Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 35:1

Clarke's Commentary

CHAPTER XXXV

Flourishing state of the Church of God consequent to the awful

judgments predicted in the preceding chapter. The images

employed in the description are so very consolatory and sublime

as to oblige us to extend their fulfilment to that period of

the Gospel dispensation when Messiah shall take unto himself

his great power and reign. The fifth and sixth verses were

literally accomplished by our Saviour and his apostles: but

that the miracles wrought in the first century were not the

only import of the language used by the prophet, is

sufficiently plain from the context. They, therefore, have a

farther application; and are contemporary with, or rather a

consequence of, the judgments of God upon the enemies of the

Church in the latter days; and so relate to the greater

influence and extension of the Christian faith, the conversion

of the Jews, their restoration to their own land, and the

second advent of Christ. Much of the imagery of this chapter

seems to have been borrowed from the exodus from Egypt: but it

is greatly enlivened by the life, sentiments, and passions

ascribed to inanimate objects; all nature being represented as

rejoicing with the people of God in consequence of their

deliverance; and administering in such an unusual manner to

their relief and comfort, as to induce some commentators to

extend the meaning of the prophecy to the blessedness of the

saints in heaven, 1-10.

The various miracles our Lord wrought are the best comment on this chapter, which predicts those wondrous works and the glorious state of the Christian Church. See the parallel texts in the margin.

On this chapter Bishop Lowth has offered some important emendations. I shall introduce his translation, as the best yet given of this singular prophecy: -

1. The desert and the waste shall be glad;

And the wilderness shall rejoice, and flourish:

2. Like the rose shall it beautifully flourish;

And the well-watered plain of Jordan shall also rejoice:

The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it,

The beauty of Carmel and of Sharon;

These shall behold the glory of JEHOVAH,

The majesty of our God.

3. Strengthen ye the feeble hands,

And confirm ye the tottering knees.

4. Say ye to the faint-hearted, Be ye strong;

Fear ye not; behold your God!

Vengeance will come; the retribution of God:

He himself will come, and will deliver you.

5. Then shall be unclosed the eyes of the blind;

And the ears of the deaf shall be opened:

6. Then shall the lame bound like the hart,

And the tongue of the dumb shall sing;

For in the wilderness shall burst forth waters,

And torrents in the desert:

7. And the glowing sand shall become a pool,

And the thirsty soil bubbling springs:

And in the haunt of dragons shall spring forth

The grass with the reed and the bulrush.

8. And a highway shall be there;

And it shall be called The way of holiness:

No unclean person shall pass through it:

But he himself shall be with them, walking in the way,

And the foolish shall not err therein:

9. No lion shall be there;

Nor shall the tyrant of the beasts come up thither:

Neither shall he be found there;

But the redeemed shall walk in it.

10. Yea, the ransomed of JEHOVAH shall return;

They shall come to Sion with triumph;

And perpetual gladness shall crown their heads.

Joy and gladness shall they obtain;

And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXXV

Verse Isaiah 35:1. Shall be glad — יששום yesusum; in one MS. the מ mem seems to have been added; and שום sum is upon a rasure in another. None of the ancient versions acknowledge it; it seems to have been a mistake, arising from the next word beginning with the same letter. Seventeen MSS. have ישושום yesusum, both vaus expressed; and five MSS. יששם yesusum, without the vaus. Probably the true reading is, "The wilderness and the dry place shall be glad." Not for them.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

A paradise for God’s people (35:1-10)

In contrast to the terrifying end that awaits the wicked, the final state that God has prepared for the righteous is one of peace, joy and beauty. As judgment was pictured in the devastation of the land of Edom, so salvation is pictured in the restoration of the land of Israel. The picture is that of a desert that turns into a beautiful garden or a mighty forest. The Lord God dwells there and strengthens his people (35:1-4).
All the effects of sin are now banished, as God brings physical healing both to people’s bodies and to the world of nature. There is perfect contentment and total satisfaction (5-7). God forgives his people’s sins and prepares the way for them to come from all nations to dwell with him in his city. Nothing that is sinful or in any way harmful or dangerous will be allowed to enter. God’s people will come to his city with joy, like captives returning from a foreign country, or like people flocking to Jerusalem for a festival (8-10).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of Jehovah, the excellency of our God.”

No such transformation of the desert between Babylon and Jerusalem is recorded as having taken place on the return of the remnant; and therefore we must see in these words a prophecy of a spiritual transformation that would take place at some future occasion afterward from the times of Isaiah. What was it? As Barnes explained it:

“The sense here (Isaiah 35:1-2) is that the desolate moral world would be filled with joy on account of the blessings which are here predicted… and that the change would be so great under the blessings of the Messiah’s reign, as if there should be suddenly transferred to the waste wilderness (the desert) the majesty and glory of mount Lebanon… and that the blessings of the times of Messiah would be as great, as if the desert were made as lovely as Carmel, and as fertile as Sharon.”Albert Barnes’ Commentary p. 502.

Archer understood that blossoming and singing desert to symbolize, “The inward changes that take place in the redeemed”;Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 633. and that certainly makes sense. As the sense of this chapter begins to appear, we may easily understand why Lowth complained that, “It is not easy to discover what connection the extremely flourishing state of the church or people of God described in Isaiah 35 could have with those events (of Isaiah 34).”Robert Lowth’s Commentary, p. 297. We will go much further and declare that, in fact, there is hardly any connection at all, except the resulting dramatic contrast between, “The future of the unrepentant, God-defying world and the future of the people of God.”Peake’s Commentary Series, p. 458. There is also one other connection. The final glory of the Church will come after the execution of the final judgment; and since it is the final judgment that appears in Isaiah 34, it was most logical that the joy of the saints of God should immediately appear, as indeed they do, right here in Isaiah 35. However, the element of cause and effect is not in the two chapters, but only the element of their near simultaneous timing.

As indication of the many differences of scholars regarding these verses, take that word rendered “rose” (Isaiah 35:1) in our version. Peake gave it as, “the autumn crocus, “or “the narcissus.” “The Septuagint (LXX) renders it `Lily,’ the Vulgate gives us `Lilium’ (the same thing); and the Syriac version translates it `the meadow-saffron.’“Albert Barnes’ Commentary, p. 502.

Of course, anyone can see that the exact identity of the flower in this passage is of little, if any, importance.

Rawlinson, as we see it, properly identified this whole chapter as a prophecy of, “The glory of the last times,”The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 10a, p. 568. and Hailey explained the reasons for doing so, as follows:

“The wilderness through which the redeemed came singing to Zion is not the road from Babylon to Judah, but the spiritual desert which led them into the captivity… Afterward came the Medo-Persian role and oppression, then Alexander whose role was totally void of spiritual values… then the Ptolemies, the Syrian Seleucids, the Maccabean wars… and the Pharisees and Sadducees, religious rulers who corrupted the spiritual life of the nation… and after them the Romans. It is obvious that the glorious picture in Isaiah 35 was certainly not realized at any time during the period between Babylon and the coming of Jesus Christ. Only a messianic interpretation of the chapter fits the text.”Homer Hailey, p. 293.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The wilderness and the solitary place - This is evidently figurative language, such as is often employed by the prophets. The word rendered ‘solitary place’ (ציה tsı̂yâh), denotes properly a dry place, a place without springs and streams of water; and as such places produce no verdure, and nothing to sustain life, the word comes to mean a desert. Such expressions are often used in the Scriptures to express moral or spiritual desolation; and in this sense evidently the phrase is used here. It does not refer to the desolations of Judea, but to all places that might be properly called a moral wilderness, or a spiritual desert; and thus aptly expresses the condition of the world that was to be benefited by the blessings foretold in this chapter. The parallel expressions in Isaiah 41:17-19; Isaiah 44:3-4, show that this is the sense in which the phrase is here used; and that the meaning is, that every situation which might be appropriately called a moral wilderness - that is, the whole pagan world - would ultimately be made glad. The sense is, that as great and happy changes would take place in regard to those desolations as if the wilderness should become a vast field producing the lily and the rose; or as if Isaiah 35:2 there should be imparted to such places the glory of Lebanon, and the beauty of Sharon and Carmel.

Shall be glad for them - This is evidently a personification, a beautiful poetic figure, by which the wilderness is represented as expressing joy. The sense is, the desolate moral world would be filled with joy on account of the blessings which are here predicted. The phrase ‘for them,’ expressed in Hebrew by the affix מ (m) means, doubtless, on account of the blessings which are foretold in this prophecy. Lowth supposes, however, that the letter has been added to the word ‘shall be glad’ (ישׂשׂוּ y^es'us'û), by mistake, because the following word (מדבר midbâr) begins with a מ (m). The reading of the present Hebrew text is followed by none of the ancient versions; but it is nevertheless probably the correct reading, and there is no authority for changing it. The sense is expressed above by the phrase ‘shall rejoice on account of the things contained in this prophecy;’ to wit, the destruction of all the foes of God, and the universal establishment of his kingdom. Those who wish to see a more critical examination of the words used here, may find it in Rosenmuller and Gesenius.

And blossom as the rose - The word rendered ‘rose’ (חבצלת chăbı̂tsâleth) occurs only here and in Song of Solomon 2:1, where it is also rendered a ‘rose.’ The Septuagint renders it, Κρίνον Krinon ‘Lily.’ The Vulgate also renders it, Lilium - the lily. The Syriac renders it also by a word which signifies the lily or narcissus; or, according to the Syriac lexicographers, ‘the meadow-saffron,’ an autumnal flower springing from poisonous bulbous roots, and of a white and violet color. The sense is not, however, affected materially whatever be the meaning of the word. Either the rose, the lily, or the saffron, would convey the idea of beauty compared with the solitude and desolation of the desert. The word ‘rose’ with us, as being a flower better known, conveys a more striking image of beauty, and there is no impropriety in retaining it.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

1.The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad. Here the Prophet describes a wonderful change; for having in the former chapter described the destruction of Idumaea, and having said that it would be changed into a wilderness, he now promises, on the other hand, fertility to the wilderness, so that barren and waste lands shall become highly productive. This is God’s own work; for, as he blesses the whole earth, so he waters some parts of it more lightly, and other parts more bountifully, by his blessing, and afterwards withdraws and removes it altogether on account of the ingratitude of men.

This passage is explained in various ways. I pass by the dreams of the Jews, who apply all passages of this kind to the temporal reign of the Messiah, which they have contrived by their own imagination. Some explain it as referring to Judea, and others to the calling of the Gentiles. But let us see if it be not more proper to include the whole world along with Judea; for he predicted the destruction of the whole world in such terms as not to spare Judea, and not only so, but because “the judgment of God begins at his house or sanctuary,” (1 Peter 4:17,) the singularly melancholy desolation of the Holy Land was foretold, that it might be a remarkable example. Thus beginning appropriately and justly with Judea, he calls the whole world a wilderness, because everywhere the wrath of God abounded; and, therefore, I willingly view this passage as referring to Judea, and afterwards to the other parts of the world. As if he had said, “After the Lord shall have punished the wickedness and crimes of men, and taken vengeance on Jews and Gentiles, the wilderness shall then be changed into a habitable country, and the face of the whole earth shall be renewed.” Now this restoration is a remarkable instance of the goodness of God; for, when men have provoked him by their revolt, they deserve to perish altogether, and to be utterly destroyed, especially they whom he has adopted to be his peculiar people. Isaiah has his eye chiefly on the Jews, that in their distressful condition they may not faint.

Let us now see when this prophecy was fulfilled, or when it shall be fulfilled. The Lord began some kind of restoration when he brought his people out of Babylon; but that was only a slight foretaste, and, therefore, I have no hesitation in saying that this passage, as well as others of a similar kind, must refer to the kingdom of Christ; and in no other light could it be viewed, if we compare it to other prophecies. By “the kingdom of Christ,” I mean not only that which is begun here, but that which shall be completed at the last day, which on that account is called “the day of renovation and restoration,” (Acts 3:21;) because believers will never find perfect rest till that day arrive. And the reason why the prophets speak of the kingdom of Christ in such lofty terms is, that they look at that end when the true happiness of believers, shall be most fully restored.

After having spoken of dreadful calamities and predicted the lamentable ruin of the whole world, the Prophet comforts believers by this promise, in which he foretells that all things shall be restored. This is done by Christ, by whom alone they can be renewed and made glad; for he alone renews everything, and restores it to proper order; apart from him there can be nothing but filth and desolation, nothing but most miserable ruin both in heaven and in earth. But it ought to be carefully observed, that the world needed to be prepared by chastisements of this nature, in order that it might be fit and qualified for receiving such distinguished favor, and that the grace of Christ might be more fully manifested, which would have been concealed if everything had remained in its original state. It was therefore necessary that the proud and fierce minds of men should be east down and subdued, that they might taste the kindness of Christ, and partake of his power and strength.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 35

Now chapter 35 is out of the darkness into the light. Out of the tribulation into the kingdom. The glorious day of the Lord to which we look forward to. In chapter 35, oh, what a glorious chapter as it speaks of the earth and its conditions when Jesus comes and establishes God's kingdom and He reigns upon the earth. For at that time

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God ( Isaiah 35:1-2 ).

For the earth will be restored to its Edenic glory. And even in the desert and wilderness places, they will no longer exist upon the earth at that time. Buy up as much as you can in Death Valley--cheap prices now--because it's going to be glorious out there.

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, don't be afraid: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; and he will save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will sing ( Isaiah 35:3-6 ):

The glorious restoration of God. You see, you do not see the world as God intended it or created it. You see a world that is suffering as a result of man's rebellion and sin. You do not see man as God intended him. With his physical ailments and impairments. With the deafness, blindness, handicaps. God did not intend that. And in the Kingdom Age, these things will not be. How can a God of love allow a child to be born blind? How can a God of love allow a child to be born deaf or something? Hey, wait a minute. This world is presently under Satan's control who has rebelled against God. Jesus came to redeem the world back to God and the day is coming when He is going to take His purchased possession unto Himself. And when He does, you'll see the world that God intended and it will be a world without suffering. It will be a world without pain. It will be a world without physical weaknesses, impairments of any sort. For the lame will be leaping as a deer. The blind will see. The dumb will be singing the praises unto the Lord. And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and there will be streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, they will not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up there upon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there ( Isaiah 35:6-9 ):

Men will live in safety. No longer will the beasts be ravenous. The lion will lie down with the lamb and a little child will lead them and lion will eat grass like the oxen.

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return ( Isaiah 35:10 ),

Return with Jesus Christ.

and they'll come to Zion [to Jerusalem] with songs of everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away ( Isaiah 35:10 ).

Oh, the glorious day of the Lord! How we long for it, and our prayer is, "O Lord, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth even as it is in heaven. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus." Oh, how I love this thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah.

The Lord gave me this chapter in a time of great need, personal need, in my own life. When my mother was with us and was dying, one day sitting there in the room I said, "God, I just can't take it." I was looking at those beautiful hands that had ministered so much to me. I could remember when I had a fever and those hands felt so cool on my forehead. That she would wipe the perspiration off. I thought of all of the neat rolls, pies, cookies, cakes that those hands had fixed. And my heart was just being wrung out within me and I said, "God, I can't take it. Can't stand to see my mother suffering like this. God, I need help. I need it now." And I grabbed the Bible and I opened it and it opened to Isaiah 35:1-10 . And I read of this glorious day that is coming when the blind will see, the lame will leap as a deer, and the deaf will be hearing and the dumb will be singing. And the glorious day of the Lord. Gladness, the day of joy. Sorrow and sighing gone. And oh, how the Lord ministered to me. It was just glorious. God just ministered to me in such a beautiful way.

About a week later, we took her to the hospital and as she was lying there in a coma, again I just became sort of overcome with grief realizing that I was losing this woman who was so dear and precious to me. I was going to miss all of those prayers by which my life had been strengthened and helped. And there in the hospital I just said, "God, I can't take it. I need help, Lord. I'm desperate. I need help. Please help me." And I grabbed the Bible that was there in the hospital room. Not... if you grab the same Bible you say, "Well, your Bible just falls open to Isaiah 35:1-10 ," but it was a different Bible completely. One that was there in the hospital room. I grabbed it and I just opened it up- Isaiah 35:1-10 . I read it and oh, how the Lord ministered to me again. Oh, thank You, Lord. Come quickly, Jesus.

And then when she was lying in the slumber room over at Flower Brothers in Santa Ana, and I went into the room and stood there. And I realized that this was it. My mom's gone. And I just... The rest of the family had gone out and I was there by myself. And again the memories in a time like that just come racing through your mind and the thoughts. Again, I just sort of became overcome and choked up and said, "God, I just need help. Please, Lord, I need help. Strengthen me, Lord, I just need Your touch. I need Your help." And I grabbed the Bible that they had set there in the room and I opened it up- Isaiah 35:1-10 . I said, "I've got the message, Lord. I've got the message!"

And so Isaiah 35:1-10 is a special chapter to me. God has so ministered to me through that chapter. And that is the longing of my heart tonight is for the fulfillment of God's promise. The glorious Kingdom Age when the trials and the hardships and the afflictions and all of this present existence are over. When sin is put away and when the kingdom comes and the righteous King reigns. And we behold Him in His beauty and the earth is restored. O Lord, hasten that day. I can hardly wait.

Now may the Lord bless you and be with you and keep you in His love through the grace of Jesus Christ as we look forward to that glorious day of the Lord when He comes for us that we might be with Him in His eternal kingdom, world without end. God bless you and may the strength of the Lord be your portion this week. In Jesus' name. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

References to the wilderness and desert tie this chapter to the preceding one. The wilderness that God so thoroughly judged, personified here, will eventually rejoice because it will blossom profusely. The beauty and glory that formerly marked Lebanon and Carmel, before the devastation of chapter 34, will mark these places again, but more so. Their transformation, at God’s hand, will enable them to appreciate the inherent value and majestic dignity of Israel’s sovereign Lord (cf. Romans 8:13-25).

"If we will give God his glory, then he will give his to us." [Note: Oswalt, p. 622.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

The wilderness, and the solitary place, shall be glad for them,.... Either for the wild beasts, satyrs, owls, and vultures, that shall inhabit Edom or Rome, and because it shall be an habitation for them: or they shall be glad for them, the Edomites, and for the destruction of them; that is, as the Targum paraphrases it,

"they that dwell in the wilderness, in the dry land, shall rejoice;''

the church, in the wilderness, being obliged to fly there from the persecution of antichrist, and thereby become desolate as a wilderness; and so called, in allusion to the Israelites in the wilderness, Acts 7:38 shall now rejoice at the ruin of Rome, and the antichristian states; by which means it shall come into a more flourishing condition; see Revelation 12:14:

and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose; or "as the lily", as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions; and so the Targum,

"as the lilies:''

not Judea or Jerusalem, as the Jewish writers, become like a desert, through the devastations made in it by the king of Assyria's army; and now made glad, and become flourishing, upon the departure of it from them: rather the Gentile world, which was like a wilderness, barren and unfruitful, before the Gospel came into it; but by means of that, which brought joy with it, and was attended with fragrancy, it diffusing the savour of the knowledge of Christ in every place, it became fruitful and flourishing, and of a sweet odour, and looked delightful, and pleasant: though it seems best to understand it of the Gentile church in the latter day, after the destruction of antichrist, when it shall be in a most desirable and comfortable situation. These words stand in connection with the preceding chapter Isaiah 34:1, and very aptly follow upon it.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.   2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.   3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.   4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

      In these verses we have,

      I. The desert land blooming. In the foregoing chapter we had a populous and fruitful country turned into a horrid wilderness; here we have in lieu of that, a wilderness turned into a good land. When the land of Judah was freed from the Assyrian army, those parts of the country that had been made as a wilderness by the ravages and outrages they committed began to recover themselves, and to look pleasantly again, and to blossom as the rose. When the Gentile nations, that had been long as a wilderness, bringing forth no fruit to God, received the gospel, joy came with it to them, Psalms 67:3; Psalms 67:4; Psalms 96:11; Psalms 96:12. When Christ was preached in Samaria there was great joy in that city (Acts 8:8); those that sat in darkness saw a great and joyful light, and then they blossomed, that is, gave hopes of abundance of fruit; for that was it which the preachers of the gospel aimed at (John 15:16), to go and bring forth fruit,Romans 1:13; Colossians 1:6. Though blossoms are not fruit, and often miscarry and come to nothing, yet they are in order to fruit. Converting grace makes the soul that was a wilderness to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abundantly. This flourishing desert shall have all the glory of Lebanon given to it, which consisted in the strength and stateliness of its cedars, together with the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, which consisted in corn and cattle. Whatever is valuable in any institution is brought into the gospel. All the beauty of the Jewish church was admitted into the Christian church, and appeared in its perfection, as the apostle shows at large in his epistle to the Hebrews. Whatever was excellent an desirable in the Mosaic economy is translated into the evangelical institutes.

      II. The glory of God shining forth: They shall see the glory of the Lord. God will manifest himself more than ever in his grace and love to mankind (for that is his glory and excellency), and he shall give them eyes to see it, and hearts to be duly affected with it. This is that which will make the desert blossom. The more we see by faith of the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God the more joyful and the more fruitful shall we be.

      III. The feeble and faint-hearted encouraged, Isaiah 35:3; Isaiah 35:4. God's prophets and ministers are in a special manner charged, by virtue of their office, to strengthen the weak hands, to comfort those who could not yet recover the fright they had been put into by the Assyrian army with an assurance that God would now return in mercy to them. This is the design of the gospel, 1. To strengthen those that are weak and to confirm them--the weak hands, which are unable either to work or fight, and can hardly be lifted up in prayer, and the feeble knees, which are unable either to stand or walk and unfit for the race set before us. The gospel furnishes us with strengthening considerations, and shows us where strength is laid up for us. Among true Christians there are many that have weak hands and feeble knees, that are yet but babes in Christ; but it is our duty to strengthen our brethren (Luke 22:32), not only to bear with the weak, but to do what we can to confirm them, Romans 15:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:14. It is our duty also to strengthen ourselves, to lift up the hands which hang down (Hebrews 12:12), improving the strength God has given us, and exerting it. 2. To animate those that are timorous and discouraged: Say to those that are of a fearful heart, because of their own weakness and the strength of their enemies, that are hasty (so the word is), that are for betaking themselves to flight upon the first alarm, and giving up the cause, that say, in their haste, "We are cut off and undone" (Psalms 31:22), there is enough in the gospel to silence these fears; it says to them, and let them say it to themselves and one to another, Be strong, fear not. Fear is weakening; the more we strive against it the stronger we are both for doing and suffering; and, for our encouragement to strive, he that says to us, Be strong has laid help for us upon one that is mighty.

      IV. Assurance given of the approach of a Saviour: "Your God will come with vengeance. God will appear for you against your enemies, will recompense both their injuries and your losses." The Messiah will come, in the fulness of time, to take vengeance on the powers of darkness, to spoil them, and make a show of them openly, to recompense those that mourn in Zion with abundant comforts. He will come and save us. With the hopes of this the Old-Testament saints strengthened their weak hands. He will come again at the end of time, will come in flaming fire, to recompense tribulation to those who have troubled his people, and, to those who were troubled, rest, such a rest as will be not only a final period to, but a full reward of, all their troubles, 2 Thessalonians 1:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:7. Those whose hearts tremble for the ark of God, and who are under a concern for his church in the world, may silence their fears with this, God will take the work into his own hands. Your God will come, who pleads your cause and owns your interest, even God himself, who is God alone.