2. The deliverance has made the singer look forward to the end, and his confidence in the issue is confirmed. So it is in the spiritual life: we can make no provision of grace for the future; we are called to depend upon God day by day. THE SUPPORT OF LIFE'S JOURNEY. They get filled. So a heaven-bound soul flies in company with God.(T. --ISAIAH xl. --ISAIAH xl. 2 Here I behold thy distant face, And 'tis a pleasing sight; But to abide in thine embrace Is infinite delight. V. Tymms.As we look back on history we can see positive evidence that the promise of this text was historically fulfilled, and in the eases of the men to whom the message came first. (2) Our manifold afflictions (Hebrews 12:5). There is something very grand in these august and mysterious voices which call one to another in the opening verses of this chapter. 25-29). Usually we have, at any rate, just a little strength, and then waiting upon Him means not only prayer and uplooking, but doing His commandments like the angels, who because they do them excel in strength.II. L. Wiseman, B. 5 Then at thy feet Isaac WattsHymns and Spiritual SongsAt RestGerhard Ter Steegen Is. Greed, unrighteousness, sensuality, may appear to be more stable than granite. What did your man of the natural order stop running for? The intellect is strengthened by holy exercises upon Divine themes.2. And again, "I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in His word do I hope," etc. --ISAIAH xl. This seems to say that the life of communion with God is not a long series of vapid and unemotional hours, a dead level of mechanical and spiritless employments, but a life that has rare and glorious experiences, holy aspirations, ennobling thoughts, ecstatic emotions, spirit-stirring hopes.1. And, at any cost, let him who speaks from the mouth of the true God himself be true. Howells. "He is Faithful that Promised." --ISAIAH xl. And I am bound to say that those who find the least pleasure and the least benefit from public worship are those who do not wait on the Lord in private. But more than all, in view of the great work to which he is calling his countrymen, he writes for those who feel called upon to do something in the world, for those who are conscious of high powers, and are in the purest sense of the word ambitious.(T. And then, before you pray, sit still, and shut your eyes and say, Will God now listen to me for certain? V. Tymms.As we look back on history we can see positive evidence that the promise of this text was historically fulfilled, and in the eases of the men to whom the message came first. They were now coupled up to the source of the power, and the effect of every pulse of the engine was communicated to them, and had it run one hundred miles an hour so would they have done. The slight and shifting nature of the foundations on which worldly hopes are built makes it evident that they can do but little towards giving abiding and progressive strength to character, while frequent failures and disappointments depress and enfeeble. "Waiting on the Lord" by prayer has the same effect on them that it has on an empty bucket to set it under a rain-spout. A. Denomination: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the revelation of the inexhaustible God liveth and abideth for ever. He never is weary. If we trust and obey, obey and trust, we rise into a purer atmosphere, and have a clearer vision we live in the very presence of God. And we renew our strength for all enterprise which makes demand on our courage and truthfulness.2. WHAT IS THE ISSUE OF SUCH WAITING UPON GOD? Holy hope is a wing that will bear the soul above to its anticipated possessions.III. The helplessness of man in spiritual things is a disease for which no remedy has been discovered, and for which no remedy ever will be discovered but that which the Word of God points out.I. Doubt seems so impossible, and elements of character are forming then that we should be poor indeed without in future time. The national life was restored, and that restoration of national life in the Jews is unique in the history of mankind; you cannot point to anything like it since man walked this earth, but it took place. 2. By a sudden impetus or effort. -- ISAIAH xl. They could not suggest to the prophet his religious thought, but his inspired genius laid them under tribute to assist the utterance of a thought of higher inspiration. 1, 2), the words occur which are quoted by St. Matthew and St. Mark (Is. To pursue the common track of daily duty not faltering nor growing weary to do so when novelty has worn off, when the elasticity of youth has vanished, when the applause of the crowd has become dim and faint this is the greatest achievement of the Christian life. Exuberance of holy feeling is not a thing to be manufactured. As the result of a whole life of education and practice in Divine duties men may come, at last, into that state in which the Spirit of God shines with a steadfast lustre upon them. After a brief general preface (Is. As our natural life requires to be nourished by suitable food from day to day, without which it would decline and death would ensue, so the spiritual life of the Christian needs to be recruited continually, with the nutriment which is suited to its growth and strength.3. Just such a well of spiritual force is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not genuine strength, but real disease. I brought but little there. A. Because they are imperfect.3. They wait with submission and resignation. Sweet childhood of eternal life! Good men have done wonders when their strength has been renewed.III. Becoming weak as water, he shall not excel (Genesis 49:4).2. He stopped running because he was tired. And when He Calls us home, He who sits upon the circle of the heavens, and sees all the sorrow of this world as you and I can never see it, bids us "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Whatever it be in their power to do, that power will be increased and their strength renewed by waiting upon God. This is expressive of 1. You know who wrote that, and how true to the experience of a Christian is his picture. Sweet childhood of eternal life! They shall run, or march on, and not be weary. This is what we all need in this weary world, whose toils and cares and temptations perpetually remind us of our weakness and the need of invigorating grace. There are divers things which we are liable to faint at, which yet the Scripture takes us off from fainting at. Although we have a perfect right to go to God and pour out every wish and longing of our hearts, worthy and unworthy alike, yet this is not by any means the whole or the highest part of communion with Him. Consider also His promises and His covenant. The man who waits upon God has three cardinal qualities which above all others will tend to the conquest of the world buoyancy of spirits, activity, and perseverance; the man who can command these is the man who will win.(F. It is the period of disenchantment; when we discover the bounds of the practical, and when we have a stronger sense of life's limitations than of its possibilities. The slight and shifting nature of the foundations on which worldly hopes are built makes it evident that they can do but little towards giving abiding and progressive strength to character, while frequent failures and disappointments depress and enfeeble. )Despondency and hopefulnessW. 4 [There all the heavenly hosts are seen, In shining ranks they move, And drink immortal vigour in, With wonder and with love. 30, 31. Holy joy is an element of strength. who can bring life out of decay? The preaching of John Baptist foretold9. First, the purged ear of the prophet hears the divine command to him and to his brethren--Comfort Jerusalem with the message of the Alexander MaclarenExpositions of Holy ScriptureThe Shepherd and the Fold Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation.' The precept is the same in substance with the exhortation of St. Paul, "Be ye followers of God, as dear children"; or with that of St. James, "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." Let us, therefore, see what there is in reserve for us in the large world into which Isaiah is prepared to conduct us We are at once made aware of its vastness, to the expanding and refreshing of our spirits, for we are brought face to face with God in all the majesty of His perfections: the infinite Greatness, to which the nations are as the small dust of the balance. Halsey. (3) He also regards all the incidents of his outward history in their relation to his eternal future, and glorifies God by steadfastly acting accordingly. But when the Holy Spirit enters into any man, his thoughts and affections are raised to those things which are above. Truth and holiness and right abide for ever. Xl. T he general style of the prophecies is poetical. The strength of wit, and reason, and understanding, and memory, and the like, while their heart and will and affections have no saving work at all upon them. Alexander, D. D.I. (2) The eagle soars aloft. Let us, therefore, see what there is in reserve for us in the large world into which Isaiah is prepared to conduct us We are at once made aware of its vastness, to the expanding and refreshing of our spirits, for we are brought face to face with God in all the majesty of His perfections: the infinite Greatness, to which the nations are as the small dust of the balance. (1) The first typifies lofty aspiration and heroic action. The word does not say anything about the rate at which they go, and is used of the flight of the arrow through the air, or of the way of the ship driven before the wind, or of the gait of a swift-footed animal, or of the ordinary pace of man. There are many things for which we can only ask and then wait in quiet stillness, things which we cannot help God to give us, things which God Himself bestows without our aid, if we are ever to possess them. The strength spoken of is a moral, or more properly a spiritual quality. SPIRITUAL STRENGTH, HOW IS IT TO BE OBTAINED? Here is speciality. He must give up all that he loveth for his Beloved, for Jesus will be loved alone above all things. Waiting on God not only gives strength, it gives inspiration. Hope and strength rapidly grow when faith clearly sees and steadfastly rests on the firm ground of forgiveness in the death of Christ. How shall we avoid it? If I am to run and walk I must be in close communion with God; I must. The word does not say anything about the rate at which they go, and is used of the flight of the arrow through the air, or of the way of the ship driven before the wind, or of the gait of a swift-footed animal, or of the ordinary pace of man. How do I get to Isaiah 40:31? )Recuperative powerF. SPIRITUAL STRENGTH, HOW IS IT TO BE OBTAINED? Booth by faith has changed the drunkard and the sensualist into saints. Isaiah 40:31 Good Morning Stand with me and lift up your bible and repeat after me. The prophet, by the omnipotence of God18. Our Lord trusted to faith to subdue humanity. The brighter the light before them, the more eagerly and steadfastly they rise upwards to greet it and to bathe in its splendour. The Bible speaks about waiting patiently, and also about waiting quietly. These two verses set forth two widely different operations of the divine power as exercised in two sadly different fields, the starry heavens and this weary world. We renew our strength to meet misfortunes and to carry our load of grief or bereavement, to keep a cheerful heart under the depression of disease, and when chilled by the cold shadow of death. There must be a regular feeding on God's Word and promises.III. Then I made a commitment and asked Jesus into my heart and I started to realize what a relationship with God through Jesus Christ was all about. L. Wiseman, B. A.The knapsack that galls and oppresses the novice at mountain climbing is borne without fatigue by the guide who is accustomed to it. (c)The vehemency of desire to the thing itself which we run for. Halsey. I. We like a little bit of excitement or emotion. The prophet is not speaking of three rates of motion, but he is rather speaking of the active motion and then onward continuance. )Despondency and hopefulnessW. Halsey. We are reminded of the solemn and formal acts of devotion, as implied in the words "wait upon the Lord. 3-5). Even when incapable of being active in the service of God, grace is promised for enabling them to move forward without fainting in the path of submission and suffering.(D. Any special duty, also, tends, by its very specialty, to brace us for the doing of it; there is, moreover, the goal in view, and the prize to be won. The Divine Spirit comes into the hearts of men in ways that are inexplicable to the lower understanding, and that, therefore, men who are on the lower plane of life do not comprehend. Where there is strength there will be diligence in well-doing. Beneath that bright beam the moisture that encumbered it is exhaled; its bent stalk raises itself again, its shrivelled petals expand into beauty, and it diffuses around a cheering fragrance in gratitude to the power that has renewed its strength. To make our religion a delight and a glory we must surely wait on the Lord with songs of gladness and joy, praising Him more for what He is, and for what He has taught us to know and believe Him to be, than for the good gifts which His bounty hath bestowed. 3. If, then, truth is eternal, and faith is omnipotent, why should any difficulties, however stupendous, or failures, however extensive, lead us to despair? ''Have ye not known, have ye not heard? "Waiting on the Lord" by prayer has the same effect on them that it has on an empty bucket to set it under a rain-spout. THE SEVERAL BRANCHES OF THE PROMISE.(S. Experience has proved that, to a great many souls, public worship is the greatest help they ever get, that it gives wings to their holiest prayers and brightness to their gladdest songs of praise, and that it does bring them nearer to God than any other external agency that they know of. Walking. Magnetise a needle, and it becomes much more sensitive to the force of the magnet. For this, earthly and human strength will not avail. All your youthful energy will be useful in the service of religion, and you will find it much more happily employed than in the service of the world and of Satan.(F. If they hear of a medicinal spring far off in the mountains they hesitate not to undertake the journey, and undergo the hardships of the rugged way, that they may test the efficacy of the mineral waters. Who, of all men who ever lived upon the earth, was the One who had the sorrow of the world nearest to His heart? 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