Isaiah 49:24-26

DISCOURSE: 954
DESPONDING FEARS REMOVED

Isaiah 49:24. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee: and I will save thy children. And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh: and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

THE human mind is prone to extremes. Before we come into trials, we think them easy to be borne: but, when oppressed with them, we are apt to sink under them as an insupportable burthen. The Jews, previous to their captivity in Babylon, would never believe that such an event could take place: but, when they felt the galling yoke, they could not at all conceive that their Church should ever behold such glorious days as they were encouraged to expect. Certainly, humanly speaking, there was reason enough for them to despair: for they were in a state of the most abject slavery; the people by whom they were enslaved were the most powerful of any upon earth; and they had a consciousness, that they had sold themselves into that very state, by their iniquities. Hence they ask, “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?” To this, however, God gives them a most gracious answer, assuring them, that he will interpose effectually in their behalf, and deliver them for his own name’s sake.
But we must not confine the words to the Jewish Church. They may properly be applied to God’s people in all ages; and be considered as representing,

I. Their desponding fears—

Whilst men are living as without God in the world, they are for the most part unconscious of any danger; or at least they think that they are in no danger from which they may not easily be delivered. But as soon as they are awakened to a sense of their lost condition, they are apt to yield to the most discouraging apprehensions, on account of,

1. Their weakness—

[They see that they have been in a state of captivity all their days, having been taken alive, as it were, by the devil, and been led “captive by him at his will [Note: 2 Timothy 2:26. ἐξωγρημένοι.].” And how shall they ever recover themselves from his snares? He is a god, even “the god of this world,” who “ruleth in all the children of disobedience [Note: 2 Corinthians 4:4.Ephesians 2:2.].” Shall the prey be taken from one who is so mighty? As well might a lamb hope to deliver itself out of the jaws of a lion, as they to liberate themselves from that “roaring lion who is just ready to devour them [Note: 1 Peter 5:8.]” — — —]

2. Their desert—

[It is not their misfortune merely, but their fault, that they are in this sad bondage: they have “sold themselves to it by their iniquities [Note: Isaiah 50:1.]:” as Esau bartered away his rights of primogeniture for a mess of pottage [Note: Hebrews 12:16.], so have they their liberty. They have chosen the gratifications of the flesh from the very first moment that they began to net: the indulgence of their corrupt inclinations was more to them than the favour of their God; so that by continual and wilful habits they have confirmed their natural propensities, and riveted the chains which Adam forged. Feeling themselves thus “sold under sin [Note: Romans 7:14.],” and become, as it were, the lawful property of Satan, they ask, “Shall the lawful captive be delivered?” The many acts of wilful transgression by which they have given him a right over them, appear an insurmountable bar to their deliverance, insomuch that the dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision scarcely appear in a more hopeless state than they [Note: Ezekiel 37:11.]. In this view of their just desert, they are tempted to say, “There is no hope [Note: Jeremiah 2:25.].”]

These feelings however may well be assuaged by,

II.

The gracious promises of God to them—

It is delightful to observe how directly God meets the wants and wishes of his people: the very language of their fears is here adopted by him, and made the vehicle of his promises to their souls. He engages that,

1. He himself will interpose for their deliverance—

[In a most wonderful way did he rescue his people from their captivity in Babylon. He raised up against that city an enemy; and, in the precise way that he had foretold, delivered it into his hands, even into the hands of Cyrus, whom he had specified by name above two hundred years before he existed in the world! and by him he dealt to the Babylonians that measure which they had before meted to his people [Note: See Jeremiah 31 especially ver. 35, 36, 49, 56.], “feeding them with their own flesh, and making them drunk with their own blood.” And thus “will he bruise Satan also under his people’s feet [Note: Romans 16:20.].” Strong as Satan is, God has raised up against him One stronger than he, who has overcome him, and taken from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and utterly despoiled him [Note: Luke 11:21.]. The Lord Jesus “came on purpose to destroy the works of the devil [Note: 1 John 3:8.];” and he did destroy them. “Upon the cross he triumphed over him openly [Note: Colossians 2:15.],” and “by his own death utterly destroyed him,” “and delivered from his power millions whom he had held in the most cruel bondage [Note: Hebrews 2:14.].” In his resurrection and ascension “he led captive,” as it were at his chariot wheels, this malignant foe [Note: Ephesians 4:8.]; and has left his people nothing but to triumph over a vanquished enemy [Note: John 16:11.].

Here then is Gods gracious answer to his people’s fears. Are you asking, “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? Yes, the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with them that contend with thee, and I will save thy children.” What more than this can any soul desire? for, is not God able to deliver? or will he falsify his word? “Hath he said, and will he not do it? hath he spoken, and will he not make it good?”
But he further promises, that,]

2. He will glorify himself in their salvation—

[The deliverance of his people from Babylon, and their restoration to their own land, was an event that excited the astonishment of all the surrounding nations: “They saw, and could not but acknowledge, that he was their Saviour and Redeemer, even the Mighty One of Jacob.” His own glory also will he display in the deliverance of his desponding people, as soon as ever they simply and believingly commit their cause to him. In fact, there is not in the whole universe a more striking monument of God’s power than a redeemed soul. “He is a new creation [Note: 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10.].” And, if it be said, “He is still weak;” true, he is so: but he is “a worm threshing the mountains [Note: Isaiah 41:14.];” and “God’s strength shall be perfected in his weakness [Note: 2 Corinthians 12:9.],” and shall carry him on, though in the midst of the most potent enemies, “from strength to strength, till he shall finally appear before his God in Zion [Note: Psalms 84:7.].” To whatever circumstances he may be reduced by the assaults of men or devils, the Lord Jesus Christ will make them only a more conspicuous occasion for the display of “his own grace, which shall surely be sufficient” for all who trust in it, and shall constrain even their enemies themselves to acknowledge that the power which supports them is divine [Note: Daniel 3:28; Daniel 6:25.]

Here then we see,
1.

What extremes we are to avoid—

[In the concerns of our souls, we should stand at an equal distance from presumption and despondency. It surely can never be right for persons, corrupt as we are, to presume upon salvation, as though it were a blessing easy to be attained. We are in a state of bondage to sin and Satan — — — (To this our whole lives bear witness.) The power of our adversary is such as no human being has within himself an ability to withstand — — — (His victory over our first parents in Paradise is proof enough of this.) Nor, considering how willing servants we have been to the destroyer, have we any just cause to expect the interposition of Jehovah in our behalf. Are we then to be secure and careless, as if we were in no danger? If “the righteous scarcely be saved,” shall we be as much at our ease, as if no effort were necessary to counteract the designs of Satan, and to rescue ourselves from his dominion? No verily: we must “not be high-minded, but fear.”

On the other hand, shall we, because of these difficulties and dangers, give way to a desponding frame? Shall we forget that there is a Saviour, who is both able and willing to deliver us? Justly does God reprove such folly and ingratitude: Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding [Note: Isaiah 40:27.].” To entertain such thoughts, is greatly to dishonour God, whose tenderness and fidelity infinitely exceed all that ever existed in a mother’s bosom towards her infant offspring [Note: ver. 11–16]. Whatever therefore be our difficulties or our dangers, we should confide in Him who has undertaken for us that “we shall take those captive whose captives we were, and shall rule over our oppressors [Note: Isaiah 14:2.].”]

2. What is that happy medium which it becomes us to observe—

[The proper medium is, not to lessen either our fears or our hopes; but to call them forth into united and simultaneous exercise. Instead of attempting to lessen our sense of danger, it is desirable to have it augmented a hundred-fold: because then we shall feel the deeper need of God’s help, and be the more earnest in our prayers to him for it. So again, instead of lowering our expectations from God, we should endeavour to have them also greatly enlarged; because we shall then honour him the more, and go forth with tenfold energy to fight the good fight of faith. This is that union, which, whilst it humbles the sinner, will exalt the Saviour, and lead us, like the heavenly hosts, to fall on our faces before him, at the very time that we are glorying in his salvation [Note: Revelation 5:8.]. This is a point which is never fully understood, but by experience. Those who have never known it by experience, are ready to imagine, that a deep sense of guilt and helplessness will produce discouragement; and that an assured confidence in God will foster pride. But, if both be combined, as they ought to be, in our hearts, we shall possess that most desirable of all attainments, a childlike spirit [Note: Mark 10:15.]. Nothing servile will remain. “The fear that has torment will be swallowed up in love [Note: John 4:18.],” whilst that which flows from love will be in full activity. We shall rejoice evermore in the God of our salvation; but shall “rejoice with trembling [Note: Psalms 2:11.];” not “boasting as if we had put off our armour,” but girding it upon us for fresh encounters, till we have accomplished our warfare, and are crowned with everlasting victory.]