Isaiah 57:10 You are wearied in the greatness of your way; yet said you not, There is no hope: you have found the life of your hand… I. THE WAY WHICH IS HERE SUGGESTED TO US. "Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way." The way which the Israelites took was their own way as distinguished from God's way. The way in which a man is walking, and by which he is seeking for salvation, until he has found peace through Christ, is more or less directly his own way. II. THIS WAY, WHICH IS MAN'S OWN WAY, IS SPOKEN OF AS A GREAT WAY. "Thou art weaned in the greatness of thy way. Looking at salvation as It Is in Itself, at the deliverance which is desired, a great deliverance is necessary; looking to the efforts which man will make to effect and attain this deliverance, great efforts are evidently necessary, and great efforts are frequently made. Micah speaks of a man giving thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of oil, yea, giving the life of his firstborn for the sin of his soul, if perchance he may save that soul. And it is perfectly marvellous to see the efforts which men have made, and arc making, in false religions, to secure that which they desire, namely, their soul's salvation. III. THIS WAY OF MAN'S OWN SEEKING IS A WEARY WAY. What disappointments the Israelites met with! So with a man seeking, salvation in his own way as distinct from God's way. Just in proportion as a man is in earnest, just in proportion to the depth of his convictions of sin and righteousness, just in proportion to the sense which he has of the holiness of God, and the realities of eternity, will be the man's dissatisfaction with his own efforts and his own acts of self-denial. IV. Although this is a weary way, and an unsatisfying way, yet IT HAS IN IT SOME PROMISES OF SUCCOUR AND SOME POWER OF SATISFACTION, WHICH PREVENTS THE MAN FROM WHOLLY DESPAIRING. The man "finds life to his hand." There is enough in what he is doing, there is enough in what he is finding, to prevent him from wholly despairing. These persons are not prepared to "say there is no hope; they are not prepared to despair of salvation in the manner in which they are seeking it; they are not wholly cast down. "Therefore thou wast not grieved, not wholly disheartened. They go on persevering and pressing forward, hoping that a brighter day will come. Contrast with this way of man God's way. The way of salvation sought and followed by the Jews resembles very much the way of salvation which the natural heart of man follows when he pursues and seeks that salvation; but now, what is, the way which God would have us to walk in, as contrasted with this way of man's own devising? That which marks God's way, and distinguishes it especially from man's way, is this — that man's way is a way of fear and dread, while God's way is a way of love. " But how,"you will say, "are we to pass from this state, which is man's natural state of seeking for salvation, to that state which is described as God's method of seeking and conferring salvation?" The prophet tells us (vers. 18, 19). (E. Bayley, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved. |
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