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ISTEN, O ifles, unto me; and hearken, ye. people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name; he hath spoken of me by John the Baptift, and other holy men, as the Saviour of the 2 world. And he hath made my mouth like a fharp fword; in the shadow, or hollow of his hand hath he hid, or defended me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; referring to the wisdom and eloquence of Christ, and the power of his gospel to penetrate 3 the hearts of men; And faid unto me, Thou [art] my fervant, O Ifrael, in whom I will be glorified, in whom Ifrael foall be glorified; or, I will be glorified in Ifrael. 4 Then I faid, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain; I have been rejected by the jews, and few of them have believed: [yet] furely my judgment [is] with the LORD, and the reward of my work with my God.

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And now, faith the LORD that formed me from the womb [to be] his fervant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Ifrael be not gathered, yet fhall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, God will testify his affection and approbation, and my God fhall be my strength; he will 6 carry me thro' all my fufferings. And he faid, It is a light thing, comparatively, that thou fhouldft be my fervant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preferved of Ifrael, tho' all of them should believe and be faved: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my falvation, the author and inftrument of fal. 7vation, unto the end of the earth. Thus faith the LORD the redeemer of Ifrael, [and] his Holy One, to him whom man defpifeth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a fervant of rulers, Pilate and Herod, Kings shall see and arise, princes alfo fhall worship, fhall fubmit to him and become chriftians, because of the LORD that is faithful, [and] the Holy One of Ifrael, and he fhall choose thee, and fo prove that he is faithful to his pro8 mifes, and that thou art his chofen. Thus faith the LORD,

In

Some think Chrift is called Ifrael, as God's fervant, and the`` representative of the church.

In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of falvation have I helped thee; I have heard thy prayer, and affifted thee in thy work: and I will preferve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to be the furety and mediator of the new covenant, to establish the earth, to caufe to inherit the defolate heritages; to eftablish good laws, and repair what is decayed by ignorance 9 and corruption; That thou mayeft fay to the spiritual prifoners, Go forth; to them that [are] in darkness, Show yourselves. They fhall feed in the ways, and 10 their pastures [fhall be] in all high places. They fhall not hunger nor thirst; neither fhall the heat nor fun fmite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water fhall he guide them; they fhall have plenty of the means of grace, and fecurity and 11 happiness under the redeemer's government. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways fhall be exalted; the roads which are funk and become impaffable fhall be raised and repaired; that is, God will fo order things in the courfe of providence, as to help and further the 12 progress of the gospel. Behold, thefe fhall come from far, from Babylon, which lay eaft: and, lo, thefe from the north and from the weft; and thefe from the land of Sinim, from Pelufium, to the fouth.

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Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into finging, O mountains for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted; let the whole creation rejoice in the prospect 14 of this event. But Zion faid, The LORD hath forfaken me, and my LORD hath forgotten me. The language of the jews in captivity; as if they had faid, what hope can we have of fuch a time, when at prefent we are so afflicted 15 and funk? God graciously anfwers, Can a woman forget her fucking child, that the fhould not have compaffion on the fon of her womb? yea, they may forget; a remarkable change of perfons, they may forget, fome, yea, many 16 may, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven. thee upon the palms of [my] hands; the thoughts of thee are as familiar to my mind, as if thy name was written

there:

there; thy broken walls [are] continually before me. 17 Thy children, or elders, fhall make hafte to return home, and build thee up again; thy deftroyers and they that made thee wafte fhall go forth of thee, be driven far 18 away, fee v. 19. Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all thefe gather themselves together, [and] come to thee. [As] I live, faith the LORD, thou fhalt furely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them [on thee,] as a bride [doeth:] mothers confider their children as their greatest ornaments, fo the purity and piety of chriftians shall be an ornament to the 19 church. For thy waste and thy defolate places, and the land of thy deftruction, fhall even now be too narrow by reafon of the inhabitants, and they that fwallowed The children which thou 20 thee up fhall be far away.

fhalt have, after thou haft loft the other, fhall fay again in thine ears, The place [is] too ftrait for me: give 21 place to me that I may dwell. Then fhalt thou fay in thine heart, Who hath begotten me thefe, feeing I have loft my children, and am defolate, a captive, and removing to and fro ? and who hath brought up these and educated them, fo that they come with difpofitions to be the beauty, frength, and glory of the church? Behold, I 22 was left alone; thefe, where [had] they [been?] Thus faith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, I will beckon them, and they shall come, and fet up my standard to the people: and they fhall bring thy fons in [their] arms, and thy young daughters fhall be carried upon [their] fhoulders; they and their children fball eagerly come, and be joined to the church. 23 And kings fhall be thy nurfing fathers, and their queens thy nurfing mothers; they shall become good them

their

felves,

• This alludes to a custom in the east of infcribing the names native country, by of the dead, or of abfent friends, or Thus the pilgrims fome indelible mark on their hands or arms. that went to the holy fepulchre had themselves marked; and this art is practifed by travelling jews all over the world at this day.

The following verfes are generally interpreted of the jews; but their land was never fo populous after the captivity as before; they had not the whole land of Canaan, as in Solomon's time. I therefore think it refers to the acceffion of gentile con❤

verts

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felves, and be the protectors of religion and liberty: they fhall bow down to thee with [their] face toward the earth, and lick up the duft of thy feet; they fall do honour and pay deference to the church of Christ, and thou fhalt know that I [am] the LORD: for they fhall not be afhamed that wait for me.

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? An objection made by the jews to their deliverance from captivity, without being ranfamed or 25 exchanged. To which God anfwers, But thus faith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible fhall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will fave thy children; my almighty power shall 26 effect this. And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they fhall be drunken with their own blood, as with fweet wine; the nations that join with Babylon fhall contend with and destroy one another and I the LORD [am] thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

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REFLECTION S.

E have great reason to rejoice in Chrift's commiffion to fave the gentiles. This fublime description is addreffed to us of these ifles, for to us is the word of his falvation fent. This great and populous nation is become christian; has been enlightened by the fun of righ teousness; we enjoy plenty of the means of grace, and are directed in the way to eternal life. Let us then adore the grace that has been afforded us, and fay, as in v. 13. Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into finging, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

2. It is no new thing for faithful minifters to complain of their want of fuccefs. They labour, take pains, and are diligent in their work, fpend their health and ftrength in endeavouring

Cyrus conquered fome countries which were in alliance with the Chaldeans, and then made use of their foldiers in his attack upon Babylon.

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endeavouring to do good; yet little good is done. It is a moft difcouraging circumftance; but it was the cafe with our mafter, tho' never man spake as he did; and this is our encouragement, as it was his, that our work is with the Lord, and our reward with our God: He will not forget it; but, will proportion his reward, not to our fuccefs, but to our fidelity.

3. Now is the accepted time, now is the day of falvation. This is the apoftle's remark on v. 8. See 2 Cor. vi. 2. God heard and affifted his Son, that he might execute his work, and preach reconciliation. Therefore, while the

gofpel founds in our ears is the time when we may be accepted, and the day when we may be faved. Let us therefore attend to it; for when our time on earth ends, there is no other accepted time, no other day of falvation, To day therefore if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

4. Let us admire and truft in the compaffion of God to his people in their diftreffes. That is a most beautiful, tender, and delightful image in v. 14. It is next to impoffible that a woman fhould forget her fucking child, or even the fon of her womb; tho' fhe is more likely to forget the child she bore, than the child fhe fuckles. But they may forget; mothers may prove monsters, and be unnatural to their children; as thofe are who wickedly destroy them, or even fend them to be fuckled by ftrangers when they are able to do it themselves. But God will not forget his church in its lowest distress, nor his people, tho' they may fometimes, thro' long affliction, be ready to. defpair.

5. Let us encourage ourselves to expect the continuance and enlargement of the church. There are many delightful promises in this chapter, of its fpread among the gentiles, of kings becoming holy and zealous, and of numerous converts being added to it. Let this excite our prayers for the propagation of the gospel, and our thankfulness when any are added to the church, and especially those that are a peculiar ornament and credit to it. Tho' many difficulties feem to lie in the way, an almighty God has engaged that they fhall be furmounted; and therefore they shall not be afbamed that wait for him.

CHAP.