Isaiah 43:18-25

Isaiah 43:18. Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing: now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

Do not imagine that what God has done in the past will never be repeated. It will be excelled: he will do yet greater things. Of all the mercy and love which God has shown, we may say that these are only prophecies of what he yet will reveal. There are now things yet to come wherein the splendor of his mercy shall be yet more clearly seen than in all the former things.

Isaiah 43:20. The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise.

However barren may your soul be, and however all your surroundings may seem to be stamped with death, God can come and make you happy and blessed, and surround you with delights, and he will do it in order that in you, whom he has formed for himself, his praise may be seen.

Isaiah 43:22. But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob.

Prayer has been neglected: praise has been suspended. There has been an ungracious negligence in the service of God. «Thou has not called upon me, O Jacob.»

Isaiah 43:22. But thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.

«You thought the service long thought the time for prayer came round too soon refused to give to my cause, and said it was a tax. Thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.»

Isaiah 43:23. Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense.

«I have not taxed thee. I have not drawn upon thy resources heavily.»

Isaiah 43:24. Thou has bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices:

«I left thee to give or not to give, that thy free will might be seen in all thy deeds of love, but nothing has come of it. On the contrary.»

Isaiah 43:24. But thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.

A solemn charge this, which God lays against his people. Now see the next verse and read it with wondering eyes.

Isaiah 43:25. I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

He has pointed out the fault: he has shown that he is not forgetful of it; and then he pronounces absolution. The transgression is put away. Blessed be his name! Now let us turn to the New Testament, and read in the Epistle to the Romans, the 10 th chapter, and we shall there see the way in which pardon is brought home to the soul.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 43:18; Romans 10:1.