INSIGHTS & NOTES FROM
CHAPTER 4
"The 390 days, according to the prophetic dialect, signified 390 years" "When God is about to do some great work, he is said to make bare his arm. Isaiah 52:10." "God's servants must learn to endure hardness, & to deny themselves the use of lawful delights, when they may thereby serve the glory of God, evidence the sincerity of their faith, & express their sympathy with their brethren in affliction." "It will be comfortable to us, when we are reduced to hardships, if out hearts are witness for us that we have always been careful to abstain from sin, even from little sins, & the appearance of evil." "It is a righteous thing with God to deprive us of those enjoyments which we have made the food & fuel of our lusts." "Because they served not God with cheerfulness in the abundance of all things, God will make them serve their enemies in the want of all things." CHAPTER 5 "Those will be ruined that will not be reformed." "God has variety of judgments wherewith to accomplish the destruction of a sinful people & to make and when he begins." "Jerusalem was a city upon a hill, conspicuous & illustrious, & which all the neighbouring nations had an eye upon, some for good-will, some for ill-will. Jerusalem was designed to have a good influence upon the nations & countries round about, was set in the midst of them as a candle upon a candlestick, to spread the light of divine revelation, which she was blessed with, to all the dark corners of the neighbouring nations, that from them it might diffuse itself further, even to the ends of the earth." "When places & persons are made great, it is with design that they may do good & that those about them may be the better for them, that their light may shine before men." "A contempt of the word & law of God, opens a door to all manner of iniquity. God's statutes are the terms on which he deals with men; those that refuse his terms cannot expect his favours." "Israel's God is one, & his name one, his altar one; but they, not content with this one God, multiplied their gods to such a degree that according to the number of their cities so were their gods" "Who is able to stand in God's sight when once he is angry?" "Those who will not observe the judgments of God's mouth shall not escape the judgments of his hand" "Divine compassion defers the punishment, or mitigates it, or supports under it, or shortens it; but here is judgment without mercy, wrath without any mixture or allay of pity." "Those who live & die impenitent will perish for ever unpitied; there is a day coming when the Lord will not spare." "If judgment begin at the house of God, where will it end?" "The destruction of some is designed for the instruction of others. Malefactors are publicly punished in terrorem - that others may take warning." "Life is frail, is weak, is burdened, so that, if it have not daily bread for its staff to lean upon, it cannot but sink, & is soon gone if that staff be broken." "Evil pursues sinners; & the curse shall come upon them & overtake them." "Sooner or later, God's word will prove itself." CHAPTER 6 "The mountains of Israel had been holy mountains, but now that they had polluted them with their high places God set his face against them" "It is just with God to make that a desolation which we make an idol of; for he is a jealous God & will not bear a rival. If men do not, as they ought, destroy idolatry, God will, first or last, find out a way to do it." "If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy. I Corinthians 3:17." "To those whom God designs for life he will give repentance unto life." "God's patience both leaves room for repentance & is an encouragement to sinners to repent. Where God designs grace to repent he allows space to repent" "...true repentance shall be accepted of God, though we are brought to it by our troubles" "They had departed from God to idols, & given that honour to pretended deities, the creatures of men's fancies & the work of men's hands, which they should have given to the God of Israel. They departed from God, from his word, which they should have made their rule, from his work, which they should have made their business." "Idolatry is... the breach of a marriage-covenant with God" "Those that truly loathe sin cannot but loathe themselves because of sin; self-loathing is evermore the companion of true repentance." "One way or other God will make sinners to know & own that he is the Lord, either by their repentance or by their ruin." "It is our duty to be affected not only with our own sins & sufferings, but with the sins & sufferings of others; & to look with compassion upon the miseries that wicked people bring upon themselves; as Christ beheld Jerusalem & wept over it." "Sin is a desolating thing; therefore stand in awe & sin not." CHAPTER 7 "Oh, that we could all see that end of time & days very near, & the end of our own time & days much nearer, that we may secure a happy lot at the end of the days!" "...to all God's purposes there is a time, a proper time, & that prefixed, in which the purpose shall have its accomplishment" "Those shall have judgment without mercy who made light of mercy when it was offered them." "In the heaviest judgments God inflicts upon sinners he does but recompense their own ways upon them; they are beaten with their own rod." "Two sins are particularly specified as provoking God to bring these judgments upon them - pride & oppression. God will humble them by his judgments, for they have magnified themselves." "None ever hardened his heart against God & prospered. Those that strengthen themselves in their wickedness will be found not only to weaken, but to ruin, themselves. Psalms 52:7." "If God be against us, none can be for us to do us any service." "Those who would not know it was the Lord that did them good, shall be made to know it is the Lord that smiteth them; for, one way or other, he will be owned." "Sooner or later sin will have sorrow of one kind or other; & those that will not repent of their iniquity may justly be left to pine away in it; those that will not mourn for it as it is an offence to God shall be made to mourn for it as it is a shame & ruin to themselves, to mourn at the last, when the flesh & the body are consumed, & to say, How have I hated instruction! Proverbs 5:11, 12." "It is folly for the strong man to glory in his strength, for God can soon weaken it." "There are many whose wealth is their snare & ruin. The gaining of the world is the losing of their souls; it makes them proud, secure, covetous, oppressive, voluptuous, & that which, if well used, might have been the servant of their piety, being abused, becomes the stumbling-block of their iniquity." "There is a day of wrath coming, when it will appear that men's wealth is utterly unable to deliver them or do them any service." "If God give us daily bread, we have reason to be thankful, & no reason to complain, though silver & gold we have none." "The wealth of this world has not that in it which will answer the desires of the soul, or be any satisfaction to it in a day of distress." "Those are unworthy to be honoured with the form of godliness who will not be governed by the power of godliness." "Bloody crimes will be punished with bloody judgments." "What can men contrive or do for themselves when God has departed from them & appears against them? All must needs be in tears, all in trouble, when God comes to judge them according to their deserts, & so make them know, to their cost, that he is the Lord, the God to whom vengeance belongs." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Isaiah to Malachi, Mac Donald, pgs. 775 - 791.
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CHAPTER 1
"It is a great mercy to have the word of God brought to us, & a great duty to attend to it diligently, when we are in affliction." "It concerns those to be well acquainted with God themselves, & much affected with what they know of him, whose business it is to bring others to the knowledge & love of him." "He (Ezekiel) felt the power of God opening his eyes to see the visions, opening his ear to hear the voice, & opening his heart to receive both: The hand of the Lord was there upon him." "When the heavens are opened it concerns us to have our eyes open." "God can by a whirlwind clear the sky & air, & produce that serenity of mind which is necessary to our communion with Heaven." "God has messengers to send every way; for his kingdom is universal, & reaches to all parts of the world." "Angels are active beings; it is not their happiness to sit still & do nothing, but to be always well employed; & we must reckon ourselves then best when we are doing good, doing it as the angels do it" "Those that walk after the Spirit do the will of God as the angels do it." "If the ministry of the angels is as a consuming fire to God's enemies, it is as a rejoicing light to his own children." "God is in the soul of the world, & animates the whole, both that above & that beneath, so that they move in perfect harmony" "O the height & depth of God's councils! The consideration of them should strike an awe upon us." "Noises on earth should awaken our attention to the voice from the firmament; for how shall we escape if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven!" "Angels are his servants; men are his tools." "Nothing is more dreadful to the most daring sinners than the wrath of him that sits upon the throne, & of the Lord. Revelation 6:16." "The more God is pleased to make known of himself to us the more we should be before him. He fell upon his face to adore the majesty of God, to implore his mercy & to deprecate the wrath he saw ready to break out against the children of his people." "When he fell on his face, ready to receive the word, then he heard the voice of one that spoke; for God delights to teach the humble." CHAPTER 2 "Our adorings of God must not hinder, but rather quicken & excite, our actings for God." "Stand, & I will speak to thee. We may expect that God will speak to us when we stand ready to do what he commands us." "We must stir up ourselves, & then God will put strength into us" "The Spirit sets us upon our feet by inclining our will to our duty, & thereby disposes the understanding to receive the knowledge of it." "God is perfectly acquainted with every man's true character, whatever his pretensions & professions." "When men's hearts are made to burn under the word, & their wills to bow to it, then they know & hear the witness in themselves that it is not the word of men, but of God." "Those that will do any thing to purpose in the service of God must not be afraid of the face of man" "As is the honour of prophets, that they are entrusted to speak God's words, so it is their duty to cleave closely to them & to speak nothing but what is agreeable to the words of God." "God has a great deal to say to his people when they have degenerated & become rebellious." "Those that speak from God to others must be sure to hear from God themselves & be obedient to his voice." "If people will not do their duty in reforming, yet let ministers do theirs in reproving." CHAPTER 3 "Is any afflicted? let him pray; & let him in prayer pour out his complaint to God, & make known before him his trouble. The people of God do so here"
"As it is a great comfort to us, so it ought to be a sufficient one, in our troubles, that God sees, & considers, & remembers, all that has come upon us" "The sins which God looks back upon in punishing we must look back upon in repenting." "Let us take occasion hence to bless God for the plenty that we enjoy, that we get our bread so easily" "...for the peace we enjoy, that we can go out, & enjoy not only the necessary productions, but the pleasures of the country, without any fear of the sword of the wilderness." "Earthly crowns are fading, failing things; but, blessed be God, there is a crown of glory that fades not away, that never fails, a kingdom that cannot be moved." "What shakes the world gives no disturbance to him who made it" "God's throne continues still; he still rules the world, & rules it for the good of the church. The Lord reigns, reigns for ever" "Lord, do not reject us for ever, but turn thou us unto thee; renew our days." "God never leaves any till they first leave him, nor stands afar off from any longer than while they stand afar off from him" "Those that repent, & do their first works, shall rejoice, & recover their first comforts. God's mercies to his people have been ever of old (Ps. 25:6); & therefore they may hope, even then when he seems to have forsaken & forgotten them, that the mercy which was from everlasting will be to everlasting." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Isaiah to Malachi, Mac Donald, pgs. 742 - 746. CHAPTER 1
"Those that are ever so much increased God can soon diminish." "Sin brings a people not only into solitude, but into slavery. A city that used to be full of mirth has now become melancholy & upon all accounts full of grief." "There is nothing more commonly seen under the sun than the tears of the oppressed, with whom the clouds return after the rain. Ecclesiastes 4:1." "Sin is the reproach of any people." "Nothing is more grievous to those who have a true concern for the glory of God, nor is more lamented, than the violation of God's laws, & the contempt they see put upon sacred things." "It is a very great trouble to all that love God to hear his ordinances mocked at" "God often makes us know the worth of mercies by the want of them" "Grievous sins bring wondrous ruin" "The only way to make ourselves easy under our burdens is to cast them upon God first, & leave it to him to do with us as seemeth him good." "The sinner is holden with the cords of his own sins. Proverbs 5:22. The yoke of Christ's commands is an easy yoke (Matt. 11:30), but that of our own transgressions is a heavy one." "God is the comforter" "...he only can administer effectual comforts" "His are strong consolations, able to relieve the soul, to bring it back when it is gone, & we cannot of ourselves fetch it again" "Happy are those that have made God their friend & keep themselves in his love, for he will not deceive them!" "Sorrow for sin must be great sorrow & must affect the soul." "It is matter of comfort to us that the troubles which oppress our spirits are open before God's eye." "Our prayers may & must agree with God's Word" CHAPTER 2 "To those who know how to value God's favour nothing appears more dreadful than his anger" "Gates & bars will stand us in no stead when God has withdrawn his protection." "It is just with God to debase those by his judgments who have by sin debased themselves." "Those that have seen the days of the Son of man, & slighted them, may desire to see one of those days & not be permitted. Luke 17:22." "The judgments of God upon the land & nation are to be lamented by us, though we, for our parts, may escape pretty well." "Prophets should tell people of their faults, should show them their sins, that they may bring them to repentance, & so prevent their ruin" "Prophets should warn people of the judgments of God coming upon them" "...the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church." "In all the providences of God concerning his church it is good to take notice of the fulfilling of his Word" "Prayer is a salve for every sore, even the sorest, a remedy for every malady, even the most grievous. And our business in prayer is... to refer our case to him, & then to leave it with him. Lord, behold & consider, & thy will be done." CHAPTER 3 "God is sometimes angry with his own people... a chastening which, though grievous for the present, will in the issue be advantageous." "It is just with God to make those who walk in the crooked paths of sin, crossing God's laws, walk in the crooked paths of affliction, crossing their designs & breaking their measures." "...with God there is everlasting strength, & he is his people's never-failing hope, whatever they may think." "It is sin that makes the cup of affliction a bitter cup." "We all owe it to the sparing mercy of God that we are not consumed." "...God's compassions fail not" "...every morning we have fresh instances of God's compassion towards us; he visits us with them every morning" "When our comforts fail, yet God's compassions do not." "Whatever hard things we suffer, we must never entertain any hard thoughts of God, but must still be ready to own that he is both kind & faithful." "It is our duty to make God the portion of our souls, & then to make use of him as our portion & to take the comfort of it in the midst of our lamentations." "While we wait for him by faith, we must seek him by prayer; our souls must seek him, else we do not seek so as to find." "And to those who thus wait & seek God will be gracious; he will show them his marvellous lovingkindness." "Those who are truly humbled for sin will be glad to obtain a good hope, through grace, upon any terms." "...God will graciously return to his people with seasonable comforts according to the time that he has afflicted them" "The perverting of justice, & the subverting of the just, are a great affront to God" "Men are but tools which the great God makes use of, & manages as he pleases, in the government of this lower world" "All the events of divine Providence are the products of a divine counsel; whatever is done God has the directing of it, & the works of his hands agree with the words of his mouth; he speaks, & it is done, so easily, so effectually are all his purposes fulfilled." "Though we may pour out our complaints before God, we must never exhibit any complaints against God." "We must set ourselves to answer God's intention in afflicting us, which is to bring sin to our remembrance, & to bring us home to himself." "When we are in affliction, it is seasonable to consider our ways (Hag. 1:5), that what is amiss may be repented of & amended for the future." "We must offer up ourselves to God, & our best affections & services, in the flames of devotion." "Our hearts must go along with our prayers. We must lift up our hearts with our hands, as we must pour out our souls with our words." "Those that are cast down are commonly tempted to think themselves cast off. Psalms 31:22." "Prayer is the breath of the new man, sucking in the air of mercy in petitions & returning it in praises; it is both the evidence & the maintenance of the spiritual life." "When we draw nigh to God in a way of duty we may by faith see him drawing nigh to us in a way of mercy." "God will one day call sinners to an account for all the hard speeches which they have spoken against him & his people." CHAPTER 4 "Nothing ripens a people more for ruin, nor fills the measure faster, than the sins of their priests & prophets." "...God will have the honour of being himself alone our life & the length of our days." "The troubles of God's people shall be continued no longer than till they have done their work for which they were sent." "...sooner or later, sin will be visited & discovered, & all the hidden works of darkness brought to light." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Isaiah to Malachi, Mac Donald, pgs. 711 - 742. CHAPTER 49
"Though among men might often prevails against right, yet that might shall be controlled by the Almighty, who sits in the throne, judging right" "God has many ways to terrify those who have been a terror to his people." "Those who backslide & turn away from God have little reason either to take complacency or to put confidence in any worldly enjoyments whatsoever. Hosea 9:1." "Though the enemies of God's Israel may make a prey of them for a while, the tables will shortly be turned." "...when God has work to do he will find out the fittest instruments to be employed in doing it." "When God has work to do of any kind he will find those that are able to engage in it, & all the world cannot find those that are able to engage against it." "God can bring to pass the greatest works by instruments least likely." "Those deceive themselves who place their happiness in carnal joys" "Those are truly rich who have enough to supply their necessities & know when they have enough." "Those that live innocently & honestly may live very securely, though they have neither gates nor bars." "God can make his judgments follow those that think by flight to escape them & to get out of the reach of them. Evil pursues sinners." "If the Son make you free, then you shall be free indeed." CHAPTER 50 "It is a good sign that God is coming towards a people in ways of mercy when they begin to be tenderly affected under his hand." "Those that seek the Lord, must seek him sorrowing" "And those that sorrow must seek the Lord, & then their sorrow shall soon be turned into joy, for he will be found of those that so seek him." "Come, & let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant." "...when backsliders return, they must do their first works, must renew the covenant they first made; & it must be a perpetual covenant, that must never be broken; &, in order to that, must never be forgotten" "It is bad with a people when their leaders cause them to err, when those that should direct & reform them seduce & debauch them, & when those that should secure & advance their interests are the betrayers of them." "It is a graceful thing to be forward in a good work & to set others a good example." "...what God appoints to be done shall be done" "When God gives commission he will give success." "It is sin that makes men a mark for the arrows of God's judgments" "Those that return to God & their duty shall find true satisfaction of soul in so doing; & those that seek first the kingdom of God & the righteousness thereof, that aim to make their habitation in Zion, the holy hill, shall have other things added to them" "Those whose sins God pardons he reserves for something very great; for whom he justifies them he glorifies." "Great men are but instruments which the great God makes use of to serve his own purposes." "Those that strive against the Lord will soon find themselves out-matched." "Whatever wrong is done to God's church (his temple in the world) it will certainly be reckoned for" "...it is the glory of God to look upon those that are proud & to abase them" "The pride of men's hearts sets God against them & ripens them space for ruin; for God resists the proud & will bring them down. The most proud shall stumble & fall; they shall fall not so much by others' thrusting them down as by their own stumbling" "Who can help those up whom God will throw down?" "It is the unspeakable comfort of the people of God that, though they have hosts against them, they have the Lord of hosts for them" "...those who have dealt cruelly, & have shown no mercy, may expect to be cruelly dealt with, & to find no mercy." "Providence may appear unequal for a time its retributions will be equal at last" CHAPTER 51 "Ruin is not far off from those that lie under the guilt of wrong doing to God's people." "God will convince those by his judgments who would not be convinced by his word that he is God over all." "He is the God that made the world (v. 15), & therefore nothing is too hard for him to do; it is in his name that our help stands, & on him our hope is built." "God's counsel shall stand, & according to it all hearts shall move." "If men will not set a measure to their covetousness by wisdom & grace, God will set a measure to it by his judgments." "When God's judgments abound it is good to get as far as we can from those against whom they are levelled" "Wherever we are, in the greatest depths, at the greatest distances, we may & must remember the Lord our God; & in the time of the greatest fears & hopes it is seasonable to remember the Lord." "When we see what this world is, how glittering its shows are & how flattering its proposals, let us read in the book of the Lord that its fashion passes away, & it shall shortly be cut off & be desolate for ever" CHAPTER 52 "...none are cast out from God's gracious presence but those that by sin have first thrown themselves out of it." "No walls can protect those, nor pillars sustain those, from whom God withdraws." "While there is life, there is hope." "Though now we suffer, we shall not always suffer." "Those therefore that are under oppression will find that it is not in vain to hope & quietly to wait for the salvation of the Lord." "...no word of God shall fall to the ground" "...& the unbelief of man shall not make God's threatenings, any more than his promises, of no effect." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Isaiah to Malachi, Mac Donald, pgs. 682 - 711. CHAPTER 45
"Young beginners in... (their walk w/ the Lord), like fresh-water soldiers are apt to be discouraged with the little difficulties which they commonly meet with at first in the service of God." "The frowns of the world would not disappoint us as they do if we did not foolishly flatter ourselves with the hopes of its smiles & court & covet them too much." "To seek ourselves more than the public welfare, especially to seek great things to ourselves when the public is in danger, is very unbecoming" "What folly is it then to seek great things for ourselves here, where every thing is little & nothing certain!" "The preservation & continuance of life are very great mercies, & we are bound to account them such, as they are the prolonging of our opportunity to glorify God in this world & to get ready for a better" CHAPTER 46 "It concerns those that go forth to war not only to order the buckler, & harness the horses, but to repent of their sins, & pray to God for his presence with them, & that they may have it to keep themselves from every wicked thing." "When men think to magnify themselves by pushing on unrighteous enterprises, let them expect that God will glorify himself by blasting them & cutting them off." "The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. Valiant men are not always victorious." "Those that make most noise in any business are frequently but a noise. Great talkers are little doers." "The Lord of hosts hath numberless hosts at his command." "It concerns us, among all our preparations, to prepare for trouble." "Fear thou not, O Jacob! God would not have his people to be a timorous people." CHAPTER 47 "Those whom God will spoil must needs be spoiled; for, if God be against them, who can be for them?" "When war is once begun it often lasts long; the sword, once drawn, does not quickly find the way into the scabbard again" "O that swords might be beaten into ploughshares!" "When the sword is drawn we cannot expect it should be sheathed till it has fulfilled its charge. As the word of God, so his rod & his sword, shall accomplish that for which he sends them." CHAPTER 48 " |
AuthorCross Preaching Pentecostal Pastor. Husband to Tonia, Father to 3 beautiful girls, Monica, Zoe & Briana, & Grandfather to Wesley & Elliott Archives
September 2023
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