and holiness, there " remains nothing for you but a fearful look- ing for of judgment and fiery indignation, to consume you'^."]
2. On what an immoveable foundation does the believer stand ;
[You are fixed upon a rock, against which the gates of hell shall never prevail. We suppose indeed that you are not affecting to trust in God, whilst you are negligent in the use of his appointed means : {that would be to trust, not in God, but in a presumptuous rmfounded conceit of your oivn:) but, if you are " fleeing to Christ for refuge," then are you safe in God's everlasting arms ; and he desires that you should be assured of this : yea, it is for this very end that he has con- firmed his promise with an oath, even that you might be assured of the immutability of his counsel, and be filled with the stronger and richer consolation ^ If a sense of your own weakness and unworthiness discourage you ; then know that " God is able to perform all that he has promised," and that the consideration of his power and faithfulness is the very antidote which he himself has provided for all your fears™.]
k Heb. X. 26, 27. ^ Heb. vi. 17. ^ Isai. xlix. 24, 25.
god's church and people secure.
Isai. xiv. 32. What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation ? That the Lord hath foimded Zio7i, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.
GOD is for the most part overlooked in the government of the w^orld : and hence arise an over- confidence among some, and an undue timidity amongst others. But, if we viewed God as ordering and overruling every thing, even to the falling of a sparrow, we should undertake nothing ourselves without a direct reference to him ; nor fear what was undertaken by others, whilst we had him for our pro- tector. This is the great lesson which we are taught in the passage which we have now read. The context contains a prophecy respecting the fate of Palestine. The Philistines had been invaded and conquered by King Uzziah''; but in the days of Ahaz, Uzziah's son,
a 2 Chron. xxvi. 6.
884.] god's church .and people secure. 579
they had regained their cities, and made reprisals on the provinces of the Jewish monarch''. At the acces- sion of Hezekiah to the throne of Judah, they hoped to make yet further inroads on the Jewish territory: and the Prophet Isaiah was inspired to foretell, that they should not only fail in their attempts, but be utterly vanquished by him, whom they so fondly thought to subdue and subjugate.
Read the passage in this view, and the whole ad- dress will appear extremely spirited and beautiful. " Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken ; " (i. e. because thou hast triumphed over Uzziah's son :) " for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, or adder ; and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent." (Uzziah bit thee only as a common serpent : but his grandson Hezekiah shall inflict a wound as fatal as an adder ; and prove as irresistible as a fiery flying serpent.) " And the first-born of the poor (Jews, whom thou hast so oppressed) shall feed, and the needy (whom thou hast so terrified) shall lie down in safety: whilst thy root shall be destroyed by famine, and thy remnant with the sword." (Instead then of rejoicing, " Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou whole Palestina art dis- solved : for there shall come from the north (Judea) a smoke (and dust of an army in full march :) and none shall be alone (or decline serving in this army) at the appointed time." (In the mean time,) " what shall one then answer the messengers of the nation," (when they come, full of alarmand terror^ announcing thy preparations to invade the land of Judah ?) Answer, " that the Lord hath founded Zion : and the poor of his people shall trust in it;" and that no weapon ever formed against them shall prosper.