Your Lord Yahweh, your God who pleads the cause of his people, says, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will not drink it any more.
Parallel Translations
-
Your Lord Yahweh, your God who pleads the cause of his people, says, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will not drink it any more.
-
Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:
-
Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of His people: behold, I have taken out of thy hand the cup of staggering; the beaker, even the cup of My fury, thou shalt no more drink it again;
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Isaiah 51:22 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 22:23 for Yahweh will plead their case, and plunder the life of those who plunder them.
- Isaiah 51:17 Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from Yahweh’s hand the cup of his wrath. You have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.
- Isaiah 62:8 Yahweh has sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, “Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners will not drink your new wine, for which you have labored,
- Jeremiah 50:34 Their Redeemer is strong: Yahweh of Armies is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
- Isaiah 49:25 But Yahweh says, “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the plunder retrieved from the fierce, for I will contend with him who contends with you and I will save your children.
- Psalms 35:1 Contend, Yahweh, with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me.
- 1 Samuel 25:39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed is Yahweh, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil. Yahweh has returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to himself as wife.
- Joel 3:2 I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment on them there for my people, and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have divided my land,
- Micah 7:9 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.
- Jeremiah 51:36 Therefore Yahweh says: “Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.
- Ezekiel 39:29 I won’t hide my face from them any more; for I have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”
- Isaiah 54:7-9 “For a small moment I have forsaken you, but I will gather you with great mercies. In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting loving kindness I will have mercy on you,” says Yahweh your Redeemer. “For this is like the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 51:22 Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and…
Isa 51:22 Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God [that] pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, [even] the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:
Ver. 22. Behold I have taken.] Though man could not. Where human help faileth, divine help beginneth.
Read full note →
Thou shalt no more drink it.] i.e., Not of a long time, till thy last devastation by the Romans.
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 Thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people;…
Thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people; who though he hath fought against thee, is now reconciled to thee, and will maintain thy cause against all thine adversaries.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Thus saith the Lord, the Lord and thy God,....…
Thus saith the Lord, the Lord and thy God,.... He who is Lord of all, the eternal Jehovah, who can do all things, and who is the covenant God of his people, and will do all things he has purposed and promised, and which are for their good and his glory; of which they may be assured from the consideration of these names and titles of his, for which reason they seem to be used and mentioned:
that pleadeth the cause of his people, which is a righteous one, as he will make it appear to be, by delivering them out of their troubles, and by avenging their bodies.
Read full note →
Behold, I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling; which he himself had put there, Isa 51:17, and which none but himself could take out; not she herself, nor any of her sons, nor indeed could they give her any relief; but when the Lord's time is come to favour his people, he himself will remove it:
even the dregs of the cup of my fury; it shall all be clean taken away, nothing of it shall remain:
thou shalt no more drink it again; or "any longer" (c); after the slaying of the witnesses, and their rising again, there will be no more persecution of the church of God; see Isa 2:9.
(c) "non ultra", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus.
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 That pleadeth - Who, tho' he has fought against…
That pleadeth - Who, tho' he has fought against thee, is now reconciled to thee, and will maintain thy cause against all thine adversaries.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain I have taken out of thy hand the cup…
I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling - (See the notes at Isa 51:17). This verse contains a promise that they would be delivered from the effect of the wrath of God, under which they had been suffering so long.
Thou shalt no more drink it again - Thou shalt no more be subject to similar trials and calamities (see Isa 54:7-9). Probably the idea here is, not that Jerusalem would never be again destroyed, which would not be true, for it was afterward subjected to severer trials under the Romans; but that the people who should then return - the pious exiles - should be preserved forever after from similar sufferings. The object of the prophet is to console them, and this he does by the assurance that they should be subjected to such trials no more.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain pleadeth . . . cause-- (Psa 35:1; Jer 50:34;…
pleadeth . . . cause-- (Psa 35:1; Jer 50:34; Mic 7:9).
no more drink it-- (Isa 54:7-9). This cannot apply to Israel after the return from Babylon, but only to them after their final restoration.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 22. thy Lord the Lord] thy Lord Jehovah. It…
22. thy Lord the Lord] thy Lord Jehovah. It is in cases like this that we are made to feel the inconvenience arising from the Jewish reluctance to pronounce the sacred Name Yahveh.
I have taken] Better I take (a perf. of instant action, as 1Sa_2:16).
Read full note →
the cup of trembling … fury] the cup of intoxication, the chalice of mine indignation (see on Isa_51:17).
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 (22) Thy Lord the Lord . . .—Note the…
(22) Thy Lord the Lord . . .—Note the emphatic combination of Adonai (or rather, in this solitary instance, of the plural Adonim used like Elohim) with Jehovah. Man’s necessity is once more God’s opportunity. He will plead for His people when none else will plead. The cup of trembling shall be taken from the hand of the forlorn castaway, and given to her enemies. (Comp. Jer_25:15.)
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 The Lord... that pleadeth the cause of his people.…
The Lord... that pleadeth the cause of his people. (comp. Jer_50:34, which contains an allusion to this passage) As his people have a relentless adversary, who accuses them continually, and pleads against them, (Rev_12:10) so it is needful that they should have an untiring advocate. God himself is this Advocate. The dregs of the cup (see the comment on ver. 17, ad fin. ).
God pleads the cause of his people.
Read full note →
How can God, it may be asked, be at once Judge and Advocate? Can he plead at his own tribunal; entreat himself to show mercy; deprecate his own anger? if not, before what tribunal does he plead? whose mercy does he entreat? whose anger does he deprecate? The prophet himself could, perhaps, scarcely have explained his own words; but the Holy Spirit who inspired them knew exactly in what sense they were true. The riddle has to be solved by the consideration of the distinction of Persons in the Godhead. God the Father is the Judge of man, before whose tribunal all men must one day appear. God the Son is the Advocate, (1Jn_2:1) who pleads with the Father on their behalf, intercedes for them, (Heb_7:25) deprecates the Father"s wrath, implores his mercy, entreats for and obtains their pardon. Satan, on the one side, accuses; (Rev_12:10) but on the other, the Lord Jesus Christ defends. He defends his own, and he overcomes by his own blood, (Rev_12:11) wherewith he has washed away their sins. He "justifieth", (Rom_8:33) and then "who is he that condemneth?" Assuredly, no one.
God our Advocate with himself.
"Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, and thy God who is the Advocate of his people." He will plead for his people when none else will plead. (comp. Isa_63:5) In this we find a foreshadowing of the idea of Christ as our Advocate with God, which, most deeply, most spiritually apprehended, is God pleading with God God an Advocate with himself. This may be worked out thus
I JESUS PLEADS FOR US WITH GOD. "There is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus;" "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
II BUT JESUS IS GOD. "In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." "The Word was God." He was God "manifest in the flesh." "The Brightness of the Father"s glory, and express Image of his Person.
III THEN THIS IS GOD PLEADING WITH GOD. It is a way of figuring for our apprehension what seems to be the fact, that God holds argument with himself. 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 Thus saith thy Lord
Isa_51:22
Thus saith thy Lord
Read full note →
God our Advocate
How can God be both judge and advocate?
Maybe Isaiah would have said, I see it not clearly myself yet. But the riddle is all explained when you bear in mind the distinction of the persons in the Godhead. He pleads His peoples cause for them by the Son, and in them by the Holy Ghost. This wonderful title, God that pleadeth the cause of His people, has been already vindicated in the history of Israel. But what is it God pleads? We may go very much astray unless we emphasize that word cause. It is not, He pleadeth the whims of His people. Everything that I may want or like God is not going to provide. That word cause means the strife, the battle, the controversy. The Church of God is just the expression of a great conflict that has been going on for ages. I want to show you how Jesus has pleaded the cause of His people, and He has done it in different courts.
I. He pleaded the cause of His people first in the COURT OF JUDGMENT that was situated at Golgotha. As to proving men innocent, that is impossible; they are guilty and condemned and yet Christ steps forward and says, I will plead their cause. And He stood in my place and yours, and pleaded our cause: but pleading our cause took Him to the Cross and into the tomb.
II. Having pleaded my cause in the court of judgment, He now pleads my cause IN THE COURT OF LAW AND JUSTICE. It is not enough for a soul to be free from sin; that is the negative side. How can any man enter heaven apart from righteousness? I will suppose for a moment that this difficulty is raised in court. Yes, the past sin is atoned for; but where is the mans righteousness? I say, Oh, my Lord, Thou who didst plead for me just now, plead again! and I hear Him say, I lived the life of perfect righteousness, I obeyed the law in every jot and tittle, I had Thy word hidden in My heart. And the answer comes, The plea is perfect: sinner, thou art not only forgiven, thou art justified; thy God hath pleaded thy cause.
III. Jesus now pleads my cause IN HEAVEN ITSELF. If I am a saint, I am sure to pray, but being an earthly saint I am sure to pray very badly; being a believer, I am sure to sing, but having an earthly nature I am sure there are many low grovelling notes. How are my prayers to enter heaven? how are my prayers to be accepted? He who pleaded my cause on Golgotha, and He who pleaded my cause in the court of law, He now as High Priest pleads my cause before the golden altar.
IV. And Jesus has not yet concluded His pleading work. Personally I am looking for a day that is yet to dawn when JESUS WILL PERFECTLY PLEAD ON BEHALF OF HIS PEOPLE THAT THEY MAY RECEIVE ALL THE RIGHTS OF REDEMPTION.
V. I have only dealt thus far with the Father and the Son, but it is the whole Trinity that pleads the cause of His people, and therefore our final point is this, that whilst Jesus has pleaded for me at Golgotha and does plead for me yonder in the court of Heaven, THE HOLY GHOST IS PLEADING MY CAUSE WITHIN. (A. G. Brown.)
The Advocate on high
How majestic are these appellations; and if we mark the variation of the appearance of the word Lord, it opens to our view at once a fund of information and comfort which would be lost if that were overlooked. The first time the word is used, thy Lord, the translators have given it to us in small letters, simply signifying a sovereign ruler and governor. The second time they have given it in capital letters, which method they adopted to distinguish the word Jehovah from the word Adonai, or Lord. When the word Jehovah presents itself to our view, we are at once filled with a consciousness of the presence of a self-existent Being, giving being to all, deriving being from none, with all worlds at His command, and all creatures under His sway. And then to have the sovereign governor, the self-existent Deity, presented to our view in His covenant character as thy God, is peculiarly sweet. There is a sevenfold preciousness in this introduction which Jehovah gives of Himself to the notice of His people, and that, too, under circumstances particularly affecting; because what the Lord was about to say to them was just called for by the exigencies in which they were placed.
I. THE APPELLATIONS that are employed. Thy Lord; THE LORD; thy God.
II. OUR CLAIM TO AN INTEREST IN THEM, as warranted by Scripture. I will refer to the infinite perfections of the Deity to be claimed by the poor worm of the earth. What, I allowed to claim Omniscience, Omnipotence to watch over me, Omnipresence to be my company, Immutability to be my security, eternity the open prospect for me! What, I view all the perfections and attributes of the Deity, such as His justice, His holiness, His truth, His mercy, His faithfulness, everlastingly pledged for my salvation? This is something solid. What is requisite to prove the claim? You will find substantial proof nowhere but in spiritual life imparted to the soul.
III. THE TRANSACTION REFERRED TO. That pleadeth the cause of His people.
1. Let us first glance at the Divine, the sacred office assumed, as stated the text, If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. That glorious Advocate is wise, faithful, condescending, affectionate.
2. The extraordinary nature of the cause of Gods people.
(1) There are three points in the pleading of the cause that must be kept in view. God pleads thy cause. Precious Advocate!
(2) Moreover, He hath to plead for His people among the heathen; and this is implied in the text. When the people of Israel old transgressed by idolatries and superstitions, by departures from God, and mingling with the heathen, Jehovah sent them into captivity, allowed their enemies to break in upon them, and to desolate their city and temple. And the heathen mocked them. Where now is your God? Where is the God you serve? Do you think the King of glory can regard such beings as you? But Jehovah pleads His own cause, and vindicates His own honour among the heathen.
(3) But there is a worse feature relative to the cause, and that is rebellion in the heart of His own people.
3. The legal process. The only great mark of the legal process is for Gods holiness to be vindicated. Then the process must be by exacting or by surety; and it must be by His life of obedience and His death of ignominy. If the legal process be pleading with the guilty, ruined sinner, there are two or three things I shall name.
(1) He is apprehended.
(2) He is accused.
(3) He is acquitted. Acquitted, but He is condemned first. (J. Irons.)
.
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_51:17; Isa_51:20; Isa_51:22. The fury of the Lord, &c.…
JEHOVAH’S ANGER
Isa_51:17; Isa_51:20; Isa_51:22. The fury of the Lord, &c. [1587]
Read full note →
[1587] See vol. i. pp. 284–286, and H. E. I. 2288–2294. God’s anger must, of course, be understood in a manner in accordance with the Divine nature; and we are not to suppose that precisely the same passions or the same feelings are referred to when this language is used of God which is implied when it is used of men. It means that His nature, His laws, His government, His feelings, are all arrayed against the wicked; that He cannot regard the conduct of the wicked with favour; that He will punish them. He is angry with the wicked continually, constantly, always. It is not excitement, it is not a temporary passion, such as we see in men. It is not sudden emotion, soon to be succeeded by a different feeling when the passion passes off. It is the steady and uniform attribute of His unchanging nature to be always opposed to the wicked,—to all forms of sin; and in Him, in this respect, there will be no change. The wicked will find Him no more favourable to their character and course of life to-morrow than He is to-day; no more beyond the grave than this side of the tomb.… This is a fearful truth in regard to the sinner, and should make him tremble:—(1.) that God is angry with him—that all His character, and all the principles of His government and law, are and must be arrayed against him; and (2.), that in this respect there is to be no change; that if he continues to be wicked, as he is now, he will every day and always—this side the grave and beyond—find all the attributes of God engaged against him, and pledged to punish him. God has no attribute that can take part with sin or the sinner.—A. Barnes, D.D.
The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the higher the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course when once it is let loose. If God should only withdraw His hand from the floodgate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea, ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it.—Jonathan Edwards.
I. It is real. There is such a thing as anger in God. Many are the expressions used concerning it—jealousy, vengeance, fury, wrath; all to indicate its existence, and to show us that the human theories of Divine universal benevolence are not true, being got up for a purpose, and that purpose to persuade the sinner’s own conscience that he need not be alarmed because of his guilt; and that no one need dread the infliction of punishment, except perhaps a few of the most wicked of our race. But God’s words are not exaggerations, nor words of course. There is a terrible truth contained in these oft-repeated words of Scripture, “His anger was kindled.” Loving and gracious as Jehovah is, His anger is real. When Jesus comes the second time, He comes to “take vengeance.”
II. It is righteous. It is not the rage of selfishness, or passion, or affront. It is judicial anger; the anger of the righteous judge. It is anger against sin, against the sinner, anger because of insulted law and dishonoured righteousness. Nothing in it is unjust, or cruel, or arbitrary. Then the condemned soul will be compelled hereafter to say, “It is all right and just,” it shall be right and just to all eternity.”
III. It is terrible. Though calm, it is unutterably awful; nay, overwhelming. No power and no numbers shall be able to stand before it. It shall sweep everything before it like a whirlwind. The expulsion from paradise, the Deluge, the ruin of Sodom, are specimens of its terribleness. The lost soul shall be utterly overwhelmed. (β)
IV. It is inexorable. Nothing but genuine repentance shall turn it aside, or soften it when once it is kindled. “The vengeance of eternal fire,” the “everlasting burning,” the “worm that dieth not,” these are awful words, and however figurative they may be, they represent terrible realities (H. E. I. 2804).—Horatius Bonar, D.D.: Light and Truth, Old Testament, p. 345.
THE MEMORIAL NAME
Isa_51:22. Thy LORD the LORD, and thy God.
The history, which includes the textual statement. Consider—
1. The character which God here claims for Himself.
1. Independent and self-existent in Being, and therefore—Infinite—fills all space; everlasting—fills all time; the source of all being.
2. Unlimited in perfection. All perfections. Infinite in each.
3. Unlimited in sovereignty. He does according to His will. His will the highest reason. None can counsel Him.
4. Unlimited in the extent of His government. None are exempted from it.
5. Himself the end of all things. Everything originates with Him. Everything terminates in Him.
II. The limitations which men put upon the claim which is thus made by God. They put limits upon,
1. His being. The having and worshipping false gods. That is not God which is not self-existent; and two self-existent Gods cannot be conceived.
2. His perfections. The conceptions which men form and express. The preference which man gives to the creature. The silence of man in His praise. The little imitation there is of Him. The manner in which men expect to recommend themselves to His favour. The manner in which His servants are treated.
3. On His absolute sovereignty. Confining our attention to systems of doctrine called Christian, men question God’s absolute sovereignty, in the election, calling, justification, and perseverance of His people.
4. On the extent of His government. Some exclude Him from creation, providence, in prayer, conversation, conduct, civil authority, the government of the Church, and conscience.
5. As the end of all things. Men make themselves the end.
CONCLUSION.—He is not, and cannot be limited. In acting, He disregards the limits of men. He punishes the pride and insolence of man for limiting Him. He calls the notice of His people to the vindication of His glory.—James Stewart: Outlines of Discourses, pp. 2–4.
THE STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF THE CHURCH
(Preached before a Presbyterian General Assembly.)
Isa_52:1. Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion.
This language is a direct address from God to His ancient Church. The image which it presents is that of a sleeping giant. The Church of God had been a giant power in the world; but at the time in which God speaks it had relapsed into slumber—had put off its strength, and, being beset with enemies, this position of torpor and inaction was one of peril. Hence this arousing note of alarm, “Awake, awake!” The slumbering giant is not only summoned to arouse to consciousness, but to put on and put forth his strength for conflict and for victory.
The text is a forcible reminder of the mysterious and discouraging fact that the Church of God, in all ages, may have its times of weakness, as well as its times of power. When the Church first went forth from Jerusalem, a little flock, scattered hither and thither by the storm of persecution, it was a time of power. It was then but an infant of days, but it “lifted empires off their hinges, and turned the stream of centuries out of its channel.”—(Richter.)
But a time of weakness followed this era of power—the dark night of the middle ages. Again there came a time of power when, on the morning of the Reformation, the Church heard the cry, “Awake, awake!” and, springing up with renewed youth, it put on its strength. The chill of formalism followed the track of the Reformation, and the Church sank into the coma of wide-spread paralysis; a disguised Romanism riveted her fetters; the Socinian apostasy spread its blight over Great Britain. But then came times of power, when the Church arose in quickened majesty; and still again, times of wondrous spiritual revival, when the call sounded by Wesley and Whitefield, like the voice of the prophet in the valley of vision, seemed to awake the dead.
I. Why these periods of weakness? If the Church is a giant begirt with power, and that power is divine; if it is commissioned to exercise the evil spirit from the world, and goes forth with the promise of help and victory, then why these times of weakness? Answer:—The power of the Church is divine, but it is also human. What man can do, he must do. To roll away the stone from the grave of Lazarus was something that man could do; hence our Lord commanded human hands to do it. This act of human strength must antecede the word of power which raises the dead. Divine power and human strength must work together, each in its appropriate sphere. Divine efficiency does not supersede human agency, but only supplements its weakness. If man’s part in the work or warfare of the Church is properly executed, God’s part will never fail. But, as the terror of the iron chariots of the enemy paralysed the strength of Judah—so that, the human part being wanting, the victory was lost (Jdg_1:19)—so, in the Church, if any cause supervenes to weaken, or render ineffective, the strength which God expects us to put forth, He will not depart from His plan, or interpose to save us from the result of our own weakness, or to hide us from the scorn and derision of the world.
II. What is the strength of the Church, and when is it put off?
1. The first element of power is the Gospel. This is the one element for our work, the one weapon for our warfare—it is the power of God. The astronomer looks at the heavens. These stars are to be counted; these constellations are to be mapped; the orbits of these planets are to be observed. Here is a vast and complicated work; but how is it to be done? By the telescope. He has this, and nothing else. All the great results of astronomy must spring, first of all, from this single instrument. Just so the Church looks out upon its work. It is commissioned to bring this world in captivity to the obedience of Christ. A mighty and multiform work; how is it to be achieved? By the Gospel. God has given us this, and nothing else, to save the world. It is the “power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” “It pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe.” Moses was commanded to smite the rock at Horeb, and bring from its bosom streams of water. How? He was given but one instrument—the slender rod that he held in his hand. To human view the rock would be more likely to break the rod than the rod to rend the rock; but that fragile rod was God’s ordained instrument of power; and, when it smote, the riven rock gushed with the living waters. Just so, the Word of God is the rod of power. We are commanded to smite with it alone, for by nothing else can the stony heart be broken. For every work which the Church is sent to do, this is the instrument of power.
This being so, we can readily see from this standpoint how this strength may be put off, and power give place to weakness. To neglect, to withhold, to minimise, to obscure in any manner the truth of God, is to put off this element of power, and to bring in a time of weakness.
This may occur
(1.) When the truth is depreciated, or its necessity not clearly recognised. Thus, for example, some say, “Preach morality; let us hear more about the duties of life, and less about the doctrines of the Cross.” Morality, without principle, is a sham; it is tinselled fruit tied upon a Christmas-tree—the only connection is the tape that ties it. Morality is the fruit of principle, but principle is doctrine—and the only doctrine that bears this fruit is the doctrine of the Cross.
(2.) Whenever the Gospel is subordinated to human themes. If the Church dispenses essays upon history, antiquities, philosophy, politics, science, or reflects the light of the secular press, &c., it will be no marvel if it sinks into imbecility.
(3.) Our strength is crippled when the Gospel is caricatured by sensational themes, discussions, illustrations and expedients, which attract attention, indeed, but which belittle the sacred doctrine of the Cross.
But whilst causes like these paralyse our power, there are others which produce simply an abatement of strength. For example, the Church can only put forth half its strength when the Gospel is but half told. If it sets out in full light the Divine love, whilst it keeps back Divine justice under the shadow of a dark eclipse; if it tells of Christ’s teachings, and is silent about Christ’s sacrifice; if it points to Christ’s life, and not to Christ’s blood, as the centre of saving efficiency; if it sets out the freedom of man, and holds in abeyance Divine sovereignty and efficacious grace; or if it minimises the Gospel in the one sentence, “Come to Jesus;” or if it lays Christ as a humble suppliant at the feet of men until proud sinners imagine that it is a stoop of condescension to permit Jesus to save them—then, surely, it is no marvel that men turn away from a belittled Gospel and a belittled Saviour, and that the Church sits in weakness.
2. The second element is the ministry. Let us not lose sight of the figure of the text. The Church is a giant; the Gospel is the instrument of his work—the weapon of his warfare. But what wields the weapon? The giant’s arm—this is the ministry. It is the arm or the agent of the Church’s power. The symbol of the Gospel is a hammer, a word; but a hammer is powerless without a strong hand to use it; the sword is ineffective without a skilful arm to wield it. This arm, this sword, this agent of strength and skill, is the ministry.
This figure seems to describe accurately the kind of power with which the ministry is invested. It is not an original power inherent in itself, but a delegated power. It is the power of an agent, and it has an instrument of power put into its hands. It is not a power to infuse grace, or to forgive sins, or to bind the conscience, but simply an administrative power. It is a power of vocation to utter the Gospel call, to summon God’s sons from afar, and His daughters from the ends of the earth. A teaching power—go teach all nations; preach the Gospel to every creature. A dispensing power to break the Bread of Life, and to distribute, with a liberal hand, to all God’s children, giving to each a portion in due season. A power to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.
We may readily see when this strength is put on, and when it is put off. Whatever cripples or weakens or interferes with the right use and proper functions of a giant’s arm, weakens and abates the effectiveness of the giant himself; so whatever weakens the ministry, or hinders its effectiveness, puts off to that extent the strength of the Church, and introduces a time of weakness and defeat.
(1.) The ministry, as an arm of power, may be withered by a perfunctory education. Ministers may be taught to know about God, but not to know God. They may learn to explain and defend the Gospel, without having ever felt that a single Gospel truth has been riveted as a living, burning power in their own souls. A minister who knows what it is to be a saved sinner, can tell of it with such power as to make others feel that there is nothing between them and eternal death but the blood of Jesus. But, without this experience, the minister will be a perfunctory drone, stepping in a treadmill, or doing out his lifeless essay whilst sinners are slipping through his fingers into perdition.
(2.) The ministry must be a source of weakness instead of power to the Church, if it is not in sympathy with the hearts of the people, and the souls of perishing men. He who was once lost but is found again, will know how to feel for the lost, and the lost will listen to him who once was lost himself. This is the natural power of the minister, the link of sympathy that binds him to the hearts of the people and the souls of men. If this be lost the ministry is powerless.
3. The third and principal element of the Church’s power is the Holy Ghost. The implement of the Church’s work is the Word; the arm of the Church’s power is the ministry; but the power itself is the Holy Ghost. As He causeth the earth to bring forth and bud by showers from heaven, so He causes His Church to abound in the fruits of righteousness by times of refreshing from on high. A revival is a day of the Spirit’s power, when the enemy is repulsed; when sinners are made willing; when doubt and unbelief are dissipated. If such a day of power were granted to us now, you would see rationalism, scepticism, and infidelity driven like smoke before the wind.
III. Such being the elements of the Church’s power, and the causes which convert its strength into weakness, let us now listen to God’s call to the Church to put on and put forth her strength. “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion!” An army puts on its strength when it goes forth to battle, but this is strength to destroy. A fireman puts on his strength when he enters a burning dwelling, and plucks its sleeping inmates from the flames. This is strength to save. Oh, it is a glorious thing to put on strength to save! How, then, shall we put on this strength?
Physical strength is put on in one way, and spiritual strength in another. Some seem to imagine that they have only to arouse and stir themselves into an agony of effort. Samson arose and shook himself, and thought he would go forth and smite the Philistines, as aforetime; but, alas! the strength was not there—it had departed from him. So the Church may shake herself and advance to the conflict, but the strength is not there; the Philistines are upon her, and she wists not that the Lord has departed. This is not the way! One who is physically strong is conscious of his strength, but one who is spiritually strong is conscious of nothing but weakness. Spiritual power, in its first element, is the sense of our own weakness.
No man ever puts on spiritual strength except on his knees. It was there that the apostles found it. When Peter stood forth and preached to the multitude, that day of Pentecost was a day of power; it was the Spirit’s power; but how did the apostles put it on? Upon their knees; in those days of prayer, in the upper chamber in Jerusalem. It is upon our knees that the Church must put on its strength! Then shall our work be “mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strongholds.”—W. M. Paxton, D.D.
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.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 51:22 God would be the Defender of Israel as…
51:22 God would be the Defender of Israel as he was when Assyria besieged Jerusalem (38:6).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.