Ver. 12.-Ye shall go out with Joy, and Ver. 13.-Inateo.d of the thorn shall come be led forth with peaoe (comp. eh. xxxv. 10 ; np the fir tree. "Briare and thorns" wero xl. 9-11: xliii. J-6, 19-21, etc.). A. to over!(rOW the unfruitful vineyard, accord- strong contrast is frequently drawn between ing to eh. v. 6: and to cover the land of the exodus from Babylon and that from God's people, according to eh. xxxii. 13. Egypt. On the former occasion a.11 was This would be literally the case to a. large hurry, alarm, disquiet, dnnger. The later extent, while the land was allowed to lie exodus will be accompanied with " peace" waste. The literal meaning is not, however, and "joy" (eee eh. Ii. 9-IG, etc.). (For the whole meaning, or even the main mean- the fulfilment, see Ezra. i., ii., and vii., viii.) ing, here. " Briare and thorns" represent a The mountains and the hills shall break forth genera.I state of wretchedneBB and sin. The before yon into singing. All nature shall "fir" and "myrtle" represent a. happy ex- rejoice at your deliverance, especially the ternal condition of life, in which men "do noblest and the grandest pnrts of nature- righteously." It aha.II be to the Lord for a. " the mountains and the hills." Isaiah's name. This "regenerated creation" will admiration of mountains continually reveals show forth the glory of God to mankind at itself throughout the work (eh. v. 25: xiii. large, a.ml "get him a name" among them 2, 4; xiv. 25: xxii 5: xxx. 17, 25: xxxiv. (comp. eh. !xiii. 12: Jer. xiii. 11). For an 3; xl. 4, 9, 12; xiii. 11, 15, etc.). It is everlasting sign. It will also be to God quite in his manner to speak of nature as himself an enduring sign of the covenant of bursting forth into singing ( eh. xxxv. 2; pence which he has made with his people, xiiv. 23; xlix. 13). All the trees of the field not to hide his face from them any more, bnt shall clap their hands. The metaphor is not to have mercy on them "with everlasting found elsewhere in Isaiah, but appea.rs in kindness" (eh. liv. 7-10). Pa. xoviii. 8,
HOMILETICS. Ver. 2.-The earthly objects of desire do not satisfy; the heavenly objects not only satisfy, but delight. Man is so constituted as to desire a great variety of objects, often with extreme eagerness, but rarely to find in these objects, when they ore attained, the satisfaction for which he looked. "Man never is, hut always to be, blest," says one of our poets; and the fact is so nearly universal, that some tell us it is the pursuit of an object, not its attainment that gives us pleasure. Manifestly, the child's objects do not satisfy the boy, or the boy's the man; nor do the man's objects at his entrance on the struggle of life generally appear very desirable as he nears the close, Most men's history is a long series of disappointments, The boy desires freedom from restraint, and to have his time at his own disposal; but no sooner does he obtain his wish than time hangs heavy on his hands, and he does not know what to do with it. 'l'he best- loved amusement does not please for long-the pleasures of eating and drinking pall; drunkenness and excess are found to have attached to them an overplus of painful sensations; the praise of men, distinction, fame, when they have been enjoyed for a short time, appear worthless; wealth, comfort, ease, equally fail to satisfy. Men labour, as a general rule, during the greater part of their lives," for that which satisfieth not." Only a fortunate few learn early to set their affections on objects of a different character. Heavenly objects a.re satisfying. He that drinks of that water of life which Christ supplies, thirsts no more (John iv. 14). The heavenly things do not pass away-they remain. 'l'he water that Christ gives us becomes, in us, "a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John iv. 14). God's favourable regard, God's peace, God's blessing, are eternally objects of desire, and their possession is happiness, He who has them needs nothing more, desires nothing more, finds them sufficient for him. Nor is his state one of mere passive acquiescence-his "soul is delighted with fatness" (ver. 2). He" enters into the joy of his Lord" (Matt. xxv. 21).
Ver. 11.-The vital force of the Word of God. 'rhere is a. strange force in every utter- ance of God. In the account of creation given in Genesis we find, not only light, but all the other portions of the universe which il pleased God to make, created by an utterance-a. word (see Gen. i. 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 2G). God said, "Let there be," and at once there was. "He commanded, and they were created" (Ps. cxlviii. 5). So the Son of God, when upon earth, gave life with a word (John xi. 43, 44), and dtstroyed it 332 Tll:E BOOK OF THE PROPHET 18.A.lAB. [OH, LV, 1-18,
~ith e. word (M~_tt. :ui. 19); with a word ce.st 01;1-t devils (Mark ix. 26, 26), healed diseases (Me.tt. xu. 13), calmed the tempest (Mark 1v. 39) ea.used his enemies to "fall to the ground" (John xviii. 6). Isaiah, in the present pie.ce, declares three things of God's Word. I. GoD's WoRD DOES NOT RETURN TO HIM vom. His Word accomplishes itself It is "sent forth," whether upon earth or in the heavenly sphere; and in either· case "runneth very s~ftly" (Ps. cxlvii. 15). In no ce.se does it "return to him void." It has always an obJe~t, an end; and it would contradict the omnipotence of God that that end should be in no way advo.nced by a means which God made use of in order to advance it. II. Goo's WORD ACOOMPLISHES THAT WHICH GoD PLEASES THAT IT SHOULD A0COM- :LISH .. God's Word ~ften does not accomplish all that we might have expected from 1t. His offer of salvation freely to all does not effect universal salvation. His call of individa_als is diso~yed by numbers of t~ose ~ho hear it. Yet always his Word accomplishes somethrng; and that" something" 1s what he designed it to accomplish. He "knows the end from the beginning," and is not disappointed, even when the results are most scanty. III. GoD'S WORD, IN EVERY CASE, PROSPERS IN RESPECT OF THE END WHERETO HE BENDS IT. Every work that God takes in hand "prospers" more or less. The end aimed at is often quite other from that which we should have imagined· and what seems to us failure is only failure from our point of view, not from the Di~ine stand- point. God cannot fail to accomplish any end that he really proposes to himself. Every word that proceeds from his mouth has an end, but that end is known only to him; and it may often be that he alone knows of its accomplishment. Its accomplish- ment is always, with respect to the intention, full, complete, such as satisfies him.