and moon fhall be nothing, compared with the light of God's countenance, and the joy of his falvation: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory; thy character and graces fhall fhine, and bear a refemblance of his luftre; or, thy relation to him, and in-20 tereft in him, will be thy greatest honour. Thy fun, that is, the prefence of God with thee, fhall no more go down; neither fhall thy moon withdraw itfelf: for the LORD fhall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy 21 mourning shall be ended. Thy people alfo [fhall be] all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified; they shall be a more pure and holy fociety than ever before, and shall afcribe all to God; and he fall 22 be glorified in them. A little one fhall become a thoufand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will haften it in his time; let not my people he difcouraged, because they are weak and feeble; the Lord will fupport and Spread his gofpel, till all these great things are accomplished.

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REFLECTION S.

HE general leffon here taught, is to adore God for his gofpel, and to encourage our hopes and prayers for its fupport and spread. Particularly let us thank him that it has been established in the earth; that fo many kings are become chriftians; that this land, once covered with grofs darkness, is made light. Still it shall spread, and have a more glorious triumph, as all those figures, taken from earthly glory and jewish worship, show. Let us long for that day; and in the mean time fhine ourfelves in all christian graces; and thus show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light.

2. When men become fincere chriftians, they will readily confecrate their fubftance to the Lord. It is intimated in several parts of this chapter, that kings and great men, upon embracing the gofpel, fhall give their wealth to the

A a 4

church,

Some understand this of the heavenly world, to which these

phrafes are applied in the book of Revelations.

church, that is, devote it to acts of piety and charity. True religion enlarges the heart, fubdues a narrow, selfish spirit; and where men find themselves backward to acts of charity, especially to the fouls of men and the support of the gofpel, they have great reason to fear that they are yet strangers to the grace of God.

3. Those who have a fenfe of the favour of God, and enjoy the tokens of his prefence, will be but little concerned about worldly things. They can be content and thankful without many of thofe things in which the men of this world place their happiness. The light of the fun and moon are as nothing to them, compared with the prefence and love of God; they can walk in his light, and be happy in his love, when all is dark and gloomy around them: and will be completely happy when the fun and moon are no

more.

4. God will do every thing great and good for his people in the most convenient feafon. They are apt to be difcouraged, to doubt, and fear; but whatever difficulties are in the way of the church's continuance, increase and profperity, and the happiness of particular fouls, God the Lord will effect it; he will do it in his time, which is always the best. Therefore let us truft in him; tho' the falvation tarry, wait for it, for at length it will come, and will not tarry. The Lord is a God of judgment; and blessed are all they that wait for him.

CHA P. LXI, LXII.

The best interpreter of fcripture, that is, Chrift, applies the former part of this chapter to himself, Luke xiv. 18, 21, Saying, This day is this fcripture fulfilled in your ears.'

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TH

HE Spirit of the LORD God [is] upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me, hath fet me apart to the office, by the communications of his fpirit, (as kings and priests are by being anointed) to preach good tidings unto the meek, to the poor in fpirit; he hath fent me to bind up the broken hearted, those who

are

are wounded under a fenfe of guilt, to proclaim liberty to the captives of fin, Satan, and death, and the opening of the prifon, or, perfect liberty, to [them that are] bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD; the year of jubile, which was the Lord's appointment, and very acceptable to the poor, as debts were then cancelled, flaves releafed, and mortgaged eftates restored; (Lev. xxv. 9.) and the day of vengeance of our God, of his righteous judgments on the enemies of his gospel; to comfort all that 3 mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion joy and gladness, to give unto them beauty, or, a beautiful crown, for afhes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praife for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified: the end of all is to promote their righteousness and God's glory.-The next verfes refer to the return of the jews to their own land in the latter day, and their profperity in it.

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And they shall build the old waftes, they fhall raise up the former defolations, and they fhall repair the 5 waste cities, the defolations of many generations. And ftrangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the fons of the alien [fhall be] your ploughmen and your vine dreffers, the gentiles fhall love and be ready to ferve you : 6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: [men] fhall call you the Minifters of our God; ye fhall become a kingdom of priests, as formerly, and be holy unto the Lord: ye fhall eat the riches of the gentiles, and in their glory fhall ye boast yourselves; ye shall partake of their plenty, 7 and become inftruments of their converfion. For your

shame [ye fhall have] double, instead of shame ye shall have double glory; and [for] confufion they fhall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they fhall poffefs the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them; as the land will long have lain barren, he will repay them by extraordinary fruitfulness, and uninterrupted peace and profperity.

8 For

Here is a reference to the manner of mourning among the jews; they put on fackcloth, or coarse garments, and spread duft or afhes on their heads, inftead of oil, (fee 2 Sam. xiv. 2.) On the contrary, fplendid clothing and ointment poured on the head were figns of joy.

8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them; the reason why I rejected them was their wickedness, which was as hateful to me, as if a man should steal a beast, and then come and offer it; but now they shall ferve me in fpirit and 9 truth, and be restored to my covenant. And their feed fhall be known among the gentiles, and their offspring among the people; they and their defcendants fhall become illuftrious and remarkable, and be known as God's antient people, to whom the promises originally belonged: all that fee them shall acknowledge them, that they [are] the feed [which] the LORD hath bleffed; fuch piety fhall appear in them, that all fall fay they are worthy favourites of the Lord.-The church is then reprefented as breaking out into a fong of 10 praife. I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my foul fhall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of falvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, with falvation, as a garment, and righteousness, as a robe; as a bridegroom decketh [himself] with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth 11 [herself] with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden caufeth the things that are fown in it to fpring forth; fo the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations; as feeds and plants in a garden feem to lie dead in winter, but in the fpring revive and grow, fo God will make his gofpel fpread, and the jewish church remarkable thro' the world.

CHAP. LXII. Encouraged by the promises in the foregoing chapter, the prophet, in the name of all God's people, 1 declares, For Zion's fake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerufalem's fake I will not reft, until the righteoufnefs thereof go forth as brightness, and the falvation thereof as a lamp [that] burneth; until its deliverance and righteousness become illuftrious in the eyes of all the 2 world. And God anfwers, the gentiles fhall fee thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou fhalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD fhall name; fome fay, the chriftian name; but it rather refers

3 refers to a new and better state. Thou fhalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God; thou shalt be precious and honourable to him, and his perfections fhall be displayed 4 and glorified in thee. Thou shalt no more be termed Forfaken; neither fhall thy land any more be termed Defolate but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, the object of my delight, and thy land Beulah, the wedded matron: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land 5 fhall be married. For [as] a young man marrieth a virgin, [fo] fhall thy fons marry thee: and [as] the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, [fo] fhall thy God rejoice over thee; thou shalt live in harmony and love, and be no more feparated.

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a

b

I have fet watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerufalem, [which] fhall never hold their peace day nor night; minifters fhall take pains to promote in their people a devout Spirit: ye that make mention of the LORD, or, ye that 7 are the Lord's remembrancers, keep not filence, And give him no reft, till he establish, and till he make Jerufalem a praise in the earth.

8

The LORD hath fworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his ftrength, Surely I will no more give thy corn [to be] meat for thine enemies; and the fons of the ftranger shall not drink thy wire, for the which 9 thou haft laboured: But they that have gathered it fhall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holinefs.d

The

a The jewish church is here reprefented as married to the Lord, and, for its unbelief, divorced; but hereafter it fhall be taken into favour again, and fhall be as much delighted with returning to its own country and living in it, as a bridegroom is with his bride.

It was cuftomary in the eaft for youths that were never married always to marry virgins, and widowers, however young, to marry widows. See HARMER's Obfervations, in loc.

The prophet here fpeaks of God after the manner of men, as overcome by importunity.

This muft refer to fomething future; for it is not applicable to the ftate of the jews in any paft period. There is probably a reference to Deut. xii,