Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage. Sermons
Doubtless thou art our Father. The Jews were the children of God. But they had been for a long time so neglecting him that they had lost all the nearer and dearer thoughts of him; and imaged him to themselves through the bleared and blinded vision of their own indulgences, wickedness, and sin. He became to them only a God to be feared, in the sense of "frightened at." Then the prophet's message of a merciful God, fatherly still, recovering and saving even the guilty, was indeed good news from heaven to such a people. But that which is true of many Jews in the times of the later monarchy, is, in measure, true also of us. We have let our practical neglect of God set him far from us, and darken our thoughts concerning him. We think of God as hard, severe, or indifferent, and let the bitterness of orphans enter into our souls. Then it is good news indeed concerning God which is brought to us when it can be said, "Doubtless he is our Father. Two consequences of this assurance about God may be illustrated. I. HE WANTS US TO BE HIS RESTORED, OBEDIENT CHILDREN. True children, worthy children, of the heavenly Father. But this is a more difficult matter than we at first: suppose. For what sort of children are we now? And what changes must we go through before we can become the children we should be? But God's interest follows the prodigals. He can have no rest until they come home. Shepherds never willingly lose their sheep. Mothers cannot bear to lose a child. Our Father's seeking, saving mercy reaches even to the height of the sacrifice on the cross. It restores; it fills with the home-feeling; it prepares us for the eternal home-place. Now are we the sons of God," etc. II. HE WANTS US TO LEARN OF HIM HOW TO BE GOOD FATHERS AND MOTHERS TO OUR CHILDREN. Good sons and daughters make the best fathers and mothers. We may learn of the great Father: 1. The power of a sustained example of purity. 2. The influence of the spirit of self-denial. 3. The value of strictness to that which is truthful and righteous. 4. The gracious triumph of long-suffering patience. These are just the things we need for our human fatherhood and motherhood. - R.T. O Lord, why hut Thou made us to err from Thy ways? Very singular is the plea that the sinfulness of the people is due to the excessive and protracted anger of Jehovah, who "causes them to err from His ways" (cf. Isaiah 64:5, 7). This feeling appears to proceed from two sources; on the one hand the ancient idea that national calamity is the proof of Jehovah's anger, and on the other the lesson taught by all the prophets, that the sole cause of Jehovah's anger is the people's sins. The writer seems unable perfectly to harmonize these principles. He accepts the verdict of Providence on the sins of the nation, but he feels also a disproportion between the offence and the punishment, which neutralizes all efforts after righteousness, unless Jehovah will relent from the fierceness of His wrath. The higher truth, that the Divine chastisement aims at the purification of the people, and is therefore a mark of love, is not yet grasped, and for this reason the Old Testament believers fall short of the liberty of the sons of God. Yet amid all these perplexities the faith of the Church holds fast to the truth of the Fatherhood of God, and appeals to the love which must be in His heart, although it be not manifest in His providential dealings. () These are words that carry a great deal of dread in them: tremendous words as any in the Book of God. It is the true Church of God that speaks these words. They were "all as an unclean thing," and their "holiness all faded away as a leaf" ( Isaiah 64:6). Yet faith maintains a sense of a relation to God; therefore they cry, "Doubtless thou art our Father," etc. (ver. 16). And if God would help us to maintain, and not let go our interest in Him as our Father by faith, we should have a bottom and foundation to stand upon. Observe, here, the condition of the Church at that time. 1. It was a time of distress and oppression (ver. 18). 2. A time of deep conviction of sin (Isaiah 64:6, 7). Well, then, suppose it be a state of great oppression, and a state of great conviction of sin . what is the course that we should take? We may turn ourselves this way and that way;, but the Church is come to this, to issue all in an inquiry after, and a sense of God's displeasure, manifesting itself by spiritual judgments. I. WHAT IS IT TO ERR FROM THE WAYS OF GOD? The ways of God are either God's ways towards us, or our ways towards Him, that are of His appointment. God's ways towards us are the ways of His providence. Our ways towards God are the ways of obedience and holiness. We may err in both. The ways that God hath appointed for us to walk in towards Him are these here intended. Now we may err from thence — 1. In the inward principle. 2. In the outward order. II. WHAT IS IT TO HAVE OUR HEARTS HARDENED FROM THE FEAR OF GOD? 1. There is a total hardening. 2. A partial hardening. III. HOW IS GOD SAID TO CAUSE US TO ERR FROM HIS WAYS, AND TO HARDEN OUR HEARTS FROM HIS FEAR? 1. God is said to do that (and it is not an uncommon form of speech in Scripture) whose contrary He doth not do, when it might be expected, as it were, from Him. If there be a prophet that doth prophesy so and so, "I the Lord have deceived that prophet" (Ezekiel 14:9), that is, I have not kept him from being deceived, but suffered him to follow the imaginations of his own heart, whereby he should be deceived." God may be said to cause us to err from HIS ways, and to harden our hearts from His fear merely negatively, in that He hath not kept us up to His ways, nor kept our hearts humble and soft in them. 2. God hardens men judicially, in a way of punish-meat. This is a total hardening.(1) The first thing God doth, when He hardens men's hearts penally, is to give them over to their own lusts (Romans 1:24).(2) Then He gives men up to Satan to blind them and harden them, for he is "the god of this world that blinds the eyes of men.(3) God doth judicially give up men to hardness of heart by supplying therein His providence with opportunities to draw out their lusts.(4) In pursuit of all these, God gives them over to "a reprobate mind" (Romans 1:28), i.e. a mind that can neither judge nor approve of anything that is good. 3. God may be said to cause men to err from His ways, and to harden their hearts from His fear, by withholding, upon their provocation, some such supply of His Spirit, and actings of His grace, as they have formerly enjoyed to keep up their hearts to the ways and in the fear of God. That is the hardening here intended. IV. WHY DOTH THE HOLY GOD DEAL THUS WITH A PROFESSING PEOPLE? 1. What provokes God to it.(1) Unthankfulness for mercy received (vers. 8-10).(2) Inordinate cleaving to the things of the world at a most undue season.(3) Our unprofitableness, and unsuitableness to the means of grace we have enjoyed. 2. What does God aim at in such a dispensation?(1) To awaken us unto the consideration of what an all-seeing God He is, with whom we have to do.(2) To awaken us. V. WHAT WAY SHALL WE TAKE NOW FOR RETRIEVING OUR SOULS OUT OF THIS STATE AND CONDITION? One way is prescribed here. It is by prayer: "Return, O Lord." The arguments here given are peculiar to the case; and we may plead them. 1. Sovereign mercy and compassion (ver. 15). 2. Faith. fulness in covenant (ver. 16). () People IsaiahPlaces Bozrah, Edom, ZionTopics Cause, Causest, Err, Fear, Fearing, Harden, Hardened, Hardenest, Hast, Heart, Hearts, Heritage, Inheritance, Making, O, Return, Revere, Sake, Servants, Stray, Tribes, Turn, Wander, WanderingOutline 1. Christ shows who he is
2. What his victory over his enemies
7. And what his mercy toward his church
10. In his just wrath he remembers his free mercy
15. The church, in her prayer
17. And complaint, professes her faith
Dictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 63:17 5896 irreverence
6245 stubbornness
7212 exile Library Mighty to Save
'Mighty to save.'--ISAIAH lxiii. 1. We have here a singularly vivid and dramatic prophecy, thrown into the form of a dialogue between the prophet and a stranger whom he sees from afar striding along from the mountains of Edom, with elastic step, and dyed garments. The prophet does not recognise him, and asks who he is. The Unknown answers, 'I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.' Another question follows, seeking explanation of the splashed crimson garments of the stranger, and its answer …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureThe Sympathy of God
'In all their afflictions He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them'--ISAIAH lxiii. 9. I. The wonderful glimpse opened here into the heart of God. It is not necessary to touch upon the difference between the text and margin of the Revised Version, or to enter on the reason for preferring the former. And what a deep and wonderful thought that is, of divine sympathy with human sorrow! We feel that this transcends the prevalent tone of the Old Testament. It is made the more striking …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Winepress and Its Treader
'Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone.'--ISAIAH lxiii. 2, 3. The structure of these closing chapters is chronological, and this is the final scene. What follows is epilogue. The reference of this magnificent imagery to the sufferings of Jesus is a complete misapprehension. These sufferings were dealt with once for all in chapter liii., and it is Messiah triumphant who has filled the prophet's vision since …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture A Mighty Saviour
That he is mighty we need not inform you; for as readers of the Scriptures you all believe in the might and majesty of the Incarnate Son of God. You believe him to be the Regent of providence, the King of death, the Conqueror of hell, the Lord of angels, the Master of storms, and the God of battles, and, therefore, you can need no proof that he is mighty. The subject of this morning is one part of his mightiness. He is "mighty to save." May God the Holy Spirit help us in briefly entering upon this …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857 Where is the Lord?
"Then he remembered the days of old Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he that put his holy Spirit within him? That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name? That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble? As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest: …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892 Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Organic and Individual.
"Where is He that put His Holy Spirit among them?" --Isa. lxiii. 11. The subsequent activity of the Holy Spirit lies in the realm of grace. In nature the Spirit of God appears as creating, in grace as re-creating. We call it re-creation, because God's grace creates not something inherently new, but a new life in an old and degraded nature. But this must not be understood as tho grace restored only what sin had destroyed. For then the child of God, born anew and sanctified, must be as Adam was in …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit Temporary Hardening.
"Lord, why hast Thou hardened our heart? "--Isa. lxiii. 17. That there is a hardening of heart which culminates in the sin against the Holy Spirit can not be denied. When dealing with spiritual things we must take account of it; for it is one of the most fearful instruments of the divine wrath. For, whether we say that Satan or David or the Lord tempted the king, it amounts to the same thing. The cause is always in man's sin; and in each of these three cases the destructive fatality whereby sin poisons …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit Additional Note.
(Passage not easy to identify, p. 390, note 14.) Easy enough, by the LXX. See Isaiah lxiii. 3. kai ton ethnon ouk estin aner met' emou. The first verse, referring to Edom, leads our author to accentuate this point of Gentile ignorance. …
Tertullian—The Five Books Against Marcion The First Thing Suggested at the Very Outset Is...
The first thing suggested at the very outset is, as we have already said (sec. 17-19), that all our prayers to God ought only to be presented in the name of Christ, as there is no other name which can recommend them. In calling God our Father, we certainly plead the name of Christ. For with what confidence could any man call God his Father? Who would have the presumption to arrogate to himself the honour of a son of God were we not gratuitously adopted as his sons in Christ? He being the true Son, …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith The Holy Spirit in the New Testament Other than in the Old.
"By His Spirit which dwelleth in you."--Rom. viii. 11. In order to understand the change inaugurated on Pentecost we must distinguish between the various ways in which the Holy Ghost enters into relationship with the creature. With the Christian Church we confess that the Holy Spirit is true and eternal God, and therefore omnipresent; hence no creature, stone or animal, man or angel, is excluded from His presence. With reference to His omniscience and omnipresence, David sings: "Whither shall I go …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit Perea. Beyond Jordan.
"The length of Perea was from Macherus to Pella: the breadth from Philadelphia to Jordan." "The mountainous part of it was mount Macvar, and Gedor," &c. "The plain of it was Heshbon, with all its cities, which are in the plain, Dibon, and Bamoth-Baal, and Beth-Baal-Meon," &c. "The valley of it is Beth-Haran, and Beth-Nimrah, and Succoth," &c. The mention of the mountains of Macvar occurs in that hyperbolical tradition of R. Eleazar Ben Diglai, saying, "The goats in the mountains of Macvar sneezed …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Some Man May Say: "If There be not in the Dead any Care For...
17. Some man may say: "If there be not in the dead any care for the living, how is it that the rich man, who was tormented in hell, asked father Abraham to send Lazarus to his five brothers not as yet dead, and to take course with them, that they should not come themselves also into the same place of torments?" [2750] But does it follow, that because the rich man said this, he knew what his brethren were doing, or what they were suffering at that time? Just in that same way had he care for the living, …
St. Augustine—On Care to Be Had for the Dead. God Seeks Intercessors
"I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night. Ye that are the Lord's remembrancers, keep not silence, and give Him no rest till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth."--ISA. lxii. 6, 7. "And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor."--ISA. lix. 16. "And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered, and there was none to uphold."--ISA. lxiii. 5. "There is none that calleth upon Thy name, that …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession Why Should we not Believe These to be Angelic Operations through Dispensation of The...
16. Why should we not believe these to be angelic operations through dispensation of the providence of God, Who maketh good use of both good things and evil, according to the unsearchable depth of His judgments? whether thereby the minds of mortals be instructed, or whether deceived; whether consoled, or whether terrified: according as unto each one there is to be either a showing of mercy, or a taking of vengeance, by Him to Whom, not without a meaning, the Church doth sing "of mercy and of judgment." …
St. Augustine—On Care to Be Had for the Dead. Prayer
But I give myself unto prayer.' Psa 109: 4. I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered more fully in the Lord's prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance, it is the soul's trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we go up to him by prayer. What is prayer? It is an offering …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments The Wonderful.
Isaiah ix:6. HIS name shall be called "Wonderful" (Isaiah ix:6). And long before Isaiah had uttered this divine prediction the angel of the Lord had announced his name to be Wonderful. As such He appeared to Manoah. And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honor. And the angel of Jehovah said unto Him "why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is Wonderful" (margin, Judges xiii:17-18). This angel of Jehovah, the Person who …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory His Passion and Crucifixion.
AS all active virtues meet in Jesus, so he unites the active or heroic virtues with the passive and gentle. He is the highest standard of all true martyrdom. No character can become complete without trial and suffering; and a noble death is the crowning act of a noble life. Edmund Burke said to Fox, in the English Parliament, "Obloquy is a necessary ingredient of all true glory, Calumny and abuse are essential parts of triumph." The ancient Greeks and Romans admired a good man struggling with misfortune, …
Philip Schaff—The Person of Christ Sense in Which, and End for which all Things were Delivered to the Incarnate Son.
For whereas man sinned, and is fallen, and by his fall all things are in confusion: death prevailed from Adam to Moses (cf. Rom. v. 14), the earth was cursed, Hades was opened, Paradise shut, Heaven offended, man, lastly, corrupted and brutalised (cf. Ps. xlix. 12), while the devil was exulting against us;--then God, in His loving-kindness, not willing man made in His own image to perish, said, Whom shall I send, and who will go?' (Isa. vi. 8). But while all held their peace, the Son [441] said, …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius Malachy's Pity for his Deceased Sister. He Restores the Monastery of Bangor. His First Miracles.
11. (6). Meanwhile Malachy's sister, whom we mentioned before,[271] died: and we must not pass over the visions which he saw about her. For the saint indeed abhorred her carnal life, and with such intensity that he vowed he would never see her alive in the flesh. But now that her flesh was destroyed his vow was also destroyed, and he began to see in spirit her whom in the body he would not see. One night he heard in a dream the voice of one saying to him that his sister was standing outside in the …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh The Ascension of Messiah to Glory
Lift up your head, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. T he institutions of the Levitical law were a "shadow" or "sketch" of good things to come. They exhibited a faint and general outline …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 How Shall one Make Use of Christ as the Life, when Wrestling with an Angry God Because of Sin?
That we may give some satisfaction to this question, we shall, 1. Shew what are the ingredients in this case, or what useth to concur in this distemper. 2. Shew some reasons why the Lord is pleased to dispense thus with his people. 3. Shew how Christ is life to the soul in this case. 4. Shew the believer's duty for a recovery; and, 5. Add a word or two of caution. As to the first, There may be those parts of, or ingredients in this distemper: 1. God presenting their sins unto their view, so as …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life A Divine Colloquy Between the Soul and Her Saviour Upon the Effectual Merits of his Dolorous Passion.
Soul. Lord, wherefore didst thou wash thy disciples' feet? Christ. To teach thee how thou shouldst prepare thyself to come to my supper. Soul. Lord, why shouldst thou wash them thyself? (John xiii. 4.) Christ. To teach thee humility, if thou wilt be my disciple. Soul. Lord, wherefore didst thou before thy death institute thy last supper? (Luke xxii. 19, 20.) Christ. That thou mightst the better remember my death, and be assured that all the merits thereof are thine. Soul. Lord, wherefore wouldst …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety Links Isaiah 63:17 NIV
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