Isaiah 27:8

Two somewhat distinct meanings may be attached to these words. They may mean that two evil winds cannot blow in full force together. If they blow together, there is a chastening of the evil influence of both winds. Or the prophet may be referring to the same wind, by the words "rough wind" and "east wind," and he may mean simply to imply that every strong wind God restrains. Whichever view you take of the passage, the great truths presented by it are the same. The subject is the adaptation of trial to the state of those who are afflicted.

I. Sorrows are strong forces. They are winds; they act as winds; they are forces before which we bend and bow. (1) The wind acts upon the sapling or the young tree, and shaking it, it roots it. So do troubles act upon young Christians. (2) The wind acts upon ripe fruit, which hangs upon the boughs of the tree ready to fall, and which requires a slight mechanical force only, a mere touch, to bring it down. Thus it is with the fruits of the Spirit, and with all the produce of Divine training and heavenly discipline.

II. Sorrows have their appointed time. "In the day of the east wind." There is a time to mourn. Trouble does not come before its time, it does not come after its time; it comes in its season. They are here, and the day of their residence may be long; but every hour of that day tells of the day's approaching end, when the trouble will be no more.

III. Sorrows are God's servants. "He stayeth His rough wind in the day of the east wind," just because the winds are His. Troubles are God's ministers; they are entirely under His control, and they do only His bidding. They are adapted to the state of those who are afflicted. (1) Adapted by whom? By the Almighty Father. (2) Adapted to what? To the strength of the sufferer, and to the work which has to be accomplished. (3) How does God do this? Sometimes by removing one trouble before another comes. Sometimes by lightening the affliction itself, or by so strengthening the heart of the sufferer, that the affliction is relatively lighter; or by pouring through the soul of the troubled one rich and abundant consolation. (4) For what purpose does God do this? He does it for present peace and for present joy. He would sooner see you laugh than cry, smile than weep. "He stayeth His rough wind in the day of the east wind" that there may be a restoration of the elasticity of the spirit.

S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 3rd series, No. 12.

References: Isaiah 27:8.—Preacher's Lantern, vol. ii., p. 507; Preacher's Monthly, vol. viii., p. 183. Isaiah 27:10.—Ibid., p. 183. Isaiah 28:1-4.—Ibid., vol. iv., p. 314. Isaiah 28:5.—Ibid., vol. iv., p. 138. Isaiah 28:5, Isaiah 28:6.—J. M. Neale, Sermons on Passages from the Prophets, vol. i., p. 85. Isaiah 28:7-13.—S. Cox, Expositor, 1st series, vol. i., p. 98. Isaiah 28:9, Isaiah 28:13.—Clergyman's Magazine, vol. xiii., p. 147. Isaiah 28:10.—Preacher's Lantern, vol. ii., p. 311. Isaiah 28:10, Isaiah 28:13.—D. Fraser, Penny Pulpit, No. 975 (see also Old Testament Outlines, p. 189). Isaiah 28:12.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii., No. 1593. Isaiah 28:15.—Forsyth and Hamilton, Pulpit Parables, p. 158.