◄ Isaiah 35:3 ►














Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Inspirations To Energy
Isaiah 35:3
W.M. Statham
Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. It is not enough to be sorry for the woes of others. Sympathy may be a sort of mental "minor," wherewith we simply soothe ourselves. We must be earnest and inspirational. Pity must be practical. "Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand!" We have plenty of critics and satirists; we want men who will help to save.

I. WE MAY STRENGTHEN BY OUR WORDS. "Say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not." Tell a sorrow to some persons, and they draw a picture of still darker possibilities, and so feed the already gloomy fancies of the mind. But it is possible to give "cheer," instead - to record God's great deliverances to ourselves, and tell of all his wondrous works. Thus we may put the brightness of hope into the sky, and help to chase the dark clouds away. "Say." We have all the faculty of quickly telling bad news; let us tell the "good news" of God's gracious kingdom.

II. WE CAN CHEER THE HEART. That is the center of life. We may not be able to lift the burden, but we may strengthen our brother's hands by energizing his heart. It is wonderful what a few depressing influences will accomplish. Some are more sensitive than others, and are easily cast down. "Do not my words do good?" says God; for they reach at once to the inner man. Blessed angels of help are words that go to the heart. No man is so great but sympathy can cheer him; no man is so weak but he may be made heroic by holy inspirations!

III. WE CAN HELP THE PILGRIMAGE. The knees are feeble; for it is a "tiring" journey to many. They are very weary. Disappointments have multiplied; fountains have dried up in the desert; friends have died, and, like Naomi, they went out full, and are returning home empty. We are all pilgrims; and the statesman's steps often tire as well as the poor student seeking after his first ideal. In the spiritual pilgrimage, too, we often faint and fail. The way is hard. We are disappointed with ourselves. It may be that some soul was just turning back when we strengthened the feeble knees by our own eager pressing forward, even when tired and faint. How much thus depends on our own Christ-like disposition! We cannot do all this if we are insolent, quarrelsome, or hard. The very duties the gospel enjoins manifest what a lofty ideal of character the gospel requires. - W.M.S.

Biblical Illustrator
Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
Isaiah 35:3
Weak hands and feeble knees
I. I shall attempt to show THE IMPORTANCE OF HANDS AND KNEES IN GOING TO HEAVEN. The hands and knees are those parts of the body in which the effects of fear are the most easily seen. Of course, the root of despondency and fear must lie in the heart; it is that which is first moved with terror. But afterwards these extremities, these limbs of action begin to feel the weakness also. Just so the prophet means that wherever the Christian displays most his timidity and his dismay there we must be careful to apply the remedy of comfort.

1. The hands and knees are of the first importance because they represent active duty and supplication. Hence, if the knees be weak and the hands be weak, it is little that we can do.

2. We may readily see what the prophet means by hands and knees if we observe that a Christian, although his hopes are in heaven, stands upon the earth. It is with the hand of faith that the Christian lays hold upon that which is not seen, and endeavours to climb upwards to the skies; it is with his foot that he spurns the earth and all that it calls good or great. Let the Christian's foot be weak, and he cannot then despise the things that are seen: but he will be fixing his affection on things on earth and not on things above. Let his hand of faith grow weak, and he cannot lay hold of the things that are in heaven.

3. But you will remember also that there are certain parts of the spiritual pilgrimage where hands and knees are absolutely required. John Bunyan represents Christian as coming to the foot of the hill Difficulty, and he says. "I looked then after Christian, to see him go up the hill, where I perceived he fell from running to going, and from going to clambering upon his hands and knees, because of the steepness of the place." Every Christian who knows much about Divine experience will understand what this means.

II. THE ILL EFFECT OF WEAK HANDS AND KNEES.

1. We have already hinted that one ill fruit of a Christian having weak hands and knees is this, that he will not himself be able to make much progress in the Divine life. When I sit down and read the biographies of saints who have gone to heaven, I am astonished at myself, and I can only weep to think how far I am behind these men, and then how much further I must be behind my Divine Master. Surely the examples of eminent saints should spur us onward. But weak hands and feeble knees are the reasons why so few Christians attain to any eminence in the ways and works of God.

2. Weak hands and feeble knees have another ill effect. They prevent our doing any great wonder for the good of the world

3. Again, weak hands and feeble knees very much dishonour Christ. Suppose you have a friend, and you say to him, "My friend, I have such confidence in you, that I will trust you with the title-deeds of my estate, and with all I have. Nay, more; I will trust you with my health, with my life. Do what you will with me; I have such faith in your goodness and your wisdom that I am sure you will not be unkind, and will not err. I trust you "There is something honourable in faith to the object in whom it is reposed." Now, if you are able, with the strong hand of faith, to bring all you have and give it entire unto God, then He is glorified; but if your hand is weak, and you are hiding away some choice thing that you cannot give up to Him, if you do not stand fully to the surrender, but keep back something from Him, then that weak hand brings dishonour upon God. So also does the feeble knee. When the believer goes to his closet and bows there with his feeble knee, and asks God to bless him, and does not half believe that He will, he dishonours God. But, when a man falls on his knees, and cries, "Lord, Thou knowest all things: Thou knowest that such a thing is necessary to me; there is Thy promise; do as Thou hast said, Lord; I know Thou wilt give it me:" and when he rises from his knees, goes down and says to his friends, "The blessing will come; I have asked for it, and God will hear me;" why, such a man honours God.

III. THE CAUSES OF WEAK HANDS AND FEEBLE KNEES.

1. Some Christians have weak hands and feeble knees because they are only infants. God's family is like every other family; we do not expect the new-born convert to run alone at first. God will not overdrive His lambs. He does not expect long marches from feeble feet. As you are but weak, you shall have lighter duties.

2. A more frequent cause of weak hands and feeble knees is starvation.

3. But, again, fear is the great weakness of men's knees; doubt and distrust are the great relaxers of the strength of men's hands.

4. Sloth may make a man weak in his hands and in his feet. Arms become strong by using them. The blacksmith gets a brawny hand by constantly using his hammer. He who climbs the mountain or walks many a mile a day, becomes strong in his feet.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

Weak knees
W. Birch.
Earthly life should be a spiritual race or pilgrimage to Mount Zion. We need strong knees to climb with ease steep and rugged hills; and as our spiritual journey may be likened to climbing hills, we need spiritual strength to enable us to do it with comfort to ourselves. If we have weak knees, our journey will be a series of groans, and, perhaps, a succession of grumbles; but when our weak knees are strengthened and our lungs expanded by the delicious atmosphere of the hills, the journey can be done comfortably with sacred songs and continual joy.

I. Weak knees are often caused by MENTAL DEPRESSION. In these mental depressions, human aid is not of much account; we need the presence and comfort of God. Prayer is the best medicine; and if, at the same time, we can get away from the town to the sweet, pure air of the country, and climb a hill, we shall return home with a buoyant heart and an elastic tread.

1. God may allow depression to visit us to subdue our pride. It acts like a "scotch" on a wheel, or a "brake," which prevents the horses dragging the carriage so swiftly downhill as to overbalance themselves. At such times, we are taught that, after all, we must keep pace with our weak brethren.

2. Such times of spiritual depression give us a nature to sympathise with the troubled. As the proverb says, "They are of a tender nature who have been skinned themselves."

3. Heaviness of spirit is also needed to give us time for meditation and review of mercies. When you are climbing, you see nothing more than the hill before you; but when you are weary and resting, you can see the glorious landscape for miles. Ah, when weak knees are caused by toiling upwards to get nearer to God, it is a sacred token, which shall result in everlasting strength. When compelled to slacken speed, we see the goodness of God and learn to trust His direction.

II. Our knees are sometimes weakened by MANY AFFLICTIONS. But though we have afflictions which make our knees bend in weakness, yet God has undertaken to give us strength according to our day. If we bear our afflictions with patience, our knees shall be strengthened to do great things for God.

III. Weakness of spiritual knees may be caused by THE WEIGHT OF UNBELIEF.

(W. Birch.)

Solicitude for the sorrowful
It as the duty of all men to be careful of the sons of sorrow. There be some who from their very birth are marked by melancholy as her own. The silent shades of sorrow are their congenial haunts; the glades of the forest of grief are the only places where their leaf can flourish. Others there are who through some crushing misfortune are brought so low that they never hold up their heads again, but go from that time forth mourning to their graves. Some there be, again, who, disappointed in their early youth, either in some fond object of their affections, or else in some project of their young ambition, never can dare to face the world, but shrink from contact with their fellows, even as the sensitive plant curls up its tendrils at the touch. In all flocks there must be lambs, and weak and wounded sheep; and among the flock of men, it seems that there must necessarily be some who should more than others prove the truth of Job's declaration, "man is born to trouble even as the sparks fly upwards."

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

People
Isaiah
Places
Carmel, Edom, Lebanon, Sharon, Way of Holiness, Zion
Topics
Confirm, Encourage, Exhausted, Feeble, Firm, Hands, Knees, Shaking, Steady, Strengthen, Strong, Stumbling, Support, Tottering, Weak, Yea
Outline
1. The joyful flourishing of Christ's kingdom
3. The weak are encouraged by the virtues and privileges of the Gospel

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 35:3

     5156   hand
     5163   legs

Isaiah 35:1-10

     4209   land, spiritual aspects
     4824   famine, spiritual
     8149   revival, nature of

Isaiah 35:2-3

     5162   lameness

Isaiah 35:3-4

     7925   fellowship, among believers
     8413   edification
     8415   encouragement, examples
     8724   doubt, dealing with
     8754   fear

Isaiah 35:3-10

     6659   freedom, acts in OT

Library
What Life's Journey May Be
'The redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.'--ISAIAH XXXV 9,10. We have here the closing words of Isaiah's prophecy. It has been steadily rising, and now it has reached the summit. Men restored to all their powers, a supernatural communication of a new life, a pathway for our journey--these have been the visions of the preceding …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Miracles of Healing
'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 an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing.'--ISAIAH xxxv. 5,6. 'Then'--when? The previous verse answers, 'Behold, your God will come, He will come and save you.' And what or when is that 'coming'? A glance at the place which this grand hymn occupies in the series of Isaiah's prophecies answers that question. It stands at the close of the first part of these, and is the limit of …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Mirage or Lake
'For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.' ISAIAH xxxv. 6, 7. What a picture is painted in these verses! The dreary wilderness stretches before us, monotonous, treeless, in some parts bearing a scanty vegetation which flourishes in early spring and dies before fierce summer heats, but for the most part utterly desolate, the sand blinding the eyes, the ground cracked and gaping as if …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The King's Highway
'And an 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, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there.'--ISAIAH xxxv. 8, 9. We can fancy what it is to be lost in a forest where a traveller may ride round in a circle, thinking he is advancing, till he dies. But it is …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Effects of Messiah's Appearance
The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped: Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing. H ow beautiful and magnificent is the imagery, by which the Prophet, in this chapter, represents the effects of MESSIAH'S appearance! The scene, proposed to our view, is a barren and desolate wilderness. But when He, who in the beginning said, Let there be light, and there was light, condescends to visit this wilderness, the face of nature is …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Weak Hands and Feeble Knees
But my text, especially commands the minister to deal tenderly with those of Christ's people who are in such a condition, and these are not a few, for although religion changes the moral temperament of men, it does not change the physical. A man who is weak in health before conversion will probably be as weak afterwards, and many a spirit that has a tendency to despondency, has exhibited that tendency after conversion. We do not profess that the religion of Christ will so thoroughly change a man …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

The Pathway of the Holy
 An highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness.' (Isaiah xxxv. 8.) One would think that Isaiah was speaking of two separate roads, for his prophetic eye sees 'a highway and a way' along which the course of God's people runs. Perhaps we may interpret the prophet's distinction as referring to the higher and lower paths along some of the roadways in the Holy City; but he makes it quite plain that the course of the truly godly may be correctly described as 'The …
T. H. Howard—Standards of Life and Service

The Highway of Holiness
One of the things that we must learn if we are to live the victorious Christian life is its utter simplicity. How complicated we have made it! Great volumes are written, all sorts of technical phrases are used, we are told the secret lies in this, or that and so on. But to most of us, it is all so complicated that, although we know it in theory, we are unable to relate what we know to our practical daily living. In order to make the simple truths we have been considering even clearer, we want in …
Roy Hession and Revel Hession—The Calvary Road

The Blessed Country
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose."--Is. xxxv. 1. C. P. C. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 O glad the wilderness for me, And glad the solitary place, Since Thou hast made mine eyes to see, To see Thy Face. Not heavenly fields, but desert sands Rejoice and blossom as the rose; For through the dry and thirsty lands Thy River flows. O Way beside that living tide. The Way, the Truth, the Life art Thou; I drink, and I …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

Light and Sound
"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped."--Is. xxxv. 5. C. P. C. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 Thou glorious Lord! mine eyes at last unsealed Behold Thee now-- In sudden radiance to my soul revealed, Light, sight, art Thou. One moment--and the night has passed away, Unbarred the prison; And I pass forth to God's eternal day, The dead arisen. One moment--and I see Thy glorious Face Look down on me, Unutterable love that fills all space, Where'er I …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

Oil and Wine
Gerhard Ter Steegen Is. xxxv. 10 There is a balm for every pain, A medicine for all sorrow; The eye turned backward to the Cross, And forward to the morrow. The morrow of the glory and the psalm, When He shall come; The morrow of the harping and the palm, The welcome home. Meantime in His beloved hands our ways, And on His Heart the wandering heart at rest; And comfort for the weary one who lays His head upon His Breast. …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

John's Doubts and Christ's Praise
'And the disciples of John shewed him of all these things. 19. And John calling unto him two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou He that should come? or look we for another? 20. When the men were come unto Him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto Thee, saying, Art Thou He that should come? or look we for another? 21. And in the same hour He cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind He gave sight. 22. Then Jesus, answering, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

John's Doubts of Jesus, and Jesus' Praise of John
'Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3. And said unto Him, Art Thou He that should come, or do we look for another? 4. Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me. 7. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Hedge of Thorns and the Plain Way
A sermon (No. 1948) delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain."--Proverbs 15:19. You must have noticed how frequently godly people almost wear out their Bibles in certain places. The Psalms, the Gospel of John, and parts of the Epistles are favourite portions, and are thumbed in many an old believer's Bible till the fact is very noticeable. There are certain sheep-tracks …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

Healed by Divine Power
I have now to relate what to me is one of the most important events of my life. Up to this time I had been a hopeless invalid. The doctors could not cure me. Under the care of some, my health would improve for a short time; but others would not undertake to do anything for me. After inquiring into my condition, they would say that it would be as easy to make a world as to restore me to health. I remember especially that this remark was made by the doctor who was attending me shortly before my healing. …
Mary Cole—Trials and Triumphs of Faith

Blind Bartimeus
Mark 10:52 -- "And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way." When the apostle Peter was recommending Jesus of Nazareth, in one of his sermons to the Jews, he gave him a short, but withal a glorious and exalted character, "That we went about doing good." He went about, he sought occasions of doing good; it was his meat and drink to do the works of him that sent him, whilst the day of his public administration …
George Whitefield—Selected Sermons of George Whitefield

Last Journey and Death, 1858 --Concluding Remarks.
We are now arrived at the closing scene of John Yeardley's labors. The impression which he had received, during his visit to Turkey in 1853, of the opening for the work of the Gospel in the Eastern countries, had never been obliterated; it had rather grown deeper with time, although his ability to accomplish such an undertaking had proportionately diminished. This consideration, however, could not satisfy his awakened sympathies, and, according to his apprehension, no other course remained for him …
John Yeardley—Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel

Fifthly, as this Revelation, to the Judgment of Right and Sober Reason,
appears of itself highly credible and probable, and abundantly recommends itself in its native simplicity, merely by its own intrinsic goodness and excellency, to the practice of the most rational and considering men, who are desirous in all their actions to have satisfaction and comfort and good hope within themselves, from the conscience of what they do: So it is moreover positively and directly proved to be actually and immediately sent to us from God, by the many infallible signs and miracles …
Samuel Clarke—A Discourse Concerning the Being and Attributes of God

How Christ is to be Made Use of as Our Life, in Case of Heartlessness and Fainting through Discouragements.
There is another evil and distemper which believers are subject to, and that is a case of fainting through manifold discouragements, which make them so heartless that they can do nothing; yea, and to sit up, as if they were dead. The question then is, how such a soul shall make use of Christ as in the end it may be freed from that fit of fainting, and win over those discouragements: for satisfaction to which we shall, 1. Name some of those discouragements which occasion this. 2. Show what Christ …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

In Judaea
If Galilee could boast of the beauty of its scenery and the fruitfulness of its soil; of being the mart of a busy life, and the highway of intercourse with the great world outside Palestine, Judaea would neither covet nor envy such advantages. Hers was quite another and a peculiar claim. Galilee might be the outer court, but Judaea was like the inner sanctuary of Israel. True, its landscapes were comparatively barren, its hills bare and rocky, its wilderness lonely; but around those grey limestone …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Christian Behavior
Being the fruits of true Christianity: Teaching husbands, wives, parents, children, masters, servants, etc., how to walk so as to please God. With a word of direction to all backsliders. Advertisement by the Editor This valuable practical treatise, was first published as a pocket volume about the year 1674, soon after the author's final release from his long and dangerous imprisonment. It is evident from the concluding paragraph that he considered his liberty and even his life to be still in a very …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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