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exhortation, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, faith your God; peak ye comfortably to Jerufalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for he hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her fins. And fhould it be objected, there are mountains and difficulties in the way, it is added, Every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the rough places plain, and the glory of the Lord fhall be revealed, and all flesh shall fee it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. And if the frailty and weakness of human nature fhould be any objection, it is confeffed all flesh is grass; or should the arm of flesh attempt to oppose the designs of God, His fpirit will blow upon it, and then the grafs withereth and the flower fadeth, but then it is neither the frailty of flesh which

it depends upon, nor all the glory of flesh which cản oppofe it, for God hath faid it, and the word of our God fhall ftand forever.

6. HENCE with great exultation he cries. O Zion that bringeft good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerufalem, that bringest good tidings lift up thy voice with strength: lift it up be not afraid; fay unto the cities of Judah, behold your God. Behold your incarnate God, whom you have long rejected, he ftill waits to be gracious unto you. Behold, the Lord will come with ftrong hand, and his arm fhall rule for him: be fhall gaiber the lambs with his arm, and carry them in

his

* Ifa. xl. 1ỷ 2.

+ Ibid 4---8.

'Ibid 9. 10, 11.

*

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his bofom, and shall gently lead fuch as are with young. Again, how affectionately does he call, But thou Ifrael art my jervant, Jacob whom I have chofen, the feed of Abraham my friend, thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and faid unto thee, thou art my fervant, I have chosen thee, and not caft thee away. And leaft difficulties and oppofitions fhould difcourage, he adds, Fear thou not, for 1 am with thee; be not difmayed I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea I will help thee; yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. In the fame sweet ftrain he proceeds, But now, thus faith the Lord that created thee O Jacob, and he that formed thee ● Ifrael, fear not for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine, Fear not; for I am with thee: I will bring thy feed from the caft, and gather thee from the weft, I will fay unto the north, give up; and to the south keep not back ; bring my fons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth. He then lovingly chides his chofen people faying, But thou haft not called upon me O Jacob, but thou haft been weary of me Ifrael, Nevertheless says he, I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy tranfgreffions for mine own fake, and will not remember thy fins. Put me in remembrance, let us plead together; declare then that thou mayest he juftified. ‡

7. AFTER mentioning the causes of their being rejected for a season, he resumes the sweet subject again, Yet now hear O Jacob my fervant; and Ifrael whom I have cbofen, thus faith the Lord that made thee, that formed thee

from

Ha. x. 2, 8, 9, 10. † Ibid. xliii. 5, 6. Ibid ver. 24, 26.

from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob my fervant, and thou Jeshurun whom I have chofen. For I will pour water on him that is thirsty, and floeds upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy feed, and my blesfing upon thine offspring: and they shall fpring up as among grafs, as willows by the water courfes. One fall fay I am the Lords; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall fubfcribe with his hand unto the Lord, and furnam: himself by the name of Ifrael.* Thus, after fhewing the folly of Idols, and how little fatisfaction they yield, he adds, Remember these O Jacob and Ifrael, for thou art my fervant: I have formed thee: thou art my fervant O Ifrael, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy tranfgreffions, and as a cloud thy fins; return to me for I have redeemed thee,† Thus Heaven and earth are called to join in this divine jubilee, this great return. Sing Oye Heavens'; for the Lord hath done: fhout ye lower parts of the earth; break forth iuto finging, ye mountains, O forest and every tree therein; for the Lord hath redeemed Facob and glorified himself in Israel.‡

8. THE LORD then having addreffed his enemies in a threatning stile, the ifles are called to liften, and the great redeemer utters forth his voice, who is a light unto the Gentiles and the glory of his people Ifrael. And indeed he is the foundation laid in Zion, upon

which both Jews and gentiles. muft build, if ever they defign to land fafe in heaven. After the Redeemer

hath

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hath sopken, heaven and earth are again called upon to congratulate the joy of his people. Sing O heavens and bejoyful O earth; break forth into finging O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and he will have mercy upon his afflicted.* But the mourning Jewish church, not seeing the deliverance near at hand, cries out, the Lord hath forfaken me, and my God hath forgotten me. But to show that was a mistake, he makes ufe of one of the moft delicate comparifons, which, I think, language is capable of. Can a woman forget her fucking child, that she should not have compassion on the fon of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not thee . Let us attend a little to the scope of this paffage, the principal features of this excellent painting. Cân a woman, tho' of the softer fex, whose feelings in general are far more fenfible than those of men, forget the wants and weaknesses, the pains and dangers of her fucking child, and, therefore, in its moft helpless state, and in that state which calls for the greatest care and tenderness, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Her fon, which for the most part the mother is reckoned to have the greateft affection for, and more tenderly to regard. The fon of her womb, her own fon, not a step-fon, and as the words feem to imply her only child, to whom, therefore, her affection may more tenderly and tenaciously cleave; they may; for human nature is capable of going great lengths in stupidity and folly, though this is a cafe very uncom

*Ifa. xlix. 13. + Ver. 14. † Ifa, xlix. 15.

mon,

mon, and what finks them beneath the level of brutes. Yet, fays the most merciful God, I will not forget thee. Behold, I have engraven thee upon the palms of my hands, and thy walls, ruinous as they now lie, are continually before me.-Thy children shall make hafte; thy deftroyers, and they that made thee wafte, shall go forth of thee.-Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all thefe-ga:her themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, faith the Lord, thou shalt furely clothe thee with them as with an ornament, and bind them on thee as a bride doeth*.

I LOOK upon the three Chapters which follow the above quotations, to be exactly to the fame purpose; and animating encouragements to the Jews, when the vail fhall be rent from their hearts, and when they shall turn unto the Lord +.

9. THE Prophet feems to be carried, with amazing rapidity, from one important thing to another, yet all connected together; fo, after a long and most affectionate addrefs to the Jews, full of great and precious promises, he gives a most pathetic defcription of the humility, pains, and fufferings of the Meffiah, in his fifty-third Chapter, as the fole meritorious caufe, of all the promifed bleffings to Jews or Gentiles; and then immediately breaks out with a fong of exultation to the Gentiles; and from thence to a most affectionate call to all the thirsty, whether Jews or Gentiles . The three following Chapters contain fome keen reproofs, fhewing the causes of their calamities; and then, in a most abrupt and furprizing manner, light breaks out to the Jews:→→→ Arife! fbine! for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord

N

*Ifa. xlix. 16, 17, 18. † 2 Cor. iii. 16. Chap Iv.

is

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