the temples of their gods, so Christ will take us to heaven as the fruit of his victories, the everlasting monuments of his power and grace. Let us then " hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end." Let us " believe in the Lord ; so shall we prosper ; let us believe his prophets ; and so shall we be established."
Isai. liv. 5. Thy Maker is thine Husband : the Lord of Hosts
is his name.
IN circumstances whether of personal or public difficulty it is well to bear in remembrance, that there is one who ordereth all things according to his own sovereign will, and who will never fail those who trust in Him. Doubtless the Jewish Church, at the time that the Prophet Isaiah wrote, and especially in the prospect of the Babylonish captivity which he predicted, was at a low ebb : but the prophet calls upon her to take comfort, in the sure and certain hope that God would fulfil to her all his promises, and enlarge her borders by the accession of unnum- bered converts from among the Gentiles, who, in due season, should be received into her bosom, and aggrandize her in the eyes of the whole world. She might be assured of this ; because, notwithstanding the bill of divorce which God had given her, he still considered himself as her husband ; and because He, who was her God, was also " the God of the whole earth." In this promise we are interested, both as it respects ourselves and the world at large. I will therefore endeavour to unfold it to your view ; and, for that end, will consider,
I. The general idea here suggested —
There is a peculiarity in the original which does not appear in the translation, which yet it is of great importance to observe. In the original it is, " Thy Makers are thine husband." It must be remembered,
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