1. You have set down the cause of all, which follows. God by his gracious Spirit will be ' as the dew unto Israel.'
2. And then upon that, the prosperous success this dew of God's Spirit hath in them, ' They shall grow as the lily.'
Obj. 1. Aye, but the lily grows, but hath no stability. Eveiything that grows is not well rooted. Therefore he adds, in the second place, ' They
* Joel ii. 27, 28 ; Hos. ii. 14, 15; Isa. i. 18, 19; Deut. iii. 1, seq; Jer. iii. 12; Jer. XXX. 1, seq.
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shall cast out their roots as Lebanon;' that is, with growth they shall have stabihty ; not only grow in height speedily, but also grow fust in the root with firmness.
Obj. 2. And likewise, as everything that grows in root and firmness, doth not spread itself, he says, he shall not only grow upward, and take root downwards, ' but his branches shall spread;' whereby he shall be more fruitful and comfortable to others.
Ohj. 3. Oh ! but ever}'thing that grows, is rooted and spread, is not for all that fruitful ; therefore, he saith, they shall be as the oUve tree, ' His beauty shall be as the olive tree for fruitfulness.'
Obj. 4. Yet, though the olive be fruitful, it hath no pleasant smell nor good taste. Therefore he adds another blessing to that. They shall, in re- gard of their pleasantness to God and man, that shall delight in them, be ' as the smell of Lebanon ; ' which was a wondrous pleasant, deUghtful place, which jdelded a pleasant savour round about. So we see what a complete kind of growth this is, wherein blessing upon blessing is promised. The Holy Ghost cannot enough satisfy himself in variety of comfortable expressions. Nothing is left unsatisfied that the heart can propound. He will make them grow, be stedfast, fruitful, delightful, and pleasant. So that we have here to consider :
1 . The favour and blessing that he promiseth, to be * as the dew to Israel.'
2. The excellency of it in divers particulars.
3. The order wherein it is promised.
Before we come to the words themselves, if we remember and read over the former part of the prophecy, we shall find it full of teirible cm-ses, all opposite unto that here promised : to shew.
We can never be in so disconsolate a state, but God can alter all.
He hath a right hand as well as a left ; blessings as well as curses ; mercy as well as justice ; which is more proper to his natui'e than that. Therefore let Christian souls never be discouraged with theii* condition and state whatsoever it is.
Reason. For, as there are many maladies, so there are many remedies opposite to them. As Solomon saith, ' This is set over against that,' &c., Eccles. vii. 14. If there be a thousand kinds of ills, thei'e are many thousand kinds of remedies. For God is larger in his helps than we can be in our diseases and distresses, whatsoever they are, Zech. i. 19, 20, 21. Therefore it is good to make this use of it, to be so conceited of God, as may draw us nearer unto him upon all occasions.
Again, we see here how large the Spirit of God is in expressions of the particulars. ' I will be as the dew unto Israel : and he shall grow as the hly, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty be large,' &c. Whereunto tends all this largeness of expression ? God doth it in mercy unto us, who especially need it, being in a distressed, disconsolate estate. Therefore they are not words wastcfully spent. We may marvel sometimes, in Isaiah, and so in some other prophets, to see the same things in substance so often repeated, though with variety of lively expressions, as it is, for the most part, the manner of eveiy prophet. Surely, because it is useful and profitable, the people of God need it. There is, nor never was any man in a drooping, sinking condition, but he desires line upon line, word upon word, promise upon promise, expression upon expression.
Olj. One would think, is not a word of God sufficient ?
330 THE EZITrR>-IXG BACSST.TDF.R. [SeBMOX YH.
An-s. Yes. for him., but not for ns. TVe have doubting and drooping hearts, and therefore God adds sacraments and seals ; not only one sacra- ment, but two : and in the sacrament not onlv bread, but vdne silso ; to shew that Christ is aU in aU. What large expressions are here, thinks a profane heart, Trhat needs tbi> ? As if God knew us not better than we know ourselves. Whensoever thou art touched in conscience with the sense of thy sins, and knowest how great, how powerfol, how holy a God thou hast to deal with, who can endure no impure thing, thou wilt never find fault with his large expressions in his word and sacraments : and with the variety of his pro- mises, when he translates out of the book of nature into his own book, aU expressions of excellent things to spread forth his mercy and love. Is this needless ? Xo : we need all. He that made us, redeemed us, preserves us, knows tis better than we know ourselves. He who is infinite in wisdom and love takes tbi^ course.