Isaiah 62:6, commentary and pictures

God Himself has placed guardians on the walls of Jerusalem, His commandment-keeping people and church, and charged them never to rest day or night. Those guardians are above all the ministers of the gospel and those in responsible positions, yet the charge belongs to His people as a whole, churches, soldiers and laymen alike, who must never grow sleepy on the watch. Never holding their peace means unceasing vigilance and activity, constantly proclaiming the warning and continually pleading with God until He establishes Jerusalem as a praise in the earth. What they must proclaim is the whole counsel of God without concealment, keeping prominent the Sabbath, the law, salvation through Christ and the three angels' messages, and warning that the Lord is near and the day of trouble is at hand. To sound clearly they must live very near to God, receive truth into the heart by the Holy Spirit and sustain it by a Christlike example, for sleepy, tame and silent guardians soothe souls to ruin and bring their blood upon themselves.

Wording and Context

God himself has placed sentries on the walls of Jerusalem who are never to fall silent by day or by night. Those who remember the Lord are commanded not to keep silence but to keep speaking and praying continually, and this charge is full of nourishment and present direction for the church. Instead of dwelling on discouraging features of experience, they are to bear a clear ringing testimony with uplifted heads in faith, hope, courage and assurance until Zion's righteousness and salvation go forth. Each member is to seek the Lord with the whole heart with the promise that he will be found.

Jerusalem is Zion, the commandment-keeping people and church, kept by Christ as King above all. He remains with faithful ministers on her walls, instructing them while everything is in unrest, in a solemn time when every facility of Satan is employed to strengthen his schemes and when apostasy and blasphemy will increase rather than decrease. Now is the time for her to find her position and understand that the Lord alone is the source of her strength, shield, protection and hiding place in the cleft of the Rock, keeping her safe from delusions and deceptive workings of the powers of darkness. Those in responsible positions are set as her watchmen and must stay wide awake, never turning traitor, hiding their colors, laying down their weapons, relaxing effort, becoming tame and spiritless, hiding light, speaking smooth things or prophesying deceit, because a living issue of eternal interests for the remnant to the close of earth's history lies before them.

The figure is taken from ancient city sentinels who watched from points of vantage over the posts to be guarded. Upon their faithfulness depended the safety of all within, even the salvation of souls. At stated intervals they called to one another to prove all were awake and unharmed, passing the cry of warning or good cheer from one to another until it echoed round the city. So spiritual guardians must stay awake and alert day and night, sound the warning when they see the sword coming and the enemy approaching, and give the note of alarm because souls in danger of falling under temptation will perish unless the trust is kept faithfully. If their spiritual senses become benumbed so they cannot discern danger and through failure to warn the people perish, the blood of the lost is required at their hands.

Those who make mention of the Lord are those who remember and call upon him, and keeping not silence and giving him no rest means continual prayerful vigilance and persistent intercession until he establishes Jerusalem and makes her a praise in the earth. They are summoned to join Christ in pleading for her establishment and renown among the nations, pressing the Lord with unceasing prayer until the work is accomplished. This means unceasing activity joined to unceasing prayer, communing with God to be imbued with his Spirit, shaking off careless indifference, taking up long-neglected work first in the family and then reaching beyond to those wandering in sin and darkness to bestow on the needy the grace received. The Lord's messengers must therefore keep proclaiming without ceasing and pray earnestly and persistently, guarding their influence and working urgently and thoroughly because time is short.

The chapter belongs to the work Christ will do through those who follow his example to make God's name known and prepare the way for the people. The watchmen's continual unstilled witness is part of that work, carried forward in the great closing work amid many perplexities. Amid those perplexities they are to trust that the great powers of heaven are working, that a divine hand is on the wheel, and that God will bring his purposes to pass by gathering out from the world a people who will serve him in righteousness. This is part of his own resolve not to rest until Zion's righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a burning lamp before Gentiles and kings, until righteousness goes forth as brightness and salvation as a lamp that burns.

Who Are Watchmen

Ministers of the gospel are watchmen set by God upon the walls of Zion and Jerusalem, entrusted with a sacred mission of the greatest responsibility that rests under a woe if left undone. That trust calls for mature men and not children, men able to bear burdens, move understandingly, and let the voice be heard above objections, doubts and criticism, because great interests cannot be managed by undeveloped Christians dwarfed in religious growth and unprepared for fierce conflict. They must be awake, energetic, persevering and diligent, listening to hear words from the divine Teacher and faithfully proclaiming the same, laying hold with the hand of faith upon divine strength and gathering light from above while reaching with the hand of love after perishing souls. It is their privilege to live so near to God as to be susceptible to the impressions of His Spirit, so that He can work through them to tell men and women of peril, point them to safety, warn of the sure result of transgression, safeguard the interests of the church, and rescue souls from impending destruction without relaxing vigilance at any time. Theirs is a work requiring the exercise of every faculty of being, with voices lifted in trumpet tones that never waver, done not for wages but from necessity because woe is upon them if they fail to preach. Their special responsibility includes warning and correcting those whose mistaken conduct and religious example lead others onto crooked paths toward ruin.

Those who stand in responsible positions in the Lord's work are likewise watchmen on the walls of Zion set there by God Himself. This includes presidents and ministers over fields such as Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, brethren in responsible places, and an editor having means to warn, all charged to watch faithfully, discern the enemy's work, and not leave the people soothed, unalarmed and asleep instead of ready for the day of the Lord. They are called to sound an alarm among the people and let it be heard in all the plain, warning that the day of woe, of wasting and destruction, is upon all who do unrighteousness. Their duty is to place before the people in clear lines their obligation to God as Owner by creation and by redemption. The Lord's hand will fall with special severity upon watchmen who fail to do this.

God's people as a whole are set as watchmen upon the walls of Jerusalem who must never hold their peace day nor night, making mention of the Lord, keeping not silence and giving Him no rest till He establishes Jerusalem as a praise in the earth. His churches stand as sentinels on the watchtowers of Zion, His soldiers of Christ whose duty is to give the trumpet a certain sound by proclaiming the warning to the world, and if they had done so faithfully the world would already have heard it. The duty belongs not to ministers alone but to laymen also, with all called in the little time remaining to consecrate their faculties, do their utmost to advance the cause, save fellow men, and take up long-neglected work first in the family and then beyond it among those wandering in sin and darkness. They must not keep silent or conceal the entrusted message nor soften distinctive truth such as the seventh-day Sabbath to gain approval, but sound the danger signal plainly and unceasingly. Because they have slept instead of watching the work is years behind and the enemy has stolen a march, so they must be wide-awake instead of asleep, aroused to God-given work, putting away selfishness, seeing eye to eye, presenting truth to neglected cities in clear distinct lines, lest through neglect the enemy gain the victory.

In particular application canvassers are watchmen for whom the time has come to do a large work, ringing the warning bell to wake a sleeping world to its danger as messengers going forth in the Lord's name to give multitudes in darkness and error the glad tidings of salvation through Christ in obeying the law of God. Editors of church periodicals share this office, and the Sentinel paper serves as a watchman voice openly sounding the danger signal and telling the truth without concealing convictions, wavering, or compromising for public approval. Pastors and teachers are watchmen with God-given responsibility to guard the cause, staying wide awake day and night, understanding the condition of God's institutions instead of being blind to how the work is carried on by workers in responsible places, examining foundation timbers and seeing that every business transaction is carried forward in holy, upright, elevated lines that God can approve. Ministers together with medical missionary workers and leaders are watchmen of God's people who must discern spiritual danger and warn rather than sleep instead of sounding the alarm. Those who bear the messages of the three angels to the world are the watchmen who must keep declaring God's truth without ceasing, never hiding it nor being ashamed to proclaim what was entrusted to them.

Unceasing Proclamation and Prayer

Never holding peace day nor night means unceasing activity, constantly speaking, crying and proclaiming without ceasing, concealment, cringing or covering of origin and purpose. Those who remember and proclaim the Lord are not to be silent but to bear a clear, ringing testimony in faith, hope, courage and assurance rather than dwelling on discouragement. Effectiveness requires first receiving the message from the lips of Christ, hearing God's voice in His Word, letting its living truth enter the heart to sanctify and spiritualize, or the trumpet gives an uncertain sound. Then the distinct message for the present time, with its special truths fraught with eternal interests and its light on things taking place in the last remnant of time, is to be passed from watchman to watchman and declared faithfully as the whole counsel of God with pen and voice. As men under solemn vows, commissioned as messengers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of grace, they are to proclaim not in a tame, spiritless way but in demonstration of the Spirit and power of God, because the mightiest conflicts are involved and the results affect both heaven and earth.

Watchmen must remain vigilant, awake, alert and active day and night, watching with eagle eye and keen sight for the approach of danger and lifting the voice of warning especially in this hour of peril. No sleepy, tame or spiritless watchman is allowed in the stern conflict between the Prince of life and the prince of darkness, and those set in that place who are themselves asleep, inactive and neglecting duty bring upon themselves the blood of souls. They are to keep guard resolutely and determinedly and never be found sleeping at the post, counterworking the enemy who has come down in great power disguised in angel garments lest those following their own devising accept a false companion, voice false words and come under his influence. God's people as sentinels must never become sleepy or cease their watch, but watch and pray with endowment of the Holy Spirit and heavenly wisdom to meet emergencies, counteract as far as possible the movements of the world, and gain light to comprehend and appreciate the enemy's movements amid peculiar and rapid changes soon to take place.

Their work is to discern spiritual threats, see dangers approaching, distinguish truth from error and righteousness from unrighteousness, and not assure the people that all is well when peril threatens spiritual life and vitality. They are to lift the voice, sound the alarm in all the plain, pass the signal along the walls, and give the trumpet a certain sound with voices lifted in trumpet tones that never sound a wavering, uncertain note. Chosen of God and sealed with the blood of consecration, they are to live so near to God and be so susceptible to the impressions of His Spirit that He can work through them to tell sinners of their peril, warn faithfully of the sure result of transgression, safeguard the interests of the church, point men and women to the place of safety, and rescue them from impending destruction. This requires the exercise of every faculty of the being and never relaxing vigilance day nor night, laboring not for wages but from necessity because woe is upon them if they fail to preach the gospel.

Those who make mention of the Lord are those who remember and call upon Him, commune with God to be imbued with His Spirit, pray continually, and join Christ in pleading until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her a praise in the earth and her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a burning lamp. They are to give Him no rest, pray earnestly and persist, shake off careless indifference, take up long-neglected work first in the family and then reach beyond to those wandering in sin and darkness, bestowing on those in need the grace received from Him. The Lord's messengers must keep proclaiming without ceasing while guarding their influence and working urgently and thoroughly because time is short.

The church as a whole and through its members is to pray earnestly and persistently for watchmen and workers in God's cause, that they be clothed with salvation and given power to prevail with God so that many souls result from their ministry. Members are to spend their breath in prayer for ministers rather than in faultfinding, and to respect, sustain and cooperate with the gospel ministry as God's appointed means of communicating His messages, laboring under sacred obligation to watch for souls as those who must give account and to keep the church in unity and peace while publishing peace. They must not criticize, judge, hinder or speak evil against them, but support the sending of preachers to cities and villages with prayer, faithful service, and sharing what they learn from Scripture and their own experience.

Content of Warning

Watchmen must declare faithfully the whole counsel of God, remaining true to that trust even when threatened or opposed, for those who reject the warning reject the Lord who appointed the messenger. As men under solemn vows to God, commissioned as messengers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of grace, they are bound never to hold their peace day nor night but to speak constantly without silence. The message is not to be delivered with cringing, covering, or concealing of its origin and purpose, nor in a tame spiritless way, but with pen and voice in demonstration of the Spirit and power of God. They have received light regarding things taking place in the last remnant of time, and must proclaim it to the world because the mightiest conflicts are involved and the results affect both heaven and earth. Like a sentinel sounding the danger signal openly and telling the truth, they must not conceal convictions, appear to waver for public approval, but testify plainly and without compromise.

They must keep prominent the special truths that separated them from the world and made them what they are, for those truths are fraught with eternal interests, and must not make them less prominent. This includes giving an unceasing, unmistakable warning that sounds the danger signal plainly, including the distinctive truth about the seventh-day Sabbath, without softening it to gain the world's approval. As messengers going forth in the Lord's name to multitudes in darkness and error, they are to give the glad tidings of salvation through Christ in obeying the law of God, and to awaken a sleeping world to its danger by ringing the warning bell. Those who bear the messages of the three angels must not hide them nor be ashamed to proclaim the message entrusted to them, but keep declaring it without ceasing.

Watchmen on Zion's walls must stay alert and proclaim that the Lord is soon coming, warning the world and awakening people from spiritual lethargy lest they perish and sleep the sleep of death. In the power of the Spirit they must give the world the last warning message, proclaim the time of night, speak because the time is late, and rouse men and women before they fall into that sleep. They are to stand and give the warning that the morning comes and also the night in which no one can work, announcing approaching night and coming morning with a clear trumpet rather than failing through sleep. They should be first to recognize news of the Saviour's coming, proclaim that He is near, and warn the people to prepare for the coming conflict and day of trouble rather than stumble in darkness, a duty failed when the church grows complacent and sleeps in sin.

Those standing in responsible positions are watchmen called to sound an alarm among the people and let it be heard in all the plain. Their duty is to place before the people in clear lines their obligation to God as Owner by creation and by redemption. They must warn that the day of woe, of wasting and destruction, is upon all who do unrighteousness. The Lord's hand will fall with special severity upon watchmen who fail to do this.

Watchmen ought to stand awake and not asleep, guarding the platform and foundation of the truths of the Word of God and refusing to hold peace while men loosen its timbers. The walls are the truths braced like solid timbers into a platform and foundation built by the Master Worker that will stand storm and tempest. When a man, even one high in responsibility, directs others to loosen that support and presents spiritualistic and atheistic theories regarding the personality of God, they must not permit it but speak out and take decided action at once. Such doctrines deny the past experience of God's people, sweep away the whole Christian economy, rob truth of heavenly origin and a personal God, and make of no effect truth of heavenly origin, so physicians and ministers especially must take a firm stand for eternal truth, keep soul-destroying sentiments from the youth, call things by the right name without hesitancy, and labor to save the deceived.

They must see dangers approaching and distinguish truth from error and righteousness from unrighteousness. As God's human messengers they are to proclaim His word, will, and way clearly, giving warning and affirming truth against skepticism and false teachings while upholding fundamental truths, and reliably recognizing false claims of messages from heaven and pleasing fables contrary to His Word. When a man sets himself above God and takes His work, especially the medical missionary work, under his own finite supervision and one-man control, they must recognize the peril and take heroic action to save both the man in danger of ruin and the cause itself, for God rules and will overturn what He will not allow to continue. They must give warning against unruly people who presume to govern as they please and think they have wisdom to run anything they choose, including gaining positions of influence through unprincipled gathering of proxy votes, which proves the doers untrustworthy and which God allows to awaken His people's understanding. Faithful servants must also guard the people by warning against sin and moral corruption and taking a clear stand to stop its spread, for ministers who corrupt those they are meant to guard betray that duty.

Faithful and Unfaithful Watchmen

To sound a clear warning watchmen must first receive the message from the lips of Christ and listen to God's voice speaking in His Word, both ministers and laymen alike. His truth must be received into the heart to spiritualize by its living, sanctifying power, and they must be guided by the Holy Spirit, for without the message from Christ their trumpets give an uncertain sound. Then the distinct message for the present time is to be sent from watchman to watchman on the walls of Zion, with vigilant proclamation day and night and no sleep or silence.

Faithful watchmen live so near to God and are so susceptible to the impressions of His Spirit that He can work through them to tell sinners of their peril and point them to the place of safety. Chosen of God and sealed with the blood of consecration, they rescue men and women from impending destruction, faithfully warn of the sure result of transgression, safeguard the interests of the church, and never relax vigilance day nor night. Theirs is a work requiring the exercise of every faculty of the being, with voices lifted in trumpet tones that never sound a wavering, uncertain note, laboring not for wages but from necessity because woe is upon them if they fail to preach the gospel. They are mature men, not children, needed to bear burdens and move understandingly, with eye single to the glory of God under the direction of the great Captain of salvation, moving to the front irrespective of censure and uncontaminated by applause, letting the voice be heard above the unfaithful who present objections, doubts, and criticism. They watch for souls as those who must give an account, and through God's grace they labor to keep the church in unity and peace and to publish peace. Their lives must meet the standard of the ministry and elevate and sanctify it, trimmed up and put away not only outbreaking sins but little foxes, little neglects, little deficiencies, little dishonesties, and little departures from the principles Christ has given, which blind the soul and separate it from God, for others watch a professed watchman and follow his example in saying and doing things not in harmony with the will of God, and evil practice ruins influence, dishonors Christ, and brings His name into disrepute.

Faithful watchmen give soul, body, and spirit and whole soul, might, mind and strength to eternal interests, constantly digging in the mine of the Scriptures to bring forth from God's treasure-house things new and old, teaching present truth in the pulpit and living it out of the pulpit, examining closely the foundation of their hope of salvation and cultivating heart-felt piety. Their appointed work is to advance God's work by warning those who do not know present truth and feeding the flock of God with pure provender thoroughly winnowed from chaff, including labor in camp-meetings held where outside attendance can be secured. They warn souls in peril through worldliness of their danger, point men to the heavenly inheritance and the mansions Christ has gone to prepare for those who love Him and keep His commandments, and do not flatter imagination with high hopes of earthly treasure, for where souls are at stake their interest cannot safely be divided. They cannot do this work effectually while interest is interwoven with mining or real-estate business, financial speculation, mining stocks, worldly plans and calculations, feverish desire to obtain means and become enthusiastic and intoxicated over it, health-food manufacture and stores, other business enterprises, or preparing and looking after the campground, which is to be left to business men, especially while receiving money from the treasury to support themselves and their families, lest talk draw attention and money away from God's institutions and cause by picturing financial advantages and promised doubling of means.

Unfaithful watchmen are themselves asleep and neglecting duty when they should be most active and vigilant in this hour of peril, inactive, blind to danger, tame and spiritless, with dim perception of the true spiritual condition of the church. They hide light, speak smooth things, prophesy deceit, hide colors, turn traitor, lay down weapons, and assure the people that all is well when peril threatens the church's spiritual life and vitality. They are unconcerned and well satisfied, denying God in life and character while assuming His presence rests upon the sanctuary as pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, satisfied to live without evidence that God is truly among them to save them from Satan's snares and attacks. Such sleeping instead of watching leaves the work years behind so Satan has stolen a march, and such neglect soothes people to sleep unready for the day of the Lord.

A minister who uses the trust of the watchman office to tempt and ensnare people acts not as a faithful watchman but as a corrupt shepherd, betraying a grave sacred trust. Claiming to be such a watchman while living impurely and unfaithfully, showing attraction to the sins that pollute the world with questionable morals, or committing adultery, makes his offense before God especially grave and brings reproach and ruins influence.

If watchmen become unfaithful they endanger the safety of God's flock, endanger the cause of truth, and expose it to the ridicule of enemies. They profess to be generals in the army of the great King while sympathizing with the great rebel leader and his host, exposing God's cause and the sacred truths of His Word to reproach, laying aside part of their armor so Satan can hurl in his poisoned arrows, strengthening the hands of rebel leaders, weakening themselves, and causing Satan and his host to triumph, whereas faithful watchmen never expose the gospel to the insults of the ungodly but shed their blood in its defense rather than allow enemies to triumph. A woe rests upon ministers if they do not perform the sacred work of great responsibility God committed to them, requiring their whole energies to proclaim His last message of mercy, and God is displeased with unfaithfulness and will require the blood of souls at their hands. Ministers as well as people who are unconverted need to be torn to pieces and made over new, for their work among the churches is worse than lost, and in weak, tottering condition it would be more pleasing to God for them to cease efforts to help others and labor with their hands until converted, so they can strengthen their brethren. Such a work will surely meet its reward with God's special severity.

Seventh-day Adventists above all people need true and faithful watchmen who will not hold their peace but will cry day and night sounding the warning God has given. That need rests on those who have received great light and blessed opportunities and have been exalted in privilege like Capernaum, exalted to heaven in point of privileges, amid loss of the love of God through continued resistance of light and truth and the influence of active workers counteracting the message God has sent in the face of evidence piled upon evidence. Faithful warning is to keep brethren from following the Jewish nation over the same path of blind resistance to piled evidence till the very end of probation, for by non-improvement those so exalted will be left to darkness corresponding to the greatness of the light given. The Jewish nation's history warns against repeating that course of resisting or neglecting light.

Unfaithfulness among watchmen is a cause for concern but gives no cause for despondency or secret mourning, but calls for confidence in God and carrying every burden to Him in faith by which He makes His workers efficient. God can make the faithful in the church radiant with His Word and communicate His Spirit through human instrumentalities as light before which moral darkness flees. Placing oneself where the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness shine into the chambers of the mind and the soul-temple overcomes that darkness. Watchmen dishonor God when they belittle His work in earlier ages or misrepresent the history of His people, and they fail their trust when instead of giving God's people what is for their spiritual benefit they feed them trivial and senseless things.

Call to Present Action

The prophecy is a decisive call to reformation: complaining and evildoing must cease, drawing near to God must take their place, and repentance and conversion must be entered into, after which conviction and conversion will be brought to souls. Discouraging features of experience are not to be dwelt upon, but a clear, ringing testimony is to be borne to the world with heads lifted up in faith and hope and courage and assurance until the righteousness and salvation of Zion go forth, and each member is to seek the Lord with the whole heart on the promise that He will be found. Those who remember and proclaim the Lord are to remain vocal day and night and never be silent, praising Him rather than dwelling on discouragement.

Amid many perplexities there is to be trust that the great powers of heaven are working, that a divine hand is on the wheel, and that God will bring His purposes to pass by gathering out from the world a people who will serve Him in righteousness until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her a praise in the earth. Careless indifference is to be shaken off in unceasing activity and unceasing prayer, communing with God to be imbued with His Spirit, taking up long-neglected work first in the family and then reaching beyond the family to those wandering in sin and darkness, going forth to bestow on those in need the grace received until righteousness goes forth as brightness and salvation as a burning lamp. Wide-awake earnestness must replace sleep, lest through neglect the enemy gain the victory, and whole-hearted, faithful work with sanctified ability will present truth to neglected cities in clear, distinct lines in the power of the Spirit so that the efficacy of the grace of Christ is seen. Watchmen must arouse others, put away all selfishness, see eye to eye, and then the arm of the Lord seen in the life of Christ will be revealed, confidence will be restored, and unity will appear in the churches. Every soul in the Master's service is to heed the warnings voiced from the Word, remembering that every case will be tried and every soul proved, examining whether by precept and practice he is leading others in false paths, since influence tells for good or for evil.

When the Lord's judgments have begun to come upon wicked cities without having their marked effect upon the people, the churches as sentinels on the watchtowers need to be awakened to fill the watchman office, first keeping watch over themselves so they are prepared, and all who sincerely love God will in this work reveal themselves as friends of man. In an age of peculiar and rapid changes constant wakefulness is required, with endowment of the Holy Spirit and heavenly wisdom to meet its emergencies, to counteract as far as possible the movements of the world, and to watch and pray so as to have light to comprehend and appreciate the movements of the enemy. Harmful movements are to be protested and counteracted and God earnestly entreated to work through the Holy Spirit, for those who are Christians only in name fail their duty when they do not act as watchmen. All are urged to take part in preparing a people to stand in the coming conflict and day of trouble rather than stumble in darkness, clothed with Christ's righteousness and strengthened by truth so as not to mistake Satan's deceptions for genuine manifestations of God's power. It is no time to compromise, to hide colors, to turn traitor when the battle rages, or to lay down or conceal weapons and give Satan advantage; watchmen must not slumber but be wide awake, watching and keeping their garments unspotted from the world so they stand true to their Captain, calling to fellow watchmen to warn.

The triumphs of the cross are to be pushed into opening fields while the angels hold the four winds, carrying the warning that the morning comes and also the night in which no one can work into every opening field as fast as possible, reaching thousands of honest souls praying for light who have not yet heard and rejected it, with no more hindrance for lack of workers and money. Preachers are to be sent to cities and villages to deliver the warning without silence, while members uphold the work through prayer, faithful service, and sharing what they learn from Scripture and their own experience. Watchmen must discern the messages needed at the present time and give them clearly, since failure leaves souls asleep to eternal loss. Influence is to be guarded and work done urgently and thoroughly because time is short, with earnest persistent prayer until Jerusalem is established as a praise in the earth. Home and churches are to be set in order and danger at the borders confronted and prevented from gaining a foothold, which is the measure of a watchman's faithfulness and calls for zealous, God-fearing action. Watchmen are to wake and faithfully do their duty, needing heavenly strength to work with God in the plan of salvation and to care for the church and for souls perishing in sin.