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ISAIAH 26 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
A Song of Praise
1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of
Judah:
We have a strong city;
God makes salvation
its walls and ramparts.
1.BARNES, In that day shall this song be sung - By the people of
God, on their restoration to their own land.
We have a strong city - Jerusalem. This does not mean that it
was then strongly fortified, but that God would guard it, and that
thus it would be strong. Jerusalem was easily capable of being
strongly fortified Psa_25:2; but the idea here is, that Yahweh
would be a protector, and that this would constitute its
strength.
Salvation will God appoint for walls - That is, he will himself
be the defender of his people in the place of walls and bulwarks. A
similar expression occurs in Isa_60:18 (see also Jer_3:23, and
Zec_2:5).
Bulwarks - This word means properly bastions, or ramparts. The
original means properly a pomoerium, or antemural defense; a space
without the wall of a city raised up like a small wall.
The Syriac renders it, Bar shuro, - Son of a wall, meaning a
small wall. It was usually a breastwork, or heap of earth thrown up
around the city, that constituted an additional defense, so that if
they were driven from that they could retreat within the walls.
2. CLARKE, We have a strong city - In opposition to the city of
the enemy, which God hath destroyed, Isa_25:1-12 (note). See the
note there.
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Salvation - for walls and bulwarks - chomsothvachel, walls and
redoubts, or the
walls and the ditch. chel properly signifies the ditch or trench
without the wall; see Kimchi. The same rabbin says, This song
refers to the time of salvation, i.e., the days of the Messiah.
3. GILL, In that day shall this song be sung in the land of
Judah,.... When great things shall be done: for the church and
people of God; and when antichrist and all their enemies are
destroyed, as mentioned in the preceding chapter Isa_25:1; then
this song shall be sung expressed in this throughout; which the
Targum calls a "new" song, an excellent one, as the matter of it
shows; and which will be sung in the land of Judah, the land of
praise in the congregation of the saints, the professors and
confessors of the name of Jesus: in Mount Zion, the church of God
below, Psa_149:1, we have a strong city; not an earthly one, as
Jerusalem; so the Jewish writers, Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi,
interpret it; nor the heavenly city, which God has prepared and
built, and saints are looking for, and are citizens of: but rather
the holy city, the New Jerusalem, described in Rev_21:2 or however,
the church of Christ, as in the latter day; which will be a
"strong" one, being of the Lord's founding, establishing, keeping,
and defending; and whose strength will greatly lie in the presence
of God, and his protection of it; in the number of its citizens,
which will be many, when Jews and Gentiles are converted; and in
their union one with another, and the steadfastness of their faith
in Christ; when a "small one", as the church is now, shall become a
"strong nation", Isa_60:22, salvation will God appoint for walls
and bulwarks; instead of walls, ditches, parapets, counterscarps,
and such like fortifications; what they are to cities, that is
salvation to the church and people of God; it is their safety and
security: as God the Father is concerned in it, it flows from his
love, which is unchangeable; it is by an appointment of his, which
is unalterable; is secured by election grace, which stands not upon
the works of men, but the will of God; and by the covenant of
grace, ordered in all things, and sure; and by his power the saints
are kept unto it: as Christ is concerned in it, it is as walls and
bulwarks; he is the author of it, has completely finished it, and
has overcome and destroyed all enemies; his righteousness is a
security from all charges and condemnation; his satisfaction a
bulwark against the damning power of sin, the curses of the law,
and the wrath of God; his mediation and intercession are a
protection of saints; and his almighty power a guard about them. As
the Spirit is concerned in it, who is the applier of it, and
evidences interest in it; it is a bulwark against sin, against
Satan's temptations, against a spirit of bondage to fear, against
error, and a final and total falling away; particularly the
church's "walls" will be "salvation", and her "gates" praise, of
which in the next verse Isa_26:2, in the latter day glory; to which
this song refers; see Isa_60:18.
4. HENRY, To the prophecies of gospel grace very fitly is a song
annexed, in which we may give God the glory and take to ourselves
the comfort of that grace: In that day, the gospel day, which the
day of the victories and enlargements of the Old Testament church
was typical of (to some of which perhaps this has a primary
reference), in that day this song shall be sung; there shall be
persons to sing it, and cause and hearts to sing it; it shall be
sung in the land of Judah, which was a figure of the gospel church;
for the gospel covenant is said to be made with the house of Judah,
Heb_8:8. Glorious things are here said of the church of God.
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I. That it is strongly fortified against those that are bad
(Isa_26:1): We have a strong city. It is a city incorporated by the
charter of the everlasting covenant, fitted for the reception of
all that are made free by that charter, for their employment and
entertainment; it is a strong city, as Jerusalem was, while it was
a city compact together, and had God himself a wall of fire round
about it, so strong that none would have believed that an enemy
could ever enter into the gates of Jerusalem, Lam_4:12. The church
is a strong city, for it has walls and bulwarks, or counterscarps,
and those of God's own appointing; for he has, in his promise,
appointed salvation itself to be its defence. Those that are
designed for salvation will find that to be their protection,
1Pe_1:4.
5. JAMISON, Isa_26:1-21. Song of praise of Israel after being
restored to their own land.
As the overthrow of the apostate faction is described in the
twenty-fifth chapter, so the peace of the faithful is here
described under the image of a well-fortified city.
strong city Jerusalem, strong in Jehovahs protection: type of
the new Jerusalem (Psa_48:1-3), contrasted with the overthrow of
the ungodly foe (Isa_26:4-7, Isa_26:12-14; Rev_22:2, Rev_22:10-12,
etc.).
salvation ... walls (Isa_60:18; Jer_3:23; Zec_2:5). Maurer
translates, Jehovah makes His help serve as walls (Isa_33:20,
Isa_33:21, etc.).
6. K&D, Thus the second hymnic echo has its confirmation in
a prophecy against Moab, on the basis of which a third hymnic echo
now arises. Whilst on the other side, in the land of Moab, the
people are trodden down, and its lofty castles demolished, the
people in the land of Judah can boast of an impregnable city. In
that day will this song be sung in the land of Judah: A city of
defence is ours; salvation He sets for walls and bulwark. According
to the punctuation, this
ought to be rendered, A city is a shelter for us; but seem
rather to be connected, according to Pro_17:19, a city of strong,
i.e., of impregnable offence and defence. The subject
of is Jehovah. The figure indicates what He is constantly doing,
and ever doing afresh; for
the walls and bulwarks of Jerusalem (chel, as in Lam_2:8, the
small outside wall which encloses
all the fortifications) are not dead stone, but yeshuah, ever
living and never exhausted salvation (Isa_60:18). In just the same
sense Jehovah is called elsewhere the wall of Jerusalem, and
even
a wall of fire in Zec_2:9 - parallels which show that yeshuah is
intended to be taken as the accusative of the object, and not as
the accusative of the predicate, according to Isa_5:6; Psa_21:7;
Psa_84:7; Jer_22:6 (Luzzatto).
7.CALVIN, 1.In that day shall a song be sung. Here the Prophet
begins again to shew that, after the
return of the people from captivity, they will be defended by
God power and guardianship, and that under
his protection Jerusalem will be as safe as if she had been
surrounded by bulwarks, ramparts, a ditch,
and a double wall, so that no enemy could find entrance.
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It is proper to observe the time when song was sung. The Prophet
had foretold the calamity that would
befall the Church, which was not yet so near at hand, but
happened a short time after his death. When
the people were led into captivity, they would undoubtedly have
despaired, if they had not been
encouraged by such promises. That the Jews might cherish a hope
that they would be delivered, and
might behold life in the midst of death, the Prophet composed
for them this song, even before the
calamity occurred, that they might be better prepared for
enduring it, and might hope for better things. I do
not think that it was composed solely that, when they had been
delivered, they might give thanks to God,
but that even during their captivity, though they were like dead
men, (Eze_37:1,) they might strengthen
their hearts with this confidence, and might also train up their
children in this expectation, and hand down
these promises, as it were, to posterity.
We have formerly (154) seen the reason why these and other
promises were put by Isaiah into the form of
verse. It was, that, having been frequently sung, they might
make a deeper impression on their memory.
Though they mourned in Babylon, and were almost overwhelmed with
sorrow, (hence these sounds,
(Psa_137:4,) can we sing the Lord song in a foreign land? yet
they must have hoped that at a future
period, when they should have returned to Judea, they would give
thanks to the Lord and sing his
praises; and therefore the Prophet shews to them at a distance
the day of deliverance, that they may take
courage from the expectation of it.
We have a city of strength. By these words a full restoration of
Jerusalem and of the people is promised,
because God will not only deliver the captives and gather those
that are scattered, but will also preserve
them safe, after having brought them back to their country. But
not long afterwards believers saw that
Jerusalem was destroyed, (2Kg_25:9,) and the Temple thrown down,
(2Ch_36:19,) and after their return
nothing could meet their eye but hideous ruins; and all this
Isaiah had previously foretold. It was therefore
necessary that they should behold from the lofty watch-tower of
faith this restoration of Jerusalem.
He hath made salvation to be walls and a bulwark. He now defines
what will be strength of the city; for
the of God will supply the place of a towers, ditches, and
mounds. As if he had said, other cities rely
on their fortifications, God alone will be to us instead of all
bulwarks. Some allege that the words may be
read, hath set a wall and bulwark for salvation; and I do not
set aside that rendering. But as a more
valuable doctrine is contained in the Prophet words, when
nothing is supplied, it serves no good purpose
to go far for a forced interpretation; especially since the true
and natural interpretation readily presents
itself to the mind, which is, that God protection is more
valuable than all ditches and walls. In like manner,
it is also said in the psalm, mercy is better than life,
(Psa_63:3;) for as David there boasts of enjoying,
under God shadow, greater safety and freedom from care than if
he had been fortified by every kind of
earthly defense, so Isaiah here says, that there will be good
reason for laying aside fear, when God shall
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have undertaken to guard his people. Now, since this promise
extends to the whole course of redemption,
we ought to believe that at the present day God is still the
guardian of his Church, and therefore, that his
power is of more avail than if it had been defended by every
kind of military force. Accordingly, if we wish
to dwell in safety, we must remain in the Church. Though we have
no outward defences, yet let us learn
to be satisfied with the Lord protection, and with his sure
salvation, which is better than all bulwarks.
8. MACLAREN, OUR STRONG CITY
What day is that day? The answer carries us back a couple of
chapters, to the great picture drawn by the prophet of a world-wide
judgment, which is followed by a burst of song from the ransomed
people of Jehovah, like Miriams chant by the shores of the Red Sea.
The city of confusion, the centre of the power hostile to God and
man, falls; and its fall is welcomed by a chorus of praises. The
words of my text are the beginning of one of these songs. Whether
or not there were any historical event which floated before the
prophets mind is wholly uncertain. If there were a smaller judgment
upon some city of the enemy, it passes in his view into a
world-wide judgment; and my text is purely ideal, imaginative, and
apocalyptic. Its nearest ally is the similar vision of the Book of
the Revelation, where, when Babylon sank with a splash like a
millstone in the stream, the ransomed people raised their
praises.
So, then, whatever may have been the immediate horizon of the
prophet, and though, there may have stood on it some historical
event, the city which he sees falling is other than any material
Babylon, and the strong city in which he rejoices is other than the
material Jerusalem, though it may have suggested the metaphor of my
text. The song fits our lips quite as closely as it did the lips
from which it first sprang, thrilling with triumph: We have a
strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the
truth may enter in.
There are three things, then, here: the city, its defences, its
citizens.
I. The City.
Now, no doubt the prophet was thinking of the literal Jerusalem;
but the city is ideal, as is shown by the bulwarks which defend,
and by the qualifications which permit entrance. And so we must
pass beyond the literalities of Palestine, and, as I think, must
not apply the symbol to any visible institution or organisation if
we are to come to the depth and greatness of the meaning of these
words. No church which is organised amongst men can be the New
Testament representation of this strong city. And if the
explanation is to be looked for in that direction at all, it can
only be the invisible aggregate of ransomed souls which is regarded
as being the Zion of the prophecy.
But perhaps even that is too definite and hard. And we are
rather to think of the unseen but existent order of things or
polity to which men here on earth may belong, and which will one
day, after shocks and convulsions that shatter all which is merely
institutional and human, be manifested still more gloriously.
The central thought that was moving in the prophets mind is that
of the indestructible vitality of the true Israel, and the order
which it represented, of which Jerusalem on its rock was but to him
a symbol. And thus for us the lesson is that, apart altogether from
the existing and visible order of things in which we dwell, there
is a polity to which we may belong, for ye are come unto Mount
Zion, the city of the living God, and that that order is
indestructible. Convulsions come, every Babylon falls, all human
institutions change and pass. The kingdoms old are cast into
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another mould. But persistent through them all, and at the last,
high above them all, will stand the stable polity of Heaven, the
city which hath the foundations.
There is a lesson for us, brethren, in times of fluctuation, of
change of opinion, of shaking of institutions, and of new social,
economical, and political questions, threatening day by day to
reorganise society. We have a strong city; and whatever may
come-and much destructive will come, and much that is venerable and
antique, rooted in mens prejudices, and having survived through and
oppressed the centuries, will have to go; but Gods polity, His form
of human society of which the perfect ideal and antitype, so to
speak, lies concealed in the heavens, is everlasting. Therefore,
whatsoever changes, whatsoever ancient and venerable things come to
be regarded as of no account, howsoever the nations, like clay in
the hands of the potter, may have to assume new forms, as certainly
they will, yet the foundation of God standeth sure. And for
Christian men in revolutionary epochs, whether these revolutions
affect the forms in which truth is grasped, or whether they affect
the moulds into which society is run, the only worthy temper is the
calm, triumphant expectation that through all the dust,
contradiction, and distraction, the fair city of God will be
brought nearer and made more manifest to man. Isaiah, or whoever
was the writer of these great words of my text, stayed his own and
his peoples hearts in a time of confusion and distress, by the
thought that it was only Babylon that could fall, and that
Jerusalem was the possessor of a charmed, immortal life.
This strong city, the order of human society which God has
appointed, and which exists, though it be hidden in the heavens,
will be manifested one day when, like the fair vision of the
goddess rising from amidst the oceans foam, and shedding peace and
beauty over the charmed waves, there will emerge from all the wild
confusion and tossing billows of the sea of the peoples the fair
form of the Bride, the Lambs wife. There shall be an apocalypse of
the city, and whether the old words which catch up the spirit of my
text, and speak of that Holy City as descending from heaven upon
earth, at the close of the history of the world, are to be taken,
as perhaps they are, as expressive of the truth that a renewed
earth is to be the dwelling of the ransomed or no, this at least is
clear, that the city shall be revealed, and when Babylon is swept
away, Zion shall stand.
To this city-existent, immortal, and waiting to be revealed-you
and I may belong to-day. We have a strong city. You may lay hold of
life either by the side of it which is transient and trivial and
contemptible, or by the side of it which goes down through all the
mutable and is rooted in eternity. As in some seaweed, far out in
the depths of the ocean, the tiny frond that floats upon the billow
goes down and down and down, by filaments that bind it to the basal
rock, so the most insignificant act of our fleeting days has a hold
upon eternity, and life in all its moments may be knit to the
permanent. We may unite our lives with the surface of time or with
the centre of eternity. Though we dwell in tabernacles, we may
still be come to Mount Zion, and all life be awful, noble, solemn,
religions, because it is all connected with the unseen city across
the seas. It is for us to determine to which of these orders-the
perishable, noisy and intrusive and persistent in its appeals, or
the calm, silent, most real, eternal order beyond the stars-our
petty lives shall attach themselves.
II. Now note, secondly, the defences.
Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. This
evangelical prophet, as he has been called, is distinguished, not
only by the clearness of his anticipations of Jesus Christ and His
work, but by the fulness and depth which he attaches to that word
salvation. He all but anticipates the New Testament completeness
and fulness of meaning, and lifts it from all merely material
associations of earthly or transitory deliverance, into the sphere
in which we are accustomed to regard it as especially moving. By
salvation he means and we mean, not only negative but positive
blessings. Negatively it includes the removal of every conceivable
or endurable evil, all the ills that flesh is heir to, whether they
be evils of sin or evils of sorrow;
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and, positively, the investiture with every possible good that
humanity is capable of, whether it be good of goodness, or good of
happiness. This is what the prophet tells us is the wall and
bulwark of his ideal-real city.
Mark the eloquent omission of the name of the builder of the
wall. God is a supplement. Salvation will He appoint for walls and
bulwarks. No need to say who it is that flings such a fortification
around the city. There is only one hand that can trace the lines of
such walls; only one hand that can pile their stones; only one that
can lay them, as the walls of Jericho were laid, in the blood of
His first-born Son. Salvation will He appoint for walls and
bulwarks. That is to say in a highly imaginative and picturesque
form, that the defense of the City is God Himself; and it is
substantially a parallel with other words which speak about Him as
being a wall of fire round about it and the glory in the midst of
it. The fact of salvation is the wall and the bulwark. And the
consciousness of the fact and the sense of possessing it, is for
our poor hearts, one of our best defenses against both the evil of
sin and the evil of sorrow. For nothing so robs temptation of its
power, so lightens the pressure of calamities, and draws the poison
from the fangs of sin and sorrow, as the assurance that the loving
purpose of God to save grasps and keeps us. They who shelter behind
that wall, feel that between them and sin, and them and sorrow,
there rises the inexpugnable defense of an Almighty purpose and
power to save, lie safe whatever betides. There is no need of other
defenses. Zion
Needs no bulwarks,
No towers along the steep.
God Himself is the shield and none other is required.
So, brethren, let us walk by the faith that is always confident,
though it depends on an unseen hand. It is a grand thing to be able
to stand, as it were, in the open, a mark for all the slings and
arrows of outrageous fortune and yet to feel that around us there
are walls most real, though invisible, which permit no harm to come
to us. Our feeble sense-bound souls much prefer a visible wall. We,
like a handrail on the stair. Though it does not at all guard the
descent, it keeps our heads from getting dizzy. It is hard for us,
as some travellers may have to do, to walk with steady foot and
unthrobbing heart along a narrow ledge of rock with beetling
precipice above us and black depths beneath, and we would like a
little bit of a wall of some sort, for imagination if not for
reality, between us and the sheer descent. But it is blessed to
learn that naked we are clothed, solitary we have a Companion, and
unarmed we have our defenceless heads covered with the shadow of
the great wing, which, though sense sees it not, faith knows is
there. A servant of God is never without a friend, and when most
unsheltered
From marge to blue marge
The whole sky grows his targe,
With suns self for visible boss,
beneath which he lies safe.
Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks, and if we
realise, as we ought to do, His purpose to keep us safe, and His
power to keep us safe, and the actual operation of His hand keeping
us safe at every moment, we shall not ask that these defences shall
be supplemented by the poor feeble earthworks that sense can throw
up.
III. Lastly, note the citizens.
Our text is part of a song, and is not to be interpreted in the
cold-blooded fashion that might suit prose. A voice, coming from
whom we know not, breaks in upon the first strain with a command,
addressed to whom we know not-Open ye the gates-the city thus far
being supposed to be empty-that the righteous nation which keepeth
the truth may enter in. The central idea
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there is just this, Thy people shall be all righteous. The one
qualification for entrance into the city is absolute purity.
Now, brethren, that is true in regard to our present imperfect
denizenship within the city; and it is true in regard to mens
passing into it in its perfect and final form. As to the former,
there is nothing that you Christian people need more to have dinned
into you than this, that your continuance in the state of a
redeemed man, with all the security and blessing that attach
thereto, depends upon your continuing to be righteous. Every sin,
every flaw, every dropping beneath our own standard in conscience
of what we ought to be, has for its inevitable result that we are
robbed for the time being of consciousness of the walls of the city
being about us and of our being citizens thereof. Who shall ascend
into the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place?
The New Testament, as emphatically as the old psalm, answers, He
that hath clean hands and a pure heart. Let no man deceive you. He
that doeth righteousness is righteous. There is no way by which
Christian men here on earth can pass into and keep within the city
of the living God, except they possess personal purity,
righteousness of life, and cleanness of heart.
They used to say that Venice glass was so made that any poison
poured into it shivered the vessel. Any drop of sin poured into
your cup of communion with God, shatters the cup and spills the
wine. Whosoever thinks himself a citizen of that great city, if he
falls into transgression, and soils the cleanness of his hands, and
ruffles the calm of his pure heart by self-willed sinfulness, will
wake to find himself not within the battlements, but lying wounded,
robbed, solitary, in the pitiless desert. My brother, it is the
righteous nation that enters in, even here on earth.
I do not need to remind you how, admittedly by us all, that is
the case in regard to the final form of the city of our God, into
which nothing shall enter that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh
abomination or maketh a lie. Heaven can only be entered into
hereafter by, as here and now it can only enter into, those who are
pure of heart. All else there would shrivel as foul things born In
the darkness do in the light, and be consumed in the fire. None but
the pure can enter and see God.
The nation which keepeth the truth-that does not mean adherence
to any revelation, or true creed, or the like. The word which is
employed means, not truth of thought, but truth of character; and
might, perhaps, be better represented by the more familiar word in
such a connection, faithfulness. A man who is true to God, keeping
up a faithful relation to Him who is faithful to us, he, and only
he, will pass into, and abide in, the city.
Now, brethren, so far our text carries us, but no further;
unless, perhaps, there may be a hint of something yet deeper in the
next clause of this song. If any one asks, How does the nation
become righteous? the answer may lie in the immediately following
exhortation-Trust ye in the Lord for ever. But whether that be so
or not, if we want an answer to the questions, How can my stained
feet be cleansed so as to be fit to tread the crystal pavements?
how can my foul garments be so purged as not to be a blot and an
eyesore, beside the white, lustrous robes that sweep along them and
gather no defilement there? the only answer that I know of is to be
found by turning to the final visions of the New Testament, where
the spirit of this whole section of our prophet is reproduced.
Again, Babylon falls amidst the songs of saints; and then, down
upon all the dust and confusion of the crash of ruin, the seer
beholds the Lambs wife, the new Jerusalem, descending from above.
To his happy eyes its glories are unveiled, its golden streets, its
open gates, its walls of precious stones, its flashing river, its
peaceful inhabitants, its light streaming from the throne of God
and of the Lamb. And when that vision passes, his last message to
us is, Blessed are they that wash their robes that they may enter
through the gates into the city. None but those who wash their
garments, and make them white in the blood of the Lamb, can,
living, come unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem; or, dying, can pass through the
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iron gate that opens to them of its own accord, and find
themselves as day breaks in the street of the Jerusalem which is
above.
Isaiah 26:1-10
THE SONG OF TWO CITIES
This song is to be interpreted as a song, not with the
cold-blooded accuracy proper to a scientific treatise. The logic of
emotion is as sound as that of cool intellect, but it has its own
laws and links of connection. First, the song sets in sharp
contrast the two cities, describing, in Isa_26:1-4, the city of
God, its strength defences, conditions of citizenship, and the
peace which reigns within its walls; and in Isa_26:5-6 the fall and
utter ruin of the robber city, its antagonist Jerusalem, on its
rocky peninsula, supplies the form of Isaiahs thought; but it is
only a symbol of the true city of God, the stable, invisible, but
most real, polity and order of things to which men, even while
wandering lonely and pilgrims, do come, if they will. It is
possible even here and now to have our citizenship in the heavens,
and to feel that we belong to a great community beyond the sea of
time, though our feet have never trodden its golden pavements, nor
our eyes seen its happy glories.
In one aspect, it is ideal, but in truth it is more real than
the intrusive and false things of this fleeting present, which call
themselves realities. The things which are are the things above.
The things here are but shows and shadows.
The citys walls are salvation. There is no need to name the
architect of these fortifications. One hand only can pile their
strength. God appoints salvation in lieu of all visible defences.
Whom He purposes to save are saved. Whom He wills to keep safe are
kept safe. They who can shelter behind that strong defence need no
other. Weak, sense-governed hearts may crave something more
palpable, but they do not really need it. A parapet on an Alpine
road gives no real security, but only satisfies imagination. The
sky needs no pillars to hold it up.
Then an unknown voice breaks in upon the song, calling on
unnamed attendants to fling wide the gates. The city is conceived
of as empty; its destined inhabitants must have certain
qualifications. They must be righteous, and must keep faithfulness
being true to the God who is faithful and true in all His
relations. None but the righteous can dwell in conscious
citizenship with the Unseen while here, and none but the righteous
can enter through the gates into the city. That requirement is
founded in the very nature of the case, and is as emphatically
proclaimed by the gospel as by the prophet. But the gospel tells
more articulately than he was enlightened to do, how righteousness
is to be won. The last vision of the Apocalypse, which is so like
this song in its central idea, tells us of the fall of Babylon, of
the descent to earth of the New Jerusalem, and leaves as its last
message the great saying, Blessed are they that wash their robes
that they may . . . enter in through the gate into the city.
Our song gives some hint of similar thoughts by passing from the
description of the qualifications for entrance to the celebration
of the security which comes from trust. The safety which is
realised within the walls of the strong city is akin to the perfect
peace in which he who trusts is kept; and the juxtaposition of the
two representations is equivalent to the teaching that trust, which
is precisely the same as the New Testament faith, is the condition
of entrance. We know that faith makes righteous, because it opens
the heart to receive Gods gift of righteousness; but that effect of
faith is implied rather than stated here, where security and peace
are the main ideas. As some fugitives from the storm of war sit in
security behind the battlements of a fortress, and scarcely hear
the din of conflict in the open field below, the heart,
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which has taken refuge by trust in God, is kept in peace so deep
that it passes description, and the singer is fain to give a notion
of its completeness by calling it peace, peace. The mind which
trusts is steadied thereby, as light things lashed to a firm stay
are kept steadfast, however the ship toss. The only way to get and
keep fixedness of temper and spirit amid change and earthquake is
to hold on to God, and then we may be stable with stability derived
from the foundations of His throne to which we cling.
Therefore the song breaks into triumphant fervour of summons to
all who hear it, to trust in Jab Jehovah for ever, Such settled,
perpetual trust is the only attitude corresponding to His mighty
name, and to the realities found in His character. He is the Bock
of Ages the grand figure which Moses learned beneath the cliffs of
Sinai and wove into his last song, and which tells us of the
unchanging strength that makes a sure hiding-place for all
generations, and the ample space which will hold all the souls of
men, and be for a shadow from the heat, a covert from the tempest,
a shelter from the foe, and a home for the homeless, with many a
springing fountain in its clefts.
The great act of judgment which the song celebrates is now
(Isa_26:5-6) brought into contrast with the blessed picture of the
city, and by the introductory for is stated as the reason for
eternal trust. The language, as it were, leaps and dances in
jubilation, heaping together brief emotional and synonymous
clauses. So low is the once proud city brought, that the feet of
the poor tread it down. These poor and needy are the true Israel,
the suffering saints, who had known how cruel the sway of the
fallen robber city was; and now they march across its site; and its
broken columns and ruined palaces strew the ground below their
feet. The righteous nation of the one picture are the poor and
needy of the other. No doubt the prophecy has had partial
accomplishments more than once or twice, when the oppressed church
has triumphed, and some hoary iniquity been levelled at a blow, or
toppled over by slow decay. But the complete accomplishment is yet
future, and not to be realised till that last act, when all
antagonism shall be ended, and the net result of the weary history
of the world be found to be just these two pictures of Isaiahs-the
strong city of God with its happy inhabitants, and the everlasting
desolations of the fallen city of confusion.
The triumphant hurry of the song pauses for a moment to gaze
upon the crash, and in Isa_26:7 gathers its lessons into a kind of
proverbial saying, which is perhaps best translated The path of the
just is smooth (or plain"); Thou levellest smooth the path of the
just. To render upright instead of smooth seems to make the
statement almost an identical proposition, and is tame. What is
meant is, that, in the light of the end, the path which often
seemed rough is vindicated. The judgment has showed that the
righteous mans course had no unnecessary difficulties. The goal
explains the road. The good mans path is smooth, not because of its
own nature, but because God makes it so. We are to look for the
clearing of our road, not to ourselves, nor to circumstances, but
to Him; and even when it is engineered through rocks and
roughnesses, to believe that He will make the rough places plain,
or give us shoes of iron and brass to encounter them. Trust that
when the journey is over the road will be explained, and that this
reflection, which breaks the current of the swift song of the
prophet, will be the abiding, happy conviction of heaven.
Lastly, the song looks back and tells how the poor and needy, in
whose name the prophet speaks, had filled the dreary past, while
the tyranny of the fallen city lasted, with yearning for the
judgment which has now come at last. Isa_26:8-9 breathe the very
spirit of patient longing and meek hope. There is a certain tone of
triumph in that Yea, as if the singer would point to the great
judgment now accomplished, as vindicating the long, weary hours of
hope deferred. That for which the poor and needy wait is the coming
in the path of Thy judgments. The attitude of expectance is as much
the duty and support of Christians as of Israel. We have a greater
future clearer before us than they had. The world needs Gods coming
in judgment more
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than ever; and it says little for either the love to God or the
benevolence towards man of average Christians, that they should
know so little of that yearning of soul which breathes through so
much of the Old Testament. For the glory of God and the good of
men, we should have the desire of our souls turned to His
manifestation of Himself in His righteous judgments. It was no
personal end which bred the prophets yearning. True, the night
round him was dreary enough, and sorrow lay black on his people and
himself; but it was Gods name and memorial that was uppermost in
his desires. That is to say, the chief object of the devout souls
longings should be the glory of Gods revealed character. And the
deepest reason for wishing that He would flash forth from His
hiding-place in judgments, is because such an apocalypse is the
only way by which wilfully blind eyes can be made to see, and
wilfully unrighteous hearts can be made to practise
righteousness.
Isaiah believed in the wholesome effect of terror. His
confidence in the power of judgments to teach the obstinate
corresponds to the Old Testament point of view, and contains a
truth for all points of view; but it is not the whole truth. We
know only too well that sorrows and judgments do not work
infallibly, and that men being often reproved, harden their necks.
We know, too, more clearly than any prophet of old could know, that
the last arrow in Gods quiver is not some unheard-of awfulness of
judgment, but an unspeakable gift of love, and that if that favour
shown to the wicked in the life and death of Gods Son does not lead
him to learn righteousness, nothing else will.
But while this is true, the prophets aspirations are founded on
the facts of human nature too, and judgments do sometimes startle
those whom kindness had failed to touch. It is an awful thought
that human nature may so steel itself against the whole armoury of
divine weapons as that favour and severity are equally blunted, and
the heart remains unpierced by either. It is an awful thought that
there may be induced such truculent obstinacy of love of evil that,
even when in a land of uprightness, a man shall choose evil, and
forcibly shut his eyes, that he may not see the majesty of the
Lord, which he does not wish to see because it condemns his choice,
and threatens to burn up him and his work together. A blasted tree
when all the woods are green, a fleece dry when all around is
rejoicing in the dew, a window dark when the whole city is
illuminated, one black sheep amid the white flock, or anything else
anomalous and alone in its evil, is less tragic than the sight, so
common, of a man so sold to sin that the presence of good only
makes him angry and restless. It is possible to dwell amidst the
full light of Christian truth, and in a society moulded by its
precepts, and to be unblessed, unsoftened thereby. If not softened,
then hardened; and the wicked who in the land of uprightness deals
wrongfully is all the worse for the light which he hated because it
showed him the sinfulness of the sin which he obstinately loved and
would keep.
9. MEYER, PEACE THROUGH STEADFAST TRUST
Isa_26:1-10
No doubt when Babylon fell before Cyrus the Jewish remnant under
Ezra and Nehemiah sang this triumphal ode, which contrasts the
respective lots of Babylon and Jerusalem. The one is the city of
this world and its children; the other the city and home of the
saints. The fate of Babylon is delineated in Isa_26:5-6; but with
what glowing words does the prophet dwell on the blessedness of
those who are fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household
of God, Eph_2:19. Note in Isa_26:3, margin, one of Gods double
doors against the intrusion on the soul of a single note of alarm
or fear. God is the Rock of Ages, Isa_26:4, margin. Our trust
should be permanent as His love-forever. The weakest foot may
trample on the proudest foe,
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when God has laid him in the dust. God levels the path of the
just. However difficult your path, dare to believe that you are
being directed in righteousness God cannot make mistakes. Any other
path would be impracticable. Only nurse the desires of your soul
for God; they are the result of the promptings and drawings of His
Spirit.
10. PULPIT, A SONG OF THE REDEEMED IN MOUNT ZION. The prophet,
having (in Isa_25:1-12.) poured forth his own thankfulness to God
for the promise of the Church's final redemption and triumph,
proceeds now to represent the Church itself in the glorified state
as singing praise to God for the same. Isa_26:1
In that day. In the "day of God" (2Pe_3:12), the period of the
"restitution of all things" (Act_3:21). In the land of Judah; i.e.
in the "new earth"whose city will be the "heavenly Jerusalem," and
wherein will dwell "the Israel of God"the antitype whereof the
literal "land of Judah" was the type. A strong city; literally, a
city of strength. In the Revelation of St. John the new Jerusalem
is represented as having "a wall great and high" (Rev_21:12), and
"twelve gates," three on each side. The intention is to convey the
idea of complete security. In the present passage the city has
"gates" (verse 2), but no "walls"walls and bulwarks being
unnecessary, since the saving might of God himself would be its
sure defense against every enemy.
11. BI 1-10, Periods of restoration
If it be demanded, what period of time is this which the prophet
speaks of? we must answer, that it is the time when the people, who
for their provocations were thrown into the furnace of affliction,
and had continued in it till they were purged from their sins, were
delivered from it, and restored to the favour of God, and the
enjoyment of His former mercies. Of which restoration there are
three kinds or degrees plainly spoken of by the prophet Isaiah.
1. The Jews return from the land of their captivity, especially
that of Babylon.
2. The restoration of the family and kingdom of David in the
person of the Messiah.
3. The perfect felicity of that kingdom in astute of future
glory. (W. Reading, M. A.)
Three elements in prophecy
All true prophecy, seems to have in it three elements:
conviction, imagination, inspiration. The seer speaks first of all
from his knowledge of, and experience with, the inherent vitality
of right and righteousness. He is sure that the good in the world
is destined to conquer the evil. Then when he attempts to tell how
this victory is to be brought about he uses his imagination. He
employs metaphors and figures which from the necessities of the
case may not be literally fulfilled. And then, in addition to this,
his prophecies have in them a certain comprehensiveness of plan and
structure, and a certain organic relation to history, such as can
be revealed only by the Divine Maker of history Himself. It took a
man of large parts to see above the wreck and ruin, and through the
darkness of his age, such visions of hope and promise as Isaiah
saw. Everywhere around him were sensuality and oppression. The
Church of the true God had been almost swallowed up by the foul
dragon of paganism. And yet the prophet, with his eye upon the
future, beheld a day when this song was to be sung in the land of
Judah: the song of salvation.
Sure he was that God must triumph, and with the poets instinct
he clothed his assurance in the language of metaphor, and set it to
the rhythm of song. (C. A. Dickinson.)
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The triumph of goodness
1. Those who study this song in the light of succeeding history
find in it the picture of the ultimate triumph of the Church. The
central figure is the strong city, the walls and bulwarks of which
are salvation, and through whose open gates the righteous nation
which keepeth the truth is allowed to enter. This picture reminds
us at once of that vision of the new Jerusalem which fell upon the
eyes of the seer of Patmos many years after, and which was
evidently the type and symbol of the perfected kingdom of Christ.
To attempt to give to this strong city and this new Jerusalem a
literal and material significance is to involve ourselves in
inextricable difficulties.
2. There are two views concerning the progress and ultimate
triumph of Christianity in the world. In some respects these views
are the same; in others they differ radically.
(1) The first theory is that there is to be in the near or
remote future a sudden, visible appearance of Christ in the clouds
of heaven to take His place upon the throne of David at the earthly
Jerusalem, where He will reign with His saints for a thousand
years. Meanwhile the world is to come more and more under the
Satanic influence.
(2) The other theory is that of a gradual development under the
spiritual forces which began to be dominant in the world on the day
of Pentecost, when Christ, according to His own promise, began His
reign in His new kingdom. This I believe to be the true view: the
one which Christ Himself propounded when He said His kingdom should
be like the seed that should grow up.
3. I am well aware that those who claim that the world is fast
ripening in evil for its final catastrophe can point to many facts
which seem to substantiate their theory. But just here, it seems to
me, comes in one of their greatest mistakes. There is, of course,
danger of generalising too much, but there is certainly great
danger of allowing some near fact to blind the eyes to the great
general truth which lies beyond it; to hold the sixpence so near
the eye that we cannot see the sun. There is danger of confining
our thoughts so exclusively to certain specific texts as to get a
wrong conception of the real truth of which these special texts may
be only a small part. Now, what are some of the signs that we are
living today in an age of conquest?
(1) Take that law of decay which you find written upon evil
everywhere, whether in the individual or the nation. He bringeth
down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, He layeth it low.
Rome in her arrogance was the first great organised power to make
war against the new kingdom. But Rome fell, and over the ruins of
her pagan temples the Christian walks today. France posed as the
haughty oppressor of the weak and unfortunate, as the instigator of
the horrors of St. Bartholomews day, and following close upon her
dreadful sin came the death and desolation of the Revolution. Our
own great nation allowed to ripen in her very heart the malignant
curse of slavery, and for her sin was obliged to suffer the pangs
of a civil war. These are only a few of the conspicuous
illustrations of the great truth that righteousness is surely,
though perhaps slowly, vindicating her everlasting strength.
(2) I might call your attention to the other side of this
conquest: to the rapid increase in the present days of that strong
City whose wails are salvation. I might show you a whole library
filled with missionary literature which tells that the kingdom of
the new King has extended its bounds into almost every habitable
part of the earth. I might point you to the Year Books of our
Churches, and show you what armies of men and women are yearly
marching through the gates of the strong City. I might show you how
the spirit of
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the Cross, having taken possession of the civilised nations of
the world, has materialised into churches and hospitals and asylums
and charitable institutions and temperance guilds and myriads of
Christian homes.
(3) But further, I might speak of another phase of this
conquest. When Thy judgments are in the earth, says the prophet,
the inhabitants of the earth will learn righteousness. These Divine
judgments appear as a subtle tonic atmosphere pervading the whole
world, and, like the ozone of the mountains, invigorating almost
unconsciously every age and generation.
(4) The influence of the Gospel is pervasive. In a certain sense
we have a right to say that a community is a Christian community
even though but a small minority of its inhabitants profess to
accept Christ as their personal Saviour. The spirit of Christ is in
that community; the leaven of the Gospel is leavening it. The new
kingdom is established there, and even they who deny allegiance to
it are in many ways better than they who are without it. The
principles of Jesus Christ are the standard principles of morality
throughout Christendom today, and men are inevitably judging them
selves and being judged by others according to these standards.
4. I believe that we are in the midst of mighty spiritual forces
which are working successfully for the redemption of this world
from sin; and I have two great incentives to spur me on to earnest
effort.
(1) The one is faith in humanity and Christ. I say humanity and
Christ, because I believe they are one. That, to me, is the meaning
of His incarnation. The mighty forces of righteousness are moving
with their slow, crushing power as the steam roller moves over the
newly macadamised road, breaking and levelling everything before
it, that the chariot of the King may ride smoothly on to its
destination. But this is only a part of the truth. The other part
is that the new kingdom is open to all.
(2) The other thing which spurs me on is hopethat blessed hope
which the apostle had of the glorious consummation of this age of
conquest. (C. A. Dickinson.)
We have a strong city
A city the emblem of security
To understand this figure of a city we must remember what a city
was in the earlier ages; i.e., a portion of land separate from the
general surface, in which the people of a locality gathered, and
put their homes into a condition of safety by building walls of
immense strength, which should both resist the attacks of enemies
and, to a great extent, defy the ravages of time. Such a city,
then, was the emblem of security. (R. H. Davies.)
The song of salvation
I. THE GROUND OF REJOICING. Salvation; and consequently eternal
security. We have a strong city. All Gods people are represented as
citizens; the whole sainthood is represented as a corporate
assemblage of people possessed of peculiar privileges, connected
with an eternal condition, and as such are to dwell in some region
of safety and bliss. Here they find not such an abode. Here they
have no continuing city, but seek one to come. And, when they shall
be gathered together in the presence of their Lord, they will
constitute the body to form a city.
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II. THE CHARACTER OF THOSE WHO ARE TO PARTAKE OF THESE
BLESSINGS. The righteous nation which keepeth the truth. (R. H.
Davies.)
Salvation
Salvation, i.e., freedom and safety. The original sense of the
word rendered salvation (as Arabic shows) is breadth, largeness,
absence of constraint. (Prof. S. R. Driver, D. D.)
Saving health
(1) Political theorists have been fond of picturing an ideal
State, the government of which would be perfect.
(2) The ideal State in the mind of the average Hebrew was
limited to his own race, but in the writings of the inspired
psalmists and prophets it could not be so restricted, but widened
itself out so as to embrace the whole world. Thus was the way
prepared for the grand conception of the kingdom of heaven as first
proclaimed and then established by the Son of God.
(3) But it is a difficult thing, except in moments of great
exaltation, to put much intensity of feeling. Into a conception so
vast. It was a great deal easier to conceive an ideal State than an
ideal world, and an ideal city was still more manageable for the
imagination. We need not wonder, then, that even after the great
proclamation about all the kingdoms of the world becoming the
kingdom of God, the seer of Patmos should fondly return to the
thought of the city, and revel in anticipating the advent of the
New Jerusalem. Nor shall we be astonished that the prophets, though
they had the wider outlook, should even in their moods of highest
exaltation cling fondly to the thought of a holy city as the best
picture, the more serviceable that it was a miniature of the coming
kingdom of God.
(4) In these early days of insecurity, the first requisite of a
city was strength. So it is natural that this should be the feature
on which the prophet here lays special stress. But wherein does its
strength lie? He speaks not of ramparts or forts, of fleets or
armies, but of salvation as the bulwarks of the city. We find this
word salvation in other places translated by the more suggestive
rendering health, or saving health.
1. The first thought suggested in this connection is that the
city should be a clean place to live in, healthy from end to end
and in every corner, each house in it a fitting abode for sons of
God and daughters of the King. When we pass from the sanitation of
the city to the saving health of the citizen, we think first of his
body, and recognise the necessity of having all the conditions as
conducive as possible to its health.
2. But clearly we cannot stop there. We must have the mens sana
in corpore sane; hence the need of universal education, to secure
intellectual sanity.
3. Nor may we end here, for moral sanity, a sound conscience, is
even still more important. The nation must be a righteous
nation.
4. Clearly, there must be sanitation for the will before we have
reached saving health; and inasmuch as the will is swayed by
desire, the sanitation must reach the heart. What sanitary measures
could we here summon to our aid? The purest water will not cleanse
the heart; the most bracing air will have no effect upon the soul.
There must be a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness, and
some breath of God for inspiration to the soul.
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5. And here we reach the prophets highest, dominating thought.
In that day, the passage begins. What day? Look back (Isa_25:9). It
shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God, we have waited for
Him, and He will save us. And look forward (Isa_26:4), Trust ye in
the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.
Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us; for Thou also hast wrought all
our works in us (Isa_26:12). This introduces us to one of the most
important questions of the day. There are many, sound and strong on
the subject of righteousness, who yet fail to realise that
righteousness is so bound up with saving truththat truth of God and
His salvation through Jesus Christ His Son, and by His Holy Spirit
breathed in human hearts, which they sometimes offensively set
aside as mere dogmathat the one cannot be had where it does not
exist already, and cannot be retained long where it does without
the other. Open ye the gates that the righteous nation which
keepeth the truth may enter in.
6. How can we open or help to open these gates of national
strength and saving health? For individual action the answer would
be such as this: First, by loving truth and keeping righteousness
ourselves; next, by doing all we can to help others to a life of
godliness and righteousness; further, by earnest and frequent
prayer to Him who gave of old the promise, I will open to you the
two-leaved gates; and lastly, by the faithful exercise of the
privileges of citizens, seeing to it that in the forming of our
opinions, in the giving of our votes, in the use of all our
influence, not selfish interest, or class interest, or even party
interest, but the interests of righteousness and truth be the
determining factor. But individual action is not enough. We must
combine; we must bring our united force to bear. And here the main
reliance must be on the Church of Christ, on which is laid the
responsibility of carrying on His great work of salvation. (J.
M.Gibson, D. D.)
Our strong city
There are three things here
I. THE CITY. No doubt the prophet was thinking of the literal
Jerusalem, but the city is ideal, as is shown by the bulwarks which
defend, and by the qualifications which permit entrance. And so we
must pass beyond the literalities of Palestine, and must not apply
the symbol to any visible institution or organisation if we are to
come to the depth and greatness of the meaning of these words. No
Church which is organised amongst men can be the New Testament
representation of this strong city. And if the explanation is to be
looked for in that direction at all, it can only be the invisible
aggregate of ransomed souls which is regarded as being the Zion of
the prophecy. But, perhaps, even that is too definite and hard. And
we are rather to think of the unseen but existent order of things
or polity to which men here on earth may belong, and which will one
day, after shocks and convulsions that shatter all which is merely
institutional and human, be manifested still more gloriously. The
central thought that was moving in the prophets mind is of the
indestructible vitality of the true Israel, and the order which it
represented, of which Jerusalem on its rock was but to him a
symbol. And thus for us the lesson is that, apart altogether from
the existing and visible order of things in which we dwell, there
is a polity to which we may belong, for ye are come unto Mount
Zion, the city of the living God, and that order is indestructible.
There is a lesson for us, in times of fluctuation, of change of
opinion, of shaking of institutions, and of new social, economical,
and political questions, threatening day by day to reorganise
society. We have a strong city; and whatever may comeand much
destructive will come, and much that is venerable and antique,
rooted in mens prejudices, and having survived through and
oppressed the centuries, will have to go, but Gods polity, His form
of human society, of which the perfect ideal and antitype, so to
speak, lies concealed in the heavens, is everlasting. And for
Christian men in revolutionary epochs the only worthy temper is
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the calm, triumphant expectation that through all the dust,
contradiction, and distraction the fair city of God will be brought
nearer and made more manifest to man. To this cityexistent,
immortal, and waiting to be revealedyou and I may belong today.
II. THE DEFENCES. Salvation will God appoint for walls and
bulwarks. This evangelical prophet is distinguished by the fulness
and depth which he attaches to that word salvation. He all but
anticipates the New Testament completeness and fulness of meaning,
and lifts it from all merely material associations of earthly or
transitory deliverance into the sphere in which we are accustomed
to regard it as especially moving. By salvation he means, and we
mean, not only negative but positive blessings. Negatively, it
includes the removal of every conceivable or endurable evil,
whether they be evils of sin or evils of sorrow; and positively,
the investiture with every possible good that humanity is capable
of, whether it be good of goodness or good of happiness. This is
what the prophet tells us is the wall and bulwark of his ideal real
city. Mark the eloquent omission of the name of the builder of the
wall. God is a supplement. Salvation will He appoint for walls and
bulwarks. No need to say who it is that flings such a fortification
around the city. There is only one hand that can trace the lines of
such walls; only one hand that can pile their stones; only one that
can lay them, as the walls of Jericho were laid, in the blood of
His first-born Son. Salvation will He appoint for walls and
bulwarks, i.e., in a highly imaginative and picturesque form, that
the defence of the city is God Himself. The fact of salvation is
the wall and the bulwark. And the consciousness of the fact is for
our poor hearts one of our best defences against both the evil of
sin and the evil of sorrow. So, let us walk by the faith that is
always confident, though it depends on an unseen hand. Salvation
will God appoint for walls and bulwarks, and if we realise, as we
ought to do, His purpose and His power to keep us safe, and the
actual operation of His hand keeping us safe at every moment, we
shall not ask that these defences shall be supplemented by the poor
feeble earthworks that sense can throw up.
III. THE CITIZENS. Our text is part of a song, and is not to be
interpreted in the cold-blooded fashion that might suit prose. A
voice, coming from whom we know not, breaks in upon the first
strain with a command, addressed to whom we know not. Open ye the
gatesthe city thus far being supposed to be empty,that the
righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. The central
idea there is just this, Thy people shall be all righteous. The one
qualification for entrance into the city is absolute purity. Now,
that is true in regard of our present imperfect denizenship within
the city; and it is true in regard to mens passing into it, in its
perfect and final form. They used to say that Venice glass was so
made that any poison poured into it shivered the vessel. Any drop
of sin poured into your cup of communion with God shatters the cup
and spills the wine. Whosoever thinks himself a citizen of that
great city, if he falls into transgression, and soils the cleanness
of his hands, and ruffles the calm of his pure heart by self-willed
sinfulness, will wake to find himself not within the battlements,
but lying wounded, robbed, solitary, in the pitiless desert. The
nation which keepeth the truth,that does not mean adherence to any
revelation, or true creed, or the like. The word which is employed
means, not truth of thought, but truth of character; and might,
perhaps, be better represented by the more familiar word in such a
connection, faithfulness A man who is true to God, that keeps up a
faithful relation to Him who is faithful to us, he, and only he,
will tread and abide in the city. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The walls and bulwarks of a city
Accepting the vague but universal idea that there is an
abundance of sin of every sort massed together in any great city,
our inquiry concerns the main lines of work by which the welfare of
the city may be promoted. To the eye of the prophet there comes a
vision of a strong city; and
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the walls and bulwarks of that strength is said to be
salvationthat is, the strength and safety of a city is in the men
and women in it who are saved through the atoning sacrifice of
Christ. I know there are many to turn a deaf ear to any such claim
as this. They reject it as being too sweeping. They say that there
are many sources from which the life-giving waters come. Let us
take a look at some of these things which are supposed to give
safety.
I. And perhaps the first thing to be mentioned is Law. It need
not be any highly moral or religious enactment, but simply plain,
everyday, matter-of-fact law. The city needs it. People in the
simplicity of country life, where there is an abundance of room,
can get on without much law. But the city needs law. And no one
will decry the beneficent effect of righteous laws. It must be
said, however, that the good effect of law is very much diminished
by the many bad laws which are enacted. Are we claiming too much
when we say that largely the efficiency of law is due to the
Christian men and women who are in the city? Righteous laws follow
in the train of progress made by Christianity. The bulwark which at
first seemed to stand out alone and distinct becomes identified
with that bulwark in the vision of the prophet whose foundation
stone, as well as its lofty capstone, is salvation.
II. We are led on to speak of another bulwark for the city. It
is A BENEFICENT AND POWERFUL PUBLIC OPINION. But again, I assert
that very largely all this safety is due to the presence in the
city of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is the public conscience
itself, and where did it come from but through Christianity?
III. But again, look at another so-called secular bulwark. Call
it THRIFT, the genius of success, the ability to get on in the
world. Thrift is consistent with pure selfishness. Find a society
in which everybody is only thrifty, where no man cares for his
neighbour, where the human heart feels nothing of the flow of
generosity and love, and, while you may be able to point to fine
and well-kept houses, neat little cottages, well-dressed, clean
children, you are really looking upon a hollow, lifeless sham. I do
not want to live there, A sea of poverty with a little stream from
Calvary flowing into it would be far better. Just a touch of human
sympathy and love would transform the whole. (J. C. Cronin.)
A song of salvation
I. What is the PERIOD referred to? A day which was to he
remarkable for the destruction of the Churchs enemies, for the
salvation of her friends, and for the glorious extension of the
Gospel through all the nations of the earth.
II. What is the SUBJECT of this song? We have a strong city:
salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. The inviolable
security of the Church was to be the subject.
III. WHERE is this song to be sung? In the land of Judah. It was
sung when the great salvation was accomplished by the one offering
of Christ upon the Cross; and the risen Saviour said to His
disciples, Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every
creature; and the tidings were sent abroad; and the Gospel, which
was first preached at Jerusalem, was sounded forth into all lands.
And we cannot but indulge the confident persuasion, that among the
Jews, though they are for the present cast out, this song shall be
sung in due time, which shall be as life from the dead. But as that
people have long since been cut off because of their unbelief, we
remark, that the words will apply to others also; for he is not a
Jew which is one outwardly, etc. So that this song comes down to
us. (G. Clayton.)
The Church not in danger
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I. THE FIGURATIVE DESCRIPTION WHICH IS HERE GIVEN OF THE
CHURCH.
1. It is a city; from which metaphor we obtain three ideas
respecting it
(1) Its amplitude. It is not a family, or a village, or a
hamlet, or a provincial town; but a city. It includes as its
inhabitants, all the good both in heaven and in earth, who form an
exceeding great multitude. The dimensions of this city are such as
comport with the largeness of the Fathers designs, the transcendent
value of the Saviours merits, the variety and immensity of the Holy
Spirits influences.
(2) Its order No city ever flourished long without rule. Christ
is the King of this city, and He establishes His laws in the midst
of it.
(3) Its magnificence. We are not to look for the magnificence of
the Church in outward splendour and glory, but in its sanctityits
holy principles and practices.
2. But this city has an important appellative;it is a strong
city. And this will appear, if you consider
(1) The foundation on which it rests. Jesus Christ, who is the
same yesterday, today, and forever.
(2) The protection it enjoys. God Himself dwells in this city;
and His presence is our stay and our defence. All His attributes
and promises are connected with this safety.
(3) The principles by which its unity is cemented. Unity is
strength. And the unity subsisting between the members of this city
is so strong as not to be dissolved by any earthly power. The
principles by which the members of the Church of Christ are united
are these twotruth and love. We have a strong city.
(4) The rude assaults it has sustained, uninjured. We hardly
know the strength of anything till it is put to the test. The
Church has been exposed to the opposition of earth and the fury of
hell.
II. ITS IMPREGNABLE SAFETY. How do I know that this city shall
continue, and its interests be advanced, until its glory is
consummated? Why, for this reason: Salvation will God appoint for
walls and bulwarks.
1. Hostility is implied.
2. The means of preservation and defence are amply provided.
3. It implies a glorious issue. All these means shall prove
effectual
III. HOW MAY WE HAVE A SATISFACTORY ASSURANCE THAT WE HAVE
PERSONALLY AN INTEREST IN THIS CITY OF THE GREAT KING? You may have
this
1. If you have chosen Jesus Christ as the ground of your
dependence for salvation.
2. If you are visibly incorporated with the inhabitants of this
city.
3. If you are enabled to exemplify the distinguishing character
of those who are citizens of Zion.
4. If you find that you have truly merged all your interests in
the interests of the Church, and have identified your happiness
with her successes.
5. If you find your thoughts and affections much engaged on that
future State of which the Church on earth is but a type.
Conclusion
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1. Let me call upon you to be thankful to God, who has afforded
you such an asylum.
2. Let me invite you to enter this city.
3. Let us dismiss our fears, when we have once got within the
walls of this city.
4. Endeavour to bring as many as you can to be inhabitants of
that Zion, the privileges of which you enjoy. (J. C. Cronin.)
The saving arm of God a sure defences to the Church of Christ
against all her enemies
I. Mention some of those ENEMIES against whom the Church is
fortified.
1. She is fortified against all the attempts of Satan.
2. A wicked world is always disposed to take part with Sam
against her.
3. The Church has enemies within her own walls; and is often in
the greatest perils by false brethren.
4. The Church has enemies even in the hearts of her best friends
and sincerest members. That principle of corruption that is not
totally subdued in the best Christians, as it is inimical to God,
must also be inimical to the Church; and, as far as it prevails,
its effects must be always hurtful to her.
II. Speak of that SALVATION which God has promised to appoint
for walls and bulwarks to the Church.
1. Salvation bears an evident relation to misery and danger.
2. It is but a partial salvation that she can hope to enjoy in
this world:
3. But her salvation shall one day be complete. From every
salvation that God has already wrought, faith draws encouragement:
considering it as a pledge of what He will work in time to
come.
III. CONSIDER WHAT ABOUT THE CHURCH IS SECURED AGAINST THE
ATTEMPTS OF ENEMIES BY THE SALVATION OF GOD. She may lose much of
what may appear to a carnal eye as most valuable to her. But in the
eye of the Church herself, and of all her genuine children, all
this perfectly consistent with the all-sufficiency of that
salvation by which she is defended. An is still safe that is
necessary either to her being or her well-being, and all that is
essential to the happiness of any of her citizens.
1. Her foundation is always safe. She is built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being
the chief cornerstone.
2. Her existence is always safe. The Church may be driven into
the wilderness; but she shall never be driven out of the world.
3. Her particular citizens are all safe, under the protection of
Gods saving arm.
4. Her privileges and immunities are all safe. These having been
purchased for her by the blood of Christ, and bestowed upon nor by
His God and Father, are also preserved by Divine power and grace;
and none shall ever be suffered to deprive her of them.
5. Her treasures are all safe. She has a two-fold treasure: a
treasure of grace, and a treasure of truth. Both these are lodged
in the hand of Christ.
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6. Her real interests are all safe and secure: and that to such
a degree, that neither shall she suffer any harm, in the issue,nor
shall her enemies gain any advantage, by all their apparent
success.
7. In a word, her eternal inheritance is perfectly safe and
secure.
IV. Conclude with some IMPROVEMENT of what has been said.
1. The Church of Christ has but little occasion for the favour
and protection of earthly princes, and little cause to regret the
want of it.
2. It is neither upon ordinances nor instruments, upon her own
endeavours nor those of her members, nor upon any created
assistance that the Church of Christ ought to depend for safety or
prosperity.
3. Neither the Church of God, nor any particular Christian, has
anything to fear from the number, the power, the policy, or even
the success of their enemies,
4. This subject informs us what it is that really brings the
Church of Christ into danger. Nothing but her own sin can bring her
into real danger; because this, and nothing else, tends to deprive
her of her protection, or to cause her defence to depart from
her.
5. We may here see plentiful encouragement to every member of
the Church, as well as to those who bear office in her, to continue
strenuous and undaunted, in opposing every enemy, in defending
every privilege, that God has bestowed upon the Church, every
ordinance that He has instituted in her, and every truth that He
has revealed to her.
6. We have here an ample fund of consolation to all those who
are affected with the low condition of the Church of God in our
day. (J. Young.)
The city of salvation
In the Scriptures we read of some very strong cities, that are
now levelled with the dust. But the city mentioned in the text is
stronger than all the rest. The state of nature may be called the
city-of-destruction; and the state of grace, the strong city, or
the city of salvation.
I. The NAME of this city. Salvation. It is a very old name, it
has had this name a great many thousands of years; it has never
changed its name; it is a durable name; it is an unchangeable
name.
II. What KIND of a city it is.
1. It is a large city. It would hold all the inhabitants of the
earth for thousands of generations.
2. It is a free city. The Lord Jesus Christ welcomes you to come
and live in it.
3. It is a wealthy city. The treasures of free grace are in the
city of salvation.
4. It is a healthy city. They breathe good air who live in it.
The Physician is the Lord Jesus Christ, who heals every
disease.
5. It is a happy city.
6. This city will last foe ever. Where is Babylon? Where is
Tyre? Where is Nineveh? Where are the cities of Egypt? Those mighty
cities are levelled with the dust, but this city will last through
all eternity.
III. The BUILDER of this city. The Lord Jesus Christ. In London
there is a constant succession of streets for many miles in length,
and the whole was built by man.
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IV. Who are the INHABITANTS of this city? They are good men,
women, and children.
1. They are called saints. The word saint means a holy
person.
2. Another name given to the inhabitants of this city is
righteous.
3. Another name is believers.
4. Another name is sons and daughters.
V. The WATCHMEN of the city. There are watchmen placed upon the
walls of Zionparental watchmen, teaching watchmen, and ministerial
watchmen.
VI. The GUARDS of the city. Angels guard you while you sleep and
while you are awake. They are wise guards; powerful guards;
affectionate guards.
VII. The WAY which leads to this city. The road of
repentance.
VIII. The WALL of this city. It is so high that no enemy can
scale it; it is so strong that no enemy can break or injure it.
IX. The FOUNDATION of this city. The righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
X. The STREETS of this city. There are some very remarkable
streets.
1. The high street of Faith. This street runs from one end of
the city to the other. In almost every town and city, we find a
street of this nameHigh Street. But there is no such street, as
this high street of faith; it is a very long and beautiful street.
It connects the gate of conversion and the gate of Heaven. This
high street is frequented by all who live by faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ.
2. The street of Humility. It lies alongside the high street of
faith.
3. The street of Obedience. The inhabitants are very partial to
this street. This street is divided into ten parts. The ten parts
are the ten commandments. This is a very broad street. Thy
commandments are exceeding broad. It is a remarkably clean
street.
4. A fourth street is Worship street.
XI. We may now take a view of the SCHOOLS of the city.
1. Providence.
2. Revelation.
3. Affliction.
4. Experience.
XII. Come and see the PALACES of the city. When anyone gets to
London, they want to see the palace of the king. I will show nobler
palaces than palaces or earthly Kings. These palaces are
ordinances; such as prayer, praise, reading and hearing the Holy
Gospel, baptism and the Lords Supper, meditation and
self-examination. Consider the reason why they are called palaces.
A palace is a place where the king is to be seen. It is a place
where petitions are presented; where the king bestows wealth and
great gifts. Here petitions are presented and received; here King
Jesus bestows wealth and honour. It is a place for conversing with
the king; and here we may converse with Jesus. In a palace grand
feasts are held; so in the ordinances noble feasts are provided for
souls immortal, where they may eat abundantly of heavenly
provisions.
XIII. The ARMOURY of the city. A beautiful piece is hanging up
called the helmetthe helmet of salvation. Not far from the helmet
is a breastplatethe breastplate of righteousness. Near the
breastplate is a girdle or sash,with this inscriptiontruth. The
next piece of armour is a pair of
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shoes with this namepreparation of the Gospel of peace. Next is
the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The shield of
faith.
XIV. The GARDEN of the city.
1. The walks in the garden. The walks of meditation and holy
fellowship.
2. The fountains. The Lord Jesus Christ is the principal
fountain. There is another fountain, called the consolation of the
Holy Ghost; the water is delicious. All the inhabitants drink of
it.
3. The flowers. There are the flowers of the promises and
doctrines; they are odoriferous flowers, and never failing.
4. The trees. The tree of knowledge; not the tree of knowledge
which was in Eden, but of knowledge and wisdom. There is not a
poisonous tree in the garden. The tree of life, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is therewhose leaves are for the healing of the
nations.
XV. The BANK of this city. The name of this bank is written on
the door; it isthe covenant of grace. It is so free, all may come
and apply; and all who apply, receive. The bank, too, is very rich;
and it is free for the poorest sinner. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Proprietor, and He is willing to give to poor sinners as much as
they need. This bank cannot fail; it cannot break. Whatever is
drawn out during the day, it is as full again at night. It is full
of the unsearchable riches of Christ.
XVI. There is a GATE through which the inhabitants of the city
pass, when they enter Heaven. It is the gate of death. There is a
valley leading to the gate called the valley of the shadow of
death. It is illuminated with the light of the Sun of
Righteousness. Pious children pass through that valley, leaning on
the arm of Jesus. (A. Fletcher, D. D.)
2 Open the gates
that the righteous nation may enter,
the nation that keeps faith.
1.BARNES, Open ye the gates - This is probably the language of a
chorus responding to the sentiment in Isa_26:1. The captive people
are returning; and this cry is made that the gates of the city may
be thrown open, and that they may be permitted to enter without
obstruction (compare Psa_24:7, Psa_24:9; Psa_118:19).
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That the righteous nation which keepeth the truth - Who, during
their long captivity and contact with pagan nations, have not
apostatized from the true religion, but have adhered firmly to the
worship of the true God. This was doubtless true of the great body
of the captive Jews in Babylon.
2. CLARKE, The righteous nation - The converted Gentiles shall
have the gates opened - a full entrance into all the glories and
privileges of the Gospel; being fellow heirs with the converted
Jews. The Jewish peculiarity is destroyed, for the middle wall of
partition is broken down.
The truth - The Gospel itself - as the fulfillment of all the
ancient types, shadows, and ceremonies; and therefore termed the
truth, in opposition to all those shadowy rites and ceremonies. The
law was given by Moses; but grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ;
Joh_1:17, and see the note there.
3. GILL, Open ye the gates,.... Not of Jerusalem, literally
understood, nor of heaven; rather of the New Jerusalem, whose gates
are described, Rev_21:12 at least of the church in the latter day;
the gates or door into which now should be, and then will be, open;
Christ the door, and faith in him, and a profession of it, without
which none ought to be admitted, and whoever climbs up another way
is a thief and a robber, Joh_10:1 these words are the words of the
prophet, or of God, or of Christ by him, directed not to the
keepers of the gates of Jerusalem, or of the doors of the temple,
though, they may be alluded to; nor to any supposed doorkeeper of
heaven, angels, or men, there being none such; rather to the twelve
angels, at the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem, Rev_21:12 or to
the ministers of the Gospel, who have the key of knowledge to open
the door of faith, and let persons into the knowledge of divine
things; to admit them to ordinances, and receive them into the
church by the joint suffrage of the members of it. The phrase
denotes a large increase of members, and a free, open, and public
reception of them, who are after described; see Isa_60:11, that the
righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in; not all the
world, for there is none righteous, not one of them naturally, or
of themselves; nor the Jewish nation, for though they sought after
righteousness, did not attain it, unless when they will be
converted in the latter day, and then they, and all the Lord's
people, will be righteous, and appear to be a holy nation, and a
peculiar people, Isa_60:21 and being made righteous by the
righteousness of Christ imputed to them, and sanctified by the
Spirit, will be fit persons to be admitted through the gates into
the city; see Psa_118:19 and because there will be great numbers of
such, especially when a nation shall be born at once, hence they
are so called: and these will be a set of men that "will keep the
truth"; not, as the Targum renders it, "who keep the law with a
perfect heart;'' for no man can do that; but rather the ordinances
of the Gospel, as they were first delivered by Christ and his
apostles, and especially the truths of it; and the word here used
is in the plural number, and may be rendered "truths"; the several
truths of the Gospel, which will be kept by the righteous, not in
memory only, but in their hearts and affections, and in their
purity, and with a pure conscience; and they will not part with
them at any rate, but hold them fast, that no man take their crown,
Rev_3:11.
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4. HENRY, That it is richly replenished with those that are
good, and they are instead of fortifications to it; for the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, if they are such as they should be, are
its strength, Zec_12:5. The gates are here ordered to be opened,
that the righteous nation, which keeps the truth, may enter in,
Isa_26:2. They had been banished and driven out by the iniquity of
the former times, but now the laws that were made against them are
repealed, and they have liberty to enter in again. Or, There is an
act for a general naturalization of all the righteous, whatever
nation they are of, encouraging them to come and settle in
Jerusalem. When God has done great things for any place or people
he expects that thus they should render according to the benefit
done unto them; they should be kind to his people, and take them
under their protection and into their bosom. Note, 1. It is the
character of righteous men that they keep the truths of God, a firm
belief of which will have a commanding influence upon the
regularity of the whole conversation. Good principles fixed in the
head will produce good resolutions in the heart and good practices
in the life. 2. It is the interest of states to countenance such,
and court them among them, for they bring a blessing with them.
5. JAMISON, Address of the returning people to the gates of
Jerusalem (type of the heavenly city, Heb_12:22); (Psa_24:7,
Psa_24:9; Psa_118:19). Antitypically (Rev_22:14; Rev_21:25,
Rev_21:27).
righteous nation that had not apostatized during the captivity.
Horsley translates, The nation of the Just One, namely, the
Jews.
6. K&D, In Isa_26:1 this city is thought of as still empty:
for, like paradise, in which man was placed, it is first of all a
creation of God; and hence the exclamation in Isa_26:2 : Open ye
the gates, that a righteous people may enter, one keeping
truthfulness. The cry is a heavenly one; and those who open, if
indeed we are at liberty to inquire who they are, must be angels.
We recall to mind Psa_24:1-10, but the scene is a different one.
The author of Ps 118 has given
individuality to this passage in Psa_118:19, Psa_118:20.
Goitzaddik (a righteous nation) is the
church of the righteous, as in Isa_24:16. Goi (nation) is used
here, as in Isa_26:15 and Isa_9:2, with reference to Israel, which
has now by grace become a righteous nation, and has been
established in covenant truth towards God, who keepeth truth
('emunim, from 'emun, Psa_31:24).
7. PULPIT, Open ye the gates. The command is given by God to his
angels within the city, or perhaps
by some angels to others, to "open the gates," and let the
saints march in and take possession
(comp. Psa_118:19, Psa_118:20, which seems to represent the same
occasion; and Psa_24:7-10, which
tells of another occasion on which the angelic warders were
bidden to throw open the gates of the
celestial city. The righteous nation which keepeth the truth;
literally, a righteous nation. A people,
made up of all kindreds and nations and tongues, which should
henceforth be "the people of God" They
-
are "righteous," as washed clean from all taint of sin in the
blood of the Lamb. They "keep the truth," or
"keep faithfulness," as under all circumstances clinging loyally
to God
8. CALVIN, 2.Open ye the gates. This was undoubtedly despised by
many, when it was published
by Isaiah; for during his life, the inhabitants of Jerusalem
were wicked and ungodly, and the number of
good men was exceedingly small. But after his death, when they
had been punished for their wickedness,
it was in some measure perceived that this prediction had not
been uttered in vain. So long as wicked
men enjoy prosperity, they have no fear, and do not imagine that
they can be brought low. Thus the Jews
thought that they would never be driven out of Judea, and
carried into captivity, and hoped that they
would continue to dwell there. It was therefore necessary to
take away from them every pretense for
being haughty and insolent; and such is the import of the
Prophet words:
And a righteous nation, which keepeth the truth, shall enter in.
inhabitants of the restored city shall be
unlike the former; for they will maintain righteousness and
truth. But at that time this promise also might
appear to have failed of its accomplishment; for when they had
been driven out of the country and led into
captivity, no consolation remained. Accordingly, when the Temple
had been destroyed, the city sacked,
and all order and government overthrown and destroyed, they
might have objected, are those which
he bids us Where are the people who shall Yet we see that these
things were fulfilled, and that
nothing was ever foretold which the Lord did not accomplish. We
ought, therefore, to keep before our
minds those ancient histories, that we may be fortified by their
example, and, amidst the deepest
adversity to which the Church is reduced, may hope that the Lord
will yet raise her up again.
When the Prophet calls the nation and truthful, he not only, as
I mentioned a little before, describes the
persons to whom this promise relates, but shews the fruit of the
chastisement; for when its pollution shall
have been washed away, the holiness and righteousness of the
Church shall shine more brightly. At that
time wicked men were the majority, good men were very few, and
were overpowered by the multitude of
those who were of an opposite character. It was therefore
necessary that that multitude, which had no
fear of God, and no religion, should be taken away, that God
might gather his remnant. Thus, it was a