7 Along the dust shall then be spread XXI. ISAIAH xxxiii. 13-18. ATTEND, ye tribes that dwell remote, 1*A Ye tribes at hand, give ear; Th' upright in heart alone have hope, The man who walks with God in truth, 3 Whose soul abhors the impious bribe 4 His dwelling, 'midst the strength of rocks, Shall ever stand secure; His Father will provide his bread, 5 For him the kingdom of the just And he the King of kings shall see The man who is brought before us by the prophet, in the text paraphrased, is so holy, so just, and so full of every amiable quality, he must at once appear to be the Holy Oue and the Just ;' even the same of whom it is said, He shall • dwell on high,' and all his people shall be with him, in virtue of his obedience unto the death. While those who reject him, and who disobey his statutes, shall Dwell with everlasting burnings.' XXII. ISAIAH xl. 27, to the end. 1 WHY pour'st thou forth thine anxious Despairing of relief, As if the Lord o'erlook'd thy cause, [plaint, 2 Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, That firm remains on high The everlasting throne of Him Who form'd the earth and sky? 3 Art thou afraid his pow'r shall fail 4 Supreme in wisdom as in pow'r Though him thou canst not see, nor trace 5 He gives the conquest to the weak, And courage in the evil hour 6 Mere human pow'r shall fast decay, But they who wait upon the Lord, 7 They with unweary'd feet shall tread With growing ardour onward move, 8 On eagles' wings they mount, they soar, 1 Till, past the cloudy regions * here, XXIII. ISAIAH xlii. 1-13. BE EHOLD my Servant! see him rise Him have I. chosen, and in him I place supreme delight. My truths and judgments he shall show 3 Gentle and still shall be his voice, The expression, Cloudy regions,' may be variously explained. On the one. hand, they may be understood as shewing, that God hides himself from his saints,' in a spiritual point of view, whereby he deprives them of all know. ledge of their spiritual relation to him; and thus plunging them into the utmost misery and distress, in regard to the everlasting state and condition of the souls. When used, and used in this sense they are so, at the price of contradict. ing the plainest statements of the Scripture; which every where bear witness, that God leaves not his saints in any 6 case.' For it is said, Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and • God, even our Father, hath given us everlasting consola tion, and good hope through grace;' and having done so, he will most assuredly ' never leave us, nor forsake us.' On the other hand, Cloudy regions' may be used to signify the difficulty of the Christian to discern the hand of God in the circumstances of his temporal affairs. They may also denote the present imperfect state of his knowledge of the works and ways of God, and in this latter sense they are in agreement with the declared circumstances of the people of God. Judgment he shall bring forth to truth, 5 The progress of his zeal and pow'r Till foreign lands and distant isles 6 He who erected heav'n's bright arch, Who peopled all the climes of earth, 7 Thus saith the Lord, Thee have I rais'd, In right I've rais'd thee, and in strength 8 I will establish with the lands To give the Gentile nations light, 9 Asunder burst the gates of brass; And gladsome light and liberty 10 I am the Lord, and by the name 11 Lo! former scenes, predicted once, And future scenes, predicted now,'" 12 Sing to the Lord in joyful strains! Ye who upon the ocean dwell, 13 0 city of the Lord! begin IT And let the scatter'd villages 15 Till 'midst the streams of distant lands 1 XXIV. ISAIAH xlix. 13—17. YE VE heav'ns, send forth your song of praise! 2 Behold how gracious is our God! In which he cheers our drooping hearts. 3 Cease ye, when days of darkness * come, As if the Lord could leave his saints Forsaken or forlorn. 4 Can the fond mother e'er forget 5 She may forget: nature may fail 6 • If, by days of darkness,' are meant temporal afflictions, they are quite admissible: but, if used to denote the removal of the knowledge of the love of God from his people, they are directly opposed to the Scriptural account of that matter. See note on Par. xxii. |