Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 49:9
That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that [are] in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures [shall be] in all high places.
9. That thou mayest say ] Rather, Saying (R.V.) or possibly (continuing the previous infs.) “To say.”
the prisoners them that are in darkness ] i.e. the exiles; cf. Isa 42:7. The second half of the verse introduces a new figure, that of the flock, (see ch. Isa 40:11) led by Jehovah, the Good Shepherd.
they shall feed in the ways ] Or perhaps as LXX., in all the ways, wherein they go.
high places ] bare heights; ch. Isa 41:18.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth – This language occurs also in Isa 42:7. For an explanation of it, see the notes on that place.
To them that are in darkness – Synonymous with being prisoners, as prisoners are usually confined in dark cells.
Show yourselves – Hebrew, Reveal, or manifest yourselves; that is, as those who come out of a dark cell come into light, so do you, who have been confined in the darkness of sin, come forth into the light of the Sun of righteousness, and be manifest as the redeemed.
They shall feed in the ways – In the remainder of this verse, and in the following verses, the Messiah is represented under the image of a shepherd, who leads forth his flock to green fields, and who takes care that they shall be guarded from the heat of the sun, and shall not hunger nor thirst. The phrase they shall feed in the ways, means, probably, that in the way in which they were going they should find abundant food. They should not be compelled to turn aside for pasturage, or to go and seek for it in distant places. It is equivalent to the language which so often occurs, that God would provide for the needs of his people, even when passing through a desert, and that he would open before them unexpected sources of supply.
And their pastures shall be in all high places – This means, that on the hills and mountains, that are naturally barren and unproductive, they should find an abundance of food. To see the force of this, we are to remember that in many parts of the East the hills and mountains are utterly destitute of vegetation. This is the case with the mountainous regions of Horeb and Sinai, and even with the mountains about Jerusalem, and with the hills and mountains in Arabia Deserta. The idea here is, that in the ways, or paths that were commonly traveled, and where all verdure would be consumed or trodden down by the caravans, and on the hills that were usually barren and desolate, they would find abundance. God would supply them as if he should make the green grass spring up in the hard-trodden way, and on the barren and rocky hills vegetation should start up suddenly in abundance, and all their needs should be supplied.
This is an image which we have frequently had in Isaiah, and perhaps the meaning may be, that to his people the Redeemer would open unexpected sources of comfort and joy; that in places and times in which they would scarcely look for a supply of their spiritual needs, he would suddenly meet and satisfy them as if green grass for flocks and herds should suddenly start up in the down-trodden way, or luxuriant vegetation burst forth on the sides and the tops of barren, rocky, and desolate hills. Harmer, however, supposes that this whole description refers rather to the custom which prevailed in the East, of making feasts or entertainments by the sides of fountains or rivers. To fountains or rivers, Dr. Chandler tells us in his Travels, the Turks and the Greeks frequently repair for refreshment; especially the latter, in their festivals, when whole families are seen sitting on the grass, and enjoying their early or evening repast, beneath the trees, by the side of a rill – (Travels in Asia Minor, p. 21.) Compare 1Ki 1:9. Thus Harmer supposes that the purpose of the prophet is, to contrast the state of the Jews when they were shut up in prison in Babylon, secluded from fresh air, and even the light itself, or in unwholesome dungeons, with their state when walking at liberty, enjoying the verdure, and the enlivening air of the country; passing from the tears, the groans, and the apprehensions of such a dismal confinement, to the music, the songs, and the exquisite repasts of Eastern parties of pleasure (see Harmers Obs., vol. ii. pp. 18-25; Ed. Lond. 1808). The interpretation, however, above suggested, seems to me most natural and beautiful.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 49:9
That thou mayest say to the prisoners, go forth
Out of darkness into light
When Jesus comes to the soul, He delivers us from that direst of all bondages, fetches us out from that cruellest of all slaveries, the bondage of the spirit, the slavery of the heart.
Then we are told that, if there are any who are m a worse state than that of mere captivity, namely, in darkness as well as in bondage, the Lord Jesus Christ comes to them, and says, Show yourselves; rise, and come out of the darkness; hide away no longer, come forth into the light, and enjoy it.
I. I have to try to FIND OUT THE CHARACTERS mentioned in the text: Them that are in darkness.
1. They were not always in darkness. She was a bright young spirit once, after a fashion; and he,–I know him very well, seemed to be everything that mirth could make youth to be. But, on a sudden, there came a cloud in the sky, both to her and to him. It may be that a death happened in the family, or sickness came, or if it was neither of these things, at any rate, the mind suddenly grew strangely quiet, and a stillness came down upon the spirit, and with that stillness there fell a gloom over the whole being. What were those thoughts that brought such a sobering influence into the life? I can tell you about them from my own experience. I thought, I have not lived as I ought to have lived. God made me, yet I have never truly served Him. He is my mothers God, but I have forgotten Him; my fathers God, yet I have never sought Him. What shall I do? God must punish me, &c. I seemed plastic as wax towards evil, yet hard as cast-iron or steel towards anything that was good. Then I grew sad in soul. I read my Bible a great deal, and the more I read it the more the darkness thickened about me, &c. This is the gateway into a joy that will be worth your having.
2. Besides this, a sense of sin has settled upon you.
3. The soul I am describing is in the dark, and the darkness settles down in conviction of sin. You have no hope.
4. You fear future and eternal night. It is to people in such a state that the Gospel of Christ is sent.
II. I am going to REPEAT THE EXHORTATION of the text: Show yourselves.
1. It means that you are running away from Divine justice, and that your wisest course will be to go and deliver yourself up. Do you not know that you are not really hidden? God sees you wherever you are; there is no hiding away from Him That is the very first thing for you to do; to submit yourself to God, to lie at His feet pleading for mercy.
2. The next way of showing yourselves is somewhat different: Say to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves; that is, you are very lonely, and you have been avoiding your best friends. Come out of your retirement. If you cannot speak to any mortal man, yet speak to the Immortal Man; go and tell out all your sorrow to the best of friends.
3. This passage may be applied to you who are sick, who are concealing your disease. I want every man who is troubled about the state of his heart, and every woman too, to come and show themselves to Christ, just as they are, in all their sire
4. The next thing you have to do is to show yourselves As healed ones, bound to confess Him who has cured them.
5. But I am going to carry the text a little farther yet. There are some young men, perhaps some young women also, who have been saved; they are no longer in the dark, and God has given them grace, and talents, yet still they are hiding themselves away. They are chosen ones loth to take their place of service. If the Lord has saved you, and if He is pleading for you in heaven, it is time you began to plead for Him on earth.
6. Our text applies also to persecuted ones who shall be owned and honoured of God. There will come a day when Gods people, who have long been in the dark through persecution, slander, and misrepresentation, shall hear the Lord speaking to them out of heaven, and saying, Gather My saints together unto Me; those that nave made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. Say to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. What a change will come for Gods poor despised people in that day!
7. These words also relate to dead ones called to resurrection. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
They shall feed in the ways
The returning captives
This is part of the prophets glowing description of the return of the captives, under the figure of a flock fed by a great shepherd. We have seen a flock of sheep driven along a road; some of them hastily trying to snatch a mouthful from the dusty grass by the wayside. Little can they get there; they have to wait until they reach some green pasture in which they can be folded. This flock shall feed in the ways; as they go they will find nourishment. That is not all; the top of the mountains is not the place where grass grows. There are bare, savage cliffs, from which every particle of soil has been washed by furious torrents, or the scanty vegetation has been burnt up by the fierce sunbeams like swords. There the wild deer and the ravens live, the sheep feed down in the valleys. But their pasture shall be in all high places. The literal rendering is even more emphatic: Their pasture shall be in all bare heights where a sudden verdure springs to feed them according to their need. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Feeding in the ways
Whilst this prophecy is originally intended simply to suggest the abundant supplies that were to be provided for the band of exiles as they came back from Babylon, there lie in it great and blessed principles which belong to the Christian pilgrimage, and the flock that follows Christ.
1. They who follow Him shall find in the dusty paths of common life, and in all the smallnesses and distractions of daily duty, nourishment for their spirits. Do you remember what Jesus said? My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work. We, too, may have the same meat to eat which the world knows not of. That is a great promise, and it is a great duty.
(1) It is a promise, the fulfilment of which is plainly guaranteed by the very nature of the case. Religion is meant to direct conduct, and the smallest affairs of life are to come under its imperial control, and the only way by which a man can get any good out of his Christianity is by living it.
(2) But this is a great duty as well as a great promise. How many of us Christian people have but little experience of getting nearer to God because of our daily occupations! Therefore we need times of special prayer and remoteness from daily work; and there will be very little realisation of the nourishing power of common duties unless there is familiar to us also the entrance into the secret place of the Most High, where He feeds His children on the bread of life.
2. Further, my text suggests that for those who follow the Lamb there shall be greenness and pasture on the bare heights. Strip that part of our text of its metaphor, and it just comes to the blessed old thought, that the times of sorrow are the times when a Christian may have the most of the presence and strength of God. In the days of famine they shall be satisfied. Our prophet puts the same thought, under a kindred though somewhat different metaphor, in another place in this book where he says: I will open rivers in high places. That is clean contrary to nature. The rivers do not run on the mountain-tops, but down in the low ground.
3. May I turn these latter words of our text a somewhat different way, attaching to them a meaning which does not belong to them, but by way of accommodation? If Christian people want to have the bread of God abundantly, they must climb. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. To them that are in darkness – “And to those that are in darkness”] Fifteen MSS. (five ancient) of Dr. Kennicott’s, eleven of De Rossi’s, and one ancient of my own, and the two old editions of 1486 and 1488, and three others, add the conjunction vau at the beginning of this member. Another MS. had it so at first, and two others have a rasure at the place: and it is expressed by the Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That thou mayest say, to wit, with power and effect, as when God said, Let there be light, &c. To the prisoners; to the Gentiles, who are fast bound by the cords of their sins, and taken captive by the devil at his will, as this same phrase is understood, Isa 42:7.
Go forth; come forth to the light, receive Divine illumination and consolation.
They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places; they shall have abundant provision in all places, yea, even in those which commonly are barren and unfruitful, and such are both common roads and high grounds.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. (Isa 42:7;Zec 9:12).
prisonersthe Jewsbound in legal bondage.
them . . . in darknesstheGentiles having no light as to the one true God [VITRINGA].
Show yourselvesnotonly see but be seen (Mat 5:16;Mar 5:19). Come forth from thedarkness of your prison into the light of the Sun of righteousness.
in the ways, c.In adesert there are no “ways,” nor “high places,”with “pastures” thus the sense is: “They shall havetheir pastures, not in deserts, but in cultivated and inhabitedplaces.” Laying aside the figure, the churches of Christ at thefirst shall be gathered, not in obscure and unknown regions, but inthe most populous parts of the Roman empire, Antioch, Alexandria,Rome, c. [VITRINGA].Another sense probably is the right one. Israel, on its way back tothe Holy Land, shall not have to turn aside to devious paths insearch of necessaries, but shall find them in all placeswherever their route lies so ROSENMULLER.God will supply them as if He should make the grass grow inthe trodden ways and on the barren high places.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
That thou mayest say to the prisoners, go forth,…. God’s covenant people, while unconverted, are prisoners; they are in the prison of sin, under the power and dominion of it, and under the guilt of it, and obligation to punishment for it; and they are in the prison of the law, they are transgressors of it, and are accused and convicted by it, and are condemned, and put in prison, and held there; and they are also Satan’s prisoners, and are held and led captive by him at his will; and by virtue of the covenant, and the blood of it, these prisoners are set free; and Christ in the. Gospel speaks unto them, and proclaims liberty to them; and by the knowledge of the truth they are made free, and are brought into the liberty of the children of God; and are bid to go forth, and they are brought forth from their prison houses; and bid to go to the house of God, and walk at liberty, enjoying all the privileges and ordinances of the Gospel:
to them that are in darkness; in a state of nature and unregeneracy, which is a state of infidelity and ignorance; when men are in the dark, and know not themselves, nor their lost state and condition; nor the exceeding sinfulness of sin; nor Christ, and the way of salvation by him; nor the Spirit, and the operations of his grace; nor the Scriptures, and the doctrines of them:
show yourselves; among the people of God, in his house and ordinances, when called, converted, and enlightened by Christ; or “be revealed” c or manifested, when they are known to be, what they were not knows before, the people and children of God. The Targum is,
“be revealed to the light;”
such are called to partake of the light of grace, and to enjoy the light of comfort and communion:
they shall feed in the ways; not in the broad road and highways of sin, but in the ways of God, in the word and ordinances: this denotes the publicness and pleasantness of them, and the plenty of provisions in them; and yet where it might not be expected, and where exposed to enemies: the allusion is to cattle, that are drove from place to place, and as they pass along feed in the ways upon such pasture as they there find; and suggests, that the saints are travellers, and as such have food provided them by the way:
and their pastures shall be in all high places; on hills and mountains, which are often barren and unfruitful. The Targum is,
“in or by rivers of water shall be the place of their habitation.”
c “revelamini”, V. L. Munster, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
9. That thou mayest say to them that are bound. These words describe the change which took place at the coming of Christ. And yet the Prophet unquestionably intends to administer consolation to the Jews in their extremity, that they may not think it incredible that they shall be restored to a better condition, because they see that they are almost devoted to destruction. Still, he shows in general what is the nature of Christ’s office, and explains what is meant by restoring desolate heritages; for, before the coming of Christ, we are “bound” under a miserable yoke, and plunged in darkness. By these metaphors is meant, that so long as we are without Christ, we are overwhelmed by a load of all evils; for by darkness he excludes everything that relates to the kingdom of Christ, faith, righteousness, truth, innocence, and everything of that nature. We are therefore in “darkness,” till Christ say, Shew yourselves We are “bound,” till he say, Come forth.
The word לאמר, ( lemor,) “that thou mayest say,” is highly emphatic; for it shews that the preaching of the Gospel is the means by which we are delivered. If therefore we desire liberty, if we desire the light of the kingdom of God, let us listen to Christ when he speaks; otherwise we shall be oppressed by the unceasing tyranny of Satan. Where then is the liberty of our will? Whosoever claims for himself light, or reason, or understanding, can have no share in this deliverance of Christ; for liberty is not promised to any but those who acknowledge that they are captives, and light and salvation are not promised to any but those who acknowledge that they are plunged in darkness.
On the ways they shall feed. When he promises that pastures shall be accessible to the children of God, and shall be on the tops of the mountains, by these metaphors he declares that all who shall be under the protection of Christ shall dwell safely; for he is a careful and attentive Shepherd, who supplies his flock with everything that is necessary, so that they are in want of nothing that is requisite for the highest happiness. (Joh 10:11.) This instruction was highly necessary at the time when the Jews were about to perform a joumey through dry and barren countries, in their return to a land which lay waste and desolate. The Prophet therefore says that God has abundant resources for supplying their wants, though earthly means should fail; and accordingly, in accordance with the ordinary custom of Scripture, he compares believers to sheep, in order that, being aware of their weakness, they may shrink themselves entirely to the care of the Shepherd.
Yet it is probable that indirectly he warns believers not to desire excessive luxury, because they will never have so great a superfluity as not to be attended by many difficulties; and likewise not to become effeminate, because they will be beset by dangers; for we know that “the ways” are exposed to the attacks of enemies and robbers, and that the tops of mountains are for the most part barren. The Church is governed by Christ in such a manner as not to be free from the attacks and insults of men, and is fed in such a manner as frequently to inhabit barren and frightful regions. But though enemies are at hand, God protects us from their violence and oppression. If we are thirsty or hungry, he is abundantly able to supply everything that is necessary for food and maintenance; and amidst perils and difficulties of this nature we perceive his care and anxiety more dearly than if we were placed beyond the reach of all danger.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE CHURCH SHEPHERDED BY CHRIST [1510]
[1510] See pp. 2429.
Isa. 49:9-10. They shall feed in the ways, &c.
The comparison of Gods care to that of a shepherd was first used by Jacob (Gen. 49:24); then by Moses (Deu. 32:6; Deu. 32:12). From these passages the prophets borrowed the same figure (Isa. 40:11; Eze. 34:12-13; Mic. 7:14). In the New Testament Christ is compared to a shepherd (Joh. 10:11; 1Pe. 2:25; 1Pe. 5:4; Heb. 13:20). Travellers in the East and others record the peculiarly close and tender relationship of the Oriental shepherd to his flock.
The Saviour is here represented under the image of a shepherd, who leads forth His flock in green pastures, &c.
I. The Divine Shepherd nourishes His flock. They shall feed in the ways, &c. A shepherds express engagement to feed, tend, keep. When one pasture was bare he would lead the sheep to another, and when the herbage was deficient he would cut down the tender shoots of trees for them to eat, and he would see that they had water to drink. In thus providing for them he frequently underwent long and severe labour. Jesus provides for all the wants of His peopletemporal and spiritual. He opens before them unexpected sources of supply.
The Divine life must be fed, nourished, sustained. Our Good Shepherds provisions are plentiful, adapted, exhaustlessHimself His Word, His ordinances, &c. With Jehovah-Jesus for our shepherd, whose hand rests on all sources of supply, we can lack no temporal or spiritual good.
II. The Divine Shepherd protects His flock. Neither shall the heat nor sun smite them. They shall be sheltered from suffering like that of the intense heat of the burning sun reflected from the sandy wastes. The idea is, the Divine Shepherd will protectshelterHis flock. This is the doctrine of the Bible, of the Old Testament as well as the New. Whatever charge He gives His angels, He has not thereby discharged Himself, so that whether every saint has an angel for his guardian or no, we are sure he has God Himself for his guardian, and what higher consolation can we desire? Those are well protected who have the Lord for their protector. He has manifested Himself as the protector of His people in all ages. Did He not deliver the stripling David out of the paw of the lion and the bear? (1Sa. 17:34-36; &c.) Our good Shepherds protection is ever watchful, ever present, all-sufficient, never-failing (Psa. 121:3-8, &c.) Have not you experienced this protection? What He has been, and what He has done in the past, He will be, and do in the future. Let us trust in the protection of our Divine Shepherd, and rejoice.
III. The Divine Shepherd leads His flock. He that hath mercy on them shall lead them. With infallible knowledge and tender care, He goes before His people in all their journeyings. No longer by the mystic and majestic pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night does He lead them, but by the indications of His providence, by His Word, and by His Spirit, &c. He shall lead them, not drive them. Hewhat a leader! It is a long and perilous way, but He knows every step. Let us cheerfully follow His gracious guidance, and be assured He leadeth us in right paths (Psa. 23:3). The ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them.
IV. The Divine Shepherd refreshes His flock. Even by the springs of water shall He guide them. The faithful shepherd leads his flock beside cooling streams. When panting and breathless, he leads them to the little green glen, with a quiet brooklet, and a moist lush herbage all along its course, while the sunbeams, like swords are piercing everything beyond that hidden covert. So Jesus leads His flock beside many a cooling spring. The spiritual life is liable to exhaustion. But our Divine Shepherd refreshes, vivifies, quickens the spirit when wearied and exhausted and troubledworn down with toil, and conflict, and care. The blessings of the gospel are often compared to water; they are the rivers of soul-life.
CONCLUSION.
1. Is Jesus your Shepherd? Have you been convinced of your far and perilous wanderings? Have you heard and obeyed the Shepherds voice?
2. If you acknowledge Jesus as your Shepherd, then follow, love, obey, and trust Him.Alfred Tucker.
THE IMPERFCTION OF EARTHLY BLESSINGS
Isa. 49:10. Neither shall the heat nor sun smite them, &c.
One of the blessings promised to Christs people in the latter days. The promise is fulfilled now to those who depart hence believing in Him. This promise reminds us
I. That the best things when bestowed in excess become great evils. What a glorious gift to man is the sun! How essential is its heat to human life and happiness! Yet how oppressive are the heats of summer! With what terrible blows the sun sometimes smites men! Let us remember that the measure of a thing is as important as its kind. Moderation in all things, is the wise mans motto. How necessary to remember it in regard to food, sleep, work, recreation; in the household, in regard to kindness and to severity, &c.
II. That all earthly blessings have their drawbacks. The heats of summer are great blessings; without them how poor would the harvest be in the autumn! Yet what a strain they often are on human strength! How fatal they often are to human life! Noteworthy that it can be said as a promise, Neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them. So with other things; every rose has its thorn. Wealth, its moral dangers (H. E. I. 43583364, 43894399, and social inconveniences (H. E. I. 4381, 4387, 4388). Learning; how dearly it is often purchased (H. E. I. 3089). Domestic happiness; what possibilities of profound sorrow are bound up with it. Every possession renders us capable of loss. Long life; how much there is in connection with old age that is undesirable.
III. That in heaven we shall have all the blessings without any of the drawbacks (H. E. I. 27212727).
Some practical lessons:
1. Let us not grumble at the natural and providential drawbacks of our earthly lot. Let us remember that, so to speak, they are the prices of the blessings, and that if we are called to endure the drawbacks the blessings will not be withheld. Many men grumble that they have to pay an income-tax, and forget to thank God that they have an income. If they had not that, the tax-gatherer would never knock at their doors. So with the drawbacks of other blessings. Murmuring is unwise and wicked.
2. When the conditions of our earthly life press on us most heavily, let us comfort ourselves by the remembrance of the perfect life towards which we are hastening. The prisoner is sustained by the knowledge that the hour of his liberation is drawing nigh; the mariner, by the fact that every gale blows him nearer to the desired haven. It is a good thing to walk now by faith and hope in that land where neither the heat nor the sun shall smite us (H. E. I. 216218, 27662770).
3. If the future life for Gods people will be all perfection without abatement, how little should they dread that event which will introduce them to it! Are we prepared for that wonderful transition which we call death? If so, why should we fear it? If we are not prepared for it, how shall we excuse ourselves for the insane unpreparedness in which we are living? Prepare for it, and the: all the great and precious promises concerning the future life will be promises made to you, and that event of which the very name has been disagreeable to you will be the beginning of inconceivable joy (H. E. I. 16231635; P. D. 667, 694, 745).
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(9) That thou mayest say to the prisoners . . .Comp. Isa. 42:6-7. Here, perhaps, the thought of the deliverance of Israel is more exclusively prominent; but the words have obviously a yet wider and higher application.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 49:9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that [are] in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures [shall be] in all high places.
Ver. 9. That thou mayest say to the prisoners, ] i.e., To such as lie hampered and enthralled in the invisible chains of the kingdom of darkness. To these Christ saith, Be refreshed with the light of saving knowledge, and with the liberty of the sons of God.
They shall feed in the ways.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isaiah
FEEDING IN THE WAYS
Isa 49:9
This is part of the prophet’s glowing description of the return of the Captives, under the figure of a flock fed by a strong shepherd. We have often seen, I suppose, a flock of sheep driven along a road, some of them hastily trying to snatch a mouthful from the dusty grass by the wayside. Little can they get there; they have to wait until they reach some green pasture in which they can be folded. This flock shall ‘feed in the ways’; as they go they will find nourishment. That is not all; the top of the mountains is not the place where grass grows. There are bare, savage cliffs, from which every particle of soil has been washed by furious torrents, or the scanty vegetation has been burnt up by the fierce ‘sunbeams like swords.’ There the wild deer and the ravens live, the sheep feed down in the valleys. But ‘ their pasture shall be in all high places.’ The literal rendering is even more emphatic: ‘Their pasture shall be in all bare heights ,’ where a sudden verdure springs to feed them according to their need. Whilst, then, this prophecy is originally intended simply to suggest the abundant supplies that were to be provided for the band of exiles as they came back from Babylon, there lie in it great and blessed principles which belong to the Christian pilgrimage, and the flock that follows Christ.
They who follow Him, says my text, to begin with, shall find in the dusty paths of common life, and in all the smallnesses and distractions of daily duty, nourishment for their spirits. Do you remember what Jesus said? ‘My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.’ We, too, may have the same meat to eat which the world knows not of, and He will give that hidden manna to the combatant as well as ‘to him that overcometh.’ In the measure in which ‘we follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth,’ in that measure do we find-like the stores of provisions that Arctic explorers come upon, cached for them-food in the wilderness, and nourishment for our highest life in our common work. That is a great promise, and it is a great duty.
It is a promise the fulfilment of which is plainly guaranteed by the very nature of the case. Religion is meant to direct conduct, and the smallest affairs of life are to come under its imperial control, and the only way by which a man can get any good out of his Christianity is by living it. It is when he sets to work on the principles of the Gospel that the Gospel proves itself to be a reality in his blessed experience. It is when he does the smallest duties from the great motives that these great motives are strengthened by exercise, as every motive is. If you wish to weaken the influence of any principle upon you, do not work it out, and it will wither and die. If a man would grasp the fulness of spiritual sustenance which lies in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, let him go to work on the basis of the Gospel, and he ‘shall feed in the ways,’ and common duties will minister strength to him instead of taking strength from him. We can make the smallest daily incidents subserve our growth and our spiritual strength, because, if we thus do them, they will bring to us attestations of the reality of the faith by which we act on them. For convincing a man that a lifebuoy is reliable there is nothing like having had experience of its power to hold his head above the waves when he has been cast into them. Live your Christianity, and it will attest itself. There will come, besides that, the blessed memory of past times in which we trusted in the Lord and were lightened, we obeyed God and found His promises true, we risked all for God and found that we had all more abundantly. It is only an active Christian life that is a nourished and growing Christian life.
The food which God gives us is not only to be taken by faith, but it has to be made ours more abundantly by work. Saint Augustine said in another connection, ‘Believe, and thou hast eaten.’ Yes, that is blessedly true, but it needs to be supplemented by ‘they shall feed in the ways ,’ and their work will bring them nourishment.
But this is a great duty as well as a great promise. How many of us Christian people have but little experience of getting nearer to God because of our daily occupations? To by far the larger number of us, in by far the greater space of time in our lives, our daily work is a distraction, and tends to obscure the face of God to us and to shut us out from many of the storehouses of sustenance by which a quiet, contemplative faith is refreshed. Therefore we need times of special prayer and remoteness from daily work; and there will be very little realisation of the nourishing power of common duties unless there is familiar to us also the entrance into the ‘secret place of the Most High,’ where He feeds His children on the bread of life.
We must not neglect either of these two ways by which our souls are fed, and we must ever remember that the reason why so many Christian people cannot set to their seal that this promise is true, lies mainly in this, that the ways on which they go are either not the ways that the Shepherd has walked in before them, or that they are trodden in forgetfulness of Him and without looking to His guidance. The work that is to minister to the Christian life must be work conformed to the Christian ideal, and if we fling ourselves into our secular business, as it is called-if you go to your counting-houses and shops, and I go to my desk and books, and forget the Shepherd-then there is no grass by the wayside for such sheep. But if we subject our wills to Him, and if in all that we do we are trying to refer to Him and are working in dependence on Him, and for Him, then the poorest work, the meanest, the most entirely secular, will be a source of Christian nourishment and blessing. We have to settle for ourselves whether we shall be distracted, torn asunder by pressure of cares and responsibilities and activities, or whether, far below the agitated surface which is ruffled by the winds, and borne along by the tidal wave, there will be a great central depth, still but not stagnant-whether we shall be fed, or starved in our Christian life, by the pressure of our worldly tasks. The choice is before us. ‘They shall feed in the ways,’ if the ways are Christ’s ways, and He is at every step their Shepherd.
Further, my text suggests that for those who follow the Lamb there shall be greenness and pasture on the bare heights. Strip that part of our text of its metaphor, and it just comes to the blessed old thought, which I hope many of us have known to be a true one, that the times of sorrow are the times when a Christian may have the most of the presence and strength of God. ‘In the days of famine they shall be satisfied,’ and up among the most barren cliffs, where there is not a bite for any four-footed creature, they shall find springing grass and watered pastures. Our prophet puts the same thought, under a kindred though somewhat different metaphor, in another place in this book, where he says, ‘I will open rivers in high places.’ That is clean contrary to nature. The rivers do not run on the mountain-tops, but down in the low ground. But for us, as the darkness thickens, the pillar may glow the brighter; as the gloom increases, the glory may grow; the less of nutriment or refreshment earth affords, the more abundantly does God spread His stores before us, if we are wise enough to take them. It is an experience, I suppose, common to all devout men, that their times of most rapid growth were their times of trouble. In nature winter stops all vegetable life. In grace the growing time is the winter. They tell us that up in the Arctic regions the reindeer will scratch away the snow, and get at the succulent moss that lies beneath it. When that Shepherd, Who Himself has known sorrows, leads us up into those barren regions of perpetual cold and snow, He teaches us, too, how to brush it away, and find what we need buried and kept safe and warm beneath the white shroud. It is the prerogative of the Christian soul not to be without trouble, but to turn the trouble into nourishment, and to feed on the barest heights.
May I turn these latter words of our text a somewhat different way, attaching to them a meaning which does not belong to them, but by way of accommodation? If Christian people want to have the bread of God abundantly, they must climb. It is to those who live on the heights that provision comes according to their need. If you would have your Christian life starved, go down into the fertile valleys. Remember Abraham and Lot, and the choice which each made. The one said: ‘I want cattle and wealth, and I am going down to Sodom. Never mind about the vices of the inhabitants. There is money to be made there.’ Abraham said: ‘I am going to stay up here on the heights, the breezy, barren heights,’ and God stayed beside him. If we go down we starve our souls. If we desire them to be fat and flourishing, nourished with the hidden manna, then we must go up. ‘Their pasture shall be in all high places.’
Before I finish, let me remind you of the application of the words of my text, which we owe to the New Testament. The context runs, as you will remember, ‘they shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them. For He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall He guide them.’ And you remember the beautiful variation and deepening of this promise in that great saying which the Seer in the Apocalypse gives us, when he speaks of those ‘who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth,’ and are led ‘by living fountains of water,’ where ‘God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.’ So we are entitled to believe that on the loftiest heights, far above this valley of weeping, there shall be immortal food, and that on the high places of the mountains of God there shall be pasture that never withers. The prophet Ezekiel has a similar variation of my text, and transfers it from the captives on their march homewards, to the happy pilgrims who have reached home, when he says: ‘I will bring them unto their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel’-when they have reached them at last after the weary march-’I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the mountains of Israel shall their fold be; there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
That Thou mayest say. This cannot be the nation, but the Messiah.
Go forth. Compare Isa 42:7; Isa 61:1.
to. Some codices, with two early printed editions, Aramaean, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “and to”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
to the: Isa 42:7, Isa 61:1, Psa 69:33, Psa 102:20, Psa 107:10-16, Psa 146:7, Zec 9:11, Zec 9:12, Luk 4:18, Col 1:13, 1Pe 2:9
to them: Isa 9:2, Isa 42:16, Isa 60:1, Isa 60:2, Luk 1:79, Joh 8:12, Act 26:18, 2Co 4:4-6, Eph 5:8, Eph 5:14, 1Th 5:5, 1Th 5:6
They shall feed: Isa 5:17, Isa 55:1, Isa 55:2, Isa 65:13, Psa 22:26, Psa 23:1, Psa 23:2, Eze 34:13-15, Eze 34:23, Eze 34:29, Joe 3:18, Joh 6:53-58, Joh 10:9
high: Deu 32:13
Reciprocal: Lev 25:10 – proclaim Lev 25:54 – then Psa 80:1 – leadest Psa 107:14 – brought Psa 126:2 – Then was Pro 2:8 – keepeth Isa 40:11 – feed Isa 41:18 – General Isa 48:17 – which leadeth Isa 55:12 – ye shall Jer 31:9 – I will Lam 3:34 – all Eze 47:8 – and go down Mic 2:13 – breaker Mic 5:4 – stand Mic 7:8 – when I sit Mal 4:2 – ye shall Mat 5:6 – for Luk 6:21 – for ye shall be Joh 10:3 – and leadeth Rom 2:19 – a light Rom 7:25 – thank God 1Pe 3:19 – in Rev 7:17 – feed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 49:9-11. That thou mayest say Namely, with power and effect, as when God said, Let there be light; to the prisoners To the Gentiles, who are fast bound by the cords of their sins, and taken captive by the devil at his will. Go forth Come forth to the light, receive divine illumination. They shall feed, &c. They shall have abundant provision in all places, yea, even in those which commonly are unfruitful, as are both common roads and high grounds. They shall not hunger, &c. They shall be supplied with all good and necessary things, and preserved from all evil occurrences and annoyances, as the Israelites were in the wilderness, by the manna and other provision afforded them, and the pillar of the cloud and fire, a token of the divine presence and protection. For he that hath mercy on them shall lead them God, who hath magnified his mercy to them, will conduct them with safety and comfort. And I will make all mountains a way I will remove all hinderances, and prepare the way for them, by levelling high grounds, and raising the low.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
49:9 That thou mayest say to the {o} prisoners, Go forth; to them that [are] in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their {p} pastures [shall be] in all high places.
(o) To them who are in the prison of sin and death.
(p) Being in Christ’s protection, they will be safe against all dangers, and free from fear of the enemies.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Part of the salvation to appear in that favorable time will involve the liberation of captives, physical and spiritual (cf. Isa 61:1-4). God’s sheep will enjoy feeding, even on the roads and formerly barren heights of their land (cf. Isa 17:2; Isa 40:10-11; Isa 41:18; Isa 43:19; Isa 63:11). This is a picture of abundant pasturage, and it represents millennial blessings.