the fall of Jerusalem. (Prof. S. R. Driver
D. D.)
Fasting
I. CONSIDER IN
GENERAL THE DUTY OF FASTING
ITS NATURE
ENDS AND USES. As to the meaning of
the word
fasting is only an abstinence from food. Whether this abstinence
should be total or partial
and how long it should be continued
cannot be
determined by any general rule that can reach all persons; but the
constitutions and strength of particular persons must be considered
and such
abstinence used by them respectively as will best answer in each the ends and
uses of fasting. We are not to look upon fasting in itself as a thing that recommends
us to God. But there are good ends for which fasting is appointed
and which
are promoted by it
that make it acceptable to God regard
therefore
must ever
be had to those ends
and such measures taken as may be most conducive to them
and they are chiefly these--
1. For subduing and mortifying the sinful appetites of the body.
2. For the better disposing the mind to prayer and other spiritual
exercises. The corruptible body is too apt to press down the immortal soul.
3. For the testifying our shame and sorrow; our anger at ourselves
for our sins. We have God’s express command for it to His people the Jews. The
prophet Joel frequently and earnestly presses them to this duty. Holy men of
old practised it
as we find in the instances of Ezra
David
Daniel
etc. And
that we may not think this to be such a Jewish rite
as concerned only those
that lived under their dispensation
we read that when the prophet Jonah
denounced God’s judgment against Nineveh
those Gentiles proclaimed a fast
and
observed it universally from the greatest to the least. And to put this matter
out of all doubt
the blessed Author of our holy roll
on
in His Sermon on the
Mount
though He does not directly command fasting yet supposes it a duty to be
practised by Christians
gives directions for the right performance of it
and
upon such a performance assures us of a blessing from our Father in heaven.
II. REFLECT UPON
THOSE FAULTS OF THE JEWS RECORDED IN MY TEXT
WHICH MADE THEIR FASTS
UNACCEPTABLE TO GOD.
1. Though they used great outward austerity
and severe discipline
towards the body
there was no inward change.
2. Their divisions and contentions. “Ye fast for strife and debate
”
etc.
3. Their want of compassion and charity to those that were in
affliction (verse 7). A like thread of hypocrisy ran through their fasts
and
prayers
and alms
and all their services in our Saviour’s time.
III. INQUIRE WHETHER
WE OF THIS NATION ARE NOT JUSTLY CHARGEABLE WITH THE SAME SINS WHICH THEY
COMMITTED
and so severely smarted for; and whether we have not too much reason
to fear that God may expostulate with us about our public fasts
as He did with
them
“ Are they such fasts as I have chosen?”
IV. PRESS YOU TO
THE PRACTICE OF SUCH THINGS AS MAY MAKE THIS DAY OF HUMILIATION AN ACCEPTABLE
DAY UNTO THE LORD. And what can do this but our careful avoiding those sins
which the Jews are here reproved for
and practising their contrary duties?
1. We must be sure to avoid that foolish and provoking sin of
hypocrisy.
2. Also all strife and division. S. Let us take heed of
unmercifulness and hard-heartedness to those that are in want and misery; for
with what face can we ask
with what reason can we expect from God
supplies
for our wants
or succour in our distress
if we refuse such help as we can
give to our poor brethren in their affliction? (Bp. Talbot.)
Incipient Pharisaism
There is an incipient Pharisaism in their evident expectation that
by external works of righteousness they would hasten the coming of the
Messianic salvation. (Prof. J. Skinner
D. D.)
Ye fast for strife
J. D. Michaelis tells a story of a lady who was never known to
scold her servants so severely as on fast days
which he says agrees well with
physiological principles and facts! (J. A. Alexander.)
Verses 5-9
Is it such a fast that I have chosen?
--
The fast which God has chosen
I. GOD’S PURPOSE
IN COMMANDING MEN TO FAST.
1. To lead us to prayer (Isaiah 58:4)
prayer so real that our
voices are “heard on high
” that God will hear and answer.
2. To aid us in realizing communion with Him (Isaiah 58:9); that His voice be heard by
us as truly as ours by Him; our voice to Him (Isaiah 58:8)
His to us.
3. To aid in repressing self in all its forms. In John 3:30
we have thegeneral principle
also in Philippians 2:8.
II. THE NATURE OR
CHARACTER OF TRUE ABSTINENCE.
1. To loose our bands (Luke 13:16)
“whom Satan hath bound” Luke 11:21-22; Matthew 5:29-30).
2. To undo our burdens (Psalms 55:22; Matthew 11:28-30).
3. To break every yoke
every habit that enslaves (Romans 14:21; 1 Corinthians 6:12-18). “I will not
be brought under the power of any.”
4. To bring the flesh into subjection to the spirit (Galatians 5:17).
III. THE EFFECT OF
TRUE ABSTINENCE.
1. “Then” thy light shall break forth like morning (Philippians 2:15-16; Matthew 5:16).
2. “Thy righteousness shall go before thee ‘ as a leader to higher grace
and 2 Corinthians 3:18).
3. Thy prayer shall be heard (verse 9).
4. There shall be light from on high
and His guidance for ever
(verse 10; Psalms 32:8; Exodus 33:14).
Conclusion: To keep this season properly
we must be ourselves
“free” as now creatures in Him. We must act habitually in the spirit of freedom
Galatians 5:1). We must do what in us
lies to make others free Numbers 10:29). (H. Linton
M. A.)
Philanthropic piety
In these verses you have the religious instinct working
not
through selfishness
but through love
not in formal religious devotions
but
in earnest philanthropic services.
I. ITS RITUAL IS
PHILANTHROPIC SERVICE. “Pure religion and undefiled is this
to visit the widow
and fatherless
” etc.
II. ITS INFLUENCE
IS GLORIOUSLY BENEFICENT. What is it? “Light.” “Then shall thy light break
forth as the morning. Prosperity will come on them as the genial dawning of a
long and blessed day. “Health.” “Thine health shall spring forth speedily.’ All
weakness and disease will depart
and healthful vigour will come into the soul.
“Righteousness.” “Thy righteousness shall go before thee.” The eternal law of
rectitude--not expediency
not caprice
not passion
not morbid sentiment
will
guide the footsteps as a leader through the winding path of life.’ “Glory. “The
glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward” (margin
“shall gather thee up
that
ye shall bring up the rear’).
III. ITS SPIRIT IS ACCEPTABLE
TO GOD. “Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry
and He
shall say
Here I am.” The idea is that if men would only be real in their
religion
show their love to Him by labouring earnestly for the good of
suffering humanity
then He would respond to their prayers
and grant them
their request. (Homilist.)
Verse 6-7
Is not this the fast that I have chosen?
--
Practical fasting
In reply to the question
how the acts here mentioned could be
described as fasting
J. D. Michaelis says that they are all to be considered
as involving acts of conscientious self-denial
which he illustrates by the
case of an American slaveholder brought by stress of conscience to emancipate
his slaves. (J. A. Alexander.)
Oppression
People may be oppressed in their reputation by unmerited
reproaches. (R. Macculloch.)
A foretokening of Gospel morality
This passage is one of those in which the holiness peculiar to the
Gospel seems to be foretokened in the morality of the prophetic canon. The
twilight clouds were red with the coming Sun.
1. Isaiah and his brother-prophets were holier and heavenlier and
richer in the works of love upon an anticipated Christ than we are in a Christ
already our crucified Example. These men of God knew no divorce between belief
and love
between living perpetually in the presence of a benevolent Lord and
imitating His benevolence to their “fellow-creatures. As it is the spirit of
truth that has solemnized the union of the principle of faith with the works of
charity
so it is
and in all ages has been
the master policy of the spirit of
evil to effect their separation.
2. The whole religious providence towards man in every age has been a
system operating by the combined influence of faith and love--both directed
towards His own perfect essence. In our existing condition
what is faith but
love relying on support? What is love but faith forgetting the support in the
Supporter? Every progressive step in attaining habits of compassion and
kindness upon earth must necessarily be a step towards estimating and loving
Him who is the essential Spirit of benevolence. The love of man is the type and
shadow of the love of God. The people of God are here engaged with the
rudiments and images of those affections which are to be the duty and happiness
of their eternity. (W. Archer Butler.)
Verse 7
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry?
--
Almsgiving
Why there are so many evils in the world is a question that has
been agitated ever since man felt them. It becomes not us
with too
presumptuous a curiosity
to assign the causes of the Divine conduct
or
with
too daring a hand
to draw aside the veil which covers the councils of the
Almighty. But from this state of things we see many good effects arise. The
enjoyments of life are grafted upon its wants; from natural evil arises moral
good
and the sufferings of some contribute to the happiness of all. Such being
the state of human affairs
charity
or that disposition which leads us to
supply the wants
and alleviate the sufferings
of unhappy men
as well as bear
with their infirmities
must be a duty of capital importance. Accordingly
it
is enjoined in our holy religion as being the chief of the virtues. It is
assigned as the test and criterion by which we are to distinguish the disciples
of Jesus
and it will be selected at the great day as being that part of the
character which is most decisive of the life
and according to which the last
sentence is to turn. Charity
in its most
comprehensive sense
signifies that
disposition of mind which
from a regard and gratitude to God
leads to do all
the good in our power to man. But all that I intend at present is
to consider
that branch of charity which is called almsgiving.
I. WHAT IS THE
MOST PROPER METHOD OF BESTOWING CHARITY.
1. The best method of bestowing charity upon the healthy and strong
is to give them employment. One half of the vices of men take their orion from
idleness. To support the indolent
therefore
to keep those idle who are able
to work
is acting contrary to the intention of God; is doing an injury to
society
which claims a right to the services of all its members; is defrauding
real objects of charity of that which is their proper due
. and is fostering a
race of sluggards to prey upon the vitals of a State. But he is a valuable
member of society
and merits well of mankind
who
by devising means of
employment for the industrious
delivers the public from a useless incumbrance
and makes those who would otherwise be the pests of society
useful subjects of
the Commonwealth.
2. Another act of charity
of equal importance
is to supply the
wants of the really indigent and necessitous. If the industrious
with all
their efforts
are not able to earn a competent livelihood; if the produce of
their labour be not proportionable to the demands of a numerous family; then
they arc proper objects of your charity.
3. Another class of men that demand our charity is the aged and
feeble
who
after a life of hard labour
are grown unfit for further business
and who add poverty to the other miseries of old age.
4. Children also bereft of their parents
orphans cast upon the care
of Providence
are signal objects of compassion.
5. But there is a class of the unfortunate who are the greatest
objects of all; those who
after having been accustomed to ease and plenty
are
by some unavoidable reverse of fortune condemned to bear
what they are least
able to bear
the galling load of poverty; who
after having been perhaps
fathers to the fatherless in the day of their prosperity
are now become the
objects of that charity which they were wont so liberally to dispense.
II. EXHORTATIONS TO
THE PRACTICE OF THIS DUTY. This duty is so agreeable to the common notions of
mankind
that every one condemns the mean and sordid spirit of that wretch whom
God has blessed with abundance
and consequently with the power of blessing others
and who is yet relentless to the cries of the poor and miserable. The practice
of this duty is incumbent upon all.
1. To the performance of it you are drawn by that pity and compassion
which are implanted in the heart.
2. Consider the pleasure derived from benevolence. (J. Logan
F.
R. S.)
Dealing bread to the hungry
Thine “own bread it must be
and that especially whereof thou hast
on the fast-day abridged thyself; for what the rich spare on such a day the
poor should spend. Hereby
1. Men’s prayers shall speed the better (Acts 10:4).
2. They shall make God their debtor (Proverbs 19:17).
3. That is best and most pleasing alms to God that is given in Church
assemblies; for
13 almsgiver (Luke 21:1-2)
setting it down in His book
of remembrance (Malachi 3:16). (J. Trapp.)
“To break bread
”
“To break bread
” meaning to distribute
from the Oriental
practice of baking bread in thin flat cakes. (J. A. Alexander.)
Breaking bread to the hungry
Not only to give them that which is already broken meat
but break
bread on purpose for them; give them loaves and do not put them off with
scraps. (M. Henry.)
Verses 8-14
Then shall thy light break forth
The secret of prosperity to nations
churches
and men
(Isaiah 58:8-10; Isaiah 58:14
“Then
” “then
” “then
”
“then “):--
I.
MEN
AND CHURCHES CHARGE GOD FOOLISHLY
AND COMPLAIN WITHOUT CAUSE OF THEIR OWN LOW
ESTATE.
II. GOD REBUTS
THEIR BLASPHEMOUS CHARGE
AND ASSERTS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF HIS DEALINGS IN AN
APPEAL TO THEIR OWN CONSCIENCES AND COMMON-SENSE.
III. GOD RETURNS THE
CHARGE AGAINST HIMSELF ON THE SINNERS’ OWN HEADS
AND REVEALS HIS SECRET
IF
MEN WILL HAVE EARS TO HEAR. “Then” is the secret of light and darkness; of
health and sickness
or want of spiritual vigour and vitality; of covenant
righteousness in the enjoyment of covenant blessings
or apparent breach of
covenant in the withholding of what is good; of glory
such as that of Israel
in the wilderness
when the glory of the Lord was “their rereward
” when the
pillar of cloud and fire was in the midst of them by day and night
or shame
as when the ark was in the hands of the Philistines
or the Assyrian or
Babylonian invaded God’s heritage and profaned His temple; of prayers answered
or unanswered; of God’s presence manifested in undeniable! tokens
or denied
undiscerned
apparently withdrawn; of power to be God’s witnesses and workmen
in doing good to others
or impotence
conscious inability to be
fellow-labourers with God and for God
want of spiritual life and energy. “Then”
is the secret--then
and not till then--then
and not otherwise--then
certainly-then according to the promise of the covenant
and in the way of the
covenant and kingdom. In further application of the text to ourselves learn
such lessons as the following--
1. The salvation of the Gospel is salvation from sin itself.
2. In the Gospel
accordingly
blessedness and righteousness go
together
and so also sin and misery.
3. There is under the Gospel no substitute for repentance.
4. Man
in all the work of salvation
from beginning to end
must
co-operate with God. (R. Paisley.)
God the rewarder
If a person
a family
a people be thus disposed to everything
that is good
let them know for their comfort that they shall find God their
bountiful rewarder.
1. God shall 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 (Isaiah 58:8; Isaiah 58:10). They that arc cheerful in
doing good
God will make them cheerful in enjoying good. They that have showed
mercy shall find mercy. Those that have helped others out of trouble
God will
help them 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 riseth out of obscurity.
3. They shall always be safe under the Divine protection. “Thy righteousness
shall go before thee
” as the 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.
4. God will be always nigh unto them to hear their prayers (Isaiah 58:9). 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 Acts 10:4).
5. God will direct them in all difficult and doubtful cases (verse
11).
6. God will give them abundance of satisfaction in their own minds
(verse 11).
7. They and their families shall be public blessings (verse 12). (M.
Henry.)
“Break forth as the dawn
“Break forth” is the verb used in IsaGe 7:11; Psalms 74:15
of the bursting of waters
through a fissure in the earth’s surface; by a vivid metaphor the dawn was
conceived as “splitting” the heavens and flooding the world with light The same
word occurs on the Moaite Stone in the phrase “from the splitting of the dawn.”
(Prof. J. Skinner
D. D.)
Thine health shall spring
forth speedily
A healthy Church
I. ESSENTIALS OF A
HEALTHY CHURCH.
1. A Scriptural constitution.
2. Nutritious food.
3. Pure air.
4. Regular exercise.
II. CHARACTERISTICS
OF A HEALTHY CHURCH
1. Health is sometimes known by outward appearances. The rosy cheeks
the sparkling eyes
the sonorous voice
all testify to health. A healthy Church
may be known by its prayer-meetings
contributions
missionary spirit
etc.
2. Health is known by tastes. A sickly man’s taste is bad.
Unwholesome dainties are preferred to strong meat. So with regard to an
unhealthy Church. Silly anecdotes are preferred to good scriptural teaching.
Thinks much of forms and ceremonies.
3. Contentment of mind. An unhealthy man is querulous and difficult
to please. So an unhealthy Church. It is a fault-finding Church.
4. Work. Sickness disables a man for labour. Health stimulates to
work. A healthy Church may be known by its labour.
III. THE
DESIRABILITY OF A HEALTHY CHURCH. A healthy Church--
1. Is one of great comfort to itself.
2. Will survive through many trials. The healthy man is heedless of
east winds
etc. So a healthy Church survives persecutions
etc.
3. Is attractive. People shun unhealthy Churches as they do fever
dens.
4. Is one likely to live.
Lessons:
1. A morally sick Church is a great curse to a neighbourhood.
2. The sooner the better that many a Church should apply to the great
Physician for spiritual healing.
3. The Church will by and by become perfectly whole.
4. When perfectly whole
diseased persons will no longer be admitted
into its fellowship (Revelation 21:27). (J. Williams.)
Verses 9-11
Then shalt thou call
God’s wonderful response to His people’s prayers
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 (Psalms 130:2). No sooner do they call to
Him
but He answers
Ready
ready. Wherever they are praying
God saith
Here I
am hearing; I am in the midst of you
nigh unto them in all things (Deuteronomy 4:7). (M. Henry.)
If thou take away from the
midst of thee the yoke
One path to prosperity
In the figures implied the prophet represents extreme adversity;
and by metaphors which he distinctly puts forth he describes renewed
prosperity; and he connects the marvellous change from the deepest adversity to
the highest prosperity with the avoidance or laying aside of three sins which
then beset the people of God
and with the performance of two ordinary duties.
1. The besetting sins.
2. The duties.
Oppression
The oppression of others is an early sin
a sin which you often
see rampant among children--among very little children. Oppression is a
household sin
it will be found more or less in almost every family. There may
be some cases where it is not
but they are decided exceptions. And it is a sin
in connection with all family relations. The godly husband is charged to love
the wife even as himself
and even as Christ loveth the Church; but there are
many husbands--some: professing to be Christ’s disciples--who are the wretched
oppressors of wives. Oppression Is a household sin--seen in parents--seen in
brothers and sisters--seen in the husband. And it is a social sin--seen in all
the walks of life.
1. Especially where men employ each other
and take advantage of each
other’s skill
and of each other’s strength. It is a national sin--seen more or
less in all rulers; and an international sin--seen in the conduct of nations to
each other. Manifestly
therefore
a very common sin is this putting on of the
yoke--seen where men have no right to put on the yoke at all; and seen in a
heavy yoke where men have only the right to put on a light yoke
and they
impose a heavy yoke; and seen in thus keeping on of the yoke after the yoke
should be removed. (S. Martin.)
Creed and outward ordinances not the supreme things
1. Nothing is here said about this people having declined from
religious belief
or in this case from the observance of religious rites. God
had to find fault with them on these grounds
but what I want you to notice is
that God is not speaking of such declension here. What does this show? It shows
that a man
so far as the creed on his lip is concerned
may maintain his
orthodoxy
and that a man
so far as religious ordinances are concerned
may
maintain his devoutness
and yet have a heart thoroughly declining from God’s
statutes.
2. There is an eternal connection between righteousness and
blessedness.
3. The true state of individual saints and of congregations of saints
is light
not obscurity; brightness
not dulness; happiness
not misery;
spiritual health
not moral sickness; usefulness
not sterility and barrenness;
continuance
not declension. (S. Martin.)
“Putting forth of the finger”
A gesture of derision. Hence the middle finger is called by
Persius
digitus infamis. (J. A. Alexander.)
Verse 10-11
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry
The reflex influence Of missionary enterprise
I.
MISSIONARY
ENTERPRISE EXALTS CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. The whole life of the Christian after
his conversion is a discipline fitted to purify and exalt his character. What
then
are the works and exercises that tend most to build up Christian
character to a lofty height? I know nothing equal to work that engages us
directly in seeking the conversion of our fellow-men
and especially of those
whose conversion seems naturally most difficult
such as we find in the mission
field.
1. The first test I set before you is the tendency of this work to
exercise the Christian graces. Whatever exercises these most
must produce the
highest Christian result; for Christian character is just the Christian graces
consolidated and fixed in the soul by cultivation. Take
then
a grace like
faith. I confidently ask if home chanty--needful and precious as it is--be as
lofty a kind of charity as that which deals with want and woe
enforced by the
naked claim of humanity in distress. Is it not an exalted feature of British
commerce that every great calamity strikes to its heart
so that immediately a
subscription is opened on every stock-exchange? But why should missions be less
expansive
and the soul be less provided for than the body?
2. Our second test shall be resemblance to God. From beginning to
end
God takes a missionary attitude. He sends the Son; He sends the Spirit;
apart even from grace
He sends rain on the just and on the unjust. As the true
God delights in mercy
truth
and righteousness
we claim for the works that
foster these in the soul
as the most God-like
the highest stamp of worth and
sacredness l
3. Our third test shall be the example of Jesus Christ. What was He
if not a missionary--the missionary that travelled the farthest
stooped the
lowest
gave up the most
suffered the worst? The very world has learned new
ideas of greatness and goodness from Jesus Christ; and this central idea of
self-sacrificing love
as the very element of moral grandeur
stands out like a
new revelation.
4. I mention a fourth test
which is
our imitation of the greatest
Christians. Can one be mentioned that has not sympathized with the spread and
diffusion of the Gospel?
II. The second way
in which missionary enterprise reacts beneficially on the Church is in
INCREASING CHRISTIAN JOY. This
of course
would follow from improving
Christian character. But I take another line of illustration.
1. Missions remove hindrances to Christian joy. It is a great
hindrance to think that the world is still in so backward a state. But the
faithful Christian can say
“Well
this is not my fault. I am doing something
to remedy it; and the more that we all do
the sooner will the evil be cured.”
It is also a great hindrance to Christian joy that the Church is so divided.
But here
generally
in the mission field
matters are at their best. I will
only mention another hindrance to joy which missions remove--the sceptical
doubts and questionings as to the truth of Christianity. Now the visible living
power of the Gospel
as seen on the mission field
is not only an evidence of
divinity
but meets some current objections and difficulties. Objections are
taken to the unity of the human race. But here
in point of fact
the race is
shown to be one. And this casts indirect light on the question as to the
antiquity of man. A book that casts more light on the history of the human race
than any other
that goes more to the depths of human nature
and that works
more stupendous and blessed changes on man in every country and clime
is not
likely to be mistaken as to his age
and the conviction
which every day’s
experience of missions deepens
that the Bible is the God-given book for the
race
may help us to wait calmly and hopefully as
occasional difficulties
arise
till time and study clear them away.
2. While missions thus remove hindrances to Christian joy
they also
give positive occasions to it. The triumphs of me Gospel in these new scenes
must delight every Christian heart. The Christian
as it were
lives over again
his own Christian experience in coming to the Saviour and tasting the riches of
His grace. He enters into the gladness of the missionary who
after many a hard
and sore struggle
rejoices that he has not run in vain
neither laboured in
vain. He rises even to the joy of angels
as fellow-helpers to conversion
and
as assuming the guardianship of unlooked-for heirs of salvation to whom they
minister. Nay
the Christian’s joy is not complete
till he thinks of his God
and Saviour
who for this hour came to the Cross
with all its shame and
sorrow
and now
in looking back on it all
sees here of the travail of His
soul and is satisfied.
III. The third way in
which I shall show that missionary enterprise reacts beneficially on the Church
is IN ENLARGING ITS REWARD. I might have dwelt on the impulse to usefulness and
success in all other directions which
with the foregoing enhancements of
character and joy
constitute reward in this life. But I point rather hero to
“the recompense of the reward” hereafter. Our term of labour is bounded. Ought
we not
then
to take home the truth that heaven
with its rewards
is
dependent for its degrees on the effects of time? The missionary field thus
holds out a glorious opportunity of brightening heaven. It will be brightened
by the very results of our labours in peopling it with ransomed souls; but over
and above
there are glorious rewards and honours of which we can only speak
here like men that dream. (J. Cairns
D. D.)
Verse 11
And the Lord shall guide thee continually
Our Guide
Our earthly existence is a pilgrimage which none can successfully
perform without Divine aid.
I. ALL MEN NEED A
GUIDE. There are many who have been determined to have their own way; and when
that way has led them rote” the path of sin and ended
in
shame and
unhappiness
they have said
“Ah
I wish I had known this in time! Many persons
often wish
“O that I could begin my life again with my present knowledge of
what is best for me!” In the pilgrimage of earthly existence there are many
perils. There is often the uncertainty of darkness. We are beset by the peril
of false leaders. There are spiritual robbers who meet us on every hand. There
are snares of sinful pleasure and selfish indulgence. There is the intoxication
of prosperity. Some allow themselves to be broken down by adversity. We are in
peril from flatterers.
II. THE LORD IS OUR
GUIDE.
1. He is a compassionate guide.
2. A faithful guide.
3. A perfect guide.
4. He knows your life at the end as well as the beginning.
III. TO WHAT WILL
THE LORD GUIDE US?
1. To truth.
2. To success in life. True success is to be able to do the will of
God.
3. The Lord will guide the burdened to the arms of strength. (W.
Birch.)
The promised guidance
I. IT IS A
NECESSARY PROMISE. “What could the children of Israel have done in the
wilderness
without the cloudy fiery pillar to lead them over its trackless
wastes? This world is just such a wilderness to us.
II. IT IS A
REASONABLE PROMISE. I do not mean that it is reasonable for us to expect it.
No
indeed
we have no right to look for a blessing so great and so gracious. I
mean it is a reasonable promise so far as God is concerned. It is what He can
easily fulfil.
III. IT IS A
COMFORTING PROMISE. It meets our wants as the children of God
and meets them
fully. If we are depending on our fellow-creatures for help
there are always
two difficulties in our way. One is that our friends may not know just what
help we are needing; or if they know it
they may not be able to reach us with
the help we need. But God is able to concentrate His power
His presence
and
His sufficiency in the case of each of His people
as thoroughly and as
effectually as though that single case were the only one existing to claim His
attention or to enlist His power. (R. Newton
D. D.)
A happy Christian
Observe in what connection this sunny sketch of prosperity occurs.
It is set in a frame that excites the strong prejudice of some professing
Christians. The setting is a framework of duties. The blessings are not
promised to every Christian unconditionally
” “but are fenced in with terms: If
thou doest this
and if thou doest that
then shall such-and-such blessings be
thine.” Though salvation is of grace
the happiness of the Christian does
depend upon his obedience.
I. These people
who are thus full of God’s Spirit
are described as possessing CONTINUAL
GUIDANCE. “The Lord shall guide thee continually.”
1. There come to them
as to other men
dilemmas in providence. He
goes not amiss who goes in the company of God.
2. The path of doctrine
also
is sometimes difficult. The Holy Ghost
will lead us into all truth. So shall it be
likewise
in matters of spiritual
experience.
3. Our experience often seems to be as though it had no rule. If we
are enabled by grace to seek close and vital union with Christ
and to live
upon Him continually
we may rest assured that whether our experience be gloomy
or delightful
and whether our inward conflicts or joys be paramount
He will
still be at the helm
and will guide us continually.
II. The second
blessing promised in the text is INWARD SATISFACTION. “And satisfy thy soul in
drought.” It is a blessed thing to have the soul satisfied
for the soul is of
great capacity. The Christian has got what his soul wants. He has a removal of
all that which marred his peace
blighted his prospects
and made his soul empty
and hungry. His sin is pardoned; he is reconciled to God. He is satisfied with
God’s dispensation. He is satisfied with God’s love. He is satisfied with
promises that can never be broken
with covenants that can never be violated
with oaths that stand fast like mountains
and with the words of God which are
great as the fathomless sea. He is satisfied with his God. The consequence of
such a satisfaction as this is that the Christian is as well satisfied at one
time as at another
if his soul be right. He shall be satisfied in times of
drought. In the vast times of distress the Christian is still satisfied.
III. The next
blessing is
SPIRITUAL HEALTH AND HAPPINESS. “And make fat thy bones.” Note the
figure. It is not “make fat thy flesh.” When Jeshurun waxed fat he kicked.
Sometimes abundance in earthly things makes poverty in heavenly things. But
fatness here is to be upon the man’s hardest and most necessary part of his
frame. A man is really built up when his bones
the solid pillars of the house
of his manhood
have been strengthened. Vigour has been put into his
constitution where it was most required. The figure seems to me to indicate two
or three things in one. There is health here
the soul purged from its vices
sicknesses
and unbelief
pride
sloth
and such like. There is vigour here
no
lukewarmness. There is growth
the man is not stunted. Christian joy is
after
all
Christian strength.
IV. The fourth
blessing is this
“AND THOU SHALT BE LIKE A WATERED GARDEN.” This figure of a
garden is a very sweet and attractive one. Our fancy is soon at work to invent
a picture of flower-beds
and fruit-trees
shady walks
and pleasant fountains
laid out close to some grand mansion
and opening its fairest views to the best
apartments of the palace. Such a garden needs constant care
and then
although
it may be more beautiful at one season than another
it will never be like a
wild heath
or totally bereft of charms. But
alas! some professors of religion
are not like this: there is little evidence of diligent cultivation in their
character.
V. There is the
blessing of CONTINUED STRENGTH
CONTINUED FRESHNESS
CONTINUED SUPPLY. “As a
well of water whose waters fail not.” There are many wells in the East which do
fail
and many apparent springs which deceive the traveller. I observe that the
margin has it
“whose waters deceive not
or lie not. And how many a man who
has appeared like a Christian has been but a mere deceiver! Not so God’s true
people. They shall have so much grace that when a Christian friend expects to
find grace in them
he shall not be disappointed. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Thou shalt be like a
watered garden
A watered garden
Cannot a garden water itself? No. That is the answer
definite
cold--discouraging
encouraging
as we may take the term. Is it not enough to
be a garden? what matter about the sunshine? who cares about the rain or the
dew? Is it not enough to be a garden
a geometric form
pearled and diamonded
with many a flower? The king’s gardens cannot do without rain; Solomon’s parterres
wither away but for the morning dew and the summer shower. We need something
from without. Cannot a man sustain himself by his own resources? He cannot.
What do you mean by being a man? A figure is not a man; a corpse is not a man;
a mere personality
if it could be detached from all other personalities
would
not be a man. We cannot live upon stature or figure or aught that our hand can
hold. Life is deeper; there is a sanctuary of life
a well far away
where
spring water bubbles and gurgles and flashes out in the sunlight like a great
gospel preached to the thirst of man. Self-sustenance is not the law of the
body; why should it he the law of the mind? The mind is not sustained by
itself. You have books; lay them down
be your own book. You cannot. What do
you want with all these libraries
and museums
and academies
and colleges
and schools of every name and degree? These are the wheatfields which the soul
reaps
and it needs them every one
for the soul is bigger than literature. The
soul lives by friction with some other soul. God is fire. To come into happy
attrition with Him
or contact
or friction
who can tell what may come out of
that soul touching soul
man praying to God? We are continually undergoing a
process of education. What hast thou that thou hast not received? Have you ever
seen a garden that has been left to itself? What do you think of it? God waits
to give us every one more water
more sustenance
more sunshine. What we might
be if we would enjoy our privileges! (J. Parker
D. D.)
The garden of God
1. The Church is appropriately compared to a garden because it is the
place--
I. OF CHOICE
FLOWERS. Christ comes to His garden
and plants there some of the brightest
spirits that ever flowered upon the world. Some of them are violets
inconspicuous
but sweet. You have to search and find them. You do not see them
very often
perhaps
but you find where they have been by the brightened face
of the invalid
and the sprig of geranium on the stand
and the new
window-curtains keeping out the glare of the sunlight. These flowers in
Christ’s garden are not like the sunflower
gaudy in the light
but wherever
darkness hovers over a soul that needs to be comforted
there they stand
night-blooming cereuses.
2. But in Christ’s garden there are plants that may be better
compared to the Mexican cactus--thorns without
loveliness within; men with
sharp points of character. They wound almost every one that touches them. They
arc hard to handle. Men pronounce them nothing but thorns
but Christ loves
them notwithstanding all their sharpnesses. Many a man has had a very hard
ground to cultivate
and it has only been through severe trial he has raised
even the smallest crop of grace. A very harsh minister was talking to a very
placid elder
and the elder said
“Doctor
I do wish you would control your
temper.” “Ah
” said the minister
“I control more temper in five minutes than
you do-in five years:”
3. There are others planted in Christ’s garden who are always
radiant
always impressive--more like the roses of deep hue that we
occasionally find; the Martin Luthers
St. Pauls
Chrysostoms
Wyckliffes
Latimers
and Samuel Rutherfords. What in other men is a spark
in them is a
conflagration. When they sweat
they sweat great drops of blood. When they pray
their prayer takes fire. When they preach
it is a Pentecost. When they fight
it is a Thermopylae. When they die
it is a martyrdom.
4. In this garden of the Church I also find the snowdrop
beautiful
but cold-looking
seemingly another phase of winter. I mean those Christians
who are precise in their tastes
unimpassioned
pure as snowdrops and as cold.
5. But I have not told you of the most beautiful flower of all this
garden. If you see a century plant your emotions are started. You say
“Why
this flower has been a hundred years gathering up for one bloom
and it will be
a hundred years more before other petals will come out. But I have to tell you
of a plant that was Gathering up from all eternity
and that nineteen hundred
years ago put forth its bloom never to wither. It is the passion plant of the
Cross!
II. The Church is a
place OF SELECT FRUITS. The coarser fruits are planted in the orchard or they
are set out on the sunny hillside; but the choicest fruits are kept in the
garden. So in the world outside the Church
Christ has planted a great many
beautiful things--patience
charity
generosity
integrity; but He intends the
choicest fruits to be in the garden
and
if they are not there
then shame on
the Church. Religion is not a mere sentimentality. It is a practical
life-giving
healthful fruit--not posies
but apples. The Church of Christ is a
glorious garden and it is full of fruit. I know there is some poor fruit in it;
but are you going to destroy the whole garden because of a little gnarled
fruit? There is no grander
nobler collection in all the earth than the
collection of Christians.
III. The Church is
the place of THOROUGH IRRIGATION. No garden could prosper long without plenty
of water. I have seen a garden in the midst of a desert
yet blooming and
luxuriant. All around was dearth and barrenness; but there were pipes
aqueducts
reaching from this garden up to the mountains
and through those
aqueducts the water came streaming down and tossing up into beautiful
fountains
until every root and leaf and flower was saturated. That is like the
Church. The Church is a garden in the midst of a great desert of sin and
suffering; but it is well irrigated. From the mountains of God’s strength there
flow down rivers of gladness. Preaching the Gospel is one of the aqueducts. The
Bible is another. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are aqueducts. Everything comes
from above; pardon
joy
adoption
sanctification. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Verse 13-14
If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath
Sabbath observance a Godward duty
If the true fast (Isaiah 58:3-7) typifies the Israelite’s
duties towards his neighbour
the Sabbath represents his duties towards God.
(Prof. S. R. Driver
D. D.)
Turning the foot from the Sabbath
“If thou turnest thy foot away from the Sabbath” is equivalent to
saying
“ If thou dost not tread its holy ground with the foot of week-day
work.” (F. Delitzsch
D. D.)
The Sabbath day
We shall consider the words of the text--
I. WITH REGARD TO
THE JEWS. With that view we shall state--
1. The reasons for the institution of the Sabbath.
2. The manner in which the prophet required it to be celebrated.
3. The promises made to those who worthily hallow the Sabbath day.
II. WITH REGARD TO
CHRISTIANS.
1. Are Christians obliged to observe a day of rest?
2. Is that day celebrated with all the sanctity it requires? (J.
Saurin.)
The institution of the Sabbath
Four considerations gave occasion for the institution of the
Sabbath day.
1. God was wishful to perpetuate two original truths on which the
whole evidence of religion devolves; the first is
that the world had a
beginning; the second
that God is its Author.
2. The second reason was to prevent idolatry. This remark claims
peculiar attention
many of the Mosaic precepts being founded on the situation
in which the Jews were placed. Let this general remark be applied to the subject
in hand. The people
on leaving Egypt
“were separated
from a nation that
worshipped” the sun
the moon
and the stars. The ancient
Egyptians
’ says Diodorus of Sicily
“struck with the beauty of
the universe
thought it owed its origin to two eternal dignities
that
presided over all the others: the one was the sun
to whom they gave the name
of Osiris; the other was the moon
to whom they gave the name of Isis.” Cod
to
preserve His people from these errors
instituted a festival which sapped the whole
system
and which avowedly contemplated every creature of the universe as the
production of the Supreme Being. And this may be the reason why Moses remarked
to the Jews
on leaving Egypt
that God renewed the institution of the Sabbath
(Deuteronomy 5:15).
3. God was wishful to promote humanity.
4. In a word
the design of God
in the institution of the Sabbath
was to recall to the minds of men the recollection of their original equality:
he requires masters and servants alike to abstain from labour
so as in some
sort to confound the diversity of their conditions
and to abate that pride
of
which superior rank is so common a source. (J. Saurin.)
Sabbath observance
I. THE DUTY is
thus stated: “ If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath
” etc.
1. This
then
is the first point to be noticed with respect to the
observance of the Sabbath. It is
says God
“My holy day
” the day which I have
hallowed for Myself
which I have reserved for My own. We are no more at
liberty to determine for ourselves how we will employ the Sabbath
than the
Israelites were at liberty to determine for themselves to what uses they would
put the tabernacle
or the temple
which had been built and sanctified for God
according to His direction and for His own peculiar service; and
by regarding
any of the Sabbath hours as being at our own disposal
we are guilty of the
same profanation with which the Jews would have been chargeable
had they
determined to do their pleasure with respect to the uses which they would make
of God’s holy habitation
respecting which He had said
“This is My rest for
ever: here will I dwell.”
2. Let us suppose
then
that we have turned away our foot from
trampling upon God’s day
by consulting our own will and inclination as to the
way in which we employ it
and are wishing and waiting to know what is the will
of God concerning it. The text thus proceeds: “And call the Sabbath a delight
the holy of the Lord
honourable.” To call anything is to give it a name
corresponding with its nature
or to describe it by its qualities. We are to
call the Sabbath “a delight;” or are to call “the holy of the Lord
” i.e the
holy day of the Lord
“honourable.” Here
then
are two properties of the
Sabbath
two points of view in which we are to regard it. It should be so
distinguished from other days by the peculiar delight which it affords
as well
as by the pre-eminent dignity with which it is invested.
3. The honour to be paid to the Sabbath is our part: the delight to
be found in the Sabbath is God’s part. And the text proceeds to show that if we
honour His day
God will surely keep His promise of making it a delight. Let
us
then
carefully consider the way in which we should “honour the Sabbath.
What is said to be “ore” own is evidently distinguished from what belongs to
the Sabbath. It comprehends whatever we have to do
or to delight in
which
appertains to the six days’ work from which God ceased
and which He had ended
on the seventh day
in contradistinction to what appertains to the seventh day
which God set apart and sanctified and blessed. There is
therefore
no
reference in these words to sinful ways
or to unlawful pleasures; but to the
appointed duties and allowed delights of the six days which God has given to us
for these purposes. Heaven--the rest which remaineth for the people of God--is
described in the Epistle to the Hebrews as a Sabbath-keeping
a Sabbath-rest.
The Sabbath is a figure of that blessed and holy state. “Our own ways and
pleasures
” then
are those which belong to this lower creation; and which we
shall have done with when we depart out of the world; and for these things six
days are given to us. The things of the Sabbath are all such things as shall be
perfected and enjoyed for ever in that city of Cod
in those courts above
where Sabbaths never end. These remarks will furnish us with a practical rule
for determining what may be done and what may not be done on the Sabbath day.
Where there is the “single eye
” that is
the simple aim
to do the will of
God
all doubts will be readily solved and difficulties disappear
and the duty
he made plain by asking such questions as these: Is this secular work necessary
for the supply of our daily wants
for the relief of suffering nature
for the
accomplishing the will and service of God? Is it indispensable to these ends
that it should be done
and done on the Sabbath day? If
in the conscientious
exercise of an enlightened judgment
we decide in the affirmative
then we may
do such necessary things with confidence and comfort. But
even in these
things
care must be exercised that they do not interfere
beyond the just and
reasonable limits of necessity
and charity
with the appropriate “duties” and
employments of the day. Not finding their own pleasure. Pleasure is here
evidently contrasted with business
God has given to us not only our six days
labour and work
but also our six days gratifications and sources of enjoyment.
There are the delights of earth
as well as the duties of earth. There is
Nature
with all her various works. There are also the pleasures of literature
in all their vast and various extent. There is
further
the enjoyment of
social intercourse
and an almost countless number of modes of refreshment
for
both body and mind
which God would have us to use
as opportunity is given and
need may be
to invigorate us for the more serious employments of the head or
the hands. But these are “our own pleasure;” and this we are not to find on
God’s holy day. Mark the expression
“not finding thine own pleasure.” In order
to “find
” we seek. “Our own pleasure “ may casually come in our way; but we
must not look for it
endeavour after it
or pursue it as our object
in any
manner or measure upon the Sabbath. The pleasures which we must endeavour on
this day to “find must be such as are not of earthly origin or of man’s
invention
but such as will endure when the world shall be no more
and will
furnish a part of the business and the bliss of the Christian’s happy and
eternal home. Further
“not speaking (thine own) words.” “Thine own
” here
is
in italics; it is inserted by the translators
and only encumbers the passage.
The meaning is
not doing thine own ways
not finding thine own pleasure
“nor
speaking words;” that is
not speaking words concerning thine own ways and
thine own pleasure.
II. To such AN
OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH A SPECIAL PROMISE IS MADE. “Then shalt thou delight
thyself in the Lord.” If we make the Sabbath a holy day
God will make it a
happy day. In the application of this promise to ourselves
we must suppose and
take it for granted that we are reconciled to God. Then
in the very measure in
which we honour the Sabbath
God will make the duties and employments of the
day channels of joy and peace and sacred pleasure to the soul. And I will cause
thee to ride upon the high places of the earth
etc. This is a promise of
national prosperity and temporal advancement
with a confirmation of the
blessing pronounced by Isaac upon Jacob and his posterity. And
although these
were shadows of better things to the Christian Church
and the fulfilment of
this promise is now to be looked for in spiritual and eternal blessings
yet it
has frequently been testified
on observation and experience
that a holy
Sabbath has been followed by a happy week; and
when we honour God’s holy day
we shall not fail to find that His blessing still rests upon it. (T. Best
M. A.)
Early English law an the Sabbath
In almost the earliest
if not the earliest
code of English law--the
laws of Enach
King of Wessex--there was a provision made for the observance of
Sunday. According to these laws if a slave was forced by his master to work
upon Sunday
he was by that very fact set free
and the lord had to pay a fine.
If the slave worked by his own will and without the direction of his lord
he
was subjected to corporal chastisement
and if a freeman worked on the Holy Day
he became a slave. He lost his freedom
or else he had to pay what
at that
time
was the almost impossible fine of sixty shillings. Now that law at the
very beginning of English legislation may have had very much to do with the
position that the Anglo-Saxon race has taken in the world. According to the
promise of this old prophet the word of the Lord has said
“I will make thee to
ride upon the high places of the earth if thou keepest the Sabbath day.” (R.
F. Horton.)
The Sabbath a rest form self
I suppose the essence of this Christian Sabbath was never more
perfectly described than in the words of the prophet.
1. The first principle of the Christian Sabbath is that there should
be one day in the week on which we are not doing our own ways
nor finding our
own pleasure
nor speaking our own words
that is to say
the Christian Sabbath
is not to be
like the civic Sunday
rest from work
important as that may be
but it is a rest from self
which is all-important
and is
indeed
the
creation and the preservation of the spiritual in man. It is a rest from self
not to speak our own words on that day
not to take our own pleasures
not to
adopt our own way. I think we see what is meant if we put it in this way. Our
life as men is literally rooted in God
and its health depends on our knowing
it and recognizing it.
2. Now
when we have recognized that this is the purpose of the day
we still have to consider how that purpose is best accomplished. According to
the practice of the Old Testament
and
apparently according to the intention
of the New
the sanctuary
the place of public worship
is the means by which
that can be accomplished.
3. I think we ought to honestly face the question which is often
raised at the present time
whether the life I am describing cannot be
maintained without the sanctuary. Men say frequently to-day that they find they
can really worship better in their own homes
and still more in the open
country
than in the assembly of the house of God. Now
the only danger I see
in that position is that by the very necessity of the ease it violates the
first requirement of the Sabbath as it is here stated. You stay at home in your
house or you go out into the country on Sunday. In doing that you are going
your own way
you are seeking your own pleasure
you are following your own
bent--that is to say
you are violating the very principle on which this Sabbath
rests. And it does not seem very improbable that when you have violated the
very principle at the beginning you will succeed in recovering it at the end. (R.
F. Horton.)
A Sabbath-week
Common-sense must tell us that no man who is going his own way
finding his own pleasure
and speaking his own words
for six days in the week
will abstain from them on the seventh. The devotion
the obedience
and
forgetfulness of self which should mark the devout worshipper on Sunday
must
be his companions all the week through. And the exercise of those graces
through the week must be our habitual preparation for the Lord’s Day. So that
in fact
the teaching of the prophet amounts to this--that the true servant of
God will at no time do his own ways
find his own pleasure
or speak his own
words
where ways
pleasure
or words will not be such as God would love to
look upon. The Christian will seek God’s grace
that in all things he may
follow the example of his Lord
who declared
“I came not to do Mine own will
but
the will of Him that sent Me.” I appeal to your own hearts and consciences
to
what you know of yourselves or have seen in others
whether any good has ever
come to any of us
from going our own way
finding our own pleasure
speaking
our own words? (R. E. Paget
D. D.)
“Thine own ways”
His supposed that Isaiah required the Jews to keep what has been
called a Puritanical Sabbath. I believe that this is a complete misconception
of the prophet’s meaning. Their “own ways
” which the people were forbidden to
follow on the Sabbath
were the common secular labours of the week. Doing their
own pleasure” has no reference to recreation or amusement. Some translators
render it doing their “own business;” but it probably means here
as it
constantly means elsewhere
doing “what they liked.” Luther translates it
admirably
doing their “own will.” They were to spend the Sabbath
as God had
commanded them
in rest; they were not at liberty to follow their own
inclination by carrying on their ordinary trade. Their “own words
which they
were not to speak on the Sabbath
were the words in which their business was
transacted; words which
like the business itself
belonged to the other days
of the week. What the prophet forbids on the seventh day is what the
Commandment forbids--not pleasure
but work. (R. W. Dale
LL. D.)
Rabbinical prohibitions
The stricter Rabbinical schools built upon this general
prohibition of all work innumerable minute precepts
many of which are so
grotesque that to quote them would be to answer no other purpose than to amuse.
One ingenious commentator
who happily appears to have had only a very few
disciples
insisted that as it was a duty to rest from the beginning to the end
of the Sabbath
all muscular exertion was sinful; and that
therefore
strict
fidelity to the Commandment required that a man should remain during all the
twenty-four hours of the Sabbath in exactly the same position
without moving a
limb or a finger
a kind of “rest which must have been very much more
exhausting than hard work.” (R. W. Dale
LL. D.)
The Sabbath compared to the best room of the house
1. Every house of any consideration has in it a best room. It is
usually the largest in the house
and the most comely. It usually is furnished
with the choicest things which the owner can afford
and represents the best
outward estate of his household. Here is the best carpet. Here are the best
colours. Here is the best furniture. Here are hung the best pictures. Here are
the chairs burnished and covered. And here
it may be
is the sofa
luxurious
with extra springs. The few choice treasures are put upon the mantelpiece
or
on some corner shelf. Whatever there is that stands apart from common uses by
being a little better the parlour receives. And this room is scrupulously kept--too
scrupulously
often. All festive occasions are celebrated in it. It is the room
of honour. It is here that we devote ourselves to our company when we would
show them hospitality. It stands in the house as a perpetual reminder of
beauty--what little beauty we can command; of hospitality--so much as we are
able to exercise of it; of superiority. A best room is not simply an emblem of
vanity
as cynics would say. To have a room which has in it choice things
is
rather the unconscious inspiration of ideality
it is a desire to maintain it
in the household; and it is a silent but real influence for refinement and for
higher living.
2. It is a sad thing to see a person or a family that makes one day
just like another; that does not care to make one day better than any of the
others; that regards all things as good enough. On a low level
it is a moral
influence that leads one to desire to dress better on some occasions than on
others
and to spread a better table on some occasions than on others. It is
aspiration in one of its lower forms. How
what the parlour is to the house
the Jewish Sabbath and its substitute
the Christian’s Lord’s Day
were meant
to be to the week. The week is a house
and Sunday is the best room in it
and
it ought to have the best things put into it
and it ought to be kept
religiously; and it is to exercise upon all our time just the same unconscious
influence
or conscious influence
as the case may be
which a well-prepared
and well-kept parlour does invariably exercise upon all the occupants of the
house. Every week was to have its parlour day. It was to be a day that should
be looked up to by the young and the old as the best day of the week. In other
words
it was to be “a delight.” It was to be “honourable
” and so
memorable. (H.
W. Beecher.)
And call the Sabbath a
delight
The luxury of the Sabbath
The word is a strong one
Delight
Delicacy
Luxury. (Prof. G.
A. Smith
D. D.)
The Sabbath a delight
I. POINT OUT A FEW
PARTICULARS “WILL THE TRUE BELIEVER ESTEEMS AND CALLS THE SABBATH A DELIGHT
shewing at the same time why the natural man should find no delight
at least
no holy delight
in that day.
1. Because it brings with it a cessation and rest from worldly cares.
2. Because on that day he hopes to learn much in the school of Christ.
3. Because of that holy communion which it allows with the people of
God.
4. Because of the remembrances which that day brings with it. On the
Sabbath God rested from His work. On the Sabbath
how many of our Saviour’s
gracious miracles were wrought! On the Sabbath
how many spiritual miracles
doth He still work! On our Sabbath day it was that our Lord burst the bonds of
death. Is not here matter of pleasurable meditation? Salvation is finished; and
man restored to the favour and presence and image of God I
5. Because it is a type and foretaste of the heavenly rest--of the
eternal Sabbath.
II. SHOW HOW WE MAY
EMPLOY IT SO AS TO MAKE IT MOST DELIGHTFUL. By giving the whole day to God
so
far as possibly can be done
in spiritual exercises. (C. Neale
M. A.)
The brightest of days
We are to find in this day--
1. The joy of healthy repose.
2. The joy of domestic reunion and consecration.
3. The joy of eternal Sabbatism. (T. De W
Talmage
D. D.)
The Sabbath a delight
The day of worship should be a day of gladness.
1. It brings rest from the toils and cares of the week. From the
dust; and the sweat
the grime and the languor
I shake myself free for a
while. I reach an oasis
with palm-trees and a well
in my pilgrimage through
the deserts. I sit down under God’s shadow.
2. It invites to the noblest exercises and employments. Mind and
heart
lips and soul and all my nature
unite in prayer
in praise
in the
study and contemplation of the things which are unseen and eternal. There is no
work on earth to compare with it.
3. It introduces to the communion of souls. I go up to God’s house in
company with many others. I realize that I am not alone
that I am a member of
a brotherhood and family
that all around me are kindred souls. It is a thought
that brings me strength
and that satisfies my love.
4. It lifts me into the presence of my Lord--Father
and Son
and
Spirit. I dwell in His sanctuary. I hearken to His voice. I feel His quickening
and invigorating touch. I receive afresh His baptism and unction. Behold
God
is in this place
and it is for me the gate of heaven. (A. Smellie
M. A.)
The Sabbath a delight
“If thou tallest the Sabbath a delight
” because it leads thee to
God; not “a burden
” because it leads thee from thine everyday life (Amos 8:5). (F. Delitzsch
D. D.)
The Sabbath a festive time
“It is a festival time for man’s higher nature in communion with
the unseen. As the tired eye
which has been strained by long and close
application to some work near at hand
rests itself by gazing on the far
horizons or the stars
so there is a rest in lifting thought from the near and
the lower objects which too often engross us
and fixing it upon the unseen and
eternal. This is
perhaps
the grand reason for our Saviour’s own comment: “The
Sabbath is made for man
not man for the Sabbath.” (A. T. Pierson
D. D.)
Honourable
The Sabbath made “honourable”
When do we make the Sabbath an “honourable
” glorious day?
1. When we make honourable preparation for it.
2. When we give it honourable entertainment.
3. When we have a precious esteem of every moment of Sabbath time
and are jealous lest any drop of it should run waste.
4. When we have a singular esteem of all the institutions and
ordinances of the day.
5. When it is the grief of our souls that we can keep Sabbaths no
better
and we strive cordially and conscientiously to keep the next better
than we did the last. (T. Case
M. A.)
Nor speaking thine own
words
Sabbath-speaking
“Nor speaking thine own words.” “Talking talk.” (J. A.
Alexander.)
Useless words
Useless words
void of meaning
and of needless number: the
phrase
as in Hosea 10:4
is here applied to
unspiritual gossip and bombast. (F. Delitzsch
D. D.)
Speech rest on Sunday
Hitzig on this passage remarks that “the law regarding the Sabbath
has here already received the Jewish addition
that ‘speaking is work. “ But
from the promise that God’s Sabbath-rest was a rest from His speaking the
creative words (Psalms 33:6)
the only conclusion drawn
was that one must rest on the Sabbath
in a certain measure
from speaking as
well as working; and when Rabbi Simon ben Jochai called to his talkative old
mother on the Sabbath
“Sabbath-keeping is called silence
” this was not meant
to be understood as if speaking in itself were working
and all speaking on the
Sabbath was therefore forbidden. The Rabbinical explanation of the present
passage is as follows: “Let not thy speaking on the Sabbath be the same as that
on working days. (F. Delitzsch
D. D.)
Better for the Sunday rest
Scientists say that telegraph wires are better conductors on Monday
than on Saturday
on account of their Sunday rest. The well-proved fact that
human beings profit by a weekly rest-day emphasizes the protest of Christian
people against the secularization of the Sabbath. (Christian Budget.)
Verse 14
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord
Delighting in God
I.
WHAT
IS IMPLIED IN DELIGHTING OURSELVES IN THE LORD.
1. A contemplation of His infinite and adorable perfections; such a contemplation
as to derive the highest satisfaction from them; to see in them all that is
amiable and lovely.
2. A well-grounded hope of interest in Him; for though this is not
the primary
it is a subordinate ground of the believer’s joy
and one of unspeakable
importance.
3. Communion with God in holy duties.
4. A sanctified use of all our common mercies
receiving them as His
gift
and esteeming them on that account.
5. Contentment in Him
even in the absence of every other good.
6. Delighting in God is accompanied with the cheering prospect of
being for ever with Him.
II. VIEW SOME OF
THE ADVANTAGES ARISING FROM THIS HEAVENLY STATE OF MIND. Delighting ourselves
in the Lord will weaken the influence of sin
and strengthen all the Christian
graces. It will be an antidote against fretfulness and discontent
carnality
and worldly-mindedness
presumption and self-confidence. It will confirm our
faith
inflame our love
and brighten our hopes and prospects. Communion with
God disarms our spiritual enemies
or secures us from their attack. It is of
eminent use in all the parts of practical religion. It makes active in doing
and steadfast in suffering the will of God; it infuses life into our prayers
and praises
and causes us to come with boldness and cheerfulness to the house
and table of the Lord. Sorrow and dejection enfeeble the mind; but the joy of
the Lord is our strength. The joys of religion will convert this miserable
world into a little heaven
and make the Church militant resemble the Church
triumphant above
where there are do mourning garments
no dejected
countenances
or hearts consumed with grief. (B. Beddome
M. A.)
Duty the road to prosperity
I. DELIGHT IN THE
LORD IS CONNECTED WITH THE OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH.
II. TRUE PROSPERITY
DEPENDS UPON OBEDIENCE TO DIVINE COMMAND.
III. THERE CAN BE NO
PERMANENT PROSPERITY APART FROM MORALITY. (Homiletic Review.)
Riding over the heights
The meaning is
“I will carry thee triumphantly over all
obstacles” (Deuteronomy 32:11). (Prof. J. Skinner
D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》