Who among you fears Yahweh and obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness and has no light, let him trust in Yahweh’s name, and rely on his God.
Parallel Translations
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Who among you fears Yahweh and obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness and has no light, let him trust in Yahweh’s name, and rely on his God.
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Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.
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Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of His servant? though he walketh in darkness, and hath no light, let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.
Cross-references (34)
Passages linked to Isaiah 50:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 12:46 I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in the darkness.
- Isaiah 26:3-4 You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you. Trust in Yahweh forever; for in Yah, Yahweh, is an everlasting Rock.
- Micah 7:7-9 But as for me, I will look to Yahweh. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Don’t rejoice against me, my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, Yahweh will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of Yahweh, because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my case, and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light. I will see his righteousness.
- Psalms 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
- John 8:12 Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
- Psalms 27:13-14 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living. Wait for Yahweh. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for Yahweh.
- Psalms 25:14 The friendship of Yahweh is with those who fear him. He will show them his covenant.
- Lamentations 3:25-26 Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh.
- Hebrews 5:9 Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation,
- Isaiah 9:2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. The light has shined on those who lived in the land of the shadow of death.
- Psalms 28:7 Yahweh is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song I will thank him.
- Psalms 42:11 Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, the saving help of my countenance, and my God.
- 1 Peter 5:7 casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.
- Job 29:3 when his lamp shone on my head, and by his light I walked through darkness,
- Psalms 25:12 What man is he who fears Yahweh? He shall instruct him in the way that he shall choose.
- Isaiah 50:4 The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary. He awakens morning by morning, he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
- Isaiah 53:11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities.
- Malachi 3:16 Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honored his name.
- 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life. Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver; on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us;
- Isaiah 49:2-3 He has made my mouth like a sharp sword. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand. He has made me a polished shaft. He has kept me close in his quiver. He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
- Psalms 62:8 Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us.
- Psalms 111:10–112:1 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. All those who do his work have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! Praise Yah! Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who delights greatly in his commandments.
- Psalms 128:1 Blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh, who walks in his ways.
- 2 Chronicles 20:20 They rose early in the morning, and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. As they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in Yahweh your God, so you will be established! Believe his prophets, so you will prosper.”
- Job 23:8-10 “If I go east, he is not there; if west, I can’t find him; He works to the north, but I can’t see him. He turns south, but I can’t catch a glimpse of him. But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I will come out like gold.
- Psalms 40:1-4 I waited patiently for Yahweh. He turned to me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand. He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in Yahweh. Blessed is the man who makes Yahweh his trust, and doesn’t respect the proud, nor such as turn away to lies.
- Psalms 145:21 My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh. Let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
- 1 Samuel 30:6 David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.
- 1 Chronicles 5:20 They were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all who were with them; for they cried to God in the battle, and he answered them, because they put their trust in him.
- 2 Chronicles 20:12 Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that comes against us. We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
- Job 13:15 Behold, he will kill me. I have no hope. Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways before him.
- Ecclesiastes 12:13 This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.
- Isaiah 42:1 “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.
- Isaiah 59:9 Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness doesn’t overtake us. We look for light, but see darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (21 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Showing that it is a rare thing that any…
Showing that it is a rare thing that any should obey aright God’s true ministers, though they labor to bring them from hell to heaven.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 50:10 Who [is] among you that feareth the…
Isa 50:10 Who [is] among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh [in] darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.
Ver. 10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord?] This question implieth that there were not many such among them. See the like, Hos 14:9.
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That obeyeth.] The fear of God frameth the heart to the obedience of faith. {Ecc 12:13}
That walketh in darkness, and hath no light.] That, being for the time deserted, are in a mist; so as that ye cannot read your own graces, see your own comforts, but walk in darkness though children of light, and are in such a state as Paul and his company was, {Act 27:20} when they saw neither sun nor stars for many days together, but were almost past hope.
Let him trust in the name of the Lord.] Let him do as those above mentioned did, cast anchor, even in the darkest night of temptation, and pray still for day, and it will dawn at length. Before daybreak the darkness is greatest; so is it oft in this case. Here then, as a child in the dark clasps about his father, so let the poor deserted soul about God. Distrust is worse than distress; and although the liquor of faith is never pure in these vessels of clay, without the lees of distrust; yet true faith will trust in God where it cannot trace him, and by an assurance of adherence, at least, get to heaven through mourning. As Christ was taken up in a cloud, or as the kine that carried the ark went right, but they lowed as they went.
And stay upon his God.] As the vine doth upon some support. Faith hath a catching quality at whatsoever is near to lay hold on; like the branches of the vine, it windeth about that which is next, and stays itself upon it, spreading further and further still. Fides est quae te pullastrum, Christum gallinam facit, saith Luther.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Who is among you that feareth the Lord? he…
Who is among you that feareth the Lord? he now turneth his speech from the unbelieving and rebellious Jews to those of them who were or should be pious.
Of his servant; of the same person of whom he hath hitherto spoken; of Christ, who is called God’s servant, Isa 52:13; 53:11, partly by way of eminency, and partly to intimate that although he was God, yet he should take upon himself the form of a servant, as is said, Phi 2:7. He hereby signifies that the grace of God, and the comfort here following, belongeth to none but to those that hear and believe this great Prophet of the church; which also was declared by Moses, Deu 18:15, compared with Act 3:22,23.
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In darkness; not in sin, which is oft called darkness; as walking in darkness is put for living in wickedness, 1Jo 1:6; but in misery, which also frequently cometh under the name of darkness: that liveth in a most disconsolate and calamitous condition, together with great despondency or dejection of spirit.
No light; no comfort nor hope left.
Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God; let him fix his faith and hope in the name, i.e. in the most excellent and amiable nature, and infinite perfections, and especially in the free grace, and mercy, and faithfulness,
of the Lord, declared in his word; and in his propriety or interest in God, who by the mediation of this Servant is reconciled to him, and made his God.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain The prophet, having the tongue of the learned given…
The prophet, having the tongue of the learned given him, that he might give to every one his portion, here makes use of it, rightly dividing the word of truth. It is the summary of the gospel. He that believes shall be saved (he that trusts in the name of the Lord shall be comforted, though for a while he walk in darkness and have no light), but he that believes not shall be damned; though for a while he walk in the light of his own fire, yet he shall lie down in sorrow.
I. Comfort is here spoken to disconsolate saints, and they are encouraged to trust in God's grace, Isa 50:10. Here observe, 1. What is always the character of a child of God. He is one that fears the Lord with a filial fear, that stands in awe of his majesty and is afraid of incurring his displeasure. This is a grace that usually appears most in good people when they walk in darkness, when other graces appear not. They then tremble at his word (Isa 66:2) and are afraid of his judgments, Psa 119:120. He is one that obeys the voice of God's servant, is willing to be ruled by the Lord Jesus, as God's servant in the great work of man's redemption, one that yields a sincere obedience to the law of Christ and cheerfully comes up to the terms of his covenant. Those that truly fear God will obey the voice of Christ. 2. What is sometimes the case of a child of God. It is supposed that though he has in his heart the fear of God, and faith in Christ, yet for a time he walks in darkness and has no light, is disquieted and has little or no comfort. Who is there that does so? This intimates that it is a case which sometimes happens among the professors of religion, yet not very often; but, whenever it happens, God takes notice of it. It is no new thing for the children and heirs of light sometimes to walk in darkness, and for a time not to have any glimpse or gleam of light. This is not meant so much of the comforts of this life (those that fear God, when they have ever so great an abundance of them, do not walk in them as their light) as of their spiritual comforts, which relate to their souls. They walk in darkness when their evidences for heaven are clouded, their joy in God is interrupted, the testimony of the Spirit is suspended, and the light of God's countenance is eclipsed. Pensive Christians are apt to be melancholy, and those who fear always are apt to fear too much. 3. What is likely to be an effectual cure in this sad case. He that is thus in the dark, (1.) Let him trust in the name of the Lord, in the goodness of his nature, and that which he has made known of himself, his wisdom, power, and goodness. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, let his run into that. Let him depend upon it that if he walk before God, which a man may do though he walk in the dark, he shall find God all-sufficient to him. (2.) Let him stay himself upon his God, his in covenant; let him keep hold of his covenant-relation to God, and call God his God, as Christ on the cross, My God, My God. Let him stay himself upon the promises of the covenant, and build his hopes on them. When a child of God is ready to sink he will find enough in God to stay himself upon. Let him trust in Christ, for God's name is in him (Exo 23:21), trust in that name of his, The Lord our righteousness, and stay himself upon God as his God, in and through a Mediator.
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II. Conviction is here spoken to presuming sinners, and they are warned not to trust in themselves, Isa 50:11. Observe, 1. The description given of them. They kindle a fire, and walk in the light of that fire. They depend upon their own righteousness, offer all their sacrifices, and burn all their incense, with that fire (as Nadab and Abihu) and not with the fire from heaven. In their hope of acceptance with God they have no regard to the righteousness of Christ. They refresh and please themselves with a conceit of their own merit and sufficiency, and warm themselves with that. It is both light and heat to them. They compass themselves about with sparks of their own kindling. As they trust in their own righteousness, and not in the righteousness of Christ, so they place their happiness in their worldly possessions and enjoyments, and not in the favour of God. Creature-comforts are as sparks, short-lived and soon gone; yet the children of this world, while they last, warm themselves by them, and walk with pride and pleasure in the light of them. 2. The doom passed upon them. They are ironically told to walk in the light of their own fire. "Make your best of it, while it lasts. But what will be in the end thereof, what will it come to at last? This shall you have of my hand (says Christ, for to him the judgment is committed), you shall lie down in sorrow, shall go to bed in the dark." See Job 18:5, Job 18:6. His candle shall be put out with him. Those that make the world their comfort, and their own righteousness their confidence, will certainly meet with a fatal disappointment, which will be bitterness in the end. A godly man's way may be melancholy, but his end shall be peace and everlasting light. A wicked man's way may be pleasant, but his end and endless abode will be utter darkness.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Who is among you that feareth the Lord?.... Not…
Who is among you that feareth the Lord?.... Not with a slavish fear of the awful majesty of God, or of his tremendous judgments, or of wrath to come, but with a filial fear, a fear of the Lord, and his goodness, which is an internal principle in the heart, a reverential affection for God, a godly fear of him; is attended with faith in him, and joy of him; which makes holy, and keeps humble, and takes in the whole worship of God: of men of this character there are but few, and especially there were but few among the Jews at this time which the prophecy refers to; the greatest part were rejecters of Christ, before spoken of, and to; and from whom the Lord turns himself, and addresses these few. There are none that naturally fear the Lord, only such who have the grace bestowed on them; their number is but small, but there are always some in the worst of times, and these are taken notice of by the Lord, Mal 3:16,
that obeyeth the voice of his servant: not the prophet, as the Targum adds, and as it is commonly interpreted by the Jewish writers, and others; though some of them say (d) this is "Metatron", a name of the Messiah with them; and indeed he is meant, before spoken of as the Lord's servant, and represented as an obedient one, and afterwards as righteous; see Isa 49:3 and by his "voice" is meant either his Gospel, which is a soul quickening and comforting voice, a charming and alluring one; and which is obeyed, heard, and hearkened to, by his people, externally and internally, when they receive it by faith, and in the love of it; or else his commands, precepts, and ordinances, which love constrains his people to an obedience unto; and where there is the fear of God, there will be hearing of his word, and submission to his ordinances:
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that walketh in darkness: not the Lord's servant, but the man that fears the Lord, and obeys his servant's voice, such an one may be in darkness, and walk in it; or "in darknesses" (e), as in the original; not only in affliction and misery, often expressed by darkness in Scripture, but in desertion, under the hidings of God's face; and which may continue for a while:
and hath no light? or "shining" (f): not without the light of nature, nor without the light of grace, but without the light of God's countenance shining upon him; without the light of spiritual joy and comfort shining in his heart; and this must be a very distressing case indeed.
Let him trust in the name of the Lord; not in himself, nor in any creature, but in the Lord himself; in the perfections of his nature, his mercy, grace, and goodness; in the name of the Lord, which is a strong tower, and in whom is salvation; in Christ, in whom the name of the Lord is, and whose name is the Lord our Righteousness; and to trust in him, when in the dark, is a glorious act of faith; this is believing in hope against hope.
And stay upon his God; covenant interest continues in the darkest dispensation; God is the believer's God still; and faith is a staying or leaning upon him, as such; a dependence upon his power to protect, on his wisdom to guide, and on his grace, goodness, and all sufficiency, to supply.
(d) Zohar in Exod. fol. 54. 3. (e) (f) "splendor", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Vitringa.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The voice - Of Christ, who is called God's…
The voice - Of Christ, who is called God's servant, by way of eminency and to intimate that though he was God, yet he would take upon himself the form of a servant. In darkness - Not in sin, but in misery, that lives in a disconsolate and calamitous condition. No light - No comfort. Trust - Let him fix his faith and hope in the mercy, and faithfulness, of the Lord, declared in his word, and in his interest in God, who by the mediation of this servant is reconciled to him and made his God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. Who is among you that feareth the…
Verse 10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord] I believe this passage has been generally, if not dangerously, misunderstood. It has been quoted, and preached upon, to prove that "a man might conscientiously fear God, and be obedient to the words of the law and the prophets; obey the voice of his servant - of Jesus Christ himself, that is, be sincerely and regularly obedient to the moral law and the commands of our blessed Lord, and yet walk in darkness and have no light, no sense of God's approbation, and no evidence of the safety of his state." This is utterly impossible; for Jesus hath said, "He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." If there be some religious persons who, under the influence of morbid melancholy, are continually writing bitter things against themselves, the word of God should not be bent down to their state. There are other modes of spiritual and Scriptural comfort. But does not the text speak of such a case? And are not the words precise in reference to it? I think not: and Bishop Lowth's translation has set the whole in the clearest light, though he does not appear to have been apprehensive that the bad use I mention had been made of the text as it stands in our common Version. The text contains two questions, to each of which a particular answer is given: -
Q. 1. "Who is there among you that feareth JEHOVAH?
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Ans. Let him hearken unto the voice of his servant.
Q. 2. Who that walketh in darkness and hath no light?
Ans. Let him trust in the name of Jehovah; And lean himself (prop himself) upon his God."
Now a man awakened to a sense of his sin and misery, may have a dread of JEHOVAH, and tremble at his word; and what should such a person do? Why he should hear what God's servant saith: "Come unto me, all ye who labour and are heavy laden; and I will give you rest." There may be a sincere penitent, walking in darkness, having no light of salvation; for this is the case of all when they first begin to turn to God. What should such do? They should trust, believe on, the Lord Jesus, who died for them, and lean upon his all-sufficient merits for the light of salvation which God has promised. Thus acting, they will soon have a sure trust and confidence that God for Christ's sake has forgiven them their sin, and thus they shall have the light of life.
Verse 10. That obeyeth the voice of his servant - "Let him hearken unto the voice of his servant"] For שמע shomea, pointed as the participle, the Septuagint and Syriac read ישמע yishma, future or imperative. This gives a much more elegant turn and distribution to the sentence.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 50:10-11. Who is among you that feareth the…
Isa 50:10-11. Who is among you that feareth the Lord? — He now turns his speech from the unbelieving and rebellious Jews, to those of them who were, or should be, pious. That obeyeth the voice of his servant — Of the same person of whom he has hitherto spoken, of Christ, who is called God’s servant by way of eminence, and to intimate that, though he was God, yet he would take upon himself the form of a servant. It is hereby signified, that the grace of God, and the encouragement and comfort here following, belong to none but those that believe in and obey this great prophet of the church; which was also declared by Moses, Deu 18:15, compared with Act 3:22-23. That walketh in darkness — Not in sin, which is often called darkness, but in misery, which the word also frequently signifies; that lives in a disconsolate and calamitous condition. And hath no light — No comfort nor prospect of deliverance. Let him trust in the name of the Lord, &c. — Let him fix his faith and hope in the amiable nature and infinite perfections, and especially in the mercy and faithfulness of the Lord, declared in his word, and in his interest in God, who, by the mediation of this his servant, is reconciled to him, and made his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire — That you may enjoy the light and comfort of it; you that reject the light which God hath set up, and seek for comfort and safety in your own inventions: which was the common error of the Jews in all ages, and especially in the days of the Messiah, when they refused him, and that way of salvation which he appointed, and rested on their own traditions and devices, going about to establish their own righteousness, and not submitting themselves unto the righteousness of God. That compass yourselves with sparks — Of your own kindling. Dr. Waterland and Bishop Lowth translate this latter clause, “who place, or heap the fuel around.” Walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled — Use your utmost endeavours to get comfort from these devices. This shall ye have of my hand, &c — This shall be the fruit of all, through my just judgment, that, instead of that comfort and security which you expect by these means, you shall receive nothing but vexation and misery, which shall pursue you both living and dying; for the word שׁכב, here rendered lie down, is frequently used for dying, as Gen 47:30; Job 21:26, and elsewhere.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Who is among you that feareth the Lord? -…
Who is among you that feareth the Lord? - This whole prophecy is concluded with an address made in this verse to the friends of God, and in the next to his enemies. It is the language of the Messiah, calling on the one class to put their trust in Yahweh, and threatening the other with displeasure and wrath. The exhortation in this verse is made in view of what is said in the previous verses. It is the entreaty of the Redeemer to all who love and fear God, and who may be placed in circumstances of trial and darkness as he was. to imitate his example, and not to rely on their own power, but to put their trust in the arm of Yahweh. he had done this Isa 50:7-9. He had been afflicted, persecuted, forsaken, by people Isa 50:6, and he had at that time confided in God and committed his cause to him; and he had never left or forsaken him. Encouraged by his example, he exhorts all others to cast themselves on the care of him who would defend a righteous cause.
That feareth the Lord - Who are worshippers of Yahweh.
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That obeyeth the voice of his servant - The Messiah (see the note at Isa 42:1). This is another characteristic of piety. They who fear the Lord will also obey the voice of the Redeemer Joh 5:23.
That walketh in darkness - In a manner similar to the Messiah Isa 50:6. God’s true people experience afflictions like others, and have often trials especially their own. They are sometimes in deep darkness of mind, and see no light. Comfort has forsaken them, and their days and nights are passed in gloom.
Let him trust in the name of the Lord - The Messiah had done this Isa 50:8-9, and he exhorts all others to do it. Doing this they would obtain divine assistance, and would find that he would never leave nor forsake them.
And stay upon his God - Lean upon him, as one does on a staff or other support. This may be regarded still as the language of the merciful Redeemer, appealing to his own example, and entreating all who are in like circumstances, to put their trust in God.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Light. The faithful are exhorted to take courage, while…
Light. The faithful are exhorted to take courage, while the Romans will destroy the rebellious Jews, (ver. 11.; Calmet) and the wicked shall dwell in hell fire. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Messiah exhorts the godly after His example (Isa 49:4-5;…
Messiah exhorts the godly after His example (Isa 49:4-5; Isa 42:4) when in circumstances of trial ("darkness," Isa 47:5), to trust in the arm of Jehovah alone.
Who is, &c.--that is, Whosoever (Jdg 7:3).
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obeyeth . . . servant--namely, Messiah. The godly "honor the Son, even as they honor the Father" (Joh 5:23).
darkness-- (Mic 7:8-9). God never had a son who was not sometimes in the dark. For even Christ, His only Son, cried out, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
light--rather, "splendor"; bright sunshine; for the servant of God is never wholly without "light" [VITRINGA]. A godly man's way may be dark, but his end shall be peace and light. A wicked man's way may be bright, but his end shall be utter darkness (Psa 112:4; Psa 97:11; Psa 37:24).
let him trust in the name of the Lord--as Messiah did (Isa 50:8-9).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 10. Thus far, beginning with the fourth verse, we…
10. Thus far, beginning with the fourth verse, we have had the words of the Servant of God. The Isa_50:1-3 were Jehovah’s words of the import that the sufferings of God’s people were the necessary fruit of their own sins. And now Jehovah closes with a warning to his people again, to the import, first, That if they who at heart fear Jehovah, and have had the spirit of self-sacrifice measurably like that of his Servant, yet have walked much in darkness, have had buffetings, trials, dishonour, and injustice, let them trust in Jehovah their Father, who loves and will deliver them; and will yet secure to them blessed victories. Unlike Jehovah’s Servant, they suffer not a little from perversions of character of their own forming, for which the discipline is awhile all the sharper, but ought to lead to the greater humiliation before God, and to a more undoubting trust in him.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10. Those who fear the Lord are exhorted to…
10. Those who fear the Lord are exhorted to imitate the Servant’s trust in God.
that obeyeth the voice of his servant] (lit. “that hearkeneth to” &c.). The LXX. reads “let him hearken,” which certainly gives a better balanced verse: “Whoso among you feareth Jehovah, let him hearken” &c. The reference is not merely to the words just spoken (Isa_50:4-9), but to the whole revelation of which the Servant is the organ.
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that walketh] Better, as R.V., he that walketh—commencing a new sentence.
in darkness] lit. “in dark places”; i.e. in trouble.
let him trust &c.] Cf. ch. Isa_26:4; Hab_2:4.
10, 11. A double message of encouragement and warning based on the preceding soliloquy of the Servant. It seems evident that the Servant here is regarded as the nucleus of the godly party who are addressed in Isa_50:10; in other words, as a personification of the true Israel which is in process of being separated from the unbelieving part of the nation. These last are addressed in Isa_50:11 as opponents and persecutors of the faithful Israelites.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) That obeyeth the voice of his servant.—The question…
(10) That obeyeth the voice of his servant.—The question may be asked of any servant of Jehovah, such as was Isaiah himself, but receives its highest application in the Servant who has appeared as speaking in the preceding verses.
That walketh in darkness.—The words grow at once out of the prophet’s own experience and that of the ideal Servant. All true servants know what it is to feel as if the light for which they looked had for a time failed them, to utter a prayer like that of Ajax, “Give light, and let us die” (Hom. Il. xvii. 647). The Servant felt it when he uttered the cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mat_27:46). For such an one there were the words of counsel, “Trust, in spite of the darkness.” So the cry of the forsaken Servant was followed by the word “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luk_23:46).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 10, 11. AN ADDRESS OF JEHOVAH TO HIS…
Vers. 10, 11. AN ADDRESS OF JEHOVAH TO HIS CHURCH. Some suppose that the Church of Hezekiah"s reign is addressed; others the exiles towards the close of the Captivity period. The first verse is an exhortation, encouraging those who fear God, but have insufficient light, to trust in him. The second threatens such as "kindle fire," or cause strife, with retribution.
That obeyeth the voice of his servant; that is, of "his servant" for the time being, whether Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or the Servant" kat exochn That walketh in darkness. Not clearly seeing his way or knowing what his duty is, and so inclined to despond and doubt. Every such person is bidden to put aside his doubts, and trust wholly in the Name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Hence light will shine in upon him, and his doubts will be resolved, and sufficient light will be granted him to direct his paths.
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HOMILIES BY W.M. STATHAM Ver. 10. A searching query.
"Who is among you," etc.? What wonderful discrimination of character there is in Scripture! It is "a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." And it is ever associated with the Divine remedies. Go to a physician, and you often fear the worst. That never is so with the great Physician. Beautiful idea of trust! We cannot force either conviction or feeling.
1. The position described.
2. The remedy proposed.
I THE POSITION DESCRIBED. Human life has its terrible side. So has nature. You see the broad Sea in her bewitching and entrancing beauty, and you forget how many boats have been lost in the wild tempest. This is said of a devout man: "one who fears God." Not, of course, strange that a man who does not fear God should feel like this. We may be children, knowing God"s will, trying in our poor way to do it.
1. A season of deep distress. Other griefs are great; but we feel the religious life cold and indifferent! Not only at times do we feel weakened confidence in man, but in God! Light is so beautiful. It quickens life- It stirs the pulses of joy. It keeps the home in view.
2. A season of weak faith. Not so much in a Providence as in the ability to lay hold on the promises. To doubt our sincerity. To doubt our love. Given a man of exceeding faith: he will minimize his troubles, according to the extent of his faith.
3. A season of pilgrimage. Still has to walk on. Avocations call him forth. Relationships to others must be sustained. Opportunities must be made use of. Life is a continual forth going; and we walk on. What meditations! What regrets!
II THE REMEDY PROPOSED.
1. A Name. How simple! God is not merely everlasting, or almighty: he is known to us by a Name. Christ has shown us the Father. Well, we cannot understand God apart from intuitions and relationships. I thank God for the lexicon of the family.
2. A trust. Not trying to hurry events. Refusing to judge by appearances. Why should I? Did the Old Testament heroes? Appearances have deceived. Even untoward health and untoward fortune.
3. A stay. This is an old English word. I cannot stay myself on myself cannot anchor a boat to itself. I can and do stay upon that which I see not. I can rely upon a God whose promise invites me. I may refuse to give up that rest, and say, amid human disappointments, "Beautiful tree, under whose shadow I pasture! Blessed rock, where I have refuge from the heat!" We love to feel that we are in him that is "true. W.M.S.
Counsel for those who walk in the dark.
"Let him trust in the Name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." Christians walk in darkness when their evidences for heaven are clouded, their joy in God is interrupted, the testimony of the Spirit is suspended, and the light of God"s countenance is eclipsed." The first reference of this passage is to the anxieties of the latter part of Hezekiah"s reign, when national dangers were great, and many political parties existed, one recommending one course, and one another. It was very difficult to decide what course to take. Good men, who wanted to do right, walked in darkness." Use the figure of going an unknown path on a dark night. We only feel safe as we hold some one"s hand, and let him guide us. God is the true Guide, and darkness and light are both alike to him. There is a sense in which one must always be walking in the dark. "We are not sufficient of ourselves even to think anything as of ourselves." "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." We can never see more than one step at a time. The future is altogether unknown. If we were sure of ourselves, we can never be sure of others. There is no possibility of our knowing how they wilt act under given circumstances. Only in vague and uncertain ways can we ever plan, for all our plans are formed in the dark. It is God"s law for us that we shall walk through life in the dark. The question isMust we walk alone? That question our text answers. No; we may stay ourselves on our God. Illustrate by the artistic conception of Noel Paton concerning the guide through the death-valley, in his "Mors Janua Vitae" picture. God would have us cherish the spirit which says"I"d rather walk in the dark with God Than go alone in the light.
The "Name of God," in which we are to trust, is the name of a safe Guide so the ages say, so the saints of all the ages say. He is the Great-Heart for pilgrims, whether they walk on the hill-ridges of prosperity in the light, or along the valleys of fear and trouble, where the shadows lie thick and heavy. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Who is among you that feareth the Lord?
Isa_50:10-11
Who is among you that feareth the Lord?
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The fear of the Lord
The fear of the Lord blends its operations with the exercise of every other grace. It intermixes with faith, and renders it fruitful; it co-operates with love, and prevents it from becoming secure; it unites with hope, and keeps it from swelling into presumption; it mingles with joy, and so moderates it that we rejoice with trembling. It extends its benign influence through every department of Divine worship, and so occupies the mind with awful respect for God as excites to caution and circumspection in every situation and service, whilst it cherishes amiable humility in the Divine presence. (R. Macculloch.)
Light and darkness
There is no more intelligible image--none more interwoven into the texture of popular thought and popular phraseology--than that by which light is made to express joy and felicity, while darkness, and other kindred terms, are employed to denote misery and discomfort. So commonly are such words applied in a metaphysical sense, that, in the case of some of them (the word gloom, for example) it is hardly possible to say which of the two they are oftenest used to indicate--a certain state of mind, or a certain state of outward nature. (E. M. Goulburn, D.C.L.)
The child of light walking in darkness
(1) See how the Lord inquires for His people. In every congregation He asks this question: Who is among you that feareth the Lord? These are the wheat upon the threshing-floor.
(2) Observe, how clearly the Lord describes His own people. The description is brief, but remarkably full. Holy reverence within the heart, and careful obedience manifested in the life, these are the two infallible marks of the true man of God.
(3) The Lord not only makes an inquiry for these people, but takes note of their condition.
I. WHAT IS THIS CONDITION INTO WHICH A CHILD OF GOD MAY COME? The person described is one that fears the Lord, and obeys the voice of His servant, yet walketh in darkness, and hath no light.
1. To many who know nothing of Christian experience this condition might seem to be a surprising one.
2. This condition is a severe test of grace.
3. It is also very sorrowful.
4. Perhaps the worst feature of this darkness is, that it is so bewildering. You have to walk, and yet your way is hidden from your eyes.
5. Yet this does not absolve us from daily duty. The walk has to be continued, though the light has departed. When it is quite dark, it is safe to sit down till the day dawns. If I cannot sleep, at any rate I can quietly rest, till the sun is up. He that believeth shall not make haste. But what if you cannot stand still? What if you may not remain where you are? Something has to be done, and done at once; and thus you are compelled to walk on, though you cannot see an inch before you. What but a Divine faith can do this?
II. WHAT IS THERE TO TRUST TO WHEN YOU ARE IN SUCH A CONDITION AS THAT?
1. What is there to trust in the name of Jehovah? It is I Am, and signifies His self-existence. This is a fine foundation for trust.
2. But we understand by the name the revealed character of God. When thou canst not see thy way, then open this Book and try to find out what sort of God it is in whom thou dost trust.
3. By the name of the Lord is also meant His dear Son, for it is in Jesus Christ that Jehovah has proclaimed His name.
4. It is also good when you are thinking of the name of the Lord, to remember that to you it signifies what you have seen of God in your own experience. This is His memorial or name to you.
5. But, furthermore, the text says, Let him stay upon his God. Let him lean upon his God; make God his stay, his prop, his rest. This is a variation from the former sentence. He was to trust In the name of Jehovah, but now he is to lean upon his God. You have taken God to be your God, have you not? If so, He has also taken you to be His own. There is a covenant between you: lean on that covenant. Treat it as a valid covenant in full force.
III. WHY SHOULD WE TRUST GOD AT SUCH TIMES?
1. If you do not trust Him now, you will have cause to suspect whether you ever did trust Him at all.
2. Because His promises were made for dark hours.
3. Here a permit is especially issued for you, to allow you to trust in God in darkness. Thus saith the Lord, Let him trust.
4. More than this, I understand this verse to be a command to trust in the name of the Lord. It is an order to trust in our God up to the hilt, for it bids us stay ourselves upon our God. We are not fitfully to trust, and then to fear; but to come to a stay in God, even as ships enter a haven, cast their anchors, and then stay there till the tempest is over-past.
5. If you do not stay upon God in the dark, it would seem as if, after all, you did not trust God, but were trusting to the light, or were relying on your own eyesight.
6. Remember one thing more, our blessed Lord and Master was not spared the blackest midnight that ever fell on human mind.
IV. WHAT WILL COME OF IT IF WE DO TRUST IN GOD IN THE DARK.
1. Such a faith will glorify God. It does not glorify God to trust Him when you have a thousand other props and assistances.
2. It is very likely that through this darkness you will be humbled.
3. If thou wilt trust God in thy trial, thou wilt prove and enjoy the power of prayer.
4. If in your darkness you go to God and trust Him, you will become an established Christian.
5. By and by we shall come out into greater light than we have as yet hoped for. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Light in darkness
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCE expressed by the words walking in darkness, and having no light. This description is properly applicable only to circumstances of the deepest distress. In our darkest hours there are generally some rays of light left. If some enjoyments are withdrawn, others remain. If we suffer in one way, we receive pleasure in another. Seldom does it happen that our condition is so deplorable as to be entirely gloomy and wretched. In such circumstances we are necessarily led to look out for comfort.
II. OUR BEST RELIEF IS TRUSTING IN THE NAME OF THE LORD and staying ourselves upon God. Let us turn our thoughts to the Deity, and reflect on His perfect government.
1. In such circumstances we should consider that the Deity is always intimately present with us, and sees all that passes in the world.
2. We should further consider that this Being stands in the nearest relation to us. He is our parent, we are His offspring.
3. To these reflections, let us add that this Being is almighty, all-wise, and all-benevolent.
III. THE RELIEF DERIVED FROM HENCE CAN BE ENJOYED ONLY BY THOSE THAT FEAR THE LORD. It is in well-doing that we are commanded to commit our souls to God. (R. Price, D.D.)
The believer in darkness
I. THE CHARACTER MENTIONED.
II. THE CIRCUMSTANCES STATED. He walks in darkness, etc. No spiritual light? No; he who has Jesus Christ in his heart cannot be ignorant. Nor is he miserable. Nor does he walk in the darkness of sin. The text refers to providential darkness.
III. THE DIRECTIONS GIVEN. Trust in the name of the Lord--in His power, benevolence, fidelity. (J. Summerfield, M.A.)
A day-star for dark hearts
1. If this were the only word Isaiah had ever written, it, would be cherished as a marvel of sweetest wisdom; just as, were there only one star, it would be admired with surpassing interest and wonder. But, one amongst many, the brightest star and the richest text ceases to enkindle the enthusiasm or attract the gaze of men.
2. There are many things about this word strikingly suggestive--
(1) The Old Testament designation of a saint--One that feareth the Lord.
(2) By linking this verse (verse 10) to the one that follows, and studying the two as a pair, what lessons do they give--on the superiority of Divine darkness to human light; on the blessedness of rather being under the cloud, patiently waiting Gods appearing, than striking sparks of our own light to lead us in the ways of common life. Heaven-sent darkness--say care or affliction, is better than sparks of ones own kindling--say gaiety, mirth, delusive theories of life.
3. The text assumes that, although joy in the Holy Ghost ought to mark every saint of God, yet, as a matter of fact, the truest saints have to endure darkness, gloom, and trial. And it requires that all such should not be dispirited by the clouds which cross their sky, but that even when long patience and earnest gazing fail to perceive the presence of God they should still rely on Him. Many would say: If any among you fears the Lord and walks in darkness, let him suspect there is something wrong; be careful to examine himself whether he is in the faith, etc. But where we would say Examine, the prophet says Trust. (R. Glover, D. D.)
Encouragement
The prophets word--
I. BIDS THE PENITENT HOPE.
II. BRINGS COMFORT TO THOSE EMBARRASSED BY HONEST INQUIRY.
III. BRINGS COMFORT TO ALL THE TROUBLED. There are a multitude whose outward or inward troubles produce darkness whatever their character may be. Some, for instance, are troubled by their state of health; it is such as produces a peculiar tendency to gloom. There are others who are troubled with the course of Providence. Others are troubled in soul. Such temptations beset them! Resisted, these renew their attack. Overcome, they rise up afresh to distress them. (R. Glover, D. D.)
Depression
I suppose that there are very few, if any, who reach old age or even middle life without the painful experience of times of depression of spirits. There come, perhaps, days in the life of every one when all things seem against him. Such times are not foreign to the experience of Gods greatest saints, and Isaiah appears to contemplate them as times to be expected by the servant of God.
1. Isaiah is not alone in this. There are numberless instances in Holy Scripture which show how true it is.
2. But whatever the cause, if the conscience is clear from wilful sin, what is our duty under such a state of depression? The text sets before us two things as needful--
(1) Obedience. The prophet assumes that those to whom he is speaking will, in spite of their perplexity, obey. He would have them acquiesce in the God-permitted darkness, however trying and painful it may be. Better darkness than a light which is not kindled from above. And yet not seldom it is such a time of depression which drives a man to despair, and leads him in the end to give up his faith altogether. In hours of darkness great is the temptation to have recourse to fires of our own kindling--to seek for light elsewhere than from the Father of Lights; and so in the verse following that taken as the text, Isaiah turns to those who are yielding to the temptation, and warns them in tones of scornful irony against false lights of their own kindling.
(2) Faith.
3. This week we are watching our Lord in His path through the dark vale of suffering and along the way of sorrows. Our eyes are fixed on but one figure. To-day we contemplate those two points which the Epistle especially brings out--His perfect obedience, and His perfect trust. Let us learn a much-needed lesson--It is sufficient for the disciple that he be as his Master. (E. C. S. Gibson, M.A.)
Trust in God
I. THE CHARACTER AND STATE OF THOSE WHO ARE EXHORTED TO TRUST IN THE NAME OF THE LORD.
1. They that fear God may signify--
(1) Those who have a sincere regard to the commandments of God, and have chosen Him as their portion and hope. Those who desire and deserve to be distinguished from the profane despiser, the secure formalist, or the disguised hypocrite. Those, in a word, who are, and who desire to appear upon the Lords side in every struggle, and who resolve with Joshua, that whatever others do, they will serve the Lord.
(2) But we may explain the words in a stricter sense, and suppose, that by fearing the Lord is to be understood a due reverence for His infinite majesty, a humble veneration for His sacred authority.
2. The next part of the character is, and obeyeth the voice of His servant; that is to say is willing to hearken to the message of God, by the mouth of His servants.
3. That walketh in darkness, and hath no light.
(1) Sometimes light signifies knowledge, and darkness signifies ignorance Eph_5:8; Act_26:18; Job_37:19).
(2) Sometimes darkness signifies distress or trouble, and the correspondent signification of light is deliverance and joy (2Sa_22:28-29; Job Psa_97:11; Est_8:16). None of these senses is to be excluded in the passage before us. Believers may walk in darkness, when ignorant or uncertain as to what nearly concerns them, as well as under distress and trouble. They have also a mutual influence upon, produce, and are produced by one another. A good man may walk in darkness--When he is in doubt or uncertainty as to his interest in the Divine favour. When he is under the pressure of outward calamity. When the state of the Church is such, that he cannot understand or explain, in a satisfying manner, the course of Divine providence.
II. THE DUTY OF TRUST IN GOD AND THE FOUNDATION OF IT. Trust is a reliance or confidence in God, that, however discouraging appearances may be for the present time, yet, by His power and wisdom, our desires and expectation shall take place, whether as to deliverance from trouble, or the obtaining of future blessings. Trust rests ultimately on the promise. It is of the greatest moment to understand the nature and tenor of the promises. For this end, it may be proper to distinguish the promises of God, as to futurity, into two heads, absolute and conditional. By absolute promises I understand only those that are so in the most unlimited sense, that is to say, revealed as a part of the fixed plan of Providence, suspended on no terms but what all, of every character, may expect will certainly, come to pass. Conditional promises divide into three different heads
(1) Promises made to persons of such or such a character, or in such or such a state.
(2) Promises, the performance of which is suspended on our compliance with something previously required, as the condition of obtaining them.
(3) Promises, not only suspended on both the preceding terms, but upon the supposition of some circumstances in themselves uncertain, or to us unknown.
III. PRACTICAL APPLICATION.
1. See what judgment you ought to form of inward suggestions, and strong or particular impressions upon your minds. The suggestion of a passage of Scripture of itself gives no title to the immediate application of it, because the great deceiver may undoubtedly suggest Scripture, as we find he could reason from it in our Saviour's temptation. We are, in every such case, to consider the tenor of it, if it be a promise or encouragement, that is, how and in what manner it may be safely applied. If any thing happens to be suggested that expressly suits our present condition, either by setting home the obligation of duty, with particular evidence upon the conscience, or pointing out the grounds of comfort, it ought to be thankfully acknowledged as from the Spirit of God.
2. See what it is that we ought to seek for with the greatest earnestness, and may hope to obtain with the greatest confidence.
3. Adore the wisdom, justice and mercy of God, in the order He hath established, according to the different nature of the promises. That which is of unspeakable value, and radically contains all the rest, is placed first in order, and offered in the most free and gracious manner, without money and without price. Salvation is preached to the chief of sinners, and a Saviour held forth as able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him.
4. Learn what is the plainest, the shortest, and indeed, the only sure way to deliverance from distress or calamity of whatever kind. It is to fly to the mercy of God through the blood of Christ, to renew the exercises of faith in Him, and you will perceive every other covenant-blessing flow clear and unmixed from this inexhaustible source. (J. Witherspoon, D.D.)
The want of assurance
I. THE CHARACTER ADDRESSED is distinctly drawn. It is a child of light walking in darkness. Poverty, disease, litigation, oppression, perplexity, the loss of intimate friends and relations, doubts, disappointments, errors in religion, actual transgressions, and the temptations of the adversary, working with the corruptions of the human heart, are permitted in the providence of God, to affect Christians in various degrees of perturbation and sorrow, until they walk in darkness and have no light.
II. THE DUTY RECOMMENDED. Let him trust, etc. (A. McLeod, D.D.)
The duty of those who have not assurance
I. DISTINGUISH DOUBTS OF YOUR OWN PIETY, FROM THE SIN OF UNBELIEF.
1. Doubting respects ourselves; and calls in question our having already become subjects of Divine grace: but unbelief respects the Lord, and calls in question, either the reality of Divine things, or Christs willingness and power to save them that believe.
2. Doubting of our safety does no more than reject the evidence which is furnished by our own minds; an evidence which is often very imperfectly delivered and received: but unbelief always rejects the testimony which God has given us of His own Son, and so, by contradicting God, makes him a liar, so far as the sinner has it in his power.
3. Doubting of ones piety may be at times both reasonable and profitable; for when a man has but a small measure of grace, it may lead him to seek for more: but unbelief, always against the Word and attributes of the God of our salvation, is unreasonable, unprofitable, and impious.
4. Doubting of ones personal piety often includes, not only anxiety to be saved by Divine grace, but also a sincere desire to attain to an assured interest in the everlasting covenant: but unbelief excludes the idea of love to the true God, rejects the covenant of grace, and distinctly relinquishes the mercy which is offered in the Lord Jesus Christ.
5. Doubts are consistent, not only with sincere piety, but also with progress in sanctification: but unbelief is the exercise of an unregenerate heart.
6. Doubting of ones holiness humbles under a sense of sin, and produces penitence and sorrow: but unbelief hardens the heart into negligence or despair; or exasperates the sinner more and more against Divine things.
II. ASCERTAIN, WITH ALL DILIGENCE, THE CAUSE OF YOUR OWN DOUBTS AND UNEASINESS: for it is by understanding your disease, you will be qualified to apply the remedy provided in the Gospel of God.
1. Error causes darkness and doubt. Clear views of Divine truth is the preventive and the cure.
2. Indolence, and consequent inattention to the due improvement of our talents, often occasion spiritual decline and despondence. The remedy is found in vigilance and Christian activity.
3. The passions, through the remaining corruptions of the heart, often cause transgressions, and consequent doubts and despondence.
4. Satan is the principal cause of those doubts and fears; and resistance to his exertions is the means of assurance.
5. In pointing out the duty of Christians, who have not the assurance of salvation, I must not omit, Steadfast continuance in practical obedience to all the commandments. (A. McLeod, D. D.)
Gods message to the desponding
When such an experience comes upon the saint, it will not be always safe to say that it is the shadow of some special sin. The security of the saint is rooted in the fact that God has a hold of him, and not at all in his consciousness that he has a hold of God. His comfort may be affected by the latter, but his safety is due entirely to the former. Hence, they who roundly affirm that if a man be walking in darkness and finding no light he cannot be a Christian, are making salvation depend, not on Gods work for a man and in him, but simply and entirely on his Own emotions. Moreover, they are strangely oblivious of some of the best-known passages in the history even of the most eminent saints. But despondency is not a state of mind in which any one desires to remain. And he should be encouraged to get out of it as quickly as possible. For it puts everything about him into shadow. It sets all his songs to a minor key. It gives to all his prayers a wailing pathos. It takes away much of his buoyancy and elasticity for work.
I. THE CAUSES OF SPIRITUAL DESPONDENCY.
1. It may spring from natural temperament. Each of us is born with a certain predisposition to joy or sadness, to irascibility or patience, to quickness of action or deliberateness of conduct, which we call temperament. While conversion may Christianize that temperament, it does not change it.
2. Spiritual despondency may be caused by disease. That which we call lowness of spirits is very often the result of some imprudence in diet, or some local disturbance. See the relief which this affords. It removes from religion the responsibility for the depression of such a man as Cowper, and traces his spiritual gloom to disease of the brain.
3. Spiritual despondency is often the result of trial. Think of Peters words: Ye are in heaviness through manifold trials. One affliction will not usually becloud our horizon. But when a whole series of distresses comes on us in succession, the effect is terrible. First, it may be, comes sickness, and we are getting round from that when business difficulties overwhelm us. These are scarcely arranged before bereavement comes; and while we are still in the valley, we are set upon by Apollyon in the shape of some scandalous accuser who seeks to rob us of our good name.
4. Spiritual despondency may be caused by mental perplexity. The old beliefs are once more on their trial, and when a youth reaches the age when he must exchange a traditional piety for a personal conviction, he is plunged for the time into the greatest misery. It seems to him almost as if everything were giving way beneath him.
II. THE COUNSELS TO THE DESPONDING which are given or suggested by this text.
1. The oppressed spirit must keep on fearing the Lord and obeying the voice of His servant.
2. To the desponding believer the second thing to be said is, keep on trusting God.
3. Then, let us not fail to note the deep meaning of that word stay. It encourages you to lean your whole weight upon God, and to do that continuously. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Desertion
I. THE CHARACTER OF HIM TO WHOM THIS COUNSEL IS ADDRESSED.
II. THE STATE IN WHICH SUCH AN ONE IS SOMETIMES FOUND.
1. He may want the light of direction.
2. He may want the light of knowledge.
3. He may want the light of comfort.
III. WHAT SHALL HE DO IN THIS TRYING HOUR (H. Verschoyle.)
Willing and unwilling unbelief
For practical purposes we may make one broad distinction--that between willing and unwilling unbelievers. I turn to the consideration of that class of unbelievers who would believe if they could; who are neither rebels against moral restraint, nor consumed by a morbid pride: who love good deeds and good men and desire only to know and believe what is true. It is strange that some of them should accuse themselves of unbelief, seeing that the very wish to believe is a sign that they do believe already--a proof of loyalty to their Father in heaven rooted deep down in their inmost souls. Their faith is genuine though not strong enough to bear the fruits of love to God or of hope and consolation. There are those to whom the difficulty of believing in God is all but insuperable owing to the constitution of their minds. To such, every conception, to be a conception at all, must be accurate and sharply defined. Reason stands like a sentinel before the door of the imagination and feelings and will let nothing pass that does not carry the passport of clear and absolute definition. They are, therefore, for the time incapable of realizing any of the joys of belief and can no more be blamed for their unbelief than for not being able to fly. I do not think religion is attainable by the mere exercise of the reason. Another source of difficulty is also constitutional. When people are of a desponding and melancholy temperament, they naturally dwell on the darker side of things; and as this is the exact opposite of faith in God, no wonder it should be so much more difficult for them to believe. It is true, and there are numberless instances to prove it, that many a naturally depressed mind has found its only relief from apprehension and despondency in the sense of Gods abiding friendliness. It has been said to me more than once:--The next best thing to believing for ones self is to see others believe. So it behoves all who live in the celestial sunshine of faith and hope to reflect by their cheerful and pure lives as much as possible the light that shines on their own souls upon the hearts of others less happy than themselves. (C. Voysey, M.A.)
Spiritual darkness
(with Mic_7:8):--Isaiah describes the experience. Micah besides that describes himself as being, or having been, in the heart of the experience. The Bible is a many-sided book.
I. DARKNESS AS A FACT OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, AND THE CHRISTIANS PROPER EXERCISE UNDER IT. In the natural world it is not always light, at least with our planet. The sun goes down and darkness spreads. So in the higher life. The spiritual heavens are not always bright. Some sun or other that had been shedding its light on the soul goes down, and the man sits in darkness.
1. It may be the light of faith that is darkened. Spiritual realities are withdrawn into shadow.
2. It may be the light of Gods face that is felt to be withdrawn.
3. Darkness may come in the form of the fading away of some Christian hope--personal hopes or hopes for the kingdom of God. This dark experience gives a striking demonstration that God only is mans Comforter.
II. DARKNESS AS A MEANS OF SPIRITUAL DISCOVERY. Perhaps the best explanation of this darkness, and it is a vindication too, is found in the results which it works. In nature the darkness of night lets us see what we cannot see when the sun is shining. It is the same with spiritual night, or may be. The man of God may then get great enlargement of spiritual information and understanding. There need be no mystery why all this is so. The man that sits in darkness is by the pressure of his position made a more diligent searcher into Divine things.
III. DARKNESS AS A DISCIPLINE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. It may secure for it some of its best graces--the mildest, the most mellowed, the most hallowed. There are plants that grow best in a dim light. Amongst those Christian graces that take deeper root in the dark are:
1. Humility.
2. Trustfulness.
3. Self-surrender.
Conclusion--
1. The painfulness of this discipline must not be forgotten. They only know the horrors of Divine desertion who have relished the joys of Divine communion. If these things are done in the green tree what shall be done in the dry? If God takes such means to improve grace, what means will He take to punish sin?
2. Sympathize with the deserted child of God. God is not angry with him. Behind a frowning providence, etc. God does earnestly remember him Jer_31:20).
3. Ye who sit in darkness beware of two things--impatience and sullen indifference. (J. Wardrop, D. D.)
Spiritual darkness
I. This DARKNESS may arise possibly--
1. From over-occupation in the affairs of life. The questionable has been acted upon as the admissible.
2. From a disordered state of the body. The brain has not been kept clear by rational living. Late hours, undue excitement have brought on spiritual dyspepsia; or excesses of youth are now demanding their penalty, or an inheritance of evils has caused it.
3. From a non-apprehension of the fulness of the atonement of Christ. We may believe in Gods ability to pardon, but do not realize how He leads us into holiness; or whether we have come to Christ in the right way, or about the uncertainty as to the time of our conversion, or fear lest the past neglect to make progress in the Divine life should cut us off from all hope; or the gloom comes from neglecting the Bible and prayer for something less profitable, or from over-religious excitement that has given us a distaste for obscurer and quieter work, or disappointment in hopes respecting the coming of Christs kingdom, or from seeing much of mystery and pain around, or from trouble how to save the masses, or from the spread of materialistic ideas, and so on.
II. HOW ARE CHRISTIANS TO BE DELIVERED FROM IT? Trust in the name of the Lord. We know how a name can cheer men. The mention of the name of Caesar and of Wellington had a wonderful effect upon their men. Trust in Him for pardon and sanctification. You are His friend, and are longing for Him. He will work in you. Trust absolutely in Christ; stay upon Him. A sufferer of fourteen years said, I can bear anything, for Christ is with me. (F. Hastings.)
A Child of light walking in darkness
I. ONE WHO TRULY FEARS GOD, AND IS OBEDIENT TO HIM, MAY BE IN A CONDITION OF DARKNESS, AND HAVE NO LIGHT; and may walk many days and years in that condition.
1. Walking in darkness is taken (1Jn_1:6) for living in sin and ungodliness. But so it is not to be taken here; for Christ would not have encouraged such to trust in God, who is light, and there can be no fellowship between Him and such darkness, as the apostle tells us. Nay, the Holy Ghost reproves such as do lean on the Lord and yet transgress Mic_3:11). And besides, the text speaks of such who for their present condition fear God and are obedient to Him, which if they thus walked in darkness they could not be said to do.
2. Neither is it to be meant of walking in ignorance, as in Joh_12:35. For one that hath no light, in that sense, can never truly fear God nor obey Him.
3. He means it of discomfiture and sorrow, as often we find in Scripture darkness to be taken (Ecc_5:17); as, on the contrary, light, because it is so pleasant a thing to behold, is put for comfort Ecc_11:7), And that so it is taken here is evident by that which is opposed in the next verse, Walk ye in your light, yet ye shall lie down in sorrow. But--
4. Of what kind of sorrow and for what?
(1) It is not to be restrained to outward afflictions only, which are called mans infirmities, as being common to man; which arise from things of this world, or from the men of the world; though to walk in darkness is so Isa_59:9). For, in them also, a mans best support is to trust inGod. But yet that cannot be the only or principal meaning of it. He adds, and hath no light, that is, no comfort. Now, as philosophers say, there is no pure darkness without some mixture of light, so we may say, there is not mere or utter darkness caused by outward afflictions: no outward affliction can so universally environ the mind, as to shut up all the crannies of it, so that a man should have no light. Besides, Gods people, when they walk in the greatest outward darkness, may have most light in their spirits. But here is such an estate spoken of, such a darkness as bath no light in it. Therefore--
(2) It is principally to be understood of the want of inward comfort in their spirits, from something that is between God and them. Because the remedy here provided is faith. In the foregoing verses he had spoken of justification. But because there might be some poor souls who, though truly fearing God, yet might want this assurance, and upon the hearing of this might be the more troubled, because not able to express that confidence which he did, he adds, Who is among you, etc. These words have a relation also to the 4 th verse, where he says that God had given him the tongue of the learned, to minister a word of comfort in season to him that is weary and heavy laden; and thereupon, in this verse, he shows the blessed condition of such persons as are most weary through long walking in darkness; and withal he discovereth to them the way of getting out of this darkness, and recovering comfort again.
II. WHAT IS THE CONDITION OF SUCH A ONE WHO IS THUS IN DARKNESS, AND HATH NO LIGHT?
1. He is said to have no light. Light, saith the apostle (Eph_5:13), is that whereby things are made manifest, i.e., to the sense of sight and as light and faith are here severed, so sight also is (2Co_5:7) distinguished from faith, which is the evidence of things absent and not Heb_11:1). When, therefore, here he saith he hath no light, the meaning is, he wants all present sensible testimonies of Gods favour to him. To understand this, we must know that God, to help our faith, vouchsafeth a threefold light to His people, to add assurance and joy to their faith; which is to faith as a back of steel to a bow.
(1) The immediate light of His countenance.
(2) The sight and comfort of their own graces, unto which so many promises belong. So that often when the sun is set, yet starlight appears.
(3) Though he want the present light of Gods countenance, and the sight of present grace, yet he may have a comfortable remembrance of what once before he had still left.
2. He walks in darkness.
(1) To walk in darkness implies to be in doubt whither to go.
(2) Those in darkness are apt to stumble at everything.
(3) Darkness is exceedingly terrible and full of horror. (T. Goodwin.)
The child of God in darkness
I. THE EFFICIENT CAUSES OF THIS WOEFUL, DESPERATE, DARK CONDITION OF GODS CHILD.
1. Gods Spirit. The Spirit is not the direct efficient or positive cause of them. The Spirit of God may concur in this darkness that befalls His child.
(1) Privatively. He may suspend His testimony, and the execution of his office of witnessing adoption.
(2) Positively. He may further proceed to reveal and represent God as angry with His child for such and such sins formerly committed, and make him sensible thereof; not barely by concealing His love, but by making impressions of His wrath upon his conscience immediately, and not by outward crosses only.
2. A mans own guilty and fearful heart.
3. Satan. He works upon
(1) carnal reason,
(2) guilt of conscience,
(3) jealousies and fears.
II. THE CASES WHEREIN GOD LEAVES HIS CHILDREN UNTO THIS DARKNESS.
1. Extraordinary; as--
(1) Out of His prerogative.
(2) In ease He means to make a man eminently wise, and able to comfort others.
(3) In case of extraordinary comforts and revelations.
2. Ordinary.
(1) In case of carnal confidence.
(2) For neglecting such special opportunities of comforts and refreshings as God hath vouchsafed; as for the neglect of holy duties, wherein God did offer to draw nigh to us.
(3) In case of not exercising the graces which a man hath; when Christians are, as it were, between sleeping and waking.
(4) In case of some gross sin committed against light, unhumbled for, or proving scandalous, or of old sins long forgotten.
(5) In case of a stubborn spirit under outward afflictions.
(6) In case of deserting His truth, and not professing it and appearing for it when He calls us to do it.
(7) In case of unthankfulness, and too common an esteem had of assurance, and of freedom from those terrors and doubtings which others are in.
III. THE ENDS FOR WHICH GOD LEAVETH HIS CHILDREN UNTO THIS DARKNESS.
1. To show His power and faithfulness, in upholding, raising up, and healing such a a spirit again as hath been long and deadly wounded with reward terrors.
2. As to know the power of Christs resurrection, so the fellowship, of His sufferings; that thereby the soul may be made more conformable to Him.
3. To put the greater difference between the estate of Gods children here, and that hereafter in heaven.
4. To let us see whence spiritual comforts and refreshings come: that God alone keeps the keys of that cupboard, and alone dispenseth them how and when He pleaseth.
5. Other ends God hath, to make trial of our graces and a discovery of them. The same end that God had in leading His people through the great wilderness, where no water was, where scorpions stung them, which was to prove them, etc.; the same ends hath God in suffering His people to go through this desert, barrenness, and darkness, where no light is, and where terrors of the law do sting them--for His dealings then were types of Gods dealings with His people new--to prove them, and to make trial of their hearts.
(1) There is no grace God tries more than the grace of faith.
(2) Of all temptations none try it more than desertion of Gods countenance.
(3) In these conflicts of faith with desertions consisteth the height of our Christian warfare.
6. As it makes for the trial and discovery of graces, so it is a means sanctified to increase them, and to eat out corruptions.
(1) It is a means to destroy the flesh.
(2) To humble.
(3) To bring in more assurance and establishment.
(4) It trains you to fear God more, and to obey Him.
(5) To set believers hearts a-work to pray more and more earnestly.
(6) It causeth them to prize the light of Gods countenance the more when they again obtain it, and so set a higher price upon it, and to endeavour by close walking with God, as children of light, to keep it. (T. Goodwin.)
Counsel to those who walk in darkness
1. Take heed of rash, desperate, impatient and unbelieving speeches and wishes.
2. Let the troubled soul make diligent search.
3. Keep and lend one ear, as well to hear and consider what makes for their comfort, as unto what may make against them.
4. Make diligent search into, and call to remembrance what formerly hath been between God and you. The remembrance of former things doth often uphold, when present sense fails.
5. But now if former signs remembered bring thee no comfort in, but the waves that come over thy soul prove so deep that thou canst find no bottom to cast anchor on, the storm and stress so great that no cable will hold, but they snap all asunder, as is often the case of many a poor soul, then renew thy faith and repentance.
6. Then, stand not now disputing it, but be peremptory and resolute m thy faith and turning to God, let the issue be what it will be. Faith is never nonplussed.
7. Let him trust in the name of the Lord.
8. Wait upon God, thus trusting in His name, in the constant use of all ordinances and means of comfort. Waiting is indeed but an act of faith further stretched out.
9. Above all things pray, and get others also to pray for thee.
10. Having done all this, you would not rest in ease of conscience but healing. (T. Goodwin.)
Trust in the name of the Lord
The name of God, that is, Gods attributes, and Christs righteousness do sufficiently, and adequately, answer all wants and doubts, all objections and distresses. Whatsoever our want or temptations be, He hath a name to make supply (Exo_34:5-6). Art thou in miser and eat distress The Lord merciful. The Lord, therefore able to help thee; and merciful, therefore willing. Yea, but thou wilt say, I am unworthy; I have nothing in me to move Him to it. Well, He is gracious; now grace is to show mercy freely. Yea, but I have sinned against Him for many years; if I had come in when I was young, mercy might have been shown me. To this He says, I am long-suffering. But my sins abound in number, and it is impossible to reckon them up, and they abound in heinousness; I have committed the same sins again and again; I have been false to Him, broke promise with Him again and again. His name also answers this objection, He is abundant in goodness; He abounds more in grace than thou in sinning. And though thou hast been false again and again to Him, and broke all covenants, yet He is abundant in truth; also better than His Word, for He cannot to our capacities express all that mercy that is in Him for us. But I have committed great sins, aggravated with many and great circumstances. He forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin; sins of all sorts. But there is mercy thus in Him but for a few, and I may be none of the number. Yes, there is mercy for thousands. And He keeps it; treasures of it lie by Him, and are kept, if men would come and take them. Object what thou canst, His name will answer thee. Needest thou comfort as well as pardon? He is both Father of mercies and God of all comforts (2Co_1:3). Needest thou peace of conscience, being filled with terrors? He is the God of peace (1Th_5:23). But I have a heart empty of grace and holiness, and full of corruptions. He is the God of all grace to heal thee, as well as of peace to pardon thee. Needest thou wisdom and direction? He is the Father of lights, as the apostle says. Is thy heart inconstant and full of double-mindedness? He is unchangeable also. Thus all objections that can be made may be answered out of His name. Therefore it is all-sufficient for faith to rest upon. (T. Goodwin.)
Darkness and, light, and light and darkness
One cannot listen to these words without feeling that one needs to distinguish between the appearance and the reality of things. There are peculiarities in the lot of both the righteous and the wicked which baffle our expectations. The sufferings of the godly and the prosperity of the ungodly have always been a puzzle to thoughtful men. However confusing facts of this order may be, they very plainly constitute a most serious part of our earthly test and discipline.
I. THE DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT OF THE RIGHTEOUS.
1. The character of the righteous.
(1) He is animated by devout and reverential feeling towards God--he feareth the Lord. This inward sentiment of reverence is the living root of all practical godliness.
(2) He rules his heart and life by the inspired Word of God--He obeyeth the voice of His Servant. His Servant is the Servant of prediction, the Messiah of promise.
2. His trials. That walketh in darkness and hath no light. It is literally, darknesses. The shadows which fall upon our path are not one, but many. It is very startling, that men who revere God Himself, and obey His servants, obey even His chosen Servant of all, should ever walk in darkness and have no light. Yet that is sometimes their lot. They may not only be in darkness for a short while, but may be called to walk in it. Walking denotes, not what is occasional, but what is habitual. Be thankful that you walk not in the pitch darkness of many a poor soul in our day, to whom nothing exists but matter and motion and force.
3. The consolations of the righteous.
(1) Study the name of the Lord. His name declares His nature.
(2) Have faith in God. Trust.
(3) Leave the issue entirely to the Almighty. Let him stay upon his God. The word is, lean upon his God. The illustration is, a weak person leaning all his feebleness on a strong one,.and being upheld by his strength.
II. THE LIGHT AND THE DARKNESS OF THE WICKED.
1. The illusions of the wicked. Observe their activity.
(1) They kindle a fire, The fire is kindled for the sake of its light, not for the sake of its warmth. The righteous often walk in darkness and have no light; not so the wicked. They know how to make their own light. They have great confidence in their own resources. They ply their abilities to banish their ills, and to provide themselves with satisfactions. Men must have at least the semblance of good, if destitute of the reality. The industry of men in the pursuit of imaginary blessings is very noteworthy, very melancholy, and very pitiful. They compass themselves with sparks. I am not sure that sparks is the exact word that should have been used here. But it seems to be fire in some minute form. The impotence of mail is set forth and the inefficiency of his endeavours. He is very laborious. He surrounds himself with his artificial glimmers, and hopes to compensate their feebleness by their multitude. There are no Divine lights in the firmament of his night, and he fancies that the dim and dusky fiickerings which his own hands have multiplied about him are sufficient for his needs.
2. The seeming success of the, wicked. Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks that ye have kindled. It is as if the Almighty said to wilful and rebellious creatures: Take your own way. Pursue your dream, and eat the fruits of your folly. The light of the wicked, like the darkness of the righteous, is not single but manifold. They walk, too, amidst these lights, they live and delight themselves in the light of their own fires, and surrounded by the sparks that they have kindled.
3. The doom of the wicked. This shall ye have at My hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
(1) Men must lie down in sickness. Projects which flashed such alluring brightness grow very pale when health is gone and powers of enjoyment have fled. Shade me from the lying glare, cries the defrauded sufferer, when the head is sick and the heart is weary.
(2) Every man must lie down to die. When that solemn hour arrives, the wasted fingers will enkindle no more lights, and the shrunken limbs move no more amidst them. The whole circle of self-deceptions with which you have encompassed your soul, shall sink and vanish together, like the last glimmer forsakes the expiring wick, and leave only a noisome ash behind. How different are the righteous and the wicked in their darkness! The righteous leans, the wicked lies down. Leaning is an act of spiritual power; lying down in the languors of dissolution, with chilling perspirations crawling on breast and brow, is impotent endurance. The righteous leans on God; the wicked sinks helpless and lies down to die. The righteous finds succour and salvation; the wicked, sorrow. Leaning is the moment of triumph; lying down, of utter overthrow and ruin. (H. Batchelor.)
The cloud across the sun:
Contrary to the teaching of those who affirm that religions ways are invariably ways of pleasantness and peace, and that the worlds ways are invariably rough and disappointing, it is the religious man who walketh in darkness, and hath no light, and it is the worldly man whose pathway is illumined and whose prosperity is assured;
I. THE TWO CONTRASTED TYPES OF CHARACTER.
1. By the fear of the Lord in the language of the Old Testament is meant a religious disposition, combining reverence and love. There are two kinds of fear--one wholesome, the other unwholesome; one the offspring of knowledge, the other of ignorance; one which liberates the soul, the other which brings it late bondage. And it is the reverential fear to which the prophet refers as attached to the character under consideration. Then, He obeyeth the voice of His Servant. That is a fuller characterization of the godly man, which takes into account conduct as well as disposition. This twofold description completes the picture. The interior life and the outward walk correspond. The character, then, is not that of an empty religious professor. Nor is he a backslider.
2. The character which comes before us in the second half of the text is not so fully described as is that of the godly man in the preceding verse. Nevertheless, the constrast which is suggested enables us to complete the outline without difficulty. It is not necessary that we should think of one who is outwardly and notoriously immoral. But it is necessary that we should think of one who is uninfluenced by the fear of God, and whose character is lacking in all the root-elements of a sincere piety. And how full of suggestion the words He kindleth a fire! That is to say, he warms himself from without rather than from within. He contemplates life on its physical and material side only. He finds himself in a world well suited to his requirements and capable of affording him many pleasurable excitements, and so he proceeds to gather together the materials for a good fire. To the superficial observer the difference between the godly man and the worldly man, especially when the latter happens to be respectable and moral, may not be very striking. Yet the difference is vital. It is a difference in kind as well as degree. They belong to different realms.
II. THE TWO CONTRASTED WALKS--the one in darkness, the other encompassed with sparks. Health and material prosperity are not necessarily signs of the special favour of God. Nor are sickness and adversity any sure indication of the Divine displeasure.
1. It is the portion of a good man sometimes to have to walk in darkness.
(1) There is the darkness of adversity.
(2) There is the darkness of religious doubt. A good man may find himself in this transition period drifting away from the old moorings--drifting away he hardly knows whither. He has to re-make his creed, and during that period of re-making he is compelled to walk, more or less, in darkness.
(3) There is the darkness of spiritual drought. The man whose faith is greatly tried is counselled to exercise a stronger faith.
2. In contrast to all this, there is the walking of those who walk in the light of the fires of their own kindling. Is this world, with all its absorbing interests, really empty and unsatisfying? No doubt it is, sooner or later. But for the present the majority of those around us are satisfied with it as a sphere of habitation. And supposing there be no God and no hereafter--then one may almost ask whether the worldly have not the advantage over the unworldly, and whether this life, with all its struggles and efforts, is really worth living. But if there be a God and a hereafter; if the kingdom of the soul is as great a reality as the kingdom of the senses; if character is everything--then we are fools indeed if we accept the creed of the materialist, and live the life of the sensualist. There are only two philosophies of life possible to us; and one of them is not a philosophy. The man who follows the first is he who walks in the light of the Sun--the suns Sun, the great source and fountain of all illumination. The man who follows the second is he who walks in the light of Chinese lanterns and all kinds of pyrotechnic devices, and who in consequence never arrives at the goal.
III. THE TWO LIVES WITH THEIR CONTRASTED ENDINGS.
1. There can be no real and lasting success in life apart from God. In the domain of literature, science and art; in the field of material enterprise and industry; in the haunts and abodes of pleasure, how brightly the worlds bonfires are burning! How the flames sparkle, and dance and leap! What crowds, what gaiety, what laughter! Soon, however, the laughter will die away, and all that will be left of that brilliant human assemblage on this side the grave will be a few brief epitaphs and a few handfuls of dust. He shall lie down in sorrow, or as Matthew Henry quaintly paraphrases it, He shall go to bed in the dark. That is a reminiscence of our childhood. And that is what it all comes to sooner or later, if we read Goethe and Byron instead of our Bible; if we worship the beautiful instead of the holy; if we live the life of the senses instead of the life of the soul.
2. Elsewhere we are told that to the upright there ariseth a light in the darkness. And again it is said, Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace. (T. Sanderson.)
False and true in character
I. THE DARKNESS OF THE TRUE AND THEIR RELIEF.
1. The true have a distinctive principle and conduct. All character is made up of principles and acts. The principle is fear, not of a crouching serf, but of a loving child--filial reverence; the conduct is, obeying the voice of His Servant--Christ. Here is the true spirit and its true development. Piety may listen to the voice of philosophies, but obeys the voice of Christ. His whole life was a voice.
2. The true have their seasons of darkness--walketh in darkness. Jacob, Job, Asaph, Jeremiah. The cloud is not spread by a Divine hand over the heart, but rises from the corrupt elements of our moral nature. A dark day is not the suns fault; he shines in his own great orbit in November as in June; the darkness arises from the vapours of the earth; so with moral gloom--cause not in God, but in us.
3. The true in seasons of darkness have a sure relief--they trust in the name of the Lord--in His disposition, and power to help. Christianity a proof of the former, the universe of the latter.
II. THE LIGHTS OF THE FALSE AND THEIR RUIN. Walk in the light of your fire, etc.
1. The false have their lights. Such as general custom, temporal expediency, corrupt religions, pseudo-philosophies lights are their guides and comforts in their relations to both worlds.
2. The false will have their ruin. This shall ye have at My hand. The candle of the wicked shall be put out. All their lamps, however luminous, shall be quenched in a midnight, without a ray of moon or star. (Homilist.)
Darkness the element of trial
What is it that is tried in us? Even the same which, it has pleased God to promise, shall be rewarded in us, if we bold it fast--our faith in Christ. And this consists of several parts; which, however, may be summed up in three heads--
1. Belief in what He has revealed to us.
2. Belief in what He has promised to us.
3. Belief in what He has required of us. But the text calls our attention particularly to the two latter, as arising out of the former; and in the particular shape of obedience to His commands; and trust in His care of us.
But it is plain, that if we are thus tried, there must be the possibility of a different result. There must be a choice; a choice between doing right and doing wrong; between the things which we see and the things which we do not sea; between acting for ourselves, and trusting in God to act for us. And accordingly, the text goes on to set before us the other class of persons, who find themselves in the same darkness and perplexity, but seek a different way out of it. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, etc. These are the men of the world, the prudent ones; those who will not venture, but will make sure of everything! They will not be kept in the dark! (R. Scott, M.A.)
The prophets sublimity and sarcasm
As the holy prophet, here, addresses himself to two very different sorts of men, whom he accordingly describes by two very opposite characters; so he varies his manner of expression, in just proportion to the figure which they make. To the one, his style is serious, and sublime, and full of enlivening encouragement; equal to the dignity of the holy rule they walk by: to the other, like their own way of thinking, disdainful, and sarcastical; laughing at their foolish devices, their unsuccessful projects, and mocking at the bitter calamity, which, with all their conceited wisdom, in the end, they bring upon themselves. (L. Blackburne, D.D.)
Light in darkness: true and false
In every time of distress or doubt, in every dark, perplexed, and gloomy season, it is as reasonable, as it is natural for every man, who is not wholly lost to all sense or foresight, to cast about, and to look out for any glimpse of light that may suffice to guide him through it. This is a turn which every thinking man will find his mind must surely take in any present misery, or visibly approaching danger. But, here, the righteous and the wicked part asunder; and persevering in the different routes they take, they come no more together.
I. THE ONLY TRUE SECURITY, IN TIMES OF AFFLICTION OR DANGER, IS IN THE WAY OF DUTY.
II. THERE IS NO WILFUL DEVIATION FROM IT, THAT DOES NOT LEAD TO DESTRUCTION. (L. Blackburne, D. D.)
He who endured the hiding of His Fathers countenance when bearing our sins, bids you stay on Him as your God. What an illustration of Isa_42:16! (E. Avriol, M.A.)
Encouragement and warning
I. COMFORT is here spoken to disconsolate saints, and they are encouraged to trust in Gods grace.
II. CONVICTION is here spoken to presuming sinners, and they are warned not to trust in themselves. (M. Henry.)
Unwilling darkness
The peculiarity of the case of those here stated is, that it is an unwilling darkness. (J. R. Macduff, D.D.)
F.W. Robertsons experience and counsel
Very instructive in this regard is the experience recorded by Frederick W. Robertson, of his striving toward the light, in that terrible spiritual conflict which he fought out among the solitudes of the Tyrol. In one of his letters written there he says: Some things I am certain of, and these are my Ursachen, which cannot be taken away from me. I have got so far as this: Moral goodness and moral beauty are, realities, lying at the basis and beneath all forms of the best religious expressions. And, generalizing from his own case, he thus addressed the working-men of Brighton: It is an awful hour--let him who has passed through it say how awful--when this life has lost its meaning and seems shrivelled into a span; when the grave appears to be the end of all, human goodness nothing but a name, and the sky above this universe a dead expanse, black with the void from which God Himself has disappeared. In that fearful loneliness of spirit, when those who should have been his friends and counsellors only frown upon his misgivings and profanely bid him stifle his doubts, I know but one way in which a man may come forth from his agony scatheless; it is by holding fast to those things which are certain still--the grand, simple landmarks of morality. In the darkest hour through which a human soul can pass, whatever else is doubtful, this, at least, is certain. If there be no God and no future state, yet even then it is better to be generous than selfish; better to be chaste than licentious; better to be true than false; better to be brave than to be a coward. Blessed beyond all earthly blessedness is the man who, in the tempestuous darkness of the soul, has dared to hold fast these venerable landmarks. Thrice blessed is he who, when all is cheerless within and without, when the teachers terrify him and his friends shrink from him, has obstinately clung to moral good. Thrice blessed, because his night shall pass into clear, bright day.
Melancholy Christians
Serious Christians are apt to be melancholy ones, and those who fear always to fear too much. (M. Henry.)
Looking Godwards
Believe in God--if only by way of experiment, and for a moment--with all perplexing questions imperially commanded for a time into silence; believe, I mean, in One worthy to be God, the Best conceivable, all that a God ought to be; then remember how such a One has all time and all resources at His command; that He must necessarily be working on a vast scale; and then believe that you, as a living part of one living whole, are necessarily cared for and included in His all-perfect plan. The experiment is, at least, a pleasant one, and quits within our power; and I should not wonder if, in the temporary belief, the idea became as light, which evidences itself, and needs no proof but itself that it is light. (H. H. Dobney.)
God in the thick darkness:
Do not fear to draw near, like Moses, even to the thick darkness, for God is there. Out of the night is born the morning, and chaos comes before the kosmos. (H. H. Dobney.)
Polish up the dark side:
Look on the bright side, said a young man to a friend, who was discontented and melancholy. But there is no bright side, was his doleful reply. Very well, then polish up the dark one, said the young man promptly. (The New Age.)
Security in the darkness of life
I remember once hearing a devout engine-driver relate his religious experience. He said: The other night when I was on duty there was a dense fog; we could not see a yard before us, but I knew that the permanent way was under us, and every now and then we caught a glimpse of some signal or other, and in time came safely to the journeys end; so, he said, I know if I am true to the great commandments and promises, God will guide and bring me through. In the darkest hours, when reason and experience utterly fail, remember that the permanent way is there; be true to the line of trust on one side, and obedience on the other, and God will vouchsafe you comforting signals, and in due season bring you to the appointed rest. (W. L. Watkinson.)
Spiritual darkness
The tree that waves its branches so freely in the great expanse and spreads out its leafy surface towards heaven, so eager for light and for heat, struck its root in secret underground, in great darkness and bondage. Take heed that you do not undervalue your time of spiritual darkness and conflict. The joy of eternity often strikes its root in very bitterness of spirit. Meekly fulfil all your groaning and patiently abide your time in darkness, looking unto Jesus. Do you know that you would not so painfully feel your darkness if the Holy Sunlight did not underlie it?
The diviner the sunlight at centre, the pain-fuller is the encompassing night. (J. Pulsford, D.D.)
Faith useful in dark days
On ancient churches we see the dial, the quaint invention of our fathers; but this is the pathetic failure of the dial, it is of use only as long as the sun shines. But what we want is the faith that helps us when it is dark, when disappointment lacerates the soul, when the grave is being dug, when trials lay us low, and when guilt darkens the day and puts the shutters up on the windows of the heart. (J. A. Davies, B. D.)
Facing Godwards
In the old myth, Orion whose eyes had been put out whilst he slept on the sea shore, recovered sight by gazing toward the rising sun. If our inner vision has been blinded, and all the grand truths and hopes of life lost to sight, let us turn our blind face toward heaven and keep it there, until He who looseth the bands of Orion turns for us the shadow of death into the morning. (W.L. Watkinson.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Isa_50:10-11. Who is among you that feareth the Lord,…
DARKNESS EXPERIENCED, DARKNESS THREATENED
Isa_50:10-11. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, &c. [1547]
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[1547] I believe this passage has been generally, if not dangerously, misunderstood. It has been quoted, and preached upon, to prove that “a man might conscientiously fear God, and be obedient to the words of the law and the prophets; obey the voice of His servant—of Jesus Christ Himself; that is, be sincerely and regularly obedient to the moral law and the commands of our blessed Lord, and yet walk in darkness and have no light, no sense of God’s approbation, and no evidence of the safety of his state.” This is utterly impossible; for Jesus hath said, “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” If there be some religious persons who, under the influence of morbid melancholy, are continually writing bitter things against themselves, the word of God should not be bent down to their state. There are other modes of spiritual and scriptural comfort. But does not the text speak of such a case? And are not the words precise in reference to it? I think not; and Bishop Lowth’s translation has set the whole in the clearest light, though he does not appear to have been apprehensive that the bad use I mentioned had been made of the text as it stands in our common version. The text contains two questions, to each of which a particular answer is given:—
Q. 1. “Who is there among you that feareth Jehovah?” A. “Let him hearken unto the voice of His Servant.”
Q. 2. “Who that walketh in darkness and hath no light?” A. “Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and lean himself[prop himself] upon his God.”
Now, a man awakened to a sense of his sin and misery, may have a dread of Jehovah, and tremble at His Word; and what should such a person do? Why, he should hear what God’s Servant saith: “Come unto me, all ye who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” There may be a sincere penitent walking in darkness, having no light of salvation; for this is the case with all when they first begin to turn to God. What should such do? They should trust, believe on, the Lord Jesus, who died for them, and lean upon His all-sufficient merit for the light of salvation, which God has promised. Thus acting they will soon have a sure trust and confidence that God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven them their sin; and thus they shall have the light of life.—Adam Clarike, LL.D., F.A.S.
This representation of the text by this admirable commentator is here reproduced, in order that preachers may be warned against repeating it. Lowth’s treatment of the text, on which it is founded, has been repudiated by all our most eminent scholars, with the exception of Matthew Arnold. Kay and Cheyne agree with Delitzsch in ending the question with the second clause: “Who is there among you that feareth Jehovah, that hearkeneth to the voice of His servant? He that walketh in darkness, and hath no light, let him trust in the Name of Jehovah, and rely upon his God (Cheyne).
Plumtre’s comment on Isa_50:10 is excellent:—“The words grow at once out of the prophet’s own experience and that of the ideal Servant (Isa_50:6). All true servants know what it is to feel as if the light for which they looked had for a time failed them, to utter a prayer like Ajax, ‘Give light, and let us die’ (Hom. Il. xvii: 647). The Servant felt it when He uttered the cry, ‘My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’ (Mat_27:46). For such an one there were the words of counsel, ‘Trust, in spite of the darkness.’ (β) So the cry of the forsaken Servant was followed by the word, ‘Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit’ (Luk_23:46).”
I. A MYSTERIOUS DISPENSATION DESCRIBED. A good and holy man sinking in despondency and dejection—walking in darkness and having no light. Mysterious, according to the ordinary estimate we form of what is right and fit. “No wonder,” you say, “that this should be the doom of the openly ungodly, of the close hypocrite, of the presumptuous Antinomian, or even, perhaps, of the newly-awakened convert; but how strange that it should be the case with the most approved of God’s people—those who fear the Lord, and obey the voice of His servant!” Yet so it has often been. A horror of great darkness fell upon Abraham. Job said, “My soul chooseth strangling rather than life.” Paul complained of the messenger of Satan. Our Lord Himself said, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”—Let me specify some causes of this despondency; I cannot specify all.
1. When the course of God’s Providence towards His Church is perplexed and clouded. This was the case here. The captives were overwhelmed with their calamities (Isa_49:14; Isa_50:1-3).—When God does not interpose for His church or themselves as they expected, and comes not forward in the path they had marked out for Him, they seem like prisoners in a dungeon without a lamp; or like midnight travellers in the wood and the thicket without a star (Job_23:8; Psa_77:7-9).—Again, when their own lot is privation and suffering; when long-continued affliction of body and mind is permitted; when hope after hope is disappointed, and plan after plan is broken; when the interests of others are involved in your own, and a succession of trials takes place each darker and more painful than before, then this sorrow and dejection is felt (Lam_3:1, &c.)
2. When, in conjunction with outward trials, there is a sense of sin upon the conscience, unaccompanied with adequate views of the power and grace of Christ to save. I lay great stress on this. A sense of sin is the heaviest part of the believer’s burden: and it is the natural and proper tendency of affliction to bring sin to remembrance. Much of this darkness and depression may be intended to embitter sin; to arouse the recollection of past offences and neglects before conversion, or since (Job_13:26; Psa_27:7; 1Co_15:9; Eze_16:43; Eze_16:63). Of some sins of ungodly men, God says, “As I live, this iniquity shall not be purged away from you till ye die;” and there are provocations in His own people which He long remembers. The Jews said, “There was an ounce of the golden calf in all the afflictions Israel suffered.” For instance, after signal enjoyments of God’s love, or particular mercies of God’s providence, if a man be negligent and inconsistent in his walk, it seems to carry an unkindness with it that shall not be forgotten. How suggestive the remark on the misconduct of Solomon: “God was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord, who had appeared to him twice!” All sins under or after special mercies will meet at one time or other with special rebukes. Nothing more distresses a believer than the remembrance in darkness of abused light, in desertion of neglected love.—Then, the processes of sanctification are always incomplete. If not open sins, there may be secret departures from God: pride, bitterness, sins of the spirit.—Suppose these recollections to occur without adequate views of the power and grace of Christ, or without a consciousness of deep and often renewed repentance, dejection will occur.
3. When the promise is very long delayed, and answers to prayer seem to be withheld (Lam_3:8; Psa_80:4; 2Co_12:8). [1550]
[1550] As it happened to the Saviour, so it will happen to His disciples, who are known by their fear of the Lord, and their obedience to the voice of His Son. There will be times when it may be said of them that they “walk in darkness, and have no light.” The rule then is, after the example of Him who said, “The Lord will help me, therefore I shall not be confounded,” to trust in the Lord; and if the blind man who walks in darkness trusts in the brute that guides him, and goes on his sightless way without a fear and without a doubt, how much more may the believer fear not with such a stay on which to lean!—Keith.
4. When their religious state is after all doubtful. For the pardon may have passed the great seal of heaven, and yet the indictment be suffered to run on in the Court of Conscience. Real Christians have not at all times equal confidence in the integrity of their religious profession (H. E. I. 311–314, 323, 335–339). If you doubt the reality of your conversion, be it far from me to say the doubt is unfounded; carry the apprehension to Him who alone is able to relieve it.
II. A SAFE DIRECTION GIVEN. “Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.”
1. Wait in the exercise of earnest, fervent, persevering prayer. Go to God as the man who had not a loaf of bread in the house went to his friend at midnight. Beware of the delusion of waiting passively for some strange manifestation. The blessing is to those who actively seek, not who remain passively content. “Blessed is the man that waiteth at the posts of my doors,” not who lies down at the threshold like a drunkard, asleep. In the act of seeking God, we find. In flying for refuge, we meet the promise of strong consolation. As they went, the lepers were cleansed.
2. Strenuously abide by known duty. Resist all temptations to employ doubtful means to extricate yourself from calamity (H. E. I. 169–176). Still fear, still obey. Take care that speculative difficulties be not increased by moral causes.
3. Frequently review past experiences of God’s mercy, enjoyed by yourself or others. In seeking the grace you want, do not deny the grace you have (H. E. I. 330–334). This is to bear false witness, not against your neighbour, but against yourself and God. “If the Lord were pleased to kill,” &c. (Jdg_13:23.) Gain the benefit of the darkness (H. E. I. 1649–1654).
4. Revolve in your mind the great and distinguishing consolations of the bright economy in which you live. The grace and righteousness of Christ. The teaching and unction of the Holy Spirit. Not in vain is He revealed as a Comforter.
III. A FEARFUL CONTRAST BETWEEN THE RIGHTEOUS AT THEIR WORST AND THE WICKED AT THEIR BEST. The wicked ironically counselled to walk by the light of their own fire. Antithesis between the light of God and the light of men. The faithful were to be delivered from captivity into light and liberty. But the wicked kindle a fire of their own, and are without God. Isa_50:11 is not a first warning to repent, but a warning that destruction, darkness, endless sorrow, are about to descend upon them.—Samuel Thodey.
I. The best of men may find themselves walking, as it were, in the valley of the shadow of death, [1551]
[1551] For developments of these divisions, see other outlines on this text.
II. They should then honestly examine themselves (H. E. I. 4446–4464).
III. If as the result of that examination they see that “the fear of the Lord” is the governing principle of their hearts, they should walk on in the path of duty submissively and hopefully. The God whom they trust will keep them in the midst of the darkness, and in His own time, which is always the best, will lead them forth into light.
SPIRITUAL DARKNESS
Isa_50:10. Who is there among you that feareth Jehovah, that hearkeneth to the voice of His servant? He that walketh in darkness and hath no light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and rely upon his God.
Mic_7:8. When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.
These utterances make it clear that spiritual darkness occurred at times in the experience of the prophets of the Lord. His people now must not be surprised if it befalls them, nor should they then be dismayed.
I. DARKNESS AS A FACT OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, AND THE CHRISTIAN’S PROPER EXERCISE UNDER IT.
In the natural world it is not always light; the sun goes down and darkness spreads, &c. So in higher life. The spiritual heavens are not always bright.
1. It may be the light of faith that is darkened. Spiritual realities are withdrawn into shadow. There is a God to rule over all and love all, but where is He? There is a Christ to die for all, but where is the cross? The cloud has fallen even on Calvary. What is the man to do? Do! He is to believe. Faith is not wholly gone. Both texts call on its exercise. The light exercises sense. It is the darkness that exercises faith.
2. It may be the light of God’s face that is felt to be withdrawn. The soul feels deserted and is in dismay—for God’s favour is its life. The resource against this feeling of abandonment is God’s character and word, and the gift of His Son (chap. Isa_54:8; Job_13:15).
3. Darkness may come in the form of the fading away of some Christian hope—personal hopes, or hopes for the kingdom of God (H. E. I. 323). With the sun of hope gone down behind the sky, what are we to do? Remember
(1.) This setting of hope is not for ever. It precedes a glorious dawn. God is the God of hope. He often lets hope wane that it may gather strength.
(2.) Though the sun of hope has set for ever on earth, earth is not all.
It may be remarked here that this dark experience gives a striking demonstration that God only is man’s comforter (2Co_1:3-4). The spiritual helper of the man who sits in darkness feels he may as well throw his words on the dead wall; and the sufferer whom he would help is ready to say of all human helpers whatever, “miserable comforters,” &c.
II. DARKNESS AS A MEANS OF SPIRITUAL DISCOVERY.
Perhaps the best explanation of this darkness, and it is a vindication too, is found in the results which it works. In nature the darkness of night lets us see what we cannot see when the sun is shining. The unnumbered worlds of God are not seen under the effulgence of noonday. It is the same with spiritual night in the soul, or may be the man of God may then get great enlargement of spiritual information and understanding—under the dim starlight of darkened faith and hope may more truly descry the positions, relations, and magnitudes of Divine realities. His experience improves and enlarges his knowledge of God’s ways and of himself to begin with, and from that beginning a great deepening and widening of his spiritual education may be effected. And by and by he shall come forth into the light with treasures of wisdom and knowledge far greater than if the cloud had never overshadowed him. There are worlds we are told which, having two suns in their heavens, are perpetually in the light. What can the inhabitants of these worlds know of the universe, if their sunlight is of a nature like ours? So with those whose spiritual heaven is always bright. They can on that account perhaps see not so near to the throne of God. In heaven it is always light, but the light there is not the light of the sun. The help of darkness is no longer needed there.
There need be no mystery why all this is so. The man who sits in darkness is by the pressure of his position made a more diligent searcher into Divine things. The mind that feels the darkness spreading immediately around, is made to seek the light that is far away. When a man is always in the light he may be too easily satisfied with the light he has. Darkness brings alarm. It quickens. It shows how easily all our satisfactions may be gone (H. E. I. 117–121).
III. DARKNESS AS A DISCIPLINE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER.
It may secure for it some of its best graces—the mildest, the most mellowed, the most hallowed. There are plants that grow best in a dim light. Amongst those Christian graces that take deeper root in the dark are—
1. Humility. It is not when the windows of heaven are open that the child of God feels himself a broken cistern, and looks up and says, “All my well-springs,” &c. More readily does he do this when the windows of heaven are shut and there is no rain.
2. Trustfulness.
3. Self-surrender.
IN CONCLUSION:—Ye servants of God who sit in darkness, beware of two things—impatience and sullen indifference. Don’t fret as if God did not heed your grief. Don’t be callous as if He were not dealing with you. Pray for the light, but will not your prayers be heard the sooner and the enlargement you seek be sent the more speedily, if you long less for the deliverance than for the full benefit of the chastening?—J. Wardrop, D.D.: Homiletical Quarterly, vol. v. pp. 32–34.
GOD’S MESSAGE TO THE DESPONDING
Isa_50:10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord? &c.
It is not, then, a thing unheard of or impossible, that a child of God should “walk in darkness and have no light.” And when the sadness of such an experience comes upon the saint, it will not be always safe to say that it is the shadow of some special sin. It may not be with him as it was with David when he cried, “Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation,” after committing the great transgressions which stain his name; nor, as it was with Elijah, when running from the post of duty, “under the juniper tree” he wailed, “O Lord, take away my life now!” The case described in the text is different from these. It is that of one who even at the moment “feareth the Lord, and obeyeth the voice of His Servant,” while yet he is bending under the weight of spiritual despondency.
Many would say flippantly that a Christian must be very feeble indeed if he is ever in such a state; and some, cruelly, that he who permits himself thus to lie “in heaviness” cannot be a Christian at all. But all such unqualified assertions spring out of a shallow philosophy and a superficial experience. Our salvation depends on Christ, and not on our emotions regarding it. Hence, they who roundly affirm that if a man be walking in darkness, and finding no light, he cannot be a Christian, are making salvation depend, not on God’s work for a man and in time, but simply and entirely on his own emotions. Moreover, they forget some of the best-known passages in the history even of the most eminent saints (Psalms 42; 1Pe_1:6).
But while despondency furnishes no valid reason for calling the genuineness of one’s religion in question, it is very far from being a comfortable thing in itself. He should be encouraged to get out of it as soon as possible; for it puts everything about him into shadow. For his own happiness, and for the good of others, it is in every way desirable that he should be brought out of the darkness into the light.
It may contribute to this result if we consider—
I. THE CAUSES OUT OF WHICH DESPONDENCY MAY SPRING.
1. Natural temperament. However it may come, whether through heredity, or on the principle of special characteristics being given directly by God to every man, it is the fact that each of us is born with a certain predisposition to joy or sadness, to irascibility or patience, to quickness of action or deliberateness of conduct. And it is also true, that while conversion may Christianise that temperament, it does not change it.
There are some men to whom, Christianity apart, it comes as natural to be joyful as it does to the lark to sing. And there are others, alas! whose disposition inclines them always to look on the darker side of things. In the former case there is no merit in the gladness, just as in the latter there is no blame in the sadness. We are often shamefully unjust in our estimates of our fellows; we don’t know what is restrained, we only know what comes out. And the same thing holds in this matter of despondency. But Christ knows. And He will not be unjust like men: He will give you honour in proportion to your effort to get above it.
2. Disease. The connection between the soul and the body is intimate and mysterious; they act and react upon each other. Lowness of spirits is very often the result of some imprudence in diet, or some local disturbance. Not all spiritual depressions can be resolved into the consequences of physical states; but in all ordinary cases the sound body is necessary to the sound mind. A Christian physiologist might render great service to many desponding spirits by preparing a work which should treat of the effects of different diseases on religious experience.
See the relief which this affords. It removes from religion the responsibility for the depression of such a man as Cowper; while on the other hand it removes from Christianity the reproach for the hypocrisy of men who, on seeming deathbeds are saints, but get well again to transgress afresh; for there, too, the exhilaration was owing to the peculiar character of the malady. When we can trace our despondency to such a cause, it will cease to be a thorn to us. One, while he lay dying, had Psalms 77 read to him, and when he heard Isa_50:10, “And I said, This is my infirmity,” he broke in with the words, “That’s my liver. My soul and body so act one upon the other. With the liver wrong, the mind gets clouded, and I feel as though God had swept me out of His house as useless; but after He has taken so much trouble to mould the vessel, He will not throw it aside.” The sufferer recognised the spiritual effect of the disease.
3. Trial. One affliction will not usually becloud the horizon; but when a whole series comes in succession, the effect is terrible. First, it may be, comes sickness; and we are getting round when business difficulties overwhelm us; then, these are scarcely arranged before bereavement comes. For years, it may be, we are like the sailor who for weeks is seeking to round a stormy cape, and still the same weariful headland frowns drearily on him. The same effect may be produced by the mere monotony of our labour, without any special affliction.
“Love adds anxiety to toil,
And sameness doubles cares;
While one unbroken chain of work
The flagging temper wears.”
Mothers and housekeepers know what is meant by the assertion that “sameness doubles cares;” and it is when such a burden is lying most heavily upon the heart that the words of the text come to us with their soothing influence.
4. Mental perplexity. The spirit of inquiry and bold independent criticism is abroad in our age. The sacred things of our faith are assailed. When your children, now young men, are wrestling their way through the peculiar mental difficulties of this age, do not upbraid nor blame them, but help them by entering into their difficulties, and removing, if you can every stumbling-block from their path. And let those who are thus walking in darkness take to themselves the comfort of the text, and walk on in the full assurance that there is light beyond.
II. THE COUNSELS TO THE DESPONDING GIVEN OR SUGGESTED BY THIS TEXT.
1. The oppressed spirit must keep on fearing the Lord and obeying the voice of His servant. Whatever happens, these must not be given up. Nothing whatever can furnish any proper reason for ceasing to practise them; while, on the other hand, the neglect of them will only deepen the darkness already over you. The tunnel may be long, but it will come to an end at last, if only you will go through it. Whatever you feel, let no evil be wrought by you, but keep steadily in the path of rectitude. Amid all doubts you must accept some things as certain; hold by these, then, and act up to them, so will you prove that you are a docile learner, and put yourself into a position where you will catch the first glimpses of returning light. Only by acting up to the level of our present convictions can we rise to higher things. Sometimes an evil life has led to a shipwreck of the faith; but always a good character clarifies the spiritual conception (Joh_7:17). Keep your conduct abreast of your conscience, and very soon your conscience will be illumined by the radiance of God.
2. Keep on trusting God. What a blessed privilege it is to be permitted to do that! When we cannot see, it is an unspeakable blessing to have some hand to cling to; and when that hand is God’s, it is all right. But let us take the full comfort of this saying, “Let him trust in the name of the Lord.” What is that name? It is “Jehovah, God, merciful and gracious; long-suffering; forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty.” Therefore I need not despair about my guilt, for there is forgiveness with Him. It is Jehovah Tsidkenu—the Lord our righteousness. Therefore we may in Him have “boldness in the day of judgment.” It is Jehovah Ropheka—the Lord that healeth thee. Therefore I may bring all my spiritual maladies to Him for cure. It is Jehovah Jireh—the Lord will provide. Therefore He will give me that which is needful. It is Jehovah Nissi—the Lord my banner; and in it I may see the symbol of His protection. It is Jehovah Shalom—the Lord of peace; and so, beneath His sheltering wing, I may be for ever at rest.
3. Fail not to note the deep meaning of that word “stay.” It does not bid you only take a momentary grasp of God’s hand, it encourages you to lean your whole weight upon Him, and to do that continuously. Acquaint yourself with God through Jesus Christ, so shall you know that there is something better even in the Christian’s despondency than there is in the unbeliever’s joy.—W. M. Taylor, D.D.: Limitations, &c., pp. 312–326.
This text is applicable to believers under all circumstances of trouble. The Lord is always the same; and faith must not wait until trouble is removed, but stay upon Him, lean upon Him when trouble is deepest. We have
I. A SKETCH OF CHRISTIAN CHARACTER.
“Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His servant?” Those terms contain the universal elements of Christian character as an inward affection and in outward manifestation.
1. As an inward affection. The soul has been made alive to God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Man possesses a capacity of affection which can fix on God as its object. But fallen man is alienated from Him; dead to Him. God’s regenerating grace quickens into life that capacity of affection; so that there is the loving, childlike fear of God the heavenly Father, instead of the previous indifference to Him.
2. As an outward manifestation. It is characteristic of Christians that they obey the voice of Christ. When He called them to repent and believe in Him, they obeyed. And, however imperfectly, they endeavour in their daily walk to obey Him. His revealed will is the accepted rule of their lives. He is their Master, their King.
II. A GLIMPSE OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE.
“That walketh in darkness, and hath no light.” This is not the normal experience of believers. They are “children of light, and of the day.” God has called them “out of darkness into His marvellous light” (2Co_4:6). The light, revealing pardon, acceptance, sanctification, future glory, causes us to walk in calmness and conscious security. Yet it may not shine with uniform clearness. The sun in the heavens is sometimes obscured by passing clouds; but it is shining, all the same. The normal day has the sun shining so that we see clearly the objects around us, and are able to pursue our avocations without interruption
Again, while these seasons of darkness are variations from the usual experience of believers, some are visited by them more than others. The causes are also various. Some spiritual, some physical No Christian’s experience must be made the measure, in all respects, of another’s. When you have mentioned a few things, you have exhausted the essential things of the spiritual life; and even these are experienced variously according to the constitution of the different minds. Some are exercised with dark experiences, from which others are exempted. Luther seemed at times to himself to fight with Satan as a personal power, living, visible, audible. John Bunyan describes similar experience in the story of his life in the book entitled “Grace Abounding.” The reflex of that experience is in his description of the Pilgrim in the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
Let no one be deterred from entering the Christian course under the apprehension that he must have an experience like this. Nor let any one afflict himself with the idea that he is not a Christian because he has had no such experience. Few natures are so strong and intense as to be capable of it. God dealt with Luther and Bunyan according to their natures, and thus prepared them for the great work they had to do. And with most, even after seasons of conflict and victory, there is danger of reaction in the direction of spiritual darkness. Unbelief may represent the difficulties of the way. Despairing fears and presumptuous hopes alike may draw you from the narrow path. Thoughts, passions, words of evil which you have repented and which you hate, may struggle for indulgence and expression against the resistance of your better nature. It is one of the most terrible facts about sin, that, even though repented and forsaken, old sins so imbed themselves in the nature that their expulsion is the work of time and of many a struggle. Traps and perils lie on every hand, with their opportunities and inducements to the indulgence of sin. If backsliding of the heart has not preceded its commission, its commission may compel backsliding of the heart.
And as there may be spiritual darkness in the soul, there may be the darkness of uncertainty as to the way of God’s providence. There may be bereavement, sickness, disappointment, loss, a state of things with regard to worldly affairs pregnant with anxiety, through which no way can be seen. Your heart is heavy. You fear the worst.
III. A REMINDER OF CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGE.
“Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.” It is the Christian’s privilege to trust in God at all times. Observe, you are not to wait until the darkness has cleared away and then trust; but to trust now, in the darkness. For this is always possible, inasmuch as He in whom we trust is ever the same, notwithstanding any danger that may occur in us or in our circumstances.
Be instant in prayer. When enveloped in darkness you can keep hold of your Father’s hand. He will guide and help. He has promised to keep the feet of His saints. Cry to Him out of the darkness. Trust Him. Prayer is the believing cry of the heart that is satisfied that, however dark and dreary the way, He is leading us by a right way to a city of habitation. So long as He is there, what can we fear?
Be careful as to your walk. Knowing the perils of darkness, you cannot afford to be careless in your conduct. The path is narrow and difficult to find. You may miss it and fall on either side.
You are not alone in the darkness of sorrow. Christ has been there before you. He will be with you. Prayer shall be heard. Faith shall be honoured. The light of God’s countenance shall be lifted upon you. The day shall dawn and the shadows flee away.—J. Rawlinson.
I. The godly man’s character.
1. He feareth the Lord.
2. He obeys the divine commands.
II. The godly man’s trouble. “Walketh in darkness, and hath no light.” Providential darkness.
III. The godly man’s best course in trouble. “Let him trust,” &c.—I. E. Page.
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE DEVOTED AND OBEDIENT
Isa_50:10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, &c.
The encouragement here is for the people of God, and for them only. It is sometimes appropriated by those who are merely His people in profession; and in view of it, they are confident that though they have no satisfactory evidence of the Divine favour, all will be well with them in the end. They make a terrible mistake. The darkness of which they are conscious, is the result of the hiding from them of “the light of God’s countenance,” a calamity that never befalls those who are truly His people. [1554] But God’s people may be in darkness of another kind, in which they need all the cheer here offered them. For example, in the preceding chapters, Isaiah speaks of the Babylonian captivity, and of the oppressions of the Israelites during that dark period of their deliverance and restoration to their own land. Such, however, was the strength and resources of the Chaldean empire, and to such a state of imbecility and wretchedness had the Israelites been reduced, that the fulfilment of the prediction appeared impossible, or in the highest degree improbable. Therefore, knowing how dark and discouraging the prospects of His people would be in this state of captivity, God reminds them of what He had done for their ancestors in times past; how He had delivered them from the bondage of Egypt by the most extraordinary interpositions; and He tells them that they were still His covenant people, and would not be forsaken by Him (chap. Isa_49:14-16). Lest in their despondency they should doubt His ability to accomplish their deliverance, He refers them to the works of creation and providence as illustrative of His power (chap. Isa_40:12-17; Isa_40:25-28; Isa_50:2-3). Our text appears to form part of the expostulations intended to dispel the fears and to revive the hopes of His desponding people. There was a pious remnant who answered to the description contained in it; and he tells them, in effect, that though they had no light as to the manner in which He would accomplish their deliverance and restoration, yet they might confidently trust His power and faithfulness.
[1554] What can be meant by the phrase, “the light of God’s countenance,” but an expression of the Divine approbation? When a father is pleased with the conduct of his son, approbation is expressed in his countenance. If the son behaves amiss, he soon observes a change in the expression of his father’s countenance towards him, and is generally conscious that he has done wrong. It at any time he should observe such a change without at once knowing the cause, he will immediately suspect himself, and will ask, What have I done to offend my father? So, when the children of God walk in His fear, and in obedience to His commands; when their supreme object is to glorify Him in all that they do, they enjoy the light of His countenance, i.e., the expression of His favour (Psa_37:23; Joh_14:21; Heb_11:5). When He frowns upon any man, it is an expression of His displeasure, telling them by the darkness which rests upon their minds that something is wrong, and that they ought to examine their heart and conduct, and to compare both with His word, in order to ascertain where the fault lies (2Ch_15:2; Deu_31:16-17; Isa_64:7; Eze_39:23-24). These passages, and others which relate to the subject, cannot be reconciled with the supposition that the text was intended for the encouragement of those from whom the light of God’s countenance is deservedly withdrawn, and who are walking in darkness as to religious enjoyment, and as to any evidence of the Divine favour and acceptance. To them He does not say, “Trust in My name, and stay yourselves upon Me, for the darkness will soon pass away, and all will end well.” No; when He frowns it is an unequivocal declaration of His displeasure; it is a signal of alarm; a call to repent, and to do works meet for repentance.
Through the whole economy of grace comfort is connected with the active and faithful performance of duty. This fact has not been generally recognised. Hence the perversion of the text; and hence the low state of religious enjoyment in the Church. Indolent and inconsistent professors appear not to understand the reason why they are left to walk in darkness. Instead of ascribing it to their neglect of duty, to their sins, they resolve it into “human imperfection,” “moral necessity,” “divine sovereignty,” “an expedient to try their faith,” or “to make them humble;”—anything, in short, but the true cause. They say “it is the common experience of Christians to walk in darkness sometimes, and we cannot expect to be always on the mount;” and thus they satisfy themselves, without the present exercise of right feelings towards God or their fellowmen, and without a disposition to do their duty. They are serving, not God, but themselves; they are devoted to this world; its objects and pursuits engross their thoughts; while they are doing little or nothing for that Saviour who laboured and died for sinners. It is unreasonable, nay, presumptuous for such persons to expect or hope that God will lift up the light of His countenance upon them.—Walton.
Specimen cases to which our text might also be profitably applied.
1. Any case like that of Joseph, while lying under the reproach of a crime which he never committed, and which he abhorred. We know what a great trial it was to his pure mind, how he stayed upon God, and what was the happy result.
2. The situation of David during the lifetime of Saul. God had promised that he should be king over His people; and yet he was obliged to fly for his life, to wander among the mountains, and to hide himself in dens and caves of the earth. Thus he was walking in darkness as to any prospect of relief, except from a Divine interposition. But walking in darkness in this sense was perfectly consistent with the most vigorous exercise of gracious affections, and with the fullest assurance of Divine favour; and judging by his psalms composed during this period, we can have no doubt of the spirituality of his mind, or of his confidence in God. While he feared the Lord and obeyed His voice, he was authorised to trust in Him for the full accomplishment of His promises; and doing so, he was finally delivered from all his enemies, and raised to the throne of Israel. From this result, we see that it was not necessary for him to use any unlawful means, either for self-preservation, or for the attainment of the object which had been promised him. It was only necessary that he should trust in the Lord and obey His voice. And this is the Christian’s duty and privilege in circumstances of the greatest trial (H. E. I. 155–165, 169–177).
3. The case of the Church at the present day, when looking at the moral condition of the world in connection with the prophecies. The conversion of the world is predicted in the Bible with as much certainty as was the deliverance of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity; and the obstacles which oppose the accomplishment of this prediction are far greater than those that darkened the prospects of the captive Jews. The disparity between Jonathan and his armourbearer and the army of the Philistines was not so great as that which exists between the army of Christ now in the field and the hundreds of millions who fill the ranks of the enemy. Therefore the Church may be said to be walking in darkness with respect to the conversion of the world; she does not see how the immense obstacles are to be removed. But clear predictions have been given that the world shall be converted, and in Him who made them the Church should trust, obeying His voice by diligently employing all the means He has already entrusted to her, assured that He will as certainly verify these predictions, as He did those which related to the restoration of Israel from the captivity of Babylon (H. E. I. 1161, 1162).—William C. Walton, A.M.: American National Preacher, vol. 4:285–292.
I. THE ESSENTIAL FEATURES IN A GODLY MAN’S CHARACTER.
1. Feareth the Lord. An intelligent and an affectionate principle—the fear of the affectionate child and loyal subject.
2. Obeyeth the voice of His servant. Great test of godly sincerity.
II. THE SUPPOSED CONDITION OF THE GODLY MAN.
1. This is not the ordinary condition of the Christian. He is a child of the light, &c. He has the light of the divine
(1) knowledge in his understanding,
(2) truth in his judgment,
(3) hope in his soul,
(4) joy in his experience,
(5) holiness in his life. He is not of the night nor of darkness.
2. Yet this is sometimes the condition of the best of saints. It is the result of
(1.) Providential trials.
(2.) Nervous depression.
III. THE REMEDY WHICH THE TEXT PRESCRIBES.
1. The name of God must be our trust. It cannot alter, change, deceive.
2. The soul must be stayed upon God. We are apt to stay the soul on other things—friends, means, experience, frames, and feelings. God in His relationship to us as our God, must be the basis of our confidence and hope. Trust in His wisdom, power, grace, love—His promise never to forsake.—J. Burns, D.D.
COUNSEL AND COMFORT FOR THE AFFLICTED
Isa_50:10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, &c.
God’s government of man as a moral agent presents many evident marks of wisdom and design; yet it is everywhere so replete with enigmas, that the best and wisest of men have often found themselves involved in the deepest perplexity. We know that providence superintends and controls all events, that all the Divine proceedings are the result of unerring wisdom and unbounded goodness, and that God invariably connects His own glory with the happiness of His creatures; but when we attempt to apply these general principles to many particular cases, we find ourselves baffled and confounded. We know not why it was that evil was permitted to enter into the world, &c. With respect to individual cases, we know not why the young are often cut off in the flower and vigour of their days, &c. Such are some of the difficulties which present themselves when we attempt to investigate the ways of God.
I. Reason, however, if duly exercised, will suggest a variety of causes why they assume this mysterious character, and why we ought to suppress in ourselves the workings of unbelief, dissatisfaction, and despondency (H. E. I. 4031–4056; P. D. 1432, 1435–1437, 1441, 2268, 2537, 2538, 2895, 2896, 2902).
1. Much of the mystery which pervades the dispensations of providence arises from the feeble and limited character of our comprehension.
2. As the general principles of the Divine conduct are thus placed beyond our apprehension, so are the occasional motives of His dispensations; those motives which arise from His perfect acquaintance with the characters of men, and His accurate perception of their real wants and true interests.
3. The moral defection of our nature renders us incapable of discerning the ways of providence.
4. Much of the obscurity of providence arises from the unwillingness of men to censure themselves. For often those things which confound them are only the natural consequences of their own misconduct.
5. We also err by judging prematurely. In any complicated work of human art it is found necessary to be acquainted with the whole design, in order to judge of the fitness of the parts. In a scheme so complex as that which Divine providence is pursuing, where all the parts refer to one another, and where what is seen is often subordinate to what is invisible, how is it possible but our judgment must often be erroneous?
II. At present man is thus incapable of exploring the mysteries of providence. Instead of lamenting our ignorance and incapacity, let us consider how it may be improved; what duties it suggests, and what wise ends it was intended by providence to promote. It should teach us—
1. Submission. How unreasonable, how ungrateful to repine, when we know that infinite wisdom and goodness have the management of all our concerns. There is an end, a design, in every movement of providence, and that design will ultimately be found every way worthy of God.
2. Patience. It cautions us against being too precipitate in our decisions, or too anxious to know until it is God’s pleasure to reveal. We are not doomed to perpetual ignorance and uncertainty (H. E. I. 154, 3675–3706).
3. It furnishes a stimulus to duty and perseverance. Let no one say,—Since I am surrounded with darkness, as there are nothing but difficulties, I shall therefore sit down and leave it all, &c. Such a conclusion would be equally unwise and prejudicial. On the contrary, if there be an all-wise providence, what an argument is this for the exercise of faith, patience, hope, prayer, and perseverance. The darkness which surrounds us is intended both to call forth our inquiries and to enforce our dependence on the gracious aid of the Almighty.
4. It should inspire a desire of Heaven.
5. It should induce gratitude for the clear revelation which God has made known of the things that belong to our peace. He has thrown an air of obscurity over a thousand things, but not over the means of attaining light and salvation; here all is day. He hath clearly taught us what we must do to be saved, &c. Apply, therefore, your heart and conscience to the plain, undeniable declarations of revelation. What is revealed is of far more importance to you than what is not revealed. God has withheld the less and given us the greater. There is no knowledge of any kind that will bear a comparison with the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. You are called upon, by believing on Him, to lay hold on eternal life; have you done this?—J. H. Walker: Companion for the Afflicted, second edition, pp. 249–270.
SPARKS OF OUR OWN KINDLING
Isa_50:11. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, &c.
There is no more intelligible image, none more interwoven into the texture of thought and phraseology, than that by which Light is made to express joy and felicity, while Darkness, and other kindred terms, are used to denote discomfort and misery. The inspired writers sanction and adopt it (Psa_97:11; Est_8:16; Psa_88:6; Isa_59:11).
Happiness is the reality of which light is the symbol; and the Gospel teaches us that its chief ingredients are peace with God, and communion with Him. Nothing more is needed to constitute a truly happy man, than that the avenues of intercourse between God and the soul, which have been obstructed and blocked by sin, should once more be reopened—a work which can be effected only by the reconciliation of God to man by the work of the Son, and of man to God by the work of the Holy Spirit. Into the enjoyment of this true happiness we must enter now, if we are ever to know it. The bliss of saints in a state of glory is not (as to its chief elements) different in kind from that of saints in a state of grace. The happiness of the gracious soul is the germ—that of the glorified soul is the bright and perfumed flower, expanded out of the germ by the agencies of genial climate and bright sunshine. The pursuit of happiness is natural to us as men, but we seek it in wrong directions, and again and again we are disappointed in our search; like the meteor, which the ignorant traveller mistakes for a light, and follows across the marsh, happiness, just when we seem to have secured it, escapes from our grasp: another tempting resource offers itself, promises as fairly, excites apprehensions as bright as the preceding, and shortly afterwards ends in disappointment as distressing. In our text, the many fictitious sources from which men seek to derive happiness are compared to a fire kindled, and sparks struck out, by way of relieving the darkness of the night. It is, of course, implied in the metaphor, that true happiness, the real and adequate complement of man’s nature, resembles the divinely created and golden sunlight.
I. This comparison does not lead us to deny that pleasure and gratification of a certain kind are derivable from worldly sources. Just as man can relieve himself in great measure from the discomfort and inconvenience of natural darkness by kindling a fire and surrounding himself with sparks, so can he alleviate, to a certain extent, the instinctive sense of disquietude and dissatisfaction, so irksome to him at intervals of leisure, by the various enjoyments which life has to offer. It is a mistake to deny this, in the interests of religion. In artificial pleasures, in displays of personal skill, in gratification of sensual appetite, or in the researches of natural curiosity, many find that excitement which, for the time being, dissipates the thought of their uneasiness. Indeed, even as some fires of man’s kindling shed around them a more dazzling lustre, and a richer, redder glow than the sunlight itself, so some of the qualifications of time and sense glisten more brightly, and blaze more brilliantly, than the peace and pleasantness experienced in wisdom’s ways.
II. But connected with all earthly pleasures, there are drawbacks.
1. Those gratifications are the taper lights, by whose bright shining the moths of this world are attracted, and in whose radiance they flutter,—lights which gleam brightly for a moment, but will fade and die down before the sobering dawn of Eternity (H. E. I. 4975–4989, P. D. 2730).
2. At the beginning of the festival, Satan and the World set forth the good wine, and, when men have well drunk, “that which is worse” (Luk_15:13; Luk_15:16).
3. Worldly enjoyments (even those of the highest order) pall by degrees upon the jaded appetite (H. E. I. 4974). [1557]
[1557] How strongly contrasted this with the Divine principle of recompense, according to which every forward step which a man makes in conformity to God’s Image, and obedience to God’s commands, is attended by an increase of joy and peace—an increase sometimes very sensibly felt at the close of a Christian’s career, when, as his tempest-tossed bark nears that haven of rest where he would be, a mighty spiritual refreshing breathes in upon his heart, like perfumed gales from the shore of a land of spices. His bliss is not merely an abiding, but also an increasing bliss. It not only endures, but also enlarges itself with the dawn of eternity.—Goulburn.
4. Unsatisfactoriness inheres in their very nature, inasmuch as they are all (more or less) artificial. They are miserable substitutes which man has set up to stand him in stead of that true happiness which is congenial to his nature and adapted to his wants. During the sun’s absence, he can replace its light by the sorry substitute of torch and taper; but the glare which these shed around is not like the genial, cheering light of the sun itself. It exercises no quickening influence on vegetable life,—its clear shining brings not out the bloom and perfume of the flower, nor the verdure of the tender grass, nor sends a thrill of joy through the whole realm of nature. So, though out of the abundant materials constituting God’s universe, man can construct for himself varied sources of pleasure and luxury, these amount, after all, only to a light that is rather dazzling than comforting,—a light whose cold unfructifying ray reaches only to the surface of the soul—penetrates not to the depths of his conscience, nor to the moving springs of his character!
5. The enjoyment derived from worldly sources is fitful. The glow of a kindled fire is not equable. It casts a flickering and uncertain light, now mouldering beneath the fuel which feeds it, now bursting forth into bright and vivid flashes. Thus it presents us with a lively emblem of worldly joy, which is subject to repeated alternations of revival and decay, and whose high pitch can be sustained only for a short time. Anon it bursts into ecstasy, and having blazed a while with peculiar brilliancy, sinks again, as suddenly as it broke forth, into despondency and depression of spirits (Ecc_7:6). Not so the peace and pleasantness derived from walking with God. If it be not a light so dazzling as that which is sometimes shed abroad by the kindled firebrands of worldly joys, it is at least subject to no such variations of lustre. It pervades the soul, as the sunlight pervades the world, with a serene and equable ray,—diffusing a genial and comfortable temperature through the whole spiritual system.
6. A fire requires to be continually fed with fresh fuel, if its brilliancy and warmth are to be maintained. Hence it becomes an apt emblem of the delusive joy of this world, which is only kept alive in the worldling’s heart by the fuel of excitement. As soon as the excitement subsides, the gratification of this world’s votary is at an end. Then he must set off again on a fresh voyage of discovery, in quest of new expedients for self-forgetfulness. But these expedients have their limits. Our tenure of the resources which procure them, and on which they are dependent—health and wealth—is exceedingly precarious. But the true happiness is in no way dependent for its maintenance upon excitement or external resources. [1560]
[1560] It is not indeed denied that Christians may be, and often are, placed in a desolate and uncomfortable worldly position. But we maintain that the circumstances of their condition cannot affect or modify that peace and joy, whose seat is internal, and its source heavenly. The children of God, when suffering from outward sources of disquietude, have been compared to a person in vigorous and strong health, reposing upon a rough and hard pallet. The physical discomfort of such a person arises exclusively from his position. Health, however, enables him, in great measure, to triumph over the uneasiness. The prosperous worldling, on the other hand, admits of comparison to an invalid, laid upon a bed of down, in the lap of luxury and comfort. All his outward resources, his purple, and fine linen, and sumptuous fare, cannot send through his frame the thrilling glow, the delightful sensation of health. The Christian has that possession of moral health which the votary of this world lacks, even at the zenith of his prosperity; and from this possession he cannot be disinherited, however unfavourable may be the turns which his temporal circumstances may take.—Goulburn.
7. But perhaps the chief drawback of the worldling’s so-called happiness is that it is accompanied by so much anxiety—that it is subject to frequent intrusions from alarm, whenever a glimpse of the future breaks in upon the mind. Possibly this feature of it, too, is symbolised in the prophetic imagery here employed to denote it. It is in the night time, when the kindled fire glows upon the hearth, and man pursues his employments by the light of the torch or taper, that apprehensions visit his mind, and phantom forms are conjured up that scare the ignorant and the superstitious. Forebodings more terrible still intrude upon the worldling,—phantoms and presages of judgment to come flit across the darkness of his mind. He wishes they were equally groundless with the fears of the superstitious; but he knows they are not so, and that knowledge mars his merriment!
III. Observe the solemn irony with which the devotees of worldly pleasure are warned of their folly. It is but seldom that the Word of God adopts the instrumentality of irony. But when it does so, we may be sure that the sinful or worldly courses, commented on in such a strain, are proofs of a desperate and almost insane folly in those who pursue them (cf. 1Ki_22:15, and Ecc_11:9). The pitiful and biting irony of our text—“Walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks ye have kindled!”—has in it more of sorrow than of anger, and is vented in the fulness of the Divine compassions, if perchance it might warn some careless soul to bethink itself of judgment, and so might reclaim it from its folly. [1563]
[1563] “This shall ye have at My hand.” So runs the solemn admonition; “Ye shall lie down in sorrow.” As if the Lord had said, Though now ye run to and fro in search of fresh stimulants, and engage yourselves ardently in pursuits which may divert the mind from the consciousness of its own desolate and empty state, a time must come when the spirit of enterprise, which has urged you to these pursuits, must cool—when failing health and a breaking constitution shall make it impossible for you to escape any longer from a calm survey of that which is before you. Sooner or later you must lie down perforce upon a deathbed, where both prospect and retrospect shall fill you with dismay. Then shall the torchlights of worldly enjoyments, in whose brightness ye have walked, pale their ineffectual fires before the sobering dawn of Eternity. They shall be viewed in all their vanity, as mere temporary expedients,—sorry substitutes indeed for heaven’s sunlight in the soul. Bitterly shall ye deplore and accuse yourselves for your folly in having been attracted by their delusive brilliancy. And so, while My servants have hope in their end, your lying down shall be in sorrow.—Goulburn.
As you would avoid the thorns of self-recrimination and alarm with which the deathbed of those who have their portion in this life is so thickly set, be persuaded, while yet it is within your reach, to seek that true happiness which shall stand you in stead when you are driven out of all creature resources, and when heart and flesh faileth.—E. M. Goulburn, D.C.L.: Sermons, pp. 428–454.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE AND FALSE CONVERSION
Isa_50:11. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, &c.
I. The natural state of man is a state of pure selfishness, i.e., the unconverted have no Gospel benevolence. Selfishness is regarding one’s own happiness supremely, and seeking one’s own good because it is his own. He who is selfish places his own happiness above other interests of greater value; such as the glory of God and the good of the universe. That mankind, before conversion, are in this state, is evident from many considerations.
II. In a converted state, the character is that of benevolence. Benevolence is loving the happiness of others, or rather, choosing the happiness of others. Benevolence is a compound word, that properly signifies good-willing. This is God’s state of mind. We are told that God is love; that is, He is benevolent. Benevolence comprises His whole character.
III. True conversion is a change from a state of supreme selfishness to benevolence. It is a change in the end of pursuit, and not a mere change in the means of attaining the end. A man may change his means, and yet have the same end, his own happiness. He may do good for the sake of the temporal benefit. Now, every one can see that there is no virtue in this. It is the design that gives character to the act, not the means employed to effect the design. The true and the false convert differ in this.
IV. Some things in which true saints and deceived persons may agree, and some things in which they differ.
1. They may agree in leading a strictly moral life. The difference is in their motives.
2. They may be equally prayerful, so far as the form of praying is concerned. The difference is in their motives.
3. They may be equally zealous in religion. One may have great zeal, because he sincerely desires and loves to promote religion, for its own sake. The other may show equal zeal, for the sake of having his own salvation more assured, and because he is afraid of going to hell if he does not work for the Lord, or to quiet his conscience, and not because he loves religion for its own sake.
4. They may be equally conscientious in the discharge of duty; the true convert because he loves to do duty, and the other because he dare not neglect it.
5. Both may pay equal regard to what is right; the true convert because he loves what is right, and the other because he knows he cannot be saved unless he does right.
6. They may agree in their desires in many respects, but with different motives.
7. They may agree in their resolutions, but with different motives.
8. They may also agree in their designs. They may both really design to glorify God. One chooses it as an end, the other as a means to promote a selfish end.
9. They may agree in their affection towards many objects:—the Bible, God, Christ, Christians; but with different motives.
10. So they may both rejoice in the same things.
11. Both may mourn and feel distressed at the low state in the Church. 12. Both may love to attend religious meetings.
13. Both may find pleasure in the duties of the closet.
14. They may both love the doctrines of grace.
15. They may both love the precepts of God’s law.
16. They may be equally liberal in giving to benevolent societies.
17. They may be equally self-denying in many things.
18. They may both be willing to suffer martyrdom. In all these cases, the motives of one class are directly against the other. The difference lies in the choice of different ends. One chooses his own interest, the other chooses God’s interest as his chief end.
Here is the proper place to answer an inquiry, which is often made: “If these two classes of persons may be alike in so many particulars, how are we to know our own real character, or to tell to which class we belong? I answer—
1. If we are truly benevolent it will appear in our daily transactions.
2. If you are disinterested in religion, religious duties will not be a task to you.
3. If selfishness is the prevailing character of your religion, it will take sometimes one form and sometimes another.
4. If you are selfish, your enjoyment in religion will depend mainly on the strength of your hopes of heaven, and not on the exercise of your affections.
5. If you are selfish in your religion, your enjoyments will be chiefly from anticipation. The true saint already enjoys the peace of God, and heaven has begun in his soul.
6. Another difference is, that the deceived person has only a purpose of obedience, and the other has a preference of obedience.
7. The true convert and the deceived person also differ in their faith. The true saint has a confidence in the general character of God, that leads him to unqualified submission to God. The other has only a partial faith, and only a partial submission.
8. If your religion is selfish, you will rejoice particularly in the conversion of sinners, where your own agency is concerned in it, but will have very little satisfaction in it, where it is through the agency of others (H. E. I. 327–334).
V. Answers to some objections made against this view of the subject. Objection
1. Am I not to have any regard to my own happiness? Answer. It is right to regard your own happiness according to its relative value. And again, you will, in fact, promote your own happiness, precisely in proportion as you leave it out of view.
Objection
2. Did not Christ regard the joy set before Him? And did not Moses also have respect unto the recompense of reward? And does not the Bible say, we love God because He first loved us? Answer
(1.) It is true that Christ despised the shame and endured the cross, and had regard to the joy set before Him. Not His own salvation, &c. Answer
(2.) So Moses had respect to the recompense of reward. But was that his own comfort? Far from it. The recompense of reward was the salvation of Israel. What did he say? “If Thou wilt forgive their sin,” &c. Answer
(3.) Where it is said, “We love Him because He first loved us,” the language plainly bears two interpretations; either that His love to us has provided the way for our return and the influence that brought us to love Him, or that we love Him for His favour shown to ourselves. That the latter is not the meaning is evident, because Jesus Christ has so expressly reprobated this principle in His Sermon on the Mount: “If ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? Do not the publicans the same?” If we love God, not for His character, but for His favours to us, Jesus Christ has written us reprobate.
Objection
3. Does not the Bible offer happiness as the reward of virtue? Answer. The Bible speaks of happiness as the result of virtue, but nowhere declares virtue to consist in the pursuit of one’s own happiness, &c.
Objection
4. God aims at our happiness, and shall we be more benevolent than God? &c. Answer. This objection is specious, but futile and rotten. God is benevolent to others. And to be like Him we must aim at, that is, delight in His happiness and glory, according to their real value.
Objection
5. Do not the inspired writers say, “Repent, and believe the Gospel, and you shall be saved?” Answer. They say, The penitent shall be saved, but it must be disinterested repentance and submission.
Objection
6. Does not the Gospel hold out pardon as a motive to submission? Answer. That depends on the sense in which you use the term motive.
CONCLUSION.—
1. We see, from this subject, why it is that professors of religion have such different views of the nature of the Gospel.
2. We see why some people are so much more anxious to convert sinners, than to see the Church sanctified and God glorified by the good works of His people.—C. G. Finney: Lectures to Professing Christians,” pp. 133–145.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain
Isaiah
A CALL TO FAITH
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Isa 50:10.
The persons addressed in this call to faith are ‘those who fear the Lord,’ and ‘obey the voice of His Servant.’ In that collocation is implied that these two things are necessarily connected, so that obedience to Christ is the test of true religion, and the fear of the Lord does not exist where the word of the Son is neglected or rejected.
But besides that most fruitful and instructive juxtaposition, other important thoughts come into view here. The fact that the call to faith is addressed to those who are regarded as already fearing God suggests the need for renewed and constantly repeated acts of confidence, at every stage of the Christian life, and opens up the whole subject of the growth and progress of individual religion, as secured by the continuous exercise of faith. The call is addressed to all at every stage of advancement. Of course it is addressed also to those who are disobedient and rebellious. But that wider aspect of the merciful invitation does not come into view here.
But there is another clause in the description of the persons addressed, ‘Who walketh in darkness and hath no light.’ This is, no doubt, primarily a reference to the great sorrow that filled, like a gloomy thundercloud, the horizon of Jewish prophets, small and uninteresting as it seems to us, namely, the captivity of Israel and their expulsion from their land. The faithful remnant are not to escape their share in the national calamity. But while it lasts, they are to wait patiently on the Lord, and not to cast away their confidence, though all seems dark and dreary.
The exhortation thus regarded suggests the power and duty of faith even in times of disaster and sorrow. But another meaning has often been attached to these words, they have been lifted into another region, the spiritual, and have been supposed to refer to a state of feeling not unknown to devout hearts, in which the religious life is devoid of joy and peace. That is a phase of Christian experience, which meets any one who knows much of the workings of men’s hearts, and of his own, when faith is exercised with but little of the light of faith, and the fear of the Lord is cherished with but scant joy in the Lord. Now if it be remembered that such an application of the words is not their original purpose, there can be no harm in using them so. Indeed we may say that, as the words are perfectly general, they include a reference to all darkness of life or soul, however produced, whether it come from the night of sorrow falling on us from without, or from mists and gloom rising like heavy vapours from our own hearts. So considered, the text suggests the one remedy for all gloom and weakness in the spiritual life.
Thus, then, we have three different sets of circumstances in which faith is enforced as the source of true strength and our all-embracing duty. In outward sorrow and trial, trust; in inward darkness and sadness, trust; in every stage of Christian progress, trust. Or I. Faith the light in the darkness of the world. II. Faith the light in the darkness of the soul. III. Faith the light in every stage of Christian progress.
I. Faith our light in the darkness of the world.
The mystery and standing problem of the Old Testament is the coexistence of goodness and sorrow, and the mystery still remains, and ever will remain, a fact. It is partially alleviated if we remember that one main purpose of all our sorrows is to lead us to this confidence.
1. The call to faith is the true voice of all our sorrows.
It seems easy to trust when all is bright, but really it is just as hard, only we can more easily deceive ourselves, when physical well-being makes us comfortable. We are less conscious of our own emptiness, we mask our poverty from ourselves, we do not seem to need God so much. But sorrow reveals our need to us. Other props are struck away, and it is either collapse or Him. We learn the vanity, the transiency, of all besides.
Sorrow reveals God, as the pillar of cloud glowed brighter when the evening fell. Sorrow is meant to awaken the powers that are apt to sleep in prosperity.
So the true voice of all our griefs is ‘Come up hither.’ They call us to trust, as nightfall calls us to light up our lamps. The snow keeps the hidden seeds warm; shepherds burn heather on the hillside that young grass may spring.
2. The call to faith echoes from the voice of the Servant.
Jesus in His darkness rested on God, and in all His sorrows was yet anointed with the oil of gladness. In every pang He has been before us. The rack is sanctified because He has been stretched upon it.
3. The substance of the call.
It is to trust, not to anything more. No attempts to stifle tears are required. There is no sin in sorrow. The emotions which we feel to God in bright days are not appropriate at such times. There are seasons in every life when all that we can say is, ‘Truly this is a grief, and I will bear it.’
What then is required? Assurance of God’s loving will sending sorrow. Assurance of God’s strengthening presence in it, assurance of deliverance from it. These, not more, are required; these are the elements of the faith here called for.
Such faith may co-exist with the keenest sense of loss. The true attitude in sorrow may be gathered from Christ’s at the grave of Lazarus, contrasted with the excessive mourning of the sisters, and the feigned grief of the Jews.
There are times when the most that we can do is to trust even in the great darkness, ‘Though He slay me yet will I trust in Him.’ Submissive silence is sometimes the most eloquent confession of faith. ‘I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it.’
4. The blessed results of such faith.
It is implied that we may find all that we need, and more, in God. Have we to mourn friends? ‘In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne.’ Have we lost wealth? We have in Him a treasure that moth or rust cannot touch. Are our hopes blasted? ‘Happy is He . . . whose hope is in the Lord his God.’ Is our health broken? ‘I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance.’ ‘The Lord is able to give thee much more than these.’
How can we face the troubles of life without Him? God calls us when in darkness, and by the darkness, to trust in His name and stay ourselves on Him. Happy are we if we answer ‘Though the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines . . . yet I will rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation.’
II. Faith, our light in the darkness of the soul.
No doubt there may be such a thing as true fear of God in the soul along with spiritual darkness, faith without the joy of faith. Now this condition seems contradictory of the very nature of the Christian life. For religion is union with God who is light, and if we walk in Him, we are in the light. How then can such experience be?
We must dismiss the notion of God’s desertion of the trusting soul. He is always the same; He has ‘never said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye Me in vain.’ But while putting aside that false explanation, we can see how such darkness may be. If our religious life was in more vigorous exercise, more pure, perfect and continuous, there would be no separation of faith and the joy of faith. But we have not such unruffled, perfect, uninterrupted faith, and hence there may be, and often is, faith without much joy of faith. I would not say that such experience is always the fruit of sin. But certainly we are not to blame Him or to think of Him as breaking His promises, or departing from His nature. No principles, be they ever so firmly held, ever so undoubtingly received, ever so passionately embraced, exert their whole power equally at all moments in a life. There come times of languor when they seem to be mere words, dead commonplaces, as unlike their former selves as sapless winter boughs to their summer pride of leafy beauty. The same variation in our realising grasp affects the truths of the Gospel. Sometimes they seem but words, with all the life and power sucked out of them, pale shadows of themselves, or like the dried bed of a wady with blazing, white stones, where flashing water used to leap, and all the flowerets withered, which once bent their meek little heads to drink. No facts are always equally capable of exciting their correspondent emotions. Those which most closely affect our personal life, in which we find our deepest joys, are not always present in our minds, and when they are, do not always touch the springs of our feelings. No possessions are always equally precious to us. The rich man is not always conscious with equal satisfaction of his wealth. If, then, the way from the mind to the emotions is not always equally open, there is a reason why there may be faith without light of joy. If the thoughts are not always equally concentrated on the things which produce joy, there is a reason why there may be the habit of fearing God, though there be not the present vigorous exercise of faith, and consequently but little light.
Another reason may lie in the disturbing and saddening influence of earthly cares and sorrows. There are all weathers in a year. And the highest hope and nearest possible approach to joy is sometimes ‘Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness.’ Our lives are sometimes like an Arctic winter in which for many days is no sun.
Another reason may be found in the very fact that we are apt to look impatiently for peace and joy, and to be more exercised with these than with that which produces them.
Another may be errors or mistakes about God and His Gospel.
Another may be absorption with our own sin instead of with Him. To all these add temperament, education, habit, example, influence of body on the mind, and of course also positive inconsistencies and a low tone of Christian life.
It is clear then that, if these be the causes of this state, the one cure for it is to exercise our faith more energetically.
Trust, do not look back. We are tempted to cast away our confidence and to say: What profit shall I have if I pray unto Him? But it is on looking onwards, not backwards, that safety lies.
Trust, do not think about your sins.
Trust, do not think so much about your joy.
It is in the occupation of heart and mind with Jesus that joy and peace come. To make them our direct aim is the way not to attain them. Though now there seems a long wintry interval between seed time and harvest, yet ‘in due season we shall reap if we faint not.’
‘In the fourth watch of the night Jesus came unto them.’
III. Faith our guiding light in every stage of Christian progress.
Those who already ‘fear God’ are in the text exhorted to trust.
In the most advanced Christian life there are temptations to abandon our confidence. We never on earth come to such a point as that, without effort, we are sure to continue in the way. True, habit is a wonderful ally of goodness, and it is a great thing to have it on our side, but all our lives long, there will be hindrances without and within which need effort and self-repression. On earth there is no time when it is safe for us to go unarmed. The force of gravitation acts however high we climb. Not till heaven is reached will ‘love’ be ‘its own security,’ and nature coincide with grace. And even in heaven faith ‘abideth,’ but there it will be without effort.
1. The most advanced Christian life needs a perpetual renewal and repetition of past acts of faith.
It cannot live on a past any more than the body can subsist on last year’s food. The past is like the deep portions of coral reefs, a mere platform for the living present which shines on the surface of the sea, and grows. We must gather manna daily.
The life is continued by the same means as that by which it was begun. There is no new duty or method for the most advanced Christian; he has to do just what he has been doing for half a century. We cannot transcend the creatural position, we are ever dependent. ‘To hoar hairs will I carry you.’ The initial point is prolonged into a continuous line.
2. The most advanced and mature faith is capable of increase, in regard to its knowledge of its object, and in intensity, constancy, power. At first it may be a tremulous trust, afterwards it should become an assured confidence. At first it may be but a dim recognition, as in a glass darkly, of the great love which has redeemed us at a great price; afterwards it should become the clear vision of the trusted Friend and lifelong companion of our souls, who is all in all to us. At first it may be an interrupted hold, afterwards it should become such a grasp as the roots of a tree have on the soil. At first it may be a feeble power ruling over our rebel selves, like some king beleaguered in his capital, who has no sway beyond its walls, afterwards it should become a peaceful sovereign who guides and sways all the powers of the soul and outgoings of the life. At first it may be like a premature rose putting forth pale petals on an almost leafless bough, afterwards the whole tree should be blossomed over with fragrant flowers, the homes of light and sweetness. The highest faith may be heightened, and the spirits before the throne pray the prayer, ‘Lord, increase our faith.’
For us all, then, the merciful voice of the servant of the Lord calls to His light. Our faith is our light in darkness, only as a window is the light of a house, or the eye, of the body, because it admits and discerns that true light. He calls us each from the darkness. Do not try to make fires for yourselves, ineffectual and transient, but look to Him, and you shall not walk in darkness, even amid the gloom of earth, but shall have light in your darkness, till the time come when, in a clearer heaven and a lighter air, ‘Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain (See Scofield "Psa 19:9").
feareth
(See Scofield "Psa 19:9").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
The servant continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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Who among you fears Yahweh? Who obeys the voice of his servant? Who walks in deep darkness without light? He should ... his God.
The servant uses these questions to identify those to whom he is speaking. AT: "If someone among you fears Yahweh and obeys the voice of his servant, but he walks in deep darkness without light, then he should ... his God." (See: Rhetorical Question)
obeys the voice of his servant
Here the word "voice" represents what the servant says. AT: "obeys his servant" (See: Metonymy)
walks in deep darkness without light
The servant speaks of people who are suffering and feel helpless as if they were walking in a very dark place. AT: "is suffering and feels helpless" (See: Metaphor)
trust in the name of Yahweh and lean on his God
These two phrases mean basically the same thing. Here the word "name" represents Yahweh himself. Trusting in God is spoken of as if it were leaning on him. AT: "trust in Yahweh, his God" (See: Parallelism and Metonymy and Metaphor)
translationWords
fear
Yahweh
obey
voice
servant
walk
light
trust
name
God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 50:10-11 This is a call for response to the…
50:10-11 This is a call for response to the servant’s ministry.
50:10 The test of whether or not an individual fears the Lord is how he or she responds to God’s righteous servant. The same idea is present in Jesus’ claim that no one can come to the Father except through him (John 14:6). • Those who trust in the Lord have great hope for the future (see Isa 12:2).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.