COMFORT FOR GOD'S PEOPLE
By Uriah Smith
(Second and concluding paper) “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned.” Isa. 40: 1, 2. Last week we offered a few reflections upon the comforting declarations of this interesting chapter, down to the opening of verse 15. It was found that the testimony applied at, or reached over to, the time when the conflicts of the militant Church shall be accomplished, her sins all pardoned, and the long-cherished expectations of hope made an actual fact in the kingdom of God; this hope and promise being based on the great truth that God is abundantly able to do this; that the means used in this work, both objectively and subjectively, would level all hills, fill up the valleys, and make rough places smooth, in order that the work of the Lord, and for the Lord and His cause, might be accomplished. The Lord also promised to be a shepherd to His flock, bearing the young in His arms, and carrying them in His bosom. A call to the Church then follows, to spread abroad, with great courage and a strong voice, the good news she had to impart. Then appears a wonderful ejaculation, setting forth, in verse 12, the exhibitions God gives in nature of His marvelous power, by holding the waters of this globe in the hollow of His hand, comprehending the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighing the mountains and hills in scales and balances. It is all calculated to inspire the servants of the Lord with all fullness of hope and comfort, by showing them that nothing is beyond the reach of the Lord’s love and power. The remainder of the chapter supports these propositions with still more forcible arguments. The prophet continues:— “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” Verse 15. In this the prophet gives still another view of the greatness and majesty of God. Just before, God was compared with the universe of matter, and as holding the vast expanse of water in the hollow of His hand, confining the dust of the earth in a measure, and regarding the mountains and hills as a little package to be weighed in scales and balances. Next He was compared with the universe of created mind, the prophet challenging the whole audience to produce a thought that was new to God, or to make a suggestion that would add to His wisdom. Then He measures Him against the nations of men; and they are to Him only as a drop of a bucket, or the small dust of the balance, which in the scale is inappreciableness. What are these and all their authority when pitted against the commandments of God? He draws another important lesson from a spiritual side of the question, as follows:— “And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing and vanity.” Verses 16, 17. He is not dependent on men for power, nor on the good will of any of His creatures. No offerings that we can present are sufficient to commend ourselves to Him. If Lebanon could not suffice, what could? The imagery here used is surpassingly beautiful. Nature is the temple; Lebanon the altar; its lordly woods the pile; and its countless beasts the sacrifice; but so great is the High and Holy One that all this would not be sufficient for an oblation to Him. “To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?” Verse 18. The inevitable and logical conclusion from what has been stated before, is that God is God alone, and there is none beside Him. The prophet then proceeds to argue that if God can not be compared with the most exalted creatures, what folly it is to compare Him with inanimate matter, or with graven images fashioned by the hands of men. This argument is offered in verses 19, 20. “Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: that bringeth the princes to nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and He shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.” Verses 21-25. “Have ye not known?” This is not a new revelation. It is an appeal to the memory; and this is a strong point in all the divine pleadings. Had not the Lord made known His works and His power, to such an extent as to settle all minds in regard to His strength, and His beneficent purposes in His dealings with the children of men? Is He not almighty? Then do not fear as to the stability of His plans and purposes; have no fear as to the fulfillment of His promises; and do not imagine that you can escape His judgments. God is not only all-powerful, but all-wise. Infinite strength, if it stood alone, would terrify us; but infinite strength coupled with, and under the domination of, infinite love, recovers us from the shock of unmodified, immeasurable strength; that is, infinite power unmodified by any counter principle of beneficence and good will, running parallel with it. If God is all-wise, then all His providences, however dark and mysterious they may at first seem, or always seem to human wisdom, have a wise and definite purpose couched in them, which will in due time be made plain. The plan of salvation is complete and final. Our life, which is but dimly known even to ourselves, is all known to Him. Now and then, and here and there, we seem to catch glimpses of it; but its full scope and meaning are still unrevealed to us. But it is enough that God knows our life, and that His wisdom is pledged to be our defense. God is ever extending our knowledge of His works, as a reward of the endeavors we are making to acquaint ourselves with the wonders with which we are inclosed. What is our relation to this God of justice and of love? Are we loving, loyal subjects of His crown? or rebels against His kingdom? All depends upon our relation to the cross of Jesus Christ. The allusion to princes and judges shows how little power they have, and how little they are to be accounted of, apart from connection with God; and how easily they can be brought to nothing. The one lesson appearing all through the prophecy, is the uniform effort to fortify the hearts of men against any influence that would tend to draw them away from the Holy One; and so, as expressed in verse 25, the prophet brings back the mind again to the great question, To whom shall we liken God? or whom shall we make equal to Him? “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth.” Verse 26. Still another point is here added to the sublime comparison of the omnipotent God with His various works. In this prophecy God has been compared with the material universe; with all nations; and with graven images; with all the inhabitants of the earth; with judges and princes; and the climax is10reached not by the use of any of these terms descriptive of greatness and power, but rather by that which describes God’s character: “Saith the Holy One.” As a general reviews his numerous army, so the Lord is represented as calling in review before Him the countless host of heaven, calling them all by their names, by the greatness of His might. If He can thus deal with worlds, how much more can He deal with His children, whom He regards not only as the creatures of His hand, but as the blossoms of His love. One glimpse of God’s power, joined with His promises, ought to be sufficient to banish all our fears. “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?” Verse 27. Isaiah here reaches, and rests down upon, the foundation of the hope and trust of mankind — the living God. Creation rests in His hands; man, the higher creation, rests on His heart. Verse 26 is called “Heaven’s protest against man’s despair.” “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. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Verses 28-31. Another important point that we are to remember is here presented; namely, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary. What assurance on which to rest our trembling faith is this! The strongest human hearts will sometimes faint, and the most tireless human hands will grow weary. Are we not tempted sometimes to feel that our way is hidden from the Lord, and that He does not see? or that He has become weary of our supplications for His aid? But do we not know, have we not heard, and seen it demonstrated in the operations of nature around us, that the great Source of all strength never faints nor grows weary? “He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” Ps. 121: 4. The youths faint and grow weary; but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. This is the only recipe for continuous, unfailing strength. It is to connect ourselves by living faith to the great Source, the boundless ocean, of strength, from which our strength, as often and as far as it is expended in the Lord’s legitimate work, is resupplied and made new; and the measure we receive is gauged by the measure of faith we exercise. Those that wait upon the Lord daily, open their souls to the workings of His Spirit; and they know that a new nature is forming within them. They mount up, leaving behind them earthly weariness and despair. A new will arises against earth-born inclinations. They mount up with wings as eagles. They have, as it were, little ascensions, day by day, before the final great day of ascension comes. What, by faith, every man may be, that God requires him to be. This is the only Christian idea of duty. Obligation is measured by the power God will give us — measured by the gifts and growth of faith. Dr. Bushnell says that “that only is Christian faith, that lives in the power of faith.” “They shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” What is it to wait on the Lord? — Service, expectation, and patience are certainly essential elements in its make-up. And what are they able to do as the result of their waiting on the Lord? — Three things: They “mount up with wings,” that is, they soar; they run; and they walk, without fainting. They mount higher, go faster, and walk more firmly. And is not this just what we wish to do? Notice that the servants of God in the Bible, from Abraham and David to Philip in the Acts, whenever they were told to do anything, always ran! And that is the only way to do anything well. Thus this wonderful greatness and love of the Most High is applied to comfort and strengthen His waiting and anxious people. U. S.