wings as eagles ; they shall run and not be weary ; they shall walk and not faint1." As for seeking to justify your despon- dency by any peculiarities in your state, it is all folly ; it is all impiety ; it is all a forgetfulness of God. " Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the laivful captive delivered ? Yes : thus saith the Lord ; even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for i" will contend with him that contendeth with thee ; and I will save thy children"1." Fear not, then, thou desponding soul ; but commit thy cause to God : and know assuredly, that the more simple thine affiance is in him, and the more confident thine expectation of his effectual help, the more speedy and manifest shall be his interpositions in thy behalf. Only believe in him ; and he will glorify himself in thy com- plete and everlasting deliverance.]
1 Isai. xl. 27 — 31. m Isai. xlix. 24, 25.
Isai. lii. 7. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace ; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation ; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth !
IN order to understand the prophetic writings, we must always bear in mind that they have a spiritual or mystical sense, as well as a plain and literal one. The words before us, in their primary meaning, evidently refer to the joy with which the proclamation of Cyrus, when he permitted the captive Jews to return from Babylon to their native country, would be received. But they certainly relate also to the deliverance an- nounced to us under the Gospel-dispensation ; for it is in this view that they are quoted by the Apostle Paula. We shall take occasion from them to shew, I. What the Gospel is —
It is described with sufficient accuracy in the text : it is,
1. A proclamation of " peace and salvation" to man —
a Rom. x. 15.