Isaiah 57:15, commentary and pictures

The high and lofty One is eternal, exalted, unchanging and holy in name and nature, enthroned in the high and holy place that heaven itself cannot contain. Yet He also makes His home with the person of contrite and humble spirit, to give new life to the humble in mind and to the broken in heart. The ones He meets are the poor in spirit, the brokenhearted and lowly who tremble at His Word, grieve over evil in themselves and hunger to be like Jesus, whom He honors above all worldly rank, wealth or display. His greatness does not keep Him distant, for His majesty is joined with tender compassion and love that revives, heals, comforts and gives peace to those who repent, confess and return to obedience, while the impenitent who cling to rebellion find no peace. That reviving is new spiritual life and strength through Christ dwelling by faith and the work of the Holy Spirit, received in broken heartfelt prayer, daily death to self, and humble walking with God.

God's Holy Eternal Nature

The high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, is eternal, exalted, unchanging, perfect, true and righteous, unlike erring man, existing before creation as I am that I am. His promises to comfort His afflicted people are therefore true and not tantalizing, and with the highest human capabilities and wisdom no one can by searching reason out the mystery of the Invisible One or know God, for the wonderful things of the spiritual world are hidden from the wise and prudent but revealed by the Holy Spirit to babes. He dwells in the high and holy place, which heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain, yet He is truly seated there on His throne, hidden from human eyes by a veil. Each person is expected to prepare a dwelling place for Him, a building designed by no human skill and wrought by no human hand.

In His high and holy place He is not in silent grandeur and not silent or indifferent, but surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of holy, happy beings waiting to do His bidding, through whom He actively communicates throughout His dominion. Through them He carefully notes every earthly transaction, hears every word, groan and prayer, observes every action, searches the heart and reads even secret thoughts, reviews all works and character with nothing hidden from Him, and marks the course of every inhabitant with approval or condemnation, rendering to each according to what is done, so that if people could see Him as He is they would act very differently. His nature is love, revealed in His holy law, without variableness, and His majesty is joined with tender compassion toward the repentant, so His greatness does not keep Him distant from the lowly and His holiness is no barrier to receiving those who turn back to Him in obedience. He draws near to give them rest, restoration, healing, comfort and peace through Christ's sacrifice, while those who persist in transgression have no peace.

He is worthy of honor, glory, adoration, praise and worship in spirit and truth and in the beauty of holiness, and His people are to lift their minds above self to dwell upon Him. His love and compassion toward sinners call for hearts full of love and gratitude and lives that honor Him, making careless indifference unfitting, with those who belong to Him living as people born from above who treat this world as a temporary home while traveling toward a better country. As the Most High who inhabits eternity and the great God who lives in eternity, He may visit His people in the house they build for His worship, so they should prepare a suitable, convenient and comfortable place giving Him the very best they have with the same wisdom they use for their own homes, not a cheap and stinted gift, since all means are lent by Him. Christ shares this exalted nature, for though sinless and Commander in the courts of heaven He left the glory He had with the Father before the world existed, joined divinity to fallen humanity, came in lowliness among the poor, worked as a carpenter, humbled Himself to suffer indignity, grief and death on the cross to save the lost and give them life, and became obedient to death to restore God's moral image in humanity. Heaven therefore does not respect and honor riches, position, authority, honorable titles, outward appearance or costly display, but honors those who follow Christ and make any place of duty honorable by goodness of character through His grace, proving no human has any right to lift up self in pride, and showing that pride must be humbled and the stubborn heart made tender before His likeness can be stamped upon a person; the Highest thus stooped by taking humanity and becoming a servant, giving grace to the humble and contrite and making Christ the pattern of meekness whom followers imitate in hungering for righteousness and willingness to suffer with Him to share His glory.

His compassion is unfolded to the humble, contrite soul as fully as they can bear, and a view of God and understanding of His compassion as seen in His sacrifice is a supreme privilege that grows in proportion to appreciation. He is the source of right ideas in education as in all else, so ideas that make scholastic study an idol and worship a science that divorces God from education do not come from Him. Selfish, earthly aims in learning endanger the soul, and unless the mind is closely connected with God it cannot distinguish between the holy and the unholy, the sacred and the common, so errors dressed in attractive form are widely received.

Dwelling With the Humble

Though exalted as eternal and holy, God dwells not only in the high and holy place but also with the one who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and revive the heart of the contrite ones. This teaches that those entrusted with responsibility must not act as lords over others but must have humble, repentant hearts. The surrounding promise explains that He will not contend forever nor remain angry always, for He rebukes the covetous and wayward, yet sees their condition and will heal, lead, comfort, restore comforts to them and their mourners, and create peace to those who humble themselves and are open to His Spirit, while those who reject reproof and insist on their own way cannot receive His healing or peace. He does not despise a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart, does not desire mere sacrifice and burnt offering, but looks to the one who is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at His Word. Humility, penitence, and a desire to become like Jesus by obeying His lessons express this spirit, and the brokenhearted cry is precious to Him because He can restore and heal. His holiness is no barrier to receiving the repentant, for through Christ's sacrifice sinners may return to obedience to His law and receive healing, comfort and peace, while those who persist in transgression have no peace.

The humble and contrite heart is His chosen temple, though heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. There His presence fills the soul with peace, grace, light and strength, shining into the chambers of the mind and into the soul temple. Each person is to prepare such a dwelling place for Him, a building designed by no human skill and wrought by no human hand. Christ abides only in the humble, contrite heart, so a living connection with God and a pure, clean heart are required for employment in any branch of the cause and for a place on any council, whatever a man's calling, influence or position may be, and humble men who honor God and keep His commandments are to be chosen over men long connected with the work who bring it down to the level of common business transactions, move in their own counsel, and handle sacred things as common matters.

This dwelling is Christ dwelling by faith in the one who receives Him, so that the Lord's presence stays with the soul even when trials come. Like the burning bush that held the divine presence without a fiber of its branches being consumed, the feeble trusting soul is not destroyed when the furnace fire of temptation, persecution and trial burns, but only the dross is consumed and the gold shines brighter through purification. This is because He who is in the heart of the faithful is greater than he who controls the hearts of unbelievers, and love perpetually flows to make the weak strong, make the faint-hearted firm, and give moral courage to the wavering. It is made known in Christ clothing His divinity with humanity to show His interest in suffering humanity, tasting the cup of human sorrow, being afflicted in all human afflictions, being made perfect through suffering, and being tempted in all points as humanity is tempted in order to succor those in temptation, as God works through Christ for people to come to the Father in the Son's name. Christ's presence in the soul brings joy, while self-love and pride leave the heart without Christ and in gloom.

His presence is not confined to a temple or house built by human skill, and rebuilding the Lord's house does not make worship acceptable by itself, for God desires worship from hearts turned away from sin and made humble before Him. Walking before Him with a humble and contrite spirit means giving His will first place and obeying His principles of holiness, and His presence cannot abide with a person who does not respect His commands. He is worthy of a suitable place of worship and may visit His people there, so because all means are lent by Him, His people should prepare a suitable, convenient and comfortable place for Him to visit, giving Him the very best they have with the same wisdom they use for their own homes, not a cheap and stinted gift. His church is not the great cathedral, nor the national establishment, nor the various denominations, but the people who love God and keep His commandments, where Christ is even among the humble few. Where two or three are present who love and obey the commandments of God, Jesus presides there, whether in the desolate place of the earth, in the wilderness, in the city, or enclosed in prison walls, with the glory of God able to penetrate prison walls and flood the darkest dungeon with beams of heavenly light.

He is present with His humble, contrite people living and dead, including those sleeping in Jesus whose lives are hid with Christ in God, to revive them. Speaking lightly of their name or experience, speaking a word that leads anyone to disparage them, or giving them over to be maligned by false and wicked tongues is to be feared and trembled at, for God will hold such speakers to account and such words are recorded in the books of heaven as spoken against Christ in the person of His saints. Human souls are of great value to God, and He dwells with the humble who put on Christ and are clothed with humility.

Contrite Humble Spirit Defined

The contrite and humble are the poor in spirit, the brokenhearted, the lowly and the sorry, those who are poor and trembling at His word, hungering for righteousness, grieved by the evil in their nature, and desiring to become like Jesus by obeying His lessons. Humility, penitence and that desire express this spirit, and the brokenhearted cry to God is precious to Him because He can restore and heal them. A truly repentant person is genuinely grieved, and in such a life Christ can enter and be magnified. The Holy Spirit is very sensitive, and He makes all in whom He dwells sensitive toward God, so they tremble at the word of God and feel hurt over words and acts which are not just as God would be pleased to have them. He looks with pitying tenderness upon all that tremble at His word, and though the contrite may feel they can scarcely hope in His mercy, they are the special objects of His care and love, with Jesus as their only hope in whom to put entire trust amid manifold temptations and trial of faith in the closing days. The poor in spirit who receive the kingdom of heaven are those of a contrite and humble spirit, and this gives the deep meaning of that blessing to be brought into practical experience and experimental knowledge.

God values, acknowledges and honors the meek and contrite, not those who are rich in worldly wealth, rank, position, titles, outward appearance or costly display. Value in His sight is not increased by being rich in the wealth of the world. His presence and renewal are with the humble, not with self-exaltation, which warns against using entrusted wealth to glorify self. The chapter means much to His people and is full of precious instruction, and studied carefully and prayerfully it makes wise unto salvation.

He does not despise a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart, He does not desire mere sacrifice and burnt offering, and He looks to the one who is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at His word. A broken, repentant heart is not despised by Him, and humility brings people within His care. A guilty transgressor who humbles himself with a broken spirit and broken and contrite heart will not be despised but will receive mercy, abundant pardon and spiritual revival when he seeks the Lord, forsakes his wicked way and unrighteous thoughts, and returns to God. What He requires is to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with Him. This word is given not only for great sinners but for men entrusted with special responsibilities, who must not be lords over His heritage but be examples to the flock, for high notions of personal capability and a harsh spirit that wounds others counteract the truth and keep Him from working through such men. True religion therefore includes humbling the heart before God, not merely outward ceremonies or bodily displays of devotion.

David shows this character: though he sinned and erred greatly he bowed under sharp rebuke and chastisement, was humbled as greatly as he had sinned, and his contrition was as profound as his guilt. He was beloved not because he was perfect but because he did not cherish stubborn resistance to the expressed will and did not rise in rebellion against reproof. He proved strong not by always resisting temptation but by sincere penitence, kept his confidence in God who sent the rebuke, trusted God more than man, and bore no hatred for the prophet. He accepted the decision as just and merciful, relied on the mercy of the God he loved and served and honored, refused counsel from men sinning against God, and loved much because much was forgiven.

The painful death of self is also life for the soul, and humility and contrition with spiritual renewal belong together. Hiding self and uplifting Christ in service is a self-sacrifice He accepts, and humility and contrition are the way of life with Him. This calls for crucifixion of self and following Christ in His humiliation, meekness and lowliness, enduring suffering, sacrifice and trial for love of Christ, drawn by everlasting love and loving-kindness, and working with a heart full of sanctified tenderness to do good to the souls of the youth and the erring. He accepts only pure principles free from selfishness.

Revival Healing and Peace

To revive means to give new life and renewed spiritual life, bringing restoration, strengthening, comfort, courage, grace, sufficiency, light and knowledge to both spirit and heart. God does not leave the humble to find their way by uncertain judgment in matters of eternal importance, but teaches them and gives light and knowledge, and His presence in the heart is worth more than anything in the world, fitting the receiver to see Him face to face. He revives and comforts the crushed in spirit and is willing to heal all who come in repentance and confession.

He will not contend forever nor remain angry always, for the spirit and the souls He made would fail before Him. His judgment is not unending because sinners could not endure it, and continued contention would overwhelm the human spirit. This is therefore a call to abandon pride, wrath and a combative spirit and to become meek and lowly before God.

Though He was wroth for the iniquity of covetousness and hid Himself and struck the wayward, He has seen their ways and will heal, lead, comfort, restore comforts to them and to their mourners, and create peace to him that is far off and to him that is near. He rebukes the covetous and wayward, yet sees their condition and promises mercy, healing, restoration and peace to those who humble themselves and are open to His Spirit. His anger does not last forever, and this call for conversion and humility applies especially to those in positions of responsibility.

This healing comes only when sinners humble themselves, repent, confess, forsake sin and return to obedience to His law through Christ's sacrifice, becoming open to His Spirit. God's holiness is no barrier to receiving the repentant, for He seeks to restore those who turn back to Him, and Christ's sacrifice makes return to obedience possible. Repentance, confession and forsaking sin are the humility He requires; when people turn from the sins that stirred His anger, especially covetousness, selfishness, self-indulgence, pride and dependence on men, He returns to them, works with them, heals and leads them, and revives living testimony. Reconciliation of God to man and man to God is sure upon a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart, a cause for lifelong gratitude, and when the grieved humble themselves, confess and forsake their sins He will not abandon them to temptation. Those who reject reproof and insist on their own way cannot receive His healing or peace.

The wicked who remain impenitent and nursing rebellion are like the troubled sea that cannot rest and casts up mire and dirt, and there is no peace from God to the wicked. Healing and peace are not given while rebellion is nursed, but when the sinner is repentant, contrite and sorry for working at cross purposes with God. Those who persist in transgression have no peace.

In contrast He speaks woe and continued anger against those who make unjust laws, turn aside the needy, and take away the rights of the poor, widows, fatherless and strangers. He calls instead for executing true judgment and showing mercy and compassion every man to his brother, oppressing not the widow nor the fatherless, the stranger nor the poor, imagining no evil against a brother in the heart, and hearkening to the law and the words sent in His Spirit by the former prophets. Refusing to hear and making the heart as an adamant stone brings great wrath from the Lord of Hosts.

This reviving is the office work of the Holy Spirit and the deep moving of His Spirit needed in the ranks as given in the past. When those in darkness come in contrition He hears their prayer and becomes their help. The contrite character works most effectually because he has the deepest sense of his own weakness and unworthiness and casts his helpless soul upon Christ, and God's dwelling with him to revive spirit and heart is the source of power. The Holy Spirit makes the promise real in the soul, carrying forward transformation into Christ's character and bringing life and hope and joy to all who believe.

Those who put trust in God shall possess the land and inherit His holy mountain, while human companies are carried away as vanity, and worldly honor and human works cannot profit. The thirsty are invited to come and receive without money. There is no limit to His power to revive those who trust Him instead of leaning on the arm of flesh, looking to and trusting in man, but receiving His great things requires increased faith and decided trust, emptying the heart of all self-sufficiency, self-confidence and self-esteem, exalting the Lord alone, honoring Him rather than straining for recognition, and looking with distrust on one's own work. To such He reveals His glory, they make the best use of blessings received, have the water of life springing up in them, and are to prepare the way and take the stumbling block out of the way of His people.

Light From Other Scriptures

The blessing on the poor in spirit finds its deep meaning here, for the poor in spirit are those of a contrite and humble spirit with whom the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity dwells to revive spirit and heart. They are those who recognize their need for redemption, who know their own sinfulness, who know that of themselves they can do no good thing, who come without self-sufficiency and desire help from God. To them is given the kingdom of heaven, access to His fullness, and the gift of salvation, to be brought into practical experience and experimental knowledge. Neither title to heaven nor fitness for it can be earned by man, for both are found in Christ's righteousness received in yielding to God. The humble who seek the Lord and tremble at His word have wisdom that leads to eternal life.

The same promise stands joined with the assurance that the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the contrite, that He does not despise a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart, and that He looks to the one who is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at His word. He does not desire mere sacrifice and burnt offering, but His approval and presence are with the humble who seek Him. Teachers who have no ears to hear a plain Thus saith the Lord educate away from the truth, so teachers and students are not to take false shepherds as highest authority nor honor them, nor seek worldly finishing education that sows tares among the wheat and destroys spirituality and belief in the truth.

The verse stands with Isaiah 55, 56, 57 and 58 as chapters to be diligently studied to arouse pastors and people from spiritual stupidity. Those in the cities who profess present truth are to wake up and give to others what the Lord has given them, and those who have not come up to the help of the Lord are to arise and shine, seeing the glory of God as they give gospel light to others with full assurance that angels will impress minds for whom they labor. It is the blessing promised to those who follow the right course marked out in Isaiah 58, take up the duties around them, avoid the faults of ancient Israel, and do the last-day work of building the waste places, repairing the breach, and honoring the Sabbath. Prayers offered in the Spirit rather than as formal prayers, from those who love God with all heart and soul and mind and strength and love their neighbor as themselves and practice the instruction of Isaiah 58, bear the divine impress and will be heard and answered. True humility before God, rather than outward religious ceremony, is joined with His restoring work.

The verse reveals divine benevolence exercised to the fullest extent to redeem those who had lost connection with Him. God's love exceeds the love of an earthly father and can be measured only by the power and strength of His character, and proportionate to His power was His infinite compassion for fallen men who could never rescue and restore themselves, His desire to restore His image in them, and His travail in greatness of power and immeasurable love to rescue fallen man. Humanity fell through Adam's disobedience to God's commandments and his descendants continued in sin, and people could neither rescue nor restore themselves. Therefore compassion moved Him to provide the immeasurable sacrifice of His beloved Son as a ransom, Christ taking the sinner's place with the guiltless suffering for the guilty.

This dwelling with the humble and contrite was seen in Christ's dealing with the Roman centurion. Though a man of authority, he was of a contrite spirit, felt unworthy to have Jesus come under his roof, and trusted Christ's merely spoken word to heal his servant sick of palsy just as his own word commanded his soldiers. His simple, pure, unselfish faith that importuned healing power for a suffering fellow creature, without asking for a sign from heaven, was far in advance of Israel who had abundant opportunities and sacred truth yet would not receive their promised Messiah. Such humility is honored of God, reflects light in any place without knowing it, and continues to shine on earth and in heaven.

The verse also means preparing the way and taking the stumbling block out of the way of His people. He who puts trust in God shall possess the land and inherit His holy mountain, while human companies are carried away as vanity. Receiving His great things requires increased faith and decided trust, emptying the heart of all self-sufficiency, self-confidence, self-righteousness and self-esteem, exalting the Lord alone, not seeking recognition, and looking with distrust on one's own work. Man must do his part by coming to God humble and contrite and without making a show or self-confident display, trusting Him instead of leaning on the arm of flesh by looking to and trusting in man, and then the promise to revive and bless never fails him. To those who honor Him He reveals His glory, and there is no limit to His power to revive them when they trust Him, making the best use of blessings received with the water of life springing up in them.

Living the Humble Way

Those entrusted with responsibility, and teachers and counselors, are to be circumspect, modest, unobtrusive, and meek as little children, dependent on God for wisdom rather than lifted up in pride or striving for precedence. They are not to act as lords over God's heritage but to be examples to the flock with humble, repentant hearts, for the eternal holy God though exalted dwells with the humble and contrite and renews their spirits and hearts. High notions of personal capability and a harsh, wounding spirit counteract the truth and keep God from working through such men, while humility is essential to communion with God and pride hinders His favor. This call to conversion and humility applies especially to men entrusted with special responsibilities, and not only to great sinners, for God does not delight in mere sacrifice and burnt offering but in a broken spirit and requires doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with Him.

Ministers and messengers are to hide self and uplift Christ, serving with meekness and lowliness learned from Him and avoiding pride, self-esteem, and seeking honor. When Jesus is lifted up humanity is lifted up with Him, and as workers are emptied of self and filled with divine light they proclaim Christ so the Sun of Righteousness brings new life. Hiding self in such self-sacrificing service is the way of life with God that He accepts, and those ever humble and contrite carry evidence they have been with Jesus and learned of Him. When workers offer humble, self-denying sacrifice and earnest supplication from broken, contrite hearts as the apostles did, He revives them and gives the same proportion of success in saving souls as on the day of Pentecost. God distinguishes righteous from wicked in His church, giving peace, comfort, and good hope in this life to those who do righteously as partakers of the divine nature overcoming worldly corruption.

Acceptable prayer comes from a heart broken by unworthiness and hungering for righteousness, with earnest longing rather than tame, spiritless, calm, unmoved, eloquent, long, or display prayer. It is the intense cry of a soul feeling it must have help, laying hold on God's promises by faith for comfort and salvation, and whoever prides himself on calm unmovedness in conversing with God needs a new heart conscious of what approaching God includes. Hypocritical claims of wretchedness unfelt are not accepted, but sincere contrite prayer is precious, is not lost, brings the one praying into harmony with God, is heard in secret and openly rewarded, and gives power, courage, and peace. God makes room to enter hearts cleansed from selfishness and softened by love, teaches how to pray, puts His inditing into prayer so it is no longer set, formal, dry, tame, and spiritless but tender, sincere, earnest, and fervent under the Holy Spirit, and hears and answers with revival and power for the Word. He hears all who come in need with humble contrite heart, manifests Himself to them, and revives the spirit of the humble and heart of the contrite.

A humble contrite spirit makes disciples ready to receive the Holy Spirit's reminder of Christ's lessons, so truths they could not yet bear become clear as new revelation. The humble and brokenhearted can understand Christ's words, which remain unintelligible to the proud and self-sufficient. With such God dwells to revive them, open and soften the heart to understand and assimilate Scripture to spiritual need, give seeking for truth as hidden treasure and feeding on the bread of life, cause constant expansion with new developments of truth, bring to perfection of Christian character, and lead on to know the Lord. The heart must be softened and subdued by God's Spirit to receive truth rightly, and truth so received makes people willing to be refined, purified, and ennobled, showing its power in what it accomplishes in them. His dwelling presence and reviving power come to those kept clean, pure, humble, and contrite who earnestly seek with much prayer for grace and enlightenment and come to the Bible with softened hearts and unprejudiced minds unbiased by personal opinions to hear what God speaks. Those pure in heart with intense desire to know God and do His will are shown God in His Word, rewarded by His dwelling and reviving, with faith resting secure on Christ as the living eternal foundation for weary trusting souls.

Bringing the Word into home and daily life, learning meekness and lowliness at Jesus' feet, working in the Saviour's spirit, and by willing obedience to all the commandments making the home and the inside of the house a place where God's honor loves to dwell prepares the heart for God to dwell with and revive it wherever lived and whatever the circumstances. Fathers and mothers are to seek God as light, strength, and the way, learn at Jesus' feet to become meek and lowly, and then in Christ's humble spirit work with God-given talents for souls close around them. Homes made honorable through willing obedience are strengthened with revival to repentant hearts, and fathers and mothers who cannot live happily together in humility and contrition should not bring family problems to a center chosen for religious institutions.

The promise assures physicians and their associates of God's presence in individual work for the sick, that the prayer of faith shall save the sick and prepare the way in the sickroom for grace to speak to the soul. His nearness and renewing grace are present with those who come in humility, giving strength to medical missionary workers to continue despite hindrance from lack of church cooperation. This work is to be carried into churches in reverence for God rather than division, with unity, where opportunities will open and angels will work with them.

God's presence is with humility and contrition, not where mistrust grows and brethren pick flaws and put suspicious thoughts in minds that would not have had them, for the church can never thrive in that spirit but thrives where good qualities and zeal for the Master are spoken of. Divine favor and reviving belong to the humble rather than the self-exalted, calling for putting away wrath and contention, laying aside self-choosing and separation, walking humbly with God, and showing lowliness in fellowship. Humility and dependence are incompatible with accusing and condemning fellow believers, and those who accuse God's children do not show the humility described but reveal which side they have chosen. To be among the humble and contrite means doing all in one's power to be kind and courteous to neighbors, letting light shine in good works amid moral darkness, with fathers, mothers, and true Christians educating themselves step by step to understand the Lord's will and walk in His light and law.

The verse foretells the great solemn work of presenting the warning message, using camp meetings to tell why believers believe, spending means and establishing sanitariums worldwide to educate, reform, and restore God's moral image, bringing men through the Word to conversion to use means for spreading truth, and arousing slumbering senses to see departure from ordinances by worldly policy and transgression of law. It shows God's interest in bringing people to repentance to recognize wrong and crooked ways, turn, be converted, have sins blotted out, and be restored to usefulness. He sends correction and reproof to expose crooked ways, and those who obstruct reproof and support wrongdoing stand against this work and share its consequences unless they humble themselves and repent. Those turning from precious light and joining those speaking perverse things to draw away disciples must receive warnings and entreaties, fall on the Rock and be broken in contrite humility, and God will revive and not despise them.

For the severely tempted this promise gives encouragement and assurance of strength rather than helpless despair, and to all who trust Him it gives encouragement, hope, help, and renewal. His greatness does not mean He lays crushing responsibility or burdens on servants by themselves, but He is with the humble to help and renew. Even in discouraging work it offers hope and courage to trust God and walk humbly.

Contrition of soul is needed every day, with advantage to everyone who humbles the heart and hides in Jesus, preserving a contrite humble spirit and letting the Lord work His will in and by and through them rather than building up self. Those who humble themselves are made great in His kingdom while pride is brought low, and the stubborn self-reliant are invited to receive counsel and learn Christ's humility. Everyone with a soul to save or lose should walk humbly with God, thankfully enter close connection with Him in appreciation of Christ's gift, and get ready to meet the Lord in peace at His soon coming in the clouds. To fear the Lord in holiness and walk before Him in contrition and humility in the way of His commandments is the only way to true exaltation for nations and individuals, while turning from the Redeemer in pride, self-sufficiency, boasting, presumptuousness, and transgression ends in humiliation, defeat, and ruin. God is infinitely gracious and waits for return by heart-humiliation, confession, and repentance, washing away sins and saving all who cherish humility, though unrepented wrong remains bound in His book to meet its record in judgment unless repented and humbly forsaken. Renunciation of self-confidence, selfishness, covetousness, and idolatry prepares the way for true faith, and the moment they are renounced God becomes the all-sufficient Helper imparting in infinite fullness whatever is needed for soul and body for time and eternity. He gives grace and help to those who fear Him and walk in truth especially amid last-days deception, filling hearts with peace, courage, and confidence, with mercy and truth to the contrite obedient and just anger to the disobedient rebellious. His greatness and mercy met in worship and prayer amid mountains and creation bring assurance of pardon and reveal loving purposes.

This dwelling with and reviving of the lowly undergirds the mission to preach the gospel to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, and open the hand wide to the poor and needy.

God Sees and Helps

The high and holy One who inhabits eternity reviews all works and character and knows the secrets of every soul. He distinguishes the righteous from the wicked and does not judge unrighteously, but will render to each according to what has been done, whether good or evil. To the obedient He gives peace and comfort in this life even amid trial and affliction, and in the life to come glory, honor and immortality. He dwells in the holy place and sees every soul that shows contempt for the manifestations of His Holy Spirit, while now is the day of mercy and salvation when He reveals Himself and gives a large measure of His Holy Spirit unexpectedly, with deep movings upon hearts and minds that lead to letting go of selfish purposes. Life must therefore be lived with an eye single to the glory of God and self hidden in Jesus, so that names are not blotted out of the book of life but are confessed before God and the heavenly angels.

Though He is so high and lofty and holy, with glory and majesty filling the heavens, He looks with pitying tenderness upon all that tremble at His Word. These trembling ones are the contrite and humble in spirit. They may feel that they can scarcely hope in His mercy, yet they are the special objects of His care and love. Jesus is their only hope, in whom they are to put their entire trust amid manifold temptations and trial of faith in the closing days.

He does not leave the humble and contrite to find their way by their own uncertain judgment in matters of eternal importance, but promises to teach them and give them light and knowledge. He helps those who remain humble and contrite, and encourages them to trust His presence and receive His help. He gives strength, grace and righteousness to those who seek Him wholeheartedly, and revives their spirits and hearts. He reveals Himself not through the most learned or most eloquent, but through believers in all the churches who receive the truth and maintain humility and contrition, using them even in humble capacity to bless their fellow men. He recognizes clean hands and a pure heart, and when workers have the grace of Christ in the heart He works with them even if they are few and they will prevail, without deceiving power, defiled hands, unclean practices, worldly direction, or worldly patronage and fame. He empowers the sincere worker step by step in carrying the warning message.

Humbling oneself before God in repentance allows Him to lift up the repentant, and thorough repentance and confession prepare the way for God to instruct the soul and work with it. A humble, contrite spirit is a source of strength, for trusting God and placing one's case in Christ's hands allows Him to work through a person to uplift, strengthen and restore rather than harm others.

This reviving is a work every individual must cooperate with God in by rendering heart and mind and every endowment to be used to His glory, and holy intelligences wait to do this reviving work through human agents who so yield themselves. Those who minister in His work must join Him in that reviving by striving earnestly to obtain perfection of character, and when the important truth for this time is an abiding principle in the soul, ministers will surround everyone they meet with a life-giving, holy atmosphere that revives the humble and contrite.