The prophet seeketh to comfort Zion in her sorrow.

13 What things shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?

14 Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.

15 All that pass by clap their hands at thee: they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?

16 All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.

17 The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over

thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.

18 Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.

19 Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.

20 Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the LORD?

21 The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied.

22 Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the LORD's anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.

LECTURE 1274.

Contrition and supplication sources of comfort.

But he

The prophet would fain comfort Zion in her sorrows. knows not by what topic he can hope to succeed. He knows not what witness to call in her behalf, that might avail to her defence, or what like instance to meet with, that might make her shameful fall not altogether without a parallel. Instead therefore of offering false comfort, instead of saying peace when there was no

peace, he again dwells on the greatness of the calamity, and makes mention of the prophets of smooth things, as among the means which had led to the sin and to the judgment. He points out the scorn in which the beholders were indulging, and recites the reproachful language they made use of. And he then exhorts the people, in their trouble, to weep without ceasing, and to lift up their hands in prayer towards God; and further proceeds to appeal to God in prayer, pleading the great amount of misery inflicted, and intreating the Lord to consider who they were that thus suffered; implying, that however richly they deserved to suffer, they were nevertheless his own chosen people.

Thus has the prophet by degrees, and as it were unawares, touched upon the true sources of comfort, when all hope of comfort seemed out of the question. Contrition and supplication, these are the means whereby the humbled and dejected sinner may most reasonably expect to meet with consolation. Even the tears which nature sheds in sorrow are said commonly to afford the mourner some relief. How much more when they flow from a true concern for God's affronted honour, from a true compunction for having displeased One so gracious and so good as Christ our Lord and Saviour? When to tears like these are added fervent prayers, when we thus cast our care on God, with faith in his assurance that He is caring for us, see 1 Pet. 5. 7, there is no affliction so heavy, no sorrow so great, as not to be within reach of comfort from the Lord. Nor need we think that He will turn a deaf ear to our statement of the troubles wherewith we are afflicted. To Him we may open all our griefs, as to a Friend sure to feel compassionate concern. Nor must we fail to plead his gracious covenant, and to approach Him as his people, through the mediation of his Son; however unworthy of our high and holy calling our past conduct may have been. For this is in truth the way to humble ourselves, as well as to glorify our Lord, when we rest all our claim to God's mercy on his own sure promises, and on his own gracious work in our behalf, through Christ Jesus. Consider then, O Lord, who we are, thy people redeemed by thy Son; who though deserving in ourselves only condemnation, have the warrant of thy word for asking of Thee, through our Saviour, pardon, and peace, and joy. Consider, O heavenly Father, not our unworthiness, but the worthiness of thy Son; look not upon us according to our iniquities, neither deal with us after our sins. But according to the multitude of thy mercies, and in consideration of the precious blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, vouchsafe, according to thy word, to blot out all our misdeeds, and to account us for righteous in thy sight.

The prophet in affliction expresseth humility and hope.
people; and their song all the
day.

1 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. 2 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.

3 Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.

4 My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.

5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travel.

6 He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. 7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.

8 Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. 9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.

11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.

12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. 13 He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.

14 I was a derision to all my

15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.

16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.

17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.

18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:

19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.

20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.

21 This I recal to my mind, therefore have I hope.

22 It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning great is thy faithfulness.

24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will Í hope in him.

25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

LECTURE 1275.

The right use to be made of adversity.

Here we may learn how to bear affliction. Here we may profitably observe, how great are the advantages of being afflicted. The prophet speaks in his own person. But he is speaking also in the name of the people of the Lord. And that which he says of himself and them, may be applied by us to ourselves; whensoever it pleases God, by any manner of affliction, to chastise us for our sins. It may be that the rod of his wrath reaches us in the form of bodily suffering. The flesh and skin and bones may be the seat of sore disease. Or the spirit may be depressed with heavi

ness, either through the afflictions of the world, or through the sense of the divine displeasure. We may be made to feel as if we were the mark at which the arrows of the Almighty are directed; our souls removed afar off from peace, our strength and even our hope perishing "from the Lord," by the means of his chastening hand. But whatsoever be our chastisement, let us be thereby exercised in humility. Let this be one of the first lessons we learn, so to reflect on what we suffer, as to be humbled in the sight of God. Let us endeavour to be able to say truly of our sufferings, "My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me." Then shall we also soon be able to say further, "This I recal to my mind, therefore have I hope."

To be humble under the mighty hand of God is obviously one of the first and chief uses of adversity. To find that we are humbled is one of the grounds on which we may reasonably hope that we have not been chastised in vain. And see how full of comfort and of peace are the reflexions suggested by the prophet, as following on his experience of humility, on this revival of his hope. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not." Instead of dwelling on the thought of what we suffer we begin to think of that wherein we have been spared. We are thankful for his many mercies, wholly undeserved, vouchsafed to us in the midst of judgments justly due to us for our sins. These mercies are "new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." That we are alive, when death is our due, that we awaken each morning to renewed life, this strikes us as a subject of thankfulness to God, however heavily our life may be afflicted. "The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him." What can we want more, if we have Him to supply all our wants? How can we despair, if He may be our hope in all that can befal us? "The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him." Yes, though He chasten, He still is good; yes, it is of his goodness that He chastens us. For this leads us to wait for Him, and to seek Him. And it is good for us, it is far better than all the best of satisfactions this world has to offer, "it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." Yes, we must both hope earnestly, and wait patiently. Our expectation must be lively; and yet our spirit must be calm. Our affections towards heaven must be warm; and yet we must be content to wait, and work, and suffer, upon earth, all the days of the years of our pilgrimage. The seeming distance of the end we look for must not render us indifferent to its inestimable value. Its infinite superiority to the things of earth must not put us out of conceit with the duties, the privileges, the joys, which God allots to us whilst here. We must at once be thankful for what we have, and desirous for what we look for. We must glorify God by being of a happy spirit in this world, as we hope to glorify Him by being happy for ever in the world which is to come.

The mercifulness of God in chastening his people.

27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.

29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.

30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.

48 Mine eye runneth down 31 For the LORD will not cast with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.