Ver, 10,-WitMn the gates. If the two preceding verses may be regarded as descriptive of the Christian pilgrimage, the text may appropriately be treated ae pictorial of the heavenly city in which that journey ends, The language of this verse suggests tous- 1. THE DIBTINOUJSIIING FEATURE OF THOSE WHO ARE ADMITTED. They are "the ransomed of the Lord." '!'hey were in spiritual bondage: they have been redeemed by B Divino Deliverer ; they have been ransomed at a great price ; they have been rescuerl from the 11ower of their enemies (outward and inward) aucl walk in liberty, thankful for what they have escaped from, anticipating the more perfect freedom and the more excellent estate they are travelling toward. II. THE) SPECIAL CHARACTERIS'l'ICS OF THE CITY ITSELF. " Shall come to Zion." 1. le is the very home of God. Jerusalem was "the city of God "-it was the place on earth which be chose for his manifested presence. There, in a peculiar sense, he aborle; there, as in no other city, he was approached and was worshipped; there, as now hen, else, men felt that they stood in his near presence an<I rejoiced in fellowship with him, The bea,•enly Zion is to be to all who shall be received within its gates the place where God is, the home of the living and reigning Saviour. There we are to he "at home with the Lord." 2. It i·s the place of perfect security and of transcendent beauty. The ,, mountains were round a.bout Jerusalem," and "beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, wo.s Mount Zion." The heavenly city, of which it is the earthly type, will prove a. home of absolute security, into which no enemy will ever comE', from which temptation and sin are safely barred (see Rev. xxi. 27); and of surpassing beauty and glory (Rev. xxi. 1, 10, 11, 18, 19, 23). There shall be everything which will give pure and inexhaustible delight to all holy souls, to those in whom has been planted and nourished the appreciation of that which is really beautiful and glorious. ill. THE JOY WHICH WILL ATTEND ADMISSION. They "shall come to Zion with songs." How transcendent muijt that moment be when the hnman soul is a.ssured, by actual sight of tho heavenly city, that immortal glory is his blest estate! lV. TnE .FULL AND ADIDING BLESSEDNESS OF THE CELESTIAL HOME. "EverlastiC!g joy . . . sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Here are the two !ITand e~scntials of rerfect blessedness. 1. The absence of all that mars. Here many a." goodly heritage" los.es half its value to the possessor of it by reason of some one serious drawback; it is some bodily infirmity, or it is some grave anxiety, or it is somo keen disa.ppoiutment, or it is some irreparable loss which, though everything else be fair anti fruitful, makes life seem to have as much of shadow as of sunshine. There, sorrow and sigl,ing shall have fled away, 2. The presence of lasting arid ever-g1·owing joy. Here, with the constitution of our. mind and with the fading of our faculty, pleasure pall,, joys farle 11nd disappear. After a few decades life becomes less and less valuable, until it is felt to be a.. burden that can ill be borne. There, it is an" everlasting song," and instead of its strain becoming less tuneful or inspiriting, the enlarging and unfoldiug p,,wers of our immortal manhood will make the heavenly life more musical and raptmous as the years l\nd the centuries a.re left behind us.-C.
Vere. 1, 2.-0hanged circumstances following the return of Divine J,1vour. This, which is expressed in the figures of thesa verses, may be further illustrated by the experience of David. His "bones waxed old throug.h bis roaring o.11 the day long," while God hid his face from him. He sang ago.in the old songs when God "restoretl unto him the joy of his salvation." "In coutra.st to 1he ruin of Edom, the prophet now describes Israel's triumphant march home through the blossomi11g wilderness" (Matthew Arnold). 'l'wo points Inft.Y be dwelt on. 1. God's favour often includes improved cir- cumstances. 2. God's favour brings such cheer as lifts us above circumstances. J. GoD'B FAVOUR OFTEN INCLUDES IMPROVED CIRCUJIISTANCE5, The actual removal of our·dif;liculties or hi:o.dra.nces; restored relationships; business prosperities, etc. ;-all such things being poetically represented by the bare, dry de~crt becoming a watered, flowery garden. In actual fact, the weariness and danger of the long desert route were graciously mitigated and relieved for the returning exiles. Cheyne resists the reference to the exiles; but the samo 11oint may be illustrato,1 if the picture of the text be that of the condition of desolated Judma when God's favour rested on the remnant that rom,ined there, The contrast may be between desolated Edom on which rested God'B 676 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHE'l' ISAIAH. [on. :uxv.1-10.
fr0wn, nnd refre~hcd and revived Jud1M on which rested God's favour. Bo when God's curse is taken off Palestine, the old blos~om and beauty will return to her, We cannot nlways be sure that God's smile on our souls will be followed by improvement of our circumstances; but this great comfort we :may take--God oftontimes does in this 1vay i;eal and complete his mercies to his people. II. GoD'S FAVOUB BRINGS SUOH OnEEB AS LIFTS US AllOVE OIBCUM8TANOES, It is very easy to say that we ought to rise above circumstances in our own strength. But we cannot do it; nobody ever really does it, however loud may be their boastings. The bond uniting body and mind, soul and life, is altogether too close and subtle to permit even tbe holiest man to cease to feel. What alone is possible is that God's favour and grace may be such an in~piration and strength to a man•~ spirit, or a man's will, that he may be able to control his circumstances, and even change them through the ne\v and mnsterful relation in which he stands to them. God's favour and acceptance is man'8 supreme uplifting. There is no cheer, no strength, like that which comes to the man who can say, "The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our Refuge." That man, and that man alone, can do all things, and bear all things, and make life yield to him its best.-R. T.