5), your Husband (ver. 5), your Covenant-God (ver. 10). Then, how wondrous are the provisions made in the charter of spiritual blessings He bestows;-'calling you' (ver. 6), 'shewing mercy' (ver. 8), 'gathering you' (ver. 7), 'guarding you' (ver. 14), 'teaching you' (ver. 13), 'comforting you' (ver. 9), 'giving peace' (ver. 10), until His everlasting kindness leads you within the city which hath foundations, all whose borders are of pleasant stones. No wonder that in closing the chapter, after such an amazing enumeration, the Prophet should write, with a feeling of proud elation at privileges so vast and glorious, alike in possession and in reversion-"THIS IS THE HERITAGE OF THE SERVANTS OF THE LORD." "What to that for which we're waiting Not the notes that die at sunset, Not the fashion of a day; Seat of endless festival. Soon where earthly beauty blinds not, Salem, city of the holy, We shall be within thy walls! There, beside yon crystal river, There, beneath life's wondrous tree, Heir of glory, That shall be for thee and me!" IN THE MULTITUDE OF MY THOUGHTS WITHIN ME THY COMFORTS DELIGHT MY SOUL." "Ho! every thirsty one, come ye to the waters, And ye that have no silver (Lowth): come ye, buy and eat, Yea, come, buy ye without silver, And without payment, wine and milk. Wherefore do ye weigh out silver for that which is not bread? And the result of your labour for that which is not to satisfaction? Hearken, hearken to me, and eat that which is truly good, And your soul shall feast itself with the richest delicacies (Lowth). For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith JEHOVAH. For as the Heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts. Surely with joy shall ye go forth, And in peace shall ye be led onward : The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into a shout (Alexander), And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of thorny shrubs will shoot up the cypress, And instead of the nettle (bramble) shall shoot up myrtles (7b.): And it shall be unto JEHOVAH for a memorial, For a perpetual sign that shall not be swept away." —ISAIAH lv. 1, 2, 8, 9, 12, 13. 44 XXIII. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money: come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price." -ISAIAH lv. I. The WE have in this most beautiful chapter another step in the Pro phet's sublime sequences, as he unfolds the Great Redemption-work of Messiah. In chapter 53, the foundation-truths of Redemption were brought before us in the meritorious sufferings and atoning death of the Great Surety-Substitute. The altar was there erected, and the blood of the Prince of Martyrs was shed. In the expressive figure employed, He saw of the fruit of the travail of His soul, and was satisfied, In chapter 54, immediately following, we had the next revelation in these divine picturings, presenting to us the result of Messiah's fierce travail-pangs in the birth of a glorious Church. In new, significant imagery there employed, we found the pegs of the tent unfastened, the ropes uncoiled, the stakes removed, the tent-curtains lengthened, in order to admit the vast spiritual progeny ;-nay, as if the emblem of the tent, appropriate to describe enlargement and extension, failed to depict her durability and comeliness, we found the Church farther represented under the figure of a costly Building, “garnished with all manner of stones after the similitude of a palace;" while, at the same time, comfort on comfort is added,—Jehovah representing Himself as standing allied to His people in every endearing relationship, and guaranteeing, by various attractive figures, their safety, preservation, and peace. It is a magnificent picture of the purchase secured by the Redeemer's agony. |