We
now return to
Jerusalem
, and must again hear what God has to say to
her, I. By way of reproof and threatening, for the abundance of wickedness
that was found in her, of which divers instances are given, with the
aggravations of them, ver. 1-7. II. By way of promise of mercy and grace,
which God had yet in reserve for them. Two general heads of promises here
are:-- 1. That God would bring in a glorious work of reformation among them,
cleanse them from their sins, and bring them home to himself; many promises
of this kind here are, ver. 8-13. 2. That he would bring about a glorious
work of salvation for them, when he had thus prepared them for it, ver.
14-20. Thus the "Redeemer shall come to Zion," and to clear his
own way, shall "turn away ungodliness from Jacob." These promises
were to have their full accomplishment in gospel-times and gospel-graces.
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The
Depravity of Jerusalem.
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B.
C. 612.
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1 Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to
the oppressing city! 2 She obeyed not the voice; she received
not correction; she trusted not in the LORD;
she drew not near to her God. 3 Her princes within her are
roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones
till the morrow. 4 Her prophets are light and
treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done
violence to the law. 5 The just LORD
is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth
he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no
shame. 6 I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate;
I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are
destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.
7 I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their
dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose
early, and corrupted all their doings.
One would wonder that Jerusalem, the holy city, where God was known, and his
name was great, should be the city of which this black character is here
given, that a place which enjoyed such abundance of the means of grace
should become so very corrupt and vicious, and that God should permit it to
be so; yet so it is, to show that the law made nothing perfect; but
if this be the true character of Jerusalem, as no doubt it is (for God's
judgments will make none worse than they are), it is no wonder that the
prophet begins with woe to her. For the holy God hates sin in those
that are nearest to him, nay, in them he hates it most. A sinful state is,
and will be, a woeful state.
I. Here is a very bad character given of the city in general. How has the
faithful city become a harlot! 1. She shames herself; she is filthy and
polluted (v. 1), has made herself infamous (so some read
it), the gluttonous city (so the margin), always cramming, and making
provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts of it. Sin is the filthiness
and pollution of persons and places, and makes them odious in the sight of
the holy God. 2. She wrongs her neighbours and inhabitants; she is the
oppressing city. Never any place had statutes and judgments so
righteous as this city had, and yet, in the administration of the
government, never was more unrighteousness. 3. She is very provoking to her
God, and in every respect walks contrary to him, v. 2. He had given
his law, and spoken to her by his servants the prophets, telling her what
was the good she should do and what the evil she should avoid; but she
obeyed not his voice, nor made conscience of doing as he commanded her,
in any thing. He had taken her under an excellent discipline, both of the
word and of the rod; but she did not receive the instruction of the one nor
the correction of the other, did not submit to God's will nor answer his end
in either. He encouraged her to depend upon him, and his power and promise,
for deliverance from evil and supply with good; but she trusted not in
the Lord; her confidence was placed in her alliances with the nations
more than in her covenant with God. He gave her tokens of his presence, and
instituted ordinances of communion for her with himself; but she drew not
near to her God, did not meet him where he appointed and where he
promised to meet her. She stood at a distance, and said to the Almighty,
Depart.
II. Here is a very bad character of the leading men in it; those that should
by their influence suppress vice and profaneness there are the great
patterns and patrons of wickedness, and those that should be her physicians
are really her worst disease. 1. Her princes are ravenous and
barbarous as roaring lions that make a prey of all about them, and
they are universally feared and hated; they use their power for destruction,
and not for edification. 2. Her judges, who should be the protectors
of injured innocence, are evening wolves, rapacious and greedy, and
their cruelty and covetousness both insatiable: They gnaw not the bones
till the morrow; they take so much delight and pleasure in cruelty and
oppression that when they have devoured a good man they reserve the bones,
as it were, for a sweet morsel, to be gnawed the next morning, Job xxxi. 31.
3. Her prophets, who pretend to be special messengers from heaven to
them, are light and treacherous persons, fanciful, and of a vain
imagination, frothy and airy, and of a loose conversation, men of no
consistency with themselves, in whom one can put no confidence. They were so
given to bantering that it was hard to say when they were serious. Their
pretended prophecies were all a sham, and they secretly laughed at those
that were deluded by them. 4. Her priests, who are teachers by office
and have the charge of the holy things, are false to their trust and betray
it. They were to preserve the purity of the sanctuary, but they did
themselves pollute it, and the sacred offices of it, which they were
to attend upon--such priests as Hophni and Phinehas, who by their wicked
lives made the sacrifices of the Lord to be abhorred. They were to
expound and apply the law, and to judge according to it; but, in
their explications and applications of it, they did violence to the law;
they corrupted the sense of it, and perverted it to the patronising of that
which was directly contrary to it. By forced constructions, they made the
law to speak what they pleased, to serve a turn, and so, in effect, made
void the law.
III. We have here the aggravations of this general corruption of all orders
and degrees of men in Jerusalem.
1. They had the tokens of God's presence among them, and all the advantages
that could be of knowing his will, with the strongest inducements possible
to do it, and yet they persisted in their disobedience, v. 5. (1.)
They had the honour and privilege of the Shechinah, God's dwelling in their
land, so as he dwelt not with any other people: "The just Lord is in
the midst of thee, to take cognizance of all thou doest amiss and give
countenance to all thou doest well; he is in the midst of thee as a holy
God, and therefore thy pollutions are the more offensive, Deut. xxiii. 14.
He is in the midst of you as a just God, and therefore will punish the
affronts you put upon him, and the wrongs and injuries you do to one
another." (2.) They had God's own example set before them, in the
discovery he made of himself to them, that they might conform to it: "He
will not do iniquity, and therefore you should not;" for this was
the great rule of their institution, "Be you holy, for I am holy.
God will be true to you; be not you then false to him." (3.) He sent to
them his prophets, rising up early and sending them: Every morning he
brings his judgment to light, as duly as the morning comes; he fails
not. He shows them plainly what the good is which he requires of them,
and puts them in mind of it; he wakens morning by morning (Isa. l.
4), wakens his prophets with the rising sun, to bring to light the things
which belong to their peace. So that, upon the whole matter, what more could
have been done to his vineyard, to make it fruitful? Isa. v. 4. And yet,
after all, the unjust know no shame; those that have been unjust are
unjust still, and are not ashamed of their unrighteousness, neither can
they blush. If they had any sense of honour, any shame left in them,
they would not go so directly contrary to their profession and to the
instructions given them. But those that are past shame are past cure.
2. God had set before their eyes some remarkable monuments of his justice,
which were designed for warning to them (v. 6): I have cut off the
nations, the seven nations of Canaan, which the land spewed out for
their wickedness, upon which they had this caution given them, to take heed
lest it spew them out also, Lev. xviii. 28. Or it may refer to some
of the neighbouring nations that were made desolate for their wickedness,
especially to the nations of Israel, the ten tribes. Their towers were
desolate, their high towers, their strong towers, their pride and power
broken; their streets were wasted, so that none passed along through
them; their cities were destroyed and laid in ruins; no man
was to be found in them, no inhabitant, all were slain or carried
into captivity. The enemies did it, but God avows it: I cut them off,
says he. And God designed this for an admonition to Jerusalem (Ezek. xxiii.
9, 11): "I said, Surely thou wilt fear me; surely these
judgments upon others will deter thee from the like wicked practices; surely
thou wilt receive instruction by these providences; it ought to be
expected that thou wouldst not continue to sin like the nations when thou
seest the ruin which their sin brought upon them." They could not but
see their own house in danger when their neighbour's was on fire; and, when
we are frightened, God should be feared.
3. He had set before them life and death, good and evil, both in his word
and in his providence. (1.) He had assured them of the continuance of their
prosperity if they would fear him and receive instruction, for so their
dwelling would not be cut off as their neighbour's was; if they took the
warning given them, and reformed, what was past should be pardoned, and
their tranquillity lengthened out. (2.) He had made them feel the smart of
the rod, though he reprieved them from the sword: Howsoever I punished
them, that, being chastened, they might not be condemned. Such various
methods did God take with them, to reclaim them, but all in vain; they were
not won upon by gentle methods, nor had severe ones any effect, for they
rose early, and corrupted all their doings; they were more resolute and
eager in their wicked courses than ever, more studious and solicitous in
making provision for their lusts, and let slip no opportunity for the
gratification of them. God rose up early, to send them his prophets,
to reduce and reclaim them, but they were up before him, to shut and
bolt the door against them. Their wickedness was universal: All their
doings were corrupted; and it was all owing to themselves; they could
not lay the blame upon the tempter, but they alone must bear it; they
themselves wilfully and designedly corrupted all their doings; for every
man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust and enticed.
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Judgment
and Mercy; Promises of Mercy.
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B.
C. 612.
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8 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD,
until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to
gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine
indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be
devoured with the fire of my jealousy. 9 For then will I turn to
the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD,
to serve him with one consent. 10 From beyond the rivers of
Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall
bring mine offering. 11 In that day shalt thou not be ashamed
for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I
will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and
thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain. 12 I
will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they
shall trust in the name of the LORD.
13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither
shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and
lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
Things looked very bad with Jerusalem in the foregoing verses; she has got
into a very bad name, and seems to be incorrigible, incurable, mercy-proof
and judgment-proof. Now one would think it should follow, Therefore expect
no other but that she should be utterly abandoned and rejected as reprobate
silver; since they will not be wrought upon by prophets or providences,
let them be made a desolation as their neighbours have been. But behold and
wonder at the riches of divine grace, which takes occasion from man's
badness to appear so much the more illustrious. They still grew worse and
worse, therefore wait you upon me, saith the Lord, v. 8.
"Since the law, it seems, will make nothing perfect, the bringing
in of a better hope shall. Let those that lament the corruptions of the
church wait upon God, till he send his Son into the world, to save
his people from their sins, till he send his gospel to reform and refine
his church, and to purify to himself a peculiar people both of Jews and
Gentiles." And there were those who, according to this direction and
encouragement, waited for redemption, for this redemption in
Jerusalem; and long-looked-for came at last, Luke ii. 38. For judgment
Christ will come into this world, John ix. 39.
I. To avenge what has been done amiss against his church, to bring down and
destroy the enemies of it, its spiritual enemies, of which the destruction
of Babylon, and other oppressors of God's people, in the Old-Testament
times, was a type, and would be a happy presage. He will rise up to the
prey, to lead captivity captive (Ps. lxvii. 18), to conquer and
spoil the powers of darkness, and the powers on earth that set themselves against
the Lord and his anointed; he will break them with a rod of iron
(Ps. ii. 5, 9; xi. 5, 6); his determination is to gather the nations
and to assemble the kingdoms. By the gospel of Christ preached to
every creature all nations are summoned, as it were, to appear in a body
before the Lord Jesus, who is about to set up his kingdom in the world. But,
since the greatest part of mankind will not obey the summons, he will pour
upon them his indignation, for he that believes not is condemned
already. At the time of the setting up of the kingdom of the Messiah,
there shall be on earth distress of nations with perplexity (Luke xxi.
25), great tribulation, such as never was, nor ever shall be,
Matt. xxiv. 21. Then God pours upon the nations his indignation, even all
his fierce anger, for their indignation and fierce anger against the
Messiah and his kingdom, Ps. ii. 1, 2. Then all the earth shall be
devoured with the fire of his jealousy; both Jews and Gentiles shall be
reckoned with for their enmity to the gospel. Principalities and powers
shall be spoiled, and made a show of openly, and the victorious
Redeemer shall triumph over them. The end of those that continue to be of
the earth, and to mind earthly things, after God has set up the kingdom
of heaven among men, shall be destruction (Phil. iii. 19); they
shall be devoured with the fire of God's jealousy.
II. To amend what he finds amiss in his church. When God intends the
restoration of Israel, and the revival of their peace and prosperity, he
makes way for the accomplishment of his purpose by their reformation and the
revival of their virtue and piety; for this is God's method, both with
particular persons and with communities, first to make them holy and then to
make them happy. These promises were in part accomplished after the return
of the Jews out of Babylon, when by their captivity they were thoroughly
cured of their idolatry; and this was all the fruit, even the taking away of
sin. But they look further, to the blessed effects of the gospel and the
grace of it, to those times of reformation in which we live, Heb. ix.
10.
1. It is promised that there shall be a reformation in men's discourse,
which had been generally corrupt, but should now be with grace seasoned with
salt (v. 9): "Then will I turn to the people a pure language;
I will turn the people to such a language from that evil communication
which has almost ruined all good manners among them." Note,
Converting grace refines the language, not by making the phrases witty, but
the substance wise. Among the Jews, after the captivity, there needed a
reformation of the dialect, for they had mingled the language of Canaan with
that of Ashdod (Neh. xiii. 24), and that grievance shall be redressed. But
that is not all: their language shall be purified from all profaneness,
filthiness, and falsehood. I will turn them to a choice language (so
some read it); they shall not speak rashly, but with caution and
deliberation; they shall choose out their words. Note, An air of
purity and piety in common conversation is a very happy omen to any people;
other graces, other blessings, shall be given where God gives a pure
language to those who have been a people of unclean lips.
2. That the worship of God, according to his will, shall be more closely
applied to, and more unanimously concurred in. Instead of sacrifice and
incense, they shall call upon the name of the Lord. Prayer is the
spiritual offering with which God must be honoured; and, to prepare and fit
us for that duty, it is necessary that we have a pure language. We
are utterly unfit to take God's name into our lips, unless they be pure
lips. The purifying of the language in common conversation is necessary to
the acceptableness of the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart
on our devotion; for how can sweet waters and bitter come out of
the same fountain? James iii. 9-12. It is likewise promised that their
language being thus purified they shall serve God with one consent,
with one shoulder (so the word is), alluding to oxen in the yoke,
that draw even. When Christians are unanimous in the service of God the work
goes on cheerfully. This is the effect of the pure language, purified from
passion, envy, and censoriousness. Note, Purity is the way to unity; the
reformation of manners is the way to a comprehension. The wisdom from
above is first pure, then peaceable.
3. That those that were driven from God shall return to him and be accepted
of him (v. 10): From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, that is,
from Egypt (so described, Isa. xviii. 1) or from some other very remote
country--my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring my
offering. Those that by reason of their distance had almost forgotten
God, their obligations to him, shall be put in mind of him, as the prodigal
son was of his father's house, in the far country. Those that by reason of
their dispersion, under the tokens of his displeasure, might be afraid of
coming to him, yet even they shall be gathered under his wings; the daughter
of his dispersed, that is afar off, will be found among those
whom the Lord our God shall call; and, though they are dispersed, he
will own them for his; his calling them my dispersed puts honour upon
them, sufficient to counterbalance all the disgrace of their dispersion.
These shall come, (1.) With their humble petitions: They are my
suppliants. Note, True converts are suppliants to God; they do not
plead, but make supplication to their Judge (Job ix. 15); and
wherever they are, though beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, a great way
off from his house of prayer, he has his eye upon them and his ear open to
them; they are his suppliants. (2.) With their spiritual sacrifices: They
shall bring my offering, shall bring themselves as spiritual sacrifices
to God (Rom. xii. 1); the conversion of the Gentiles is called the
offering up of the Gentiles (Rom. xv. 16); and with themselves they
shall bring the gospel-sacrifices of prayer, and praise, and alms, with
which God is well pleased.
4. That sin and sinners shall be purged out from among them, v. 11.
God will take away, (1.) Their just reproach: In that day shalt thou not
be ashamed for all thy doings. They shall be ashamed as penitents, and
shall continue to be so (see Ezek. xvi. 63), but they shall not be ashamed
as sinners that return to folly again. "Thou shalt not be ashamed,
that is, thou shalt no more do a shameful thing, as thou hast done."
The guilt of sin being taken away by pardoning mercy, the reproach of it
shall be rolled away from the sinner's own conscience, that being purified,
and pacified, and cleansed from dead works. When wickedness
and wicked people abound in a nation those few in it that are good are
ashamed of them and of their land; but when sinners are converted, and the
land reformed, that shame and the cause of it are removed. (2.) Their unjust
glorying: "I will take away out of the midst of thee, not only
the profane, who are a shame to thy land, but the hypocrites, who appear
beautiful outwardly, and rejoice in thy pride, in the holy city, the
holy house." These were indeed Israel's glory, but they made them their
pride, and rejoiced in them, as if they were an invincible bulwark to secure
them in their sinful ways; they relied on them as their righteousness and
strength, boasting of the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord
(Jer. vii. 4); they were haughty because of the holy mountain, were
conceited of themselves, scornful of others, and set even the judgments of
God at defiance. Note, Church-privileges, when they are not duly improved as
they ought to be, are often made the matter of men's pride and the ground of
their security. But that haughtiness is the most offensive to God which is
supported and fed by the pretensions of holiness. This God will silence and
take away.
5. That God will have a remnant of holy, humble, serious people among them,
that shall have the comfort of their relation to him and interest in him (v.
12): I will leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people.
When the Chaldeans carried away the Jews into captivity they left of the
poor of the land for vine-dressers and husbandmen, a type and figure of
God's distinguished remnant, whom he sets apart for himself. They are afflicted
and poor, low in the world; such God has chosen, James ii. 5.
The poor are evangelized, low in their own eyes, afflicted for sin, poor in
spirit. They are God's leaving, for it is a remnant according to the
election of grace. I have reserved them to myself, says God (Rom. xi. 4,
5), and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. Note, Those whom
God designs for the glory of his name he enables to trust in his name; and
the greater their affliction and poverty in the world are the more reason
they see to trust in God, having nothing else to trust to, 1 Tim. v. 5.
6. That this select remnant shall be blessed with purity and peace, v.
13. (1.) They shall be blessed with purity, both in words and actions: They shall
neither do iniquity nor speak lies. Justice and veracity shall command
them and govern them, though they be ever so much against their secular
interest. They shall not only not speak a direct deliberate lie, but there
shall not be a deceitful tongue found in their mouth, not in the mouth
of any of them; not the least equivocation shall come from them. (2.) They
shall be blessed with peace. They shall, as the sheep of God's pasture, feed
and lie down, and none shall make them afraid. They shall not be
fearful themselves, nor shall any about them be frightful to them. Note,
Those that are careful not to do iniquity need not be afraid of any
calamity, for it cannot hurt them, and therefore should not terrify them.
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Evangelical
Predictions.
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B.
C. 612.
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14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel;
be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
15 The LORD
hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of
Israel, even the LORD,
is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.
16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to
Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. 17 The LORD
thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice
over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with
singing. 18 I will gather them that are sorrowful for the
solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was
a burden. 19 Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict
thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out;
and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put
to shame. 20 At that time will I bring you again, even in
the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among
all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes,
saith the LORD.
After the promises of the taking away of sin, here follow promises of the
taking away of trouble; for when the cause is removed the effect will cease.
What makes a people holy will make them happy of course. The precious
promises here made to the purified people were to have their full
accomplishment in the comforts of the gospel, in the hope, and much more in
the enjoyment, of which, they are here called upon, 1. To rejoice and sing (v.
14): Sing, O daughter of Zion! sing for joy; Shout, O Israel!
in a holy transport and exultation; be glad and rejoice with all the
heart; let the joy be inward, let it be great. Those that love God with
all their heart have occasion with all their heart to rejoice in him. It was
promised (v. 13) that their sins should be mortified and their fears
silenced, and then follows, Sing and rejoice. Note, Those that
reform have cause to rejoice, whereas Israel cannot rejoice for joy as other
people, while she goes a whoring from her God. God's promises, applied by
faith, furnish the saints with constant and abundant matter for joy; they
are filled with joy and peace in believing them. 2. To throw off all their
discouragements (v. 16): In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem
(God will say it by his prophets, by his providences, their neighbours shall
say it, they shall say it to one another), "Fear thou not, be
not disposed to fear, do not easily admit the impressions of it; when things
are bad, fear not their being worse, but hope they will mend; frighten not
thyself upon every occasion. Let not thy hands be slack or faint;
wring not thy hands in despair; drop not thy hands in despondence; disfit
not thyself for thy work and warfare by giving way to doubts and fears.
Pluck up thy spirits, and, in token of that, lift up thy hands, the hands
that hung down, Heb. xii. 12; Isa. xxxv. 3. Lift up thy hands in prayer
to God; lift up thy hands to help thyself." Fear makes the hands slack,
but faith and hope make them vigorous, and the joy of the Lord will be our
strength both for doing and suffering.
Let us now see what these precious promises are which are here made to the
people of God, for the banishing of their griefs and fears and the
encouraging of their hopes and joys; and to us are these promises made as
well as to them.
I. An end shall be put to all their troubles and distresses (v. 15):
"The Lord has taken away thy judgments, has removed all the
calamities thou hast been groaning under, which were the punishments of thy
sin; the noise of war shall be silenced, the reproach of famine done away,
and the captivity brought back. Though some grievances remain, they shall be
only afflictions, and not judgments, for sin shall be pardoned. He has
cast out thy enemy, that has thrust himself into thy land, and triumphed
over thee. He has swept out thy enemy" (so some read it),
"as dirt is swept out of the house to the dunghill." When they
sweep out their sins with the besom of reformation God will sweep out their
enemies with the besom of destruction. If they should need correction, they
shall fall into the hands of the Lord, whose mercies are great, and shall
not again fall into the hands of man, whose tender mercies are cruel: "Thou
shalt not see evil any more, not such evil days as thou hast seen."
Note, The way to get clear of the evil of trouble is to keep clear from the
evil of sin; and to those that do so trouble has no real evil in it.
II. God will give them the tokens of his presence with them; though he has
long seemed to stand at a distance (they having provoked him to withdraw),
he will make it to appear that he is with them of a truth: "The Lord
is in the midst of thee, O Zion! of thee, O Jerusalem! as the sun
in the centre of the universe, to diffuse his light and influence upon every
part. He is in the midst of thee, to preside in all thy affairs and
to take care of all thy interests." And, 1. "He is the King of
Israel (v. 15) and is in the midst of thee as a king in the midst
of his people." With an eye to this, our Lord Jesus is called the King
of Israel (John i. 49); and he is, and will be, in the midst of his
church always, even to the end of the world, to receive the homage of his
subjects, and to give out his favours to them, even where but two
or three are gathered together in his name. 2. "He is the Lord thy
God, thine in covenant, and he is in the midst of thee as thy God, whom thou
hast an interest in and whose own thou art. He has put himself into dear
relations to thee, laid himself by promise under obligations to thee, and,
that thou mayest have abundant comfort in both, he is in the midst of
thee, nigh at hand to answer both." 3. "He that is in the
midst of thee as thy God and King is mighty, is almighty, is able to
do all that for thee that thou needest and canst desire." 4. "He
has engaged his power for thy succour: He will save. He will be Jesus,
will answer the name, for he will save his people from their sins."
III. God will take delight in them, and in doing them good. The expressions
of this are very lively and affecting (v. 17): He will rejoice
over thee with joy, will not only be well pleased with thee, upon thy
repentance and reformation, and take thee into favour, but will take a
complacency in thee, as the bridegroom does in his bride, or the bride in
her ornaments, Isa. lxii. 3-5. The conversion of sinners and the consolation
of saints are the joy of angels, for they are the joy of God him-self. The
church should be the joy of the whole earth (Ps. xlviii. 2), for it
is the joy of the whole heaven. He will rest in his love, will be silent
in his love, so the word is. "I will not rebuke thee as I have
done, for thy sins; I will acquiesce in thee, and in my relation to
thee." I know not where there is the like expression of Christ's love
to his church, unless in that song of songs, Cant. iv. 9, Thou hast
ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse, with one of thy eyes. O the
condescensions of divine grace! The great God not only loves his saints, but
he loves to love them, is pleased that he has pitched upon these objects of
his love. He will joy over them with singing. He that is grieved for
the sin of sinners rejoices in the graces and services of the saints, and is
ready to express that joy by singing over them. The Lord takes plea-sure
in those that fear him, and in them Jesus Christ will shortly be
glorified and admired.
IV. God will comfort Zion's mourners, who sympathize with her in her griefs,
and will wipe away their tears (v. 18): I will gather those who
are sorrowful for the solemn assemblies, to whom the reproach of it was a
burden. See, 1. Who those are whom God will rejoice in and make to
rejoice. They are such as are sorrowful. Those only must expect to reap in
joy that sow in tears. The sorrowful now shall be for ever joyful. 2. What
is the great matter of sorrow to Zion's mourners, when Zion is in mourning.
Many are her calamities. The city is ruined, and the palaces are demolished;
trade is at an end, and the administration of public justice; but all these
are nothing to them in comparison with the desolations of the sanctuary, the
destruction of the temple and the altar, to attend on which, in solemn
feasts, all Israel used to come together three times a year. It is for those
sacred solemn assemblies that they are sorrowful, (1.) Because they are
dispersed; there is no temple to come up to, or, if there were, no people to
come up to it; so that the solemn feasts and sabbaths are forgotten in
Zion, Lam. ii. 6. Note, The restraining of public assemblies for
religious worship, the scattering of them by their enemies, or the forsaking
of them by their friends, so that either there are no assemblies or not
solemn ones, is a very sorrowful thing to all good people. If the ways of
Zion mourn, the sons of Zion mourn too. And hereby they make it to
appear that they are indeed of Zion, living members of that body with the
grievances of which they are so sensibly affected. (2.) Because they are
despised; the reproach of the solemn assemblies is a burden to them. It had
been the lot of the solemn assemblies to lie under a great deal of reproach.
Satan and his instruments having a particular spite at them, as the great
support of the interest of God's kingdom among men. Black and odious
characters have been put upon those assemblies; and this is a burden to all
those that have a cordial concern for the glory of God and the welfare of
the souls of men. They reckon that the reproaches of those who reproach the
solemn assemblies fall upon them, fall foul upon them.
V. God will recover the captives out of the hands of their oppressors, and
bring home the banished that seemed to be expelled, v. 19, 20. 1.
Their enemies shall be disabled to detain them in bondage: "At that
time I will undo all that afflict thee, will break their power, and
blast their counsels, so that they shall be forced to surrender the prey
they have taken." Conficiam--I will take them to task; "I
will be doing with them shortly, and so as to make an end of them."
Note, Those that abuse and oppress God's people take the ready way to undo
themselves. 2. They shall be enabled to assert and recover their liberty,
and all the difficulties in the way of it shall be surmounted. Is the church
weak and wounded? I will save her that halts, as was promised, Mic.
iv. 7. He will help her when she cannot help herself; even the lame shall
take the prey, Isa. xxxiii. 23. Is she dispersed, and not likely to
incorporate for her common benefit? I will gather her that was driven
out, and bring her again at the time that I gather her. One act
of mercy and grace shall serve both to collect them out of their dispersions
and to conduct them to their own land. When the people's hearts are
prepared, the work will be done suddenly; and who can hinder it if God
undertake to effect it? "I will turn back your captivity before your
eyes, saith the Lord; you shall plainly discern the hand of God in it,
and say, This is the Lord's doing."
VI. God will by all this put honour upon them and gain them respect from all
about them. Israel was at first made high above all nations in praise and
fame, Deut. xxvi. 19. The reproach brought upon them was therefore one
of the sorest of their grievances (nothing cuts deeper to those that are in
honour than disgrace does); and therefore when God returns, in mercy, to his
church, it is here promised that she shall regain her credit; all the
reproach shall be for ever rolled way, as Israel's at Gilgal, Josh. v. 9.
The church shall be as honourable as ever she had been despicable. 1. Even
those that reproached her shall be made to respect her: "I will get
them praise and fame in every land, where they have been put to shame,
that the same who were the witnesses of their disgrace may see cause to
change their mind concerning them." Those that said, "This is Zion
whom no man looks after," shall say, "This is Zion whom the great
God looks after." And she that was looked upon to be the offscouring
of the earth now appears to be the darling of heaven. 2. Even those that
never knew her shall be brought to honour her (v. 20): I will make
you a name and a praise among all people of the earth. So the Jewish
church was when the fear of the Jews fell upon their neighbours (Esth.
viii. 17), and some of all nations said, we will go with you, for we have
heard that God is with you, Zech. viii. 23. So the Christian church was
when it was made to flourish in the world, for there is that in it which may
justly recommend it to the value and esteem of all the people of the earth.
And so the universal church of the firstborn will be in the great day, when
the saints shall be brought together to Christ, that he may be admired and
glorified in them, and they admired and glorified in him before angels and
men. Then will God's Israel be made a name and a praise to eternity.
