Zeph. iii. 1 2. / will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people ; and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.
THE Lord's people have in every age been a mere remnant, in comparison of the great mass of mankind. At the time of the deluge they were confined to Noah and his family. In the patriarchal age, from the call of Abraham to the descent of his posterity into Egypt,
they were still a very " little flock :" and though they afterwards in appearance multiplied, and became a great nation, yet " they were not all Israel who were of Israel :" there was still but a small portion of that people who truly loved and served God ; and even in the apostolic age St. Paul tells us, that they were then only " a remnant according to the election of grace." Moreover, this remnant has for the most part been of the description mentioned in our text, persons des- titute of any thing whereon to found a carnal confi- dence, and necessitated to confide solely in their God. At the period referred to in the preceding context they will cease to bear the character of a remnant, seeing that they will fill the face of the whole earth, and comprehend in their number all the kings and princes of the worlda: but till that period they will be cha- racterized as " an afflicted and poor people, who shall trust in the name of the Lord."
In further speaking of them, we shall be led to notice,
I. Their low condition —
The description here given of them is for the most part verified in them,
1. As members of the community —
[Riches and poverty are relative terms ; and, when viewed in a large and comprehensive sense, will serve to draw a broad line between the different classes of society. It is from the lower of these classes that the Lord's people are most generally taken. Others are not excluded ; on the contrary, some of the opposite class will always be found among them : but " not many great, not many mighty, not many noble, are called : God has chosen rather the foolish, the weak, the base, the despised, that no flesh should glory in his presence1*." So evi- dent has this been in all ages of the Church, that St. James appeals to his brethren all the world over in confirmation of the fact : " Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of his kingdom0?" Indeed to this circumstance our Lord himself referred as confirming the truth of his Messiahship, that " to the poor the Gospel was preached d:" and they received his
a ver. 9. b 1 Cor. i. 26—29.
c Jam. ii. 5. d Matt. xi. 5.