and ftrength, a very prefent help in trouble. There • fore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midft of the fea. Though the waters thereof roar, and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the fwelling thereof.The fulfilment of the former part of this prophecy you may read, 2 Kings xvii. 6.; and the accomplishment of the latter you may fee, 2 Kings xviii. 13, 14.One great defign of recording the prediction, and afterward the execution of these defolating judgments, is, that, by diligently confidering them, we may be warned against thofe deftructive practices which prevailed among the posterity of Abraham, who are fet up as beacons, to direct us to keep clear of thofe fins in confequence of which they were involved in ruin. Having received precept upon precept upon this fubject, let us learu this neceffary leffon, and make this wife improvement of what we have now heard for our benefit.

9

Affociate yourselves, O ye people, and ye fhall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye fhall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye fhall be broken in pieces.

10 Take counfel together, and it shall tome to nought; speak the word, and it shall not ftand: for God is with us,

In these verses, the prophet foretels, that the hoftile attempts of the enemies of Judah fhould certainly be fruftrated.Foreseeing, by the fpirit of prophecy, the many powerful enemies of that nation, who would endeavour to accomplish their deftruction, and the difappointment with which their exertions fhould be attended, he repeatedly calls upon them, with

*Pfal. xlvi. 1, 2, 3.

exultation

exultation and triumph, to adopt those measures which they might judge most likely to complete their design. The words may be confidered as primarily addreffed to the nations of Ephraim and Syria, who were confederated for the overthrow of Ahaz and his kingdom.' As the prophet repeats the command, or invitation, a fecond and third time, he might have his views of the potent adverfaries of his country extended to more diftant future periods, in which the Affyrians, and afterward the armies of Antiochus Epiphanes, were to be defeated.Affociate yourselves, O ye people. Affemble your troops from every quarter, Ephraimites, Syrians, Affyrians, and Chaldeans: let all your forces be collected from the moft diftant parts of the country, to carry into execution your intended enterprife. And ye shall be broken in pieces. Immanuel, against whofe people and kingdom no weapon that is formed can profper, fhall break you with a rod of iron: he shall dafh you in pieces like a potter's vessel. Your plans of operation fhall be difconcerted, your armies fhall be routed, your power fhall be broken, and your hoftile purposes abandoned.And give ear all ye of far countries; however diftant in refpect of time and place, from thofe in which this prophecy is delivered. Be attentive to the folemn affurance now given, in the name of the Lord, for your inftruction, as to the future fortunes of his church, and the difappointment and ruin of her enemies.-Gird yourfelves. Prepare for action, make ready for battle, put on your fwords, and furnith yourfelves with all the implements of war. I repeat the challenge, Gird yourfelves. Though you again prepare for acts of hoftility, and anew ftrengthen yourfelves, however formidable your expeditions may appear, and likely to be crowned with fuccefs-Ye fhall be broken in pieces. The Moft High over all the earth again declares, all your efforts against Judah fhall be vain; all your repeated attempts against that kingdom fhall be fruitlefs: only you yourselves fhall perish in the enterprise.

Take counfel together, as to ways and means by which you fuppose you may most fuccessfully invade and conquer the land of Judah.And it shall come to nought. All your devices and plans of operation fhall be fruftrated.. Kings of the earth may set them

felves, and rulers take counsel together, against the ¿ Lord, and his people. But he that fitteth in the heavens fhall laugh: the Lord fhall have them in derifion. He fhall fpeak to them in his wrath, and vex them in his hot difpleasure.Speak the word. Declare your determined refolution of invading and defolating the land of Judah, and give orders to your powerful armies to carry your purposes into execution.And it shall not stand. Who is he that faith, and it cometh to pass, if the Lord commandeth it not? There is no counfel or wifdom against the Lord.. His counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleafure; but your word and purpose shall not stand, for this good reafon-God is with us. The promised Immanuel, to whofe name the prophet alludes, and of which he gives the interpretation, God is with us, he fhall be the defence of the house of his fervant David, and deliver the kingdom of Judah out of your hands. God is with us in his temple, affording the fymbols and proofs of his gracious prefence; he is with us by his providence, granting us protection from powerful enemies; he is with us in his promifes, affuring us of defence and fafety. And if God be for us, who can be againft us? He is clothed with ftrength wherewith he hath girded himself; and is mightier by far than the noife of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the feat. Behold, all they that are incenfed against thee, fhall be afhamed and confounded: they thall be as nothing .' The God who is with us, is full of the moft tender affection for his people, whom he keeps as the apple of

Pfal. ii. 2. et feq. Ifaiah xli. 11.

his eye: he confiders the injuries done to them as done to himself; and in all the difpenfations of his providence and grace, he discovers the highest regard to their best interests. In every age, and in every nation of the world, God, my brethren, is with his people, to ftrengthen and protect, to blefs and fave them. How animating and comfortable is this affurance to all good men, who wait for the falvation of the Lord!

11 ¶ For the LORD fpake thus to me with a ftrong hand, and inftructed me that I fhould not walk in the way of this people, faying.

Ifaiah here declares in what manner God was pleafed to communicate to him the inftruction that he received.He fpake to the following effect, with a ftrong hand; with fuch irresistible energy, that he was not disturbed or diftreffed, but elevated, ftrengthened, and comforted. The prophet's mind at this time was probably in fome measure enfeebled, in confequence of which he was ready to be dismayed by defponding fears; and the profpect of difficulties and dangers might have made him give way to the prevailing temper and practice of the times. God, therefore, who upholdeth them that fall, effectually fupported, inftructed, and enabled him to perform what he was commanded. By his ftrong hand, every im- . pediment was removed out of the way of duty, all oppofition was vanquished, and what was fpoken carried home with divine power to his heart. The expreffion imports, that the Lord fpake with fuch glorious evidence of the truth he delivered, and accompanied his instructions with fuch mighty energy, as rendered them effectual for the purpofes for which they were intended.There are principles of oppofition to the difpenfations and admonitions of God in the hearts even of good men, which require the ftrong hand of the Almighty to fubdue them. Of this re

mark

mark the prophet Jonas affords a remarkable instance. The apostle Paul loudly complains, that the flesh lufteth against the fpirit; and this all the faints feel in their experience. Wrong apprehenfions of the truths and ways of God, unfuccefsfulness in his fervice, the influence of temptation, the entanglements of the world, the power of corruption, and a fenfe of guilt, confpire to render this method of inftruction necef fary. And fuch is the tender compaffion of Jehovah, that, in order to the profiting of his fervants, by his ftrong hand, he cafts down every lofty imagination, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God; and at once affords effectual deliverance, conviction, and affiftance.

And inftructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people. The people of Judah, described at the fixth verse of this chapter, who had become weary of the government, the laws, and religion, which God had established among them, and were attached to foreign princes, alliances, and customs, are doubtlefs here intended. The prophet is cautioned not to walk in their ways. This prohibition is not to be underftood in the literal, but in the figurative fenfe. He was not diffuaded from travelling in the ways by which they journeyed from one place to another, but from following their example, and deliberately proceeding, by a conftant progreffive motion, in imitating their temper, converfation, and conduct. He was cautioufly to avoid conformity to them in their bad difpofitions, and finful practices. In this fenfe, fome of the kings of Judah are faid to have walked in the way of David and Solomon *. This inftruction was intended to preferve our prophet from going into the evil courfes, upon which his countrymen had entered at this period, who were overwhelmed with timidity, defpondency, and diftruft in God. He is divinely taught not to entertain the fentiments and opinions

2 Chron, xi. 17:

they