From Andrew Murray:

Robert Murray McCheyne says, "Oh God, make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be made." If that prayer is in your heart, come now and let us enter into a covenant with the everlasting and omnipotent Jehovah afresh, and in great helplessness, but in great restfulness, place ourselves in His hands. And then as we enter into our covenant let us have the one prayer-that we may believe fully that the everlasting God is going to be our Companion, holding our hand every moment of the day; our Keeper, watching over us without a moment's interval; our Father, delighting to reveal Himself in our soul always. Here is the omnipotence of God, and here is faith reaching out to the measure of that omnipotence. Shall we not say, "All that omnipotence can do, I am going to trust my God for?" If He shows us our weakness it is that He may show us His strength.

Text for the day, verse 7.

Monday, January 3d.

Isaiah xiii. 12 to 22.

Verse 12. "More precious," in the sense of being more rare than "fine gold." This refers to the destruction of the men of 'Babylon. The Medes under Cyrus had a contempt for riches, and would not accept of any ransom of gold or silver for the lives of their captives. There is an application that can be made of the text, to the care God has of His saints when judgments are being out poured on the earth;also to the preciousness of Christ as the "Son of man from heaven," to those who put their trust in Him, when they are in the midst of troubles. Verses 13 and 14. This "Shaking of the heavens and of the earth," is mentioned in Hag. ii. 6 and Heb. xii. 26 to 28. Every judgment of God upon men is a shaking of the earth, and the prophet saw the shaking going on until the purpose of God was effected in men having their iniquity shaken out of them. What a conception it is of the power of God that He "shakes the heavens and the earth," as a man would shake a garment!

Verses 15 to 18. We are told in the text that this is a description of what the Medes would do to the Babylonions. Isaiah wrote the words two hundred years before the event. No theory of political sagacity, or high state of spirituality, can account satisfactorily for the details of the vision. The Spirit of God, by direct revelation, must have revealed to Isaiah that Medes would be employed in this judgment and that they "would not regard silver or gold," or he could not have thus affirmed these things.

Verses 19 to 22. This was to be the final condition of Babylon. It continued the second city of the Persian empire until the time of Alexander the Great, but after his death gradually declined, and has been for nearly two thousand years in the condition .foreseen by the prophet. Literally-"the Arabians do not pitch their tents there," for fear of miasma and serpents. Many of the monuments and images of the Babylon of Isaiah's time are now in the British Museum in London.

From Joseph Parker:

This is called "The Burden of Babylon." Whenever we find the word burden in this association it means oracle, a speech of doom; it is never connected with blessing, hope, enlarged opportunity, or expanded liberty; it always means that judgment is swiftly coming and may at any moment burst upon the thing that is doomed. "Which Isaiah did see." How did he see it? The word "see" needs to be defined every day. Blind men may see. We do not see with the eyes only, else truly we should see very little; the whole body becomes an eye when it is full of light, and they who are holiest see farthest: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." How could Isaiah see this burden of Babylon when it did not fall upon the proud city for two centuries? Is there then no annihilation of time and space? We might see more if we looked in the right direction; we might be masters of the centuries if we lived with God.

Text for the day, verse 12.

Tuesday, January 4th.

Isaiah xiv. 1 and 2.

Verses 1 and 2. Here are seven things promised as to the future of Israel, all connected with, and made subsequent to, the fall of Babylon. 1. "The Lord will have mercy, and will yet choose Israel." Under chastisement for a time for their sins, they shall be remembered by God, and chosen again to be recipients of His grace. 2. God will "set them in their own land." It was over one hundred years after Isaiah wrote these words that they were taken from the land. 3. "Strangers shall be joined with them." This was not fulfilled when they came back from Babylon. Both Ezra and Nehemiah were careful to exclude strangers from the rebuilt Jerusalem of that epoch. We learn from various other prophecies (Isa. lx.3-5), that it will be fulfilled at the future gathering of the Jews to their land, that gathering that may have been even now begun, -and which was a part of the vision of the prophet. 4. "The people shall take them and bring them to their place." "People" here, refers to Israel; and "them," to the strangers who had been joined to them in their captivity. 5. "They shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids." Those who have returned with them, are referred to. See Ezra ii. 64 and 65, as to seven thousand servants who returned with the forty-two thousand Jews, with Ezra. This cannot be all that Isaiah saw. 6. "They shall take them captives whose captives they were." This has not yet been fulfilled. 7. "They shall rule over their oppressors." In the person of Daniel, and, Mordecai, this was partially made true, but the great fulfillment awaits the acceptance by the Jews of Jesus as Messiah. Isa. Ix. 12 to 16; Dan. ii. 44 and vii. 27. From Dean Stanley:

No other prophet is so frequently cited in the New Testament as Isaiah, for none other so nearly comes up to the spirit of Christ and the Apostles. No other single teacher of the Jewish church has so worked his way into the heart of Christendom

When Augustine asked Ambrose which of the sacred books was best to be studied after his converson, the answer was "Isaiah." The greatest musical composition of modern times, is based in far the larger part on the prophecies of Isaiah. And as in his age, so in our own, he must be pre-eminently regarded as "the bard rapt into future times." Through his prophetic gaze we may look forward across a dark and stormy present to the onward destiny of our race.

Text for the day, verse 1.

Wednesday, January 5th.

Isaiah xiv. 3 to 6.

Verse 3. See in Deut. xxviii. 65 to 68, a description of the sufferings of Israel during the time of their captivity, and all through the ages up to "that day," when Messiah comes to set them free. "Sorrow, fear and hard bondage," this is what sin must lead to whether in Jew or Gentile. We sorrow for what we have done,-we fear for the future, and are in hard bondage for the present under the power of the devil, serving our depraved natures, and following the fashions of a Christless world. O what a day it was when we heard the words, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. xi. 28). Those words are still sounding from the heart of Christ in heaven, and He is still giving rest to all who seek Him. If any reader lacks rest of soul, if "sorrow, fear or hard bondage" in spiritual life has come into the heart, come away at once to the Lord. He can, and He will give you Rest.

Verses 4 to 6. "In the day that the Lord shall give thee rest," "thou shalt take up this proverb" (taunting speech) "against the king of Babylon." If we try to apply this language to any particular king of Babylon we will find it difficult to make our selection. We cannot apply it to Nebuchadnezzar who was king when they went into captivity, nor to Cyrus who was king when they were restored to their land. Sennacherib, king of Assyria (who having conquered Babylon was at the time of his death "king of Babylon"), and who so arrogantly and proudly threatened Jerusalem, is upon the mind of the prophet. But Israel was not brought under "hard bondage" to Sennacherib. God smote him before he took the prey. The only key to the passage is to bear in mind that Isaiah's vision swept the whole of Israel's history, and that beyond Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus, Cæsar and all the great heads of this world's power, who would oppress the people of God, he saw the antichrist of the last day, and gloried in soul over his destruction by Messiah. What John describes in Rev. xviii., of the overthrow of the last great world power, is what Isaiah saw in his vision. Both are looking at the antichrist of 2 Thess. ii. 4.

From John Bunyan:

You are now going to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to the prophets, men that God hath taken away from the evil to come, and that are now resting upon their beds, each one walking in his righteousness (Isa. lvii. 1 and 2). You shall there receive the

comfort of all your toil, and have joy for all your sorrow; you must reap what you have sown, even the fruit of all your prayers and tears and sufferings for the King by the way (Gal. v. 7). In that place you must wear crowns of gold, and enjoy the perpetual sight and vision of the Holy One, for there you shall see Him as He is (1 John iii. 2). There also you shall serve Him continually with praise, with shouting and thanksgiving, whom you desired to serve in the world, though with much difficulty because of the infirmity of your flesh. When He shall come with sound of trumpet in the clouds, as upon the wings of the wind, you shall come with Him; and when He shall sit upon the throne of judgment, you shall sit by Him; yea, you also shall have a voice in that judgment upon the workers of iniquity, because they were His and your enemies. Text for the day, verse 5.

Thursday, January 6th.

Isaiah ziv. 7 to 20.

Verse 7. "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing" (Ps. cxxvi.). "The whole earth is at rest." Surely the prophet heard, not only the singing of the little band of captives that returned from Babylon, but blended with their song and rising high above it, he heard the grand melody of the final victory, "The voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" (Rev. xix. 7). The earth has never been at rest, and never will be, until that song is sung. Every deliverance of His people by God, every triumph of right over wrong, is a rehearsal for it, but the full chorus of Isaiah and John have yet to be heard.

Verse 8. A word for Sennacherib, the invader of Israel, who had cut down the fir-trees and the cedars.

Verses 9 to 11. This is a scene of awful sublimity. Sennacherib, in his being hurled by murder from the dizzy height of the ruler of the world, to the terror and dishonor of the grave,-is undoubtedly in view. But beyond him, again the language compels us to find that last and greatest of this world's rulers, who under Satanic inspiration shall come to the greatest exaltation man has ever known, and because of the height of his exaltation shall have the greatest fall. Rev. xix. 19 to 21. The word "Hell" is from the Hebrew word Sheol, meaning strictly, "the grave." Its meaning here is extended to take in the place of departed spirits. With this picture before the eyes, how little all the glory and pomp of this vain world.

"The boasts of heraldry, the pomp of power,

And all that beauty, all that wealth ere gave, Await alike the inevitable hour;

The paths of glory lead but to the grave." Verses 12 to 20. The word "Lucifer" is elsewhere rendered "day-star" (2 Peter i. 19; Rev. ii. 28; xxii. 16). This whole address is appropriate to Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, Alexander,

Cæsar, Napoleon, or any of the godless proud ones who have ruled the world, but its application is definitely to one "fallen from heaven," and we are led to Luke x. 18; John xii. 31; xvi. 11; Heb. ii. 14; Rex. xii. 7 to 9, and xx. 2, for the explanation.

From Andrew Murray:

"God, as Creator, formed man to be a vessel in which He could show forth His power and goodness. Man was not to have in himself a fountain of life, or strength, or happiness: the ever-living and only. living One was each moment to be the Communicator to him of all that he needed. Man's glory and blessedness was not to be independent, or dependent upon himself, but dependent upon a God of such infinite riches and love. Man was to have the joy of receiving every moment out of the fulness of God. This was his blessedness as an unfallen creature." In man's seeking greatness or happiness independent of God is the cause of this world's misery and woe. Redemption in Christ has as its purpose our restoration to dependence upon God. Text for the day, verse 12.

Friday, January 7th.

Isaiah xiv. 21 to 27.

Verse 21. "Prepare slaughter for his children." Children of Lucifer, the person addressed from verses 12 to 20. Comparing verses 18 and 20, we learn that this person was to be distinguished by having no burial with other kings. Now the only record in the Bible that fulfils this is in Rev. xix. 20. Antichrist of the last days is "cast alive into a lake of fire." It is very probable that Belshazzar, the last of the Chaldean kings of Babylon, had no burial (Dan. v. 30 and Jer. li. 31 and 32); and this sentence is God's deliverance of His seed to destruction; but beyond Belshazzar is the dark form of the one in whom all pride and evil will culminate, with the judgment of the last day when the tares are gathered to be burned (Matt. xiii. 37 to 43). All of God's judgments upon men in the past, are types and warnings of this culminating and final judg ment when evil shall be utterly destroyed.

Verse 22. This certainly befell proud and blasphemous Belshazzar. His family perished,-his dynasty came to an end.

Verse 23. Literal Babylon is here spoken of. The changing of the channel of the Euphrates by Cyrus when he captured the city, brought to pass what is here pictured of "pools of water" forming within the walls. Centuries passed before this sen. tence was fully executed, but the time came when "the besom of destruction" swept all trace of the existence of Babylon from the face of the earth.

Verses 24 to 27. We must take the record of Isa. xxxvii. 36 to 38, as the first fulfillment of this prophecy. It was this emphatic word to the prophet that gave him confidence and assurance when Jerulem was shaken and troubled by the advance of the vast army of Sennacherib, to the walls of the city (Isa. xxxvii. 3 to 6). "The Jehovah of hosts hath sworn, thought and purposed; who shall disannul it? who shall turn it back?" With such a word to rest upon, how could he fear the threats of Assyria?

With similar promises for Christ's final victory over all the hosts of evil, why should we tremble before men, or fear for the future of the truth of God? Study verse 26, with Luke xxi. 35. As God dealt with Assyria, so will He contínue to deal with the nations of the earth until Christ shall reign.

From Scott:

As our first parents ruined themselves by aspiring to be as gods; so the same propensity has affected their posterity; and many arrogant mortals have defied God, and claimed divine adoration; as if it were not sufficient to be exalted above all earthly potentates; and as if they really thought, as if they could "ascend into heaven and be like the Most High!" But the more of this inebriating poison they gorge, the greater is their resemblance to Satan, and the more their fall into hell will accord to the fall of that "Lucifer, the son of the morning." For a while they weaken the nations, make the earth to tremble, shake kingdoms, and change the world into a wilderness, a slaughter-house, or a dungeon for the few who they suffer yet to live. But soon death weakens and removes them; and whilst their souls are in torment, perhaps great honor is rendered to their breathless remains. But whether honorably interred or left as carcases trodden under feet,such men are abominable and contemptible, for whom "slaughter is prepared for the iniquity of their fathers."

Text for the day, verse 24.

Saturday, January 8th.

Isaiah xiv. 28 to 32.

This is a distinct prophecy having no connection with the utterances against Babylon and the Assyrians which have gone before.

"Whole Palestina," is a name given to the land of the Philistines, lying between Judah and Egypt. Uzziah had conquered them and brought them under tribute (2 Chron. xxvi. 6 and 7). Under Abaz they regained a portion of their land (2 Chron. xxviii. 18, 19), and when king Ahaz died they are represented as rejoicing in the prospect of a full deliverance. Some think that the one who comes forth "out of the serpent's root," and who destroys Philistia is Hezekiah the son of Ahaz. It is hardly probable that he would be called "a cockatrice" or "a flying fiery serpent," although we may have a record of Hezekiah's smiting the Philistines in the first of his reign (2 Kings xviii. 8). It seems more likely that at the coming of the Assyrians against Jerusalem, Philistia was destroyed by them, while Jerusalem was delivered. Note in 2 Kings xxiv. 2, that in the days of Jehoiakim, while all the surrounding nations are mentioned as gathered around the falling city, like wolves around a wounded, staggering and exhausted horse, that they might plunder and devour, the Philistines are not mentioned. Indeed the last mention of these inveterate enemies of Israel in the history of the Jews is here in this prophecy. Their power was broken and they seem to disappear from the land. "I will kill thy root," and "he shall slay thy remnant" was literally fulfilled. "There shall come forth from the north a

smoke. This is similar to the language of the prophets when they are speaking of the approach of the Assyrians or Babylonians (Ez. xxxviii. 15, etc.). In verse 32 we have Jerusalem preserved, at the time this destruction comes upon the Philistines. So under Hezekiah and Josiah the city was indeed a place of refuge for people.

From Comments:

The Lord has founded Zion for a refuge to poor sinners, who "flee from the wrath to come," and trust in His mercy through Jesus Christ. None that humbly by faith apply for admission into this "city of our God," are excluded. There they are protected and provided for, even the poorest and most guilty of them; and He has not only ensured their salvation by His promise, but confirmed it with an oath; that they might enjoy "a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on this hope set before them." Let us then glory in our privileges and in our relation to the crucified Immanuel; let us always be ready to give “a reason of our hope" to every inquirer, and let us inform all around us of our comforts and security, and exhort them to seek the same refuge and salvation. Text for the day, verse 32.

Isaiah xv.

Sunday, January 9th.

Verse 1 This, and the following chapter, form one entire prophecy. In ch xvi. 14 we learn that it was to be fulfilled "within three years" from the time it was spoken. We learn from 2 Kings xviii. 9 that the Assyrians under Shalmanezer came up against Samaria in the fourth year of Hezekiah. The siege of Samaria continued three years, and upon its capture the ten tribes were carried into captivity. It was undoubtedly at this time that the Assyrian armies overran Moab, and accomplished the desolation Isaiah in his vision beheld. This would fix the date of utterance about the first year of Hezekiah. The speedy fulfillment of the prophet's vision must have made a profound impression upon his people and upon surrounding nations, and given great weight to his prophecies of remoter events.

Verses 2 to 4. The land of Moab lay along the east shore of the Dead Sea, and is familiar to us in the march made by Moses and Israel through its borders on their way to Canaan. All of these names occur in Num. xxi. Israel were camped in the plains of Moab, when Balaam was forced to bless them; and it was Zippor, king of Moab, who tried to get him to curse them; while it was by "the daughters of Moab" that the people were led astray in their last apostasy before entering Canaan (Num. xxv. 1). "Nebo" will be remembered as the place where Moses died.

Verses 5 to 9. "Zoar" was the little city upon the mountain where Lot fled at the burning of Sodom (Gen. xix. 20-23). This reminds us that the Moabites were Lot's descendants (Gen. xix. 36-38). They were a corrupt, licentious people, and a constant source of evil and corruption to Israel. The verses give a vivid description of the terror caused by the

Assyrians, and of the utter ruin they visited upon the cities captured by them.

From Scott:

The ungodly, when in danger or trouble, may well be alarmed and inconsolable; for they are destitute of a Comforter, and of any adequate support. Yet, alas! they are but seldom induced to approach the mercy-seat of God with penitent sorrow and bclieving prayer; and all other endeavors to extricate themselves involve them the more. Temporal sufferings may render life grievous to such as find the thoughts of death intolerable; but some, alas! very many in these days, are left to seek escape from present anguish by plunging themselves into eternal misery! Our hearts should be paired for the sufferings even of wicked men: for they are our brethren in Adam, however inimical to us; and they may yet, for what we can know, be made our brethren in Christ. Whilst, therefore, we warn them to escape from impending ruin, let us continue to pray for them, and tell them of the Saviour we ourselves have found.

Text for the day, verse 5: "My heart shall cry out for Moab."

Monday, January 10th.

Isaiah xvi.

Verses 1 to 5. Moab had been conquered by David (1 Chron. xviii. 2), and tribute was due from Moab to Hezekiah king of Judah. They are exhorted to send this tribute, and place themselves under the protection of Hezekiah, whose reign is described in verse 5. They are also exhorted to show kindness to the fugitives from Israel and Judah, whom the invasion of the Assyrians had driven across the Jordan, to seek refuge among their mountains. They were told that God purposed deliverance for Judah, and that "the oppressors would be consumed out of the land," and that they, by submission to Hezekiah, might share in the deliverance. Thus God in mercy warns and entreats rebellious sinners, but they will not "take counsel," even as Moab refused the counsel of the prophet. "Send ye the Lamb," is God's simple message now, to all who would seek His face, and find His salvation. Come, trusting in the blood of Jesus Christ as the atoning "Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world" (Jno. i. 29); accept Him as your High Priest and Mediator before God (Heb. ix. 24); Come not in creature righteousness or merit of your own be fore a Holy God, but "Send ye the Lamb."

Verses 6 to 14. The proud and haughty spirit of Zippor survived in his descendants: they would not yield to God's people, and they were left to their overthrow and destruction. 2 Kings iii. gives us a picture of the stubbornness and pride of the Moabites, in the slaying by Mesha of his son, a sacrifice that he might gain the victory over Israel. Verse 12 shows the Moabites wearying themselves in going from hill to hill to sacrifice unto their gods, and coming vainly at last to the temple of their god Chemosh to pray. They had undoubtedly thought that as the Assyrians had come up against hated Israel, they were safe, and they had rejoiced over

the calamities of Judah, even as did their fathers over the sorrows of the tribes when they came out of Eygpt.

From John Bunyan:

Then Christiana said to her children, Sons, we are all undone. I have sinned away your father, and he is gone; he would have had us with him, but I would not go myself; I also hindered you of life. With that the boys fell all into tears, and cried out to go after their father. Oh! said Christiana, that it had been our lot to go with him, then had it fared well with us, beyond what it is like to do now. For, though I formerly foolishly imagined concerning the troubles of your father, that they proceeded of a foolish fancy that he had, or for that he was overrun with melancholy humors; yet now it will not out of my mind but that they sprang from another cause, to wit, for that the light of life was given him, by the help of which, as I perceive, he has escaped the snares of death (Prov. xiv. 27). Then they all wept again, and cried out, oh, woe worth the day!

Text for the day, verse 1.

Tuesday, January 11th.

Isaiah xvii. 1 to 9.

Verses 1 to 3. A prophecy against Syria and Israel, probably delivered in the reign of Ahaz when these two powers were confederate against Judah (Isa. vii. 1 and 2). It was fulfilled by the Assyrians under Tiglath-peleser taking Damascus, and carrying the people captives to Kir (2 Kings xvi. 9), and overrunning at the same time a great part of Israel. Damascus was afterwards rebuilt, and continues to this day; but "the kingdom ceased from Damascus" from the time of the Assyrian conquest. Syria has never since been an independent kingdom. The Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the Persians, the Macedonians, the Romans, and other powers, have successively reigned over Damascus, and today it is under the misrule of the "unspeaka ble Turk."

Verses 4 to 6. This was the darkest period in the history of the twelve tribes. The northern kingdom was destroyed by the inroads of Assyria, and there seemed no possible hope for the preservation of Judah. Yet God promises that a remnant should be preserved. So when the ten tribes were taken away into Assyria, there were many little groups left scattered among the mountains, like the few grapes or berries "in the top of the utmost bough" (2 Chron. xxx. 6 to 11), that afterwards gathered around Hezekiah.

Verses 7 and 8. From the time of the captivity the Jews have never been guilty of worshiping idols. The remnant left were cured of that sin.

Verse 9. This seems to mean that the cities of Ephraim were to be deserted and desolate, as were the cities of the Canaanites when the Jews came into the land. "A forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch." Fruit there, but left because hard to gather, for others to enjoy.

From Andrew Murray:

"His eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel." One of the most common mistakes by

which souls are kept back from faith, is that they do not feel the strength for faith. They desire first to feel faith living in themselves, and then they would believe. But that the command to believe should come to them while they do not yet feel themselves prepared for it or in a position to believe this they do not comprehend. They have not observed, what we experience or may see every day, that readiness or ability for any work, is not given before the work, but only through the work, and thus after we begin to work. The child that learns to run begins before he can readily do it, and learns in the midst of the effort. And this is the spirit in which we are to believe. Under the conviction of its unbelief, the soul must set itself to believe.

Text for the day, verse 7.

Wednesday, January 12th.

Isaiah xvii. 10 to 14.

Verses 10 and 11. These "pleasant plants" and "strange slips" probably represent forms of idolatry and foreign customs, introduced into Israel when Jeroboam set up the golden calves at Bethel and Dan, and Ahab married Jezebel, bringing with her into Samaria the prophets of Baal, and building Baal a house of worship. It was for these things that judgment and ruin came upon the land. King Ahaz also brought ruin upon himself by setting up the Damascus altar in the courts of the temple (2 Kings xvi. 10). The verses have their application to us, in any departure of our hearts from the liv ing God to the things of the world. Christian men and women disobey God's commands in contracting marriages with the ungodly, and in adopting worldly fashions and philosophies, because they are "pleasant" and for a few brief mornings seem "to flourish," but the end must always be disappointment,-"the harvest a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow." As all of God's commandments are for our good, there can be no transgression of them that shall not bring ill. How slow the people of God are in learning the simple lesson of obedience! Let us turn to "the God of our salvation," let us abide on "the Rock of our strength."

Verses 12 to 14. In contrast to the desperate sorrow that should possess Israel, the prophet has a vision of deliverance that should be given to Hezekiah and Judah. He sees the approach of the vast Assyrian army, made up of many nations and rolling in over the land even to the walls of Jerusalem "like the rushing of many waters." "At evening tide trouble." This was the night before God smote Sennacherib. "Before the morning he is not." Deliverance had come.

From Scott:

If Christians "forget the God of their salvation and are not mindful of the Rock of their strength,” they will seek help, peace and prosperity in vain from every quarter; their labor will be lost and "their harvest a heap." But happy are they who remember God as their salvation and rely on His power and grace; their enemies may rage and rush upon them with a dreadful force and fury; but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee away "as