Isai. xl. 6 — 8. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry ? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass ivithereth, the flower fade th : because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth : but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
GOD doeth according to his own will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.
When his time was come for the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, in vain did Pharaoh labour to retain them. Thus the prophet was inspired to declare the redemption of the Jews from Babylon, and the still greater redemption of the world from sin and Satan, in despite of all endeavours which might be used to thwart the divine purpose. This seems to be the immediate scope of the words before us. But they may also be taken as a general declaration respecting the instability of every thing human, and the immuta- bility of God's word.
I. The instability of every thing human —
The comparison of man to grass is very frequent in the Scriptures; and it affords a just description of,
1. Our temporal comforts —
[The grass in the early spring adorns and beautifies the face of nature; but, when parched by a burning sun or an eastern blast, it soon withers and decays : in the same manner the beauty and strength of youth are soon turned to weakness and deformity : the affluence and honour of the rich are quickly changed to degradation and want : and all our goodly fabrics of ease and happiness are soon demolished. St. James illus- trates this truth by the very comparison in the texta: and as Job experienced it in the days of old, so in every age may numerous instances be found of such vicissitudes.]
2. Our spiritual comforts —
[God is pleased to give rich consolation to his people : and, while they enjoy it, their faces are made, as it were, to shine, as the face of Moses did, when he descended from the holy mount. But these comforts are often of short continu- ance. When Peter thought of building tabernacles to protract his happiness, a cloud immediately overshadowed him, and he was called down to renew his conflicts with the world b. When David fancied his mountain so strong that he should never be moved, God hid his face from him and he was troubled0. Thus it is also with all the people of God ; whose manifold changes in this respect may well be compared with the diversified scenes of nature under the influence of kindly showers, or malignant winds1'.]
3. Our very life itself —
a Jam. i. 9 — 11. b Mark ix. 5, 7, 14.
0 Ps. xxx. 7. d Ps. cii. 2 — 4.