Isaiah 50:10,11

DISCOURSE: 956
A WORD IN SEASON

Isaiah 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. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow.

OUR blessed Lord was thoroughly furnished for the great work he had undertaken: he had “the tongue of the learned to speak a word in season” to every character. In the days of his flesh he encouraged the weary and heavy-laden with most affectionate invitations: but against the proud and persecuting Pharisees he denounced the heaviest woes. Thus also he did in the passage before us. It is in his name that the prophet speaks; it was he who “gave his back to the smiters,” and encountered all his enemies with a full assurance of final success: and he it is who, in the text, proclaims,

I. Comfort to the desponding—

There are some of God’s people, who, notwithstanding their integrity, walk in a disconsolate and desponding frame—
[For the most part, the ways of religion are ways of pleasantness and peace; though there may be found some exceptions to this general rule. Not but that real and unmixt religion must of necessity make men happy: but there are some, whose views of divine truth are clouded, whose souls are harassed with the temptations of Satan, and who are at the same time too much under the influence of unbelief, who therefore, as might well be expected, are not happy: notwithstanding they truly “fear God, and conscientiously obey his voice, they are in darkness and have no light;” at least, their hope is so faint and glimmering, that it scarcely affords them any support at all. If we were not able to assign any reason for the divine conduct in this particular, it would be quite sufficient for us to know, that God never suffers his people to be “in heaviness through manifold temptations,” except when ho sees some peculiar “necessity” for such a dispensation towards them [Note: 1 Peter 1:6.]

But to them is directed the most encouraging advice—
[Let not such persons say, “The Lord hath forsaken and forgotten me [Note: Isaiah 49:14.]:” let them not conclude, that because their hemisphere is dark, it shall never be light; (for “light is sown for the righteous [Note: Psalms 97:11.],” though it may not instantly spring up) but “let them trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon their God.” The name of the Lord is a strong tower, whither they may run, and in which they may find safety [Note: Proverbs 18:10.]. By “the name of the Lord” we may understand all by which he has revealed himself to man, and especially that adorable Saviour “in whom his name is,” and “in whom all his promises are yea and amen:” in him let them trust as a reconciled God and Father: yes, under the most distressing circumstances let them “encourage themselves in the Lord their God [Note: 1 Samuel 30:6.]:” and if he appear to frown, still let them say with Job, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him [Note: Job 13:15.]. And whenever disquieting thoughts arise, let them chide their unbelief, as David did [Note: Psalms 42:11.]; and determine, if they perish, to perish at the foot of the cross, pleading for mercy in the name of Jesus.]

To persons, however, of a different description, the Lord changes his voice; and speaks,

II.

Terror to the secure—

While some are disquieted without a cause, there are others causelessly secure—
[To “kindle a fire and compass ourselves with its sparks” seems a natural and obvious expression for seeking our own ease and pleasure: and this may be done, either by self-pleasing endeavours to “establish a righteousness of our own, instead of submitting to the righteousness of God;” or by giving up ourselves to worldly occupations and carnal enjoyments. Now they, who find all their satisfaction in one or other of these ways, are very numerous; while they who serve God in sincerity, but walk in darkness, are comparatively very few [Note: This is strongly intimated in the text, “Who is, &c.? Behold, all ye, &c.”]: and so persuaded are they, for the most part, of the happy issue of their conduct, that they will scarcely listen to any thing which may be spoken to undeceive them. But, how numerous or confident soever they may be, their state is widely different from what they apprehend.]

To them God addresses a most solemn warning—
[Sometimes, when the obstinacy of men renders them almost incorrigible, God speaks to them in a way of irony. Here he bids them go on in their own way, and get all the comfort they can; but warns them withal what doom they must assuredly expect at his hands. Precisely similar to this is his warning to the same description of persons in the book of Ecclesiastes [Note: Ecclesiastes 11:9.] — And how often is it awfully realized in a dying hour! When they are lying on a bed of “sickness, how much wrath and sorrow” are mixed in their cup [Note: Ecclesiastes 5:17.]! And, the very instant they depart out of the body, what “tribulation and anguish” seize hold upon them! Alas! who can conceive what it is to lie down in everlasting burnings? Yet thus shall their lamp be extinguished; and their sparks of created comfort be succeeded by a fire that shall never be quenched [Note: Job 18:5.]

We cannot conclude this subject better than by directing the attention of all to two important truths connected with it:
1.

To believe God’s word is our truest wisdom—

[What advice can be given to a disconsolate soul better than that administered in the text? We may “offer thousands of rams, or ten thousands of rivers of oil: yea, we may give our first-born for our transgression, the fruit of our body for the sin of our soul;” but we can never attain comfort in any other way than by an humble trust in the promises of God: we must “even against hope, believe in hope [Note: Romans 4:18.]:” our “joy and peace must come by believing.” Nor is there less folly in arguing against the threatenings of God, than in questioning his promises. If God say respecting those who rest in self-righteous observances, or carnal enjoyments, that they shall lie down in sorrow, our disbelief of it will not make void his word: it will come to pass, even if the whole creation should unite to oppose it. Though men therefore may account it folly to believe the word of God, let us remember, that it is our truest wisdom; and that without an humble affiance in it, we cannot be happy either in time or eternity.]

2. To obey God’s word is our truest happiness—

[We cannot have a more unfavourable picture of religion, nor a more favourable view of a carnal state, than in the text: yet who would hesitate which state to prefer? Who would not rather be “altogether such as Paul,” notwithstanding his chain, than be like Festus or Agrippa on their thrones [Note: Acts 16:29.]? Who would not rather be in the destitute condition of Lazarus, and attain his end, than live as Dives for a little time, and then want a drop of water to cool his tongue [Note: Luke 16:19.]? Yes, the most afflictive circumstances of a religious man are infinitely preferable, all things considered, to the most prosperous state which an ungodly man can enjoy: the one sows in tears to reap in joy; and the other sows the wind to reap the whirlwind [Note: Hosea 8:7.]. Let us then be persuaded that to serve God is to consult our truest happiness, and that in keeping his commandments there is great reward [Note: Psalms 19:11.]