Clergyman's Magazine Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you… I. CONTEMPLATE THE SCENES THROUGH WHICH THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE CALLED TO PASS. No metaphor is more frequent in the Bible than that by which sudden calamities are represented by a deluge of waters (Psalm 42:7; Psalm 69:1, 2). 1. All must pass through — (1) The waters of temptation (James 1:12). (2) The waters of affliction, in circumstances, person, mind, family. (3) The river of death. "How wilt thou do in the swellings of Jordan?" 2. We are all familiar with affliction under the image of fire (Psalm 66:12; 1 Corinthians 3:13; Isaiah 48:10; 1 Peter 4:12). It is the tendency of fire to — (1) Consume (Malachi 4:1). Affliction, like a fire, will tend to consume our corruptions, whilst we ourselves remain uninjured. (2) Melt. All metals can be melted, and receive whatever stamp the artificer may impress. (3) Try. Place any substance in the fire, and its nature and properties are made manifest. Thus Abraham was tried; Job (Job 23:10); Israel (Deuteronomy 8:2); Hezekiah. (4) Purify and refine (Isaiah 1:25; Malachi 3:2, 3). II. CONSIDER THE PROMISES MADE TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD WHEN PASSING THROUGH THESE SCENES. 1. The Divine presence. We naturally look for sympathy in the day of trouble (Job 6:14): Sometimes friends who are with us in sunshine forsake us in storm (Job 19:21; Acts 28:15, with 2 Timothy 4:16). But God will never forsake us. 2. Divine protection. "The rivers shall not overflow," etc. (Joshua 1:9; Acts 23:11; Deuteronomy 33:25). 3. Divine deliverance. We are not always to be fording rivers, struggling with floods, or walking through fires. We are to leave them all behind. The rest of Canaan compensated for all the toils of the wilderness (Romans 8:18). (Clergyman's Magazine.) Parallel Verses KJV: When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. |
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