Isaiah 35:3 Strengthen you the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. It is not enough to be sorry for the woes of others. Sympathy may be a sort of mental "minor," wherewith we simply soothe ourselves. We must be earnest and inspirational. Pity must be practical. "Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand!" We have plenty of critics and satirists; we want men who will help to save. I. WE MAY STRENGTHEN BY OUR WORDS. "Say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not." Tell a sorrow to some persons, and they draw a picture of still darker possibilities, and so feed the already gloomy fancies of the mind. But it is possible to give "cheer," instead - to record God's great deliverances to ourselves, and tell of all his wondrous works. Thus we may put the brightness of hope into the sky, and help to chase the dark clouds away. "Say." We have all the faculty of quickly telling bad news; let us tell the "good news" of God's gracious kingdom. II. WE CAN CHEER THE HEART. That is the center of life. We may not be able to lift the burden, but we may strengthen our brother's hands by energizing his heart. It is wonderful what a few depressing influences will accomplish. Some are more sensitive than others, and are easily cast down. "Do not my words do good?" says God; for they reach at once to the inner man. Blessed angels of help are words that go to the heart. No man is so great but sympathy can cheer him; no man is so weak but he may be made heroic by holy inspirations! III. WE CAN HELP THE PILGRIMAGE. The knees are feeble; for it is a "tiring" journey to many. They are very weary. Disappointments have multiplied; fountains have dried up in the desert; friends have died, and, like Naomi, they went out full, and are returning home empty. We are all pilgrims; and the statesman's steps often tire as well as the poor student seeking after his first ideal. In the spiritual pilgrimage, too, we often faint and fail. The way is hard. We are disappointed with ourselves. It may be that some soul was just turning back when we strengthened the feeble knees by our own eager pressing forward, even when tired and faint. How much thus depends on our own Christ-like disposition! We cannot do all this if we are insolent, quarrelsome, or hard. The very duties the gospel enjoins manifest what a lofty ideal of character the gospel requires. - W.M.S. Parallel Verses KJV: Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.WEB: Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. |
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