god's care for his people.
Isai. xliii. 1 — 3. Now thus saith the Lord that created thee, 0 Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not : for 1 have redeemed thee ; I have called thee by thy name : thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be ivith thee; and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.
IT is almost impossible for any one to read the Holy Scriptures with attention, and not to notice the very remarkable manner in which many of the richest promises are introduced. God seems, in them, de- termined to magnify his own grace ; and to shew, that " where sin hath abounded, his grace shall much more abound"1." Let any one read the two last verses of the preceding chapter, and then pass on to the promise which I have just read ; and he will see
this illustrated in a very striking point of view
The Jews, to this day, experience the mercy and the faithfulness of God in his wonderful preservation of them, in order to a richer display of his goodness towards them than they have ever yet known b. And all the servants of Jehovah, in every age, may be assured of similar protection, in order to their present and eternal welfare.
In opening the words before us, we will notice,
I. What is here supposed respecting the people of God- fit is taken for granted that they shall be a suffering people, according to what is spoken by the Prophet Zepha- niah : " I will leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people0." In a greater or less degree this is the state of all; they have to pass through deep waters, and even, as it were, through the fire itself, in the service of their God. Some- times they are afflicted by persecution, and sometimes by temptation ; for both to men and devils are they objects of inveterate hostility. From the days of Cain to this very hour,
a Rom. v. 20. b ver. 4 — 7. c Zeph. iii. 12.