Isaiah 55:6

We have here a further account of that covenant of grace which is made with us in Jesus Christ, both what is required and what is promised in the covenant, and of those considerations that are sufficient abundantly to confirm our believing compliance with and reliance on that covenant. This gracious discovery of God's good-will to the children of men is not to be confined either to the Jew or to the Gentile, to the Old Testament or to the New, much less to the captives in Babylon. No, both the precepts and the promises are here given to all, to every one that thirsts after happiness, Isa 55:1. And who does not? Hear this, and live.

I. Here is a gracious offer made of pardon, and peace, and all happiness, to poor sinners, upon gospel terms, Isa 55:6, Isa 55:7.

1. Let them pray, and their prayers shall be heard and answered (Isa 55:6): "Seek the Lord while he may be found. Seek him whom you have left by revolting from your allegiance to him and whom you have lost by provoking him to withdraw his favour from you. Call upon him now while he is near, and within call." Observe here,

(1.) The duties required. [1.] "Seek the Lord. Seek to him, and enquire of him, as your oracle. Ask the law at his mouth. What wilt thou have me to do? Seek for him, and enquire after him, as your portion and happiness; seek to be reconciled to him and acquainted with him, and to be happy in his favour. Be sorry that you have lost him; be solicitous to find him; take the appointed method of finding him, making use of Christ as your way, the Spirit as your guide, and the word as your rule." [2.] "Call upon him. Pray to him, to be reconciled, and, being reconciled, pray to him for every thing else you have need of."

(2.) The motives made use of to press these duties upon us: While he may be found - while he is near. [1.] It is implied that now God is near and will be found, so that it shall not be in vain to seek him and to call upon him. Now his patience is waiting on us, his word is calling to us, and his Spirit striving with us. Let us now improve our advantages and opportunities; for now is the accepted time. But, [2.] There is a day coming when he will be afar off, and will not be found, when the day of his patience is over, and his Spirit will strive no more. There may come such a time in this life, when the heart is incurably hardened; it is certain that at death and judgment the door will be shut, Luk 16:26; Luk 13:25, Luk 13:26. Mercy is now offered, but then judgment without mercy will take place.

2. Let them repent and reform, and their sins shall be pardoned, Isa 55:7. Here is a call to the unconverted, to the wicked and the unrighteous - to the wicked, who live in known gross sins, to the unrighteous, who live in the neglect of plain duties: to them is the word of this salvation sent, and all possible assurance given that penitent sinners shall find God a pardoning God. Observe here,

(1.) What it is to repent. There are two things involved in repentance: - [1.] It is to turn from sin; it is to forsake it. It is to leave it, and to leave it with loathing and abhorrence, never to return to it again. The wicked must forsake his way, his evil way, as we would forsake a false way that will never bring us to the happiness we aim at, and a dangerous way, that leads to destruction. Let him not take one step more in that way. Nay, there must be not only a change of the way, but a change of the mind; the unrighteous must forsake his thoughts. Repentance, if it be true, strikes at the root, and washes the heart from wickedness. We must alter our judgments concerning persons and things, dislodge the corrupt imaginations and quit the vain pretences under which an unsanctified heart shelters itself. Note, It is not enough to break off from evil practices, but we must enter a caveat against evil thoughts. Yet this is not all: [2.] To repent is to return to the Lord; to return to him as our God, our sovereign Lord, against whom we have rebelled, and to whom we are concerned to reconcile ourselves; it is to return to the Lord as the fountain of life and living waters, which we had forsaken for broken cisterns.

(2.) What encouragement we have thus to repent. If we do so, [1.] God will have mercy. He will not deal with us as our sins have deserved, but will have compassion on us. Misery is the object of mercy. Now both the consequences of sin, by which we have become truly miserable (Eze 16:5, Eze 16:6), and the nature of repentance, by which we are made sensible of our misery and are brought to bemoan ourselves (Jer 31:18), both these make us objects of pity, and with God there are tender mercies. [2.] He will abundantly pardon. He will multiply to pardon (so the word is), as we have multiplied to offend. Though our sins have been very great and very many, and though we have often backslidden and are still prone to offend, yet God will repeat his pardon, and welcome even backsliding children that return to him in sincerity.

II. Here are encouragements given us to accept this offer and to venture our souls upon it. For, look which way we will, we find enough to confirm us in our belief of its validity and value.

1. If we look up to heaven, we find God's counsels there high and transcendent, his thoughts and ways infinitely above ours, Isa 55:8, Isa 55:9. The wicked are urged to forsake their evil ways and thoughts (Isa 55:7) and to return to God, that is, to bring their ways and thoughts to concur and comply with his; "for" (says he) "my thoughts and ways are not as yours. Yours are conversant only about things beneath; they are of the earth earthy: but mine are above, as the heaven is high above the earth; and, if you would approve yourselves true penitents, yours must be so too, and your affections must be set on things above." Or, rather, it is to be understood as an encouragement to us to depend upon God's promise to pardon sin, upon repentance. Sinners may be ready to fear that God will not be reconciled to them, because they could not find in their hearts to be reconciled to one who should have so basely and so frequently offended them. "But" (says God) "my thoughts in this matter are not as yours, but as far above them as the heaven is above the earth." They are so in other things. Men's sentiments concerning sin, and Christ, and holiness, concerning this world and the other, are vastly different from God's; but in nothing more than in the matter of reconciliation. We think God apt to take offence and backward to forgive - that, if he forgives once, he will not forgive a second time. Peter thought it a great deal to forgive seven times (Mat 18:21), and a hundred pence go far with us; but God meets returning sinners with pardoning mercy; he forgives freely, and as he gives: it is without upbraiding. We forgive and cannot forget; but, when God forgives sin, he remembers it no more. Thus God invites sinners to return to him, by possessing them with good thoughts of him, as Jer 31:20.

2. If we look down to this earth, we find God's word there powerful and effectual, and answering all its great intentions, Isa 55:10, Isa 55:11. Observe here, (1.) The efficacy of God's word in the kingdom of nature. He saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; he appoints when it shall come, to what degree, and how long it shall lie there; he saith so to the small rain and the great rain of his strength, Job 37:6. And according to his order they come down from heaven, and do whatsoever he commands them upon the face of the world, whether it be for correction, or for his land, or for mercy, Isa 55:12, Isa 55:13. It returns not re infect - without having accomplished its end, but waters the earth, which he is therefore said to do from his chambers, Psa 104:13. And the watering of the earth is in order to its fruitfulness. Thus he makes it to bring forth and bud, for the products of the earth depend upon the dews of heaven; and thus it gives not only bread to the eater, present maintenance to the owner and his family, but seed likewise to the sower, that he may have food for another year. The husbandman must be a sower as well as an eater, else he will soon see the end of what he has. (2.) The efficacy of his word in the kingdom of providence and grace, which is as certain as the former: "So shall my word be, as powerful in the mouth of prophets as it is in the hand of providence; it shall not return unto me void, as unable to effect what it was sent for, or meeting with an insuperable opposition; no, it shall accomplish that which I please" (for it is the declaration of his will, according to the counsel of which he works all things) "and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." This assures us, [1.] That the promises of God shall all have their full accomplishment in due time, and not one iota or tittle of them shall fail, Kg1 8:56. These promises of mercy and grace shall have as real an effect upon the souls of believers, for their sanctification and comfort, as ever the rain had upon the earth, to make it fruitful. [2.] That according to the different errands on which the word is sent it will have its different effects. If it be not a savour of life unto life, it will be a savour of death unto death; if it do not convince the conscience and soften the heart, it will sear the conscience and harden the heart; if it do not ripen for heaven, it will ripen for hell. See Isa 6:9. One way or other, it will take effect. [3.] That Christ's coming into the world, as the dew from heaven (Hos 14:5), will not be in vain. For, if Israel be not gathered, he will be glorious in the conversion of the Gentiles; to them therefore the tenders of grace must be made when the Jews refuse them, that the wedding may be furnished with guests and the gospel not return void.

3. If we take a special view of the church, we shall find what great things God has done, and will do, for it (Isa 55:12, Isa 55:13): You shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace. This refers, (1.) To the deliverance and return of the Jews out of Babylon. They shall go out of their captivity, and be led forth towards their own land again. God will go before them as surely, though not as sensibly, as before their fathers in the pillar of cloud and fire. They shall go out, not with trembling, but with triumph, not with any regret to part with Babylon, or any fear of being fetched back, but with joy and peace. Their journey home over the mountains shall be pleasant, and they shall have the good-will and good wishes of all the countries they pass through. The hills and their inhabitants shall, as in a transport of joy, break forth into singing; and, if the people should altogether hold their peace, even the trees of the field would attend them with their applauses and acclamations. And, when they come to their own land, it shall be ready to bid them welcome; for, whereas they expected to find it all overgrown with briers and thorns, it shall be set with fir-trees and myrtle-trees: for, though it lay desolate, yet it enjoyed its sabbaths (Lev 26:34), which, when they were over, like the land after the sabbatical year, it was the better for. And this shall redound much to the honour of God and be to him for a name. But, (2.) Without doubt it looks further. This shall be for an everlasting sign, that it, [1.] The redemption of the Jews out of Babylon shall be a ratification of those promises that relate to gospel times. The accomplishment of the predictions relating to that great deliverance would be a pledge and earnest of the performance of all the other promises; for thereby it shall appear that he is faithful who has promised. [2.] It shall be a representation of the blessings promised and a type and figure of them. First, Gospel grace will set those at liberty that were in bondage to sin and Satan. They shall go out and be led forth. Christ shall make them free, and then they shall be free indeed. Secondly, It will fill those with joy that were melancholy. Psa 14:7, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. The earth and the inferior part of the creation shall share in the joy of this salvation, Psa 94:11, Psa 94:12. Thirdly, It will make a great change in men's characters. Those that were as thorns and briers, good for nothing but the fire, nay, hurtful and vexatious, shall become graceful and useful as the fir-tree and the myrtle-tree. Thorns and briers came in with sin and were the fruits of the curse, Gen 3:18. The raising of pleasant trees in the room of them signifies the removal of the curse of the law and the introduction of gospel blessings. The church's enemies were as thorns and briers; but, instead of them, God will raise up friends to be her protection and ornament. Or it may denote the world's growing better; instead of a generation of thorns and briers, there shall come up a generation of fir-trees and myrtles; the children shall be wiser and better than the parents. And, fourthly, in all this God shall be glorified. It shall be to him for a name, by which he will be made known and praised, and by it the people of God shall be encouraged. It shall be for an everlasting sign of God's favour to them, assuring them that, though it may for a time be clouded, it shall never be cut off. The covenant of grace is an everlasting covenant; for the present blessings of it are signs of everlasting ones.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

Ver. 6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found.] Seek not his omnipresence - for that ye need not do, since he is not far from any one of us {Act 17:27} - but his gracious presence, his face and favour; seek to be in the fear of the Lord and in the comforts of the Holy Ghost, in communion with him, and conformity unto him, and give not over till you find it. Seek him seriously, seek him seasonably. There is a time when men shall seek the Lord with their flocks and herds, and yet not find him, when once he hath withdrawn himself from them. {Hos 5:6}

Call ye upon him while he is near.] In a time of acceptance, {Psa 32:6} before he hath sworn that he will not be spoken with. {Psa 95:11} God is but a while with men in the opportunities of grace. {Pro 1:24; Pro 1:28}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa_55:6-9

Seek ye the Lord while He may be found

The Lord to be sought

Notice how it reads: Seek the Lord.

It dont say seek happiness; it dont say seek peace; it dont say seek joy. A good many people seek after joy, after peace, after happiness. I cannot find any place in the Bible where we are told to seek for peace or joy. If you have the Spirit, you will have the fruit of the Spirit; and you wont have the fruit without the Spirit itself. You might as well look for an apple or an orange without a tree. You get a good tree and you have good fruit. Therefore, what we want is to seek the Lord Himself, and if I have Christ formed in me, the hope of glory, I will have peace, and joy, and rest. (D. L. Moody.)

Seeking Lord

I. THE ABSOLUTE NECESSITY FOR SEEKING THE LORD. Man by nature is estranged from God; knows not his Creator; is c, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel; cut off from God, who is not in all his thoughts. As such, he is--

1. Helpless. He hath nothing in himself whereby he may help himself. Dead in trespasses and sins.

2. Hopeless. Without God and without hope in the world. Cannot look forward into the future with cheering expectations.

3. Unhappy. Poor and miserable, and blind and naked. No peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

II. THE CERTAINTY OF FINDING HIM.

1. He does not ask of us impossibilities. He is a reasonable God, and never gives a command without giving also the power to perform 2:2. His promises are sure. If ye seek Me, I will be found of you. Seek and ye shall find. He never saith, Seek ye My face in vain.

III. THE FITTEST TIME TO SEEK HIM.

1. NOW. New is the accepted time; now the day of salvation. To-day if ye will hear His voice. No promise is made of to-morrow.

IV. THE CONSEQUENT BLESSINGS.

1. Pardon of Sin. I will pardon all their iniquities.

2. A new heart. A new heart will I give you.

3. Adoption into His family. Heirs of God.

4. Restoration to His favour. knew creature. Made nigh by blood of Christ.

5. Love to God and man. Love of God shed abroad in the heart.

6. Life everlasting. He that believeth hath everlasting life. (F. G. Davis.)

The lost Lord

1. To seek the Lord while He may be found implies, among other things, this, that the Lord is lost by and to those thus called to seek Him. We speak of a lost sinner; we may with equal truth speak of a lost Lord. The lost sinner and the lost Lord are correlative. The sinner is lost, because he has lost the Lord. The Lords finding the sinner, is the sinners finding the Lord. It is not that the Lord has ceased to be, to govern the world, to support His creatures. His providence indeed is exercised (Act_17:27-28) that men should seek the Lord if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him. Nor is He far from every one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being. But the Lord is lost in this sense, that He is practically lost as Father, Friend and Portion, God and Guide, not recognized and accepted as Lord, by sinful men.

2. Apart from redeeming grace, the sinner is hopelessly lost to God, because God is hopelessly lost to the sinner. The evidences of this loss are many and various. The providential rule of God over men is carried on that they might seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him. The whole scheme of grace rests upon, as it was rendered necessary by, mens loss of God. It is not merely Gods plan for seeking lost men, but Gods plan for coming near to men and being found of them.

3. If we look at men themselves, it is evident that, to all that have not found Him in His appointed way of grace, the Lord is lost. Witness the conscious or unconscious expression of this loss, in manifold ways and forms; in mens corrupt, miserable condition, their restlessness and aimlessness, their hunt for substitutes of the lost Lord, their self-righteousness, their strange discontents, until they seek and find the Lord. Is not the Lord lost out of mens hearts, creating by His absence a void there which only Himself can fill; out of mens consciences, so that the fear of man has more authority and power with them than the fear of God; out of mens minds, so that God is rarely, if ever, in all their thoughts, or is misunderstood and misinterpreted, and spiritual things cannot be discerned or welcomed; and finally, out of their lives, so that men can live and love without Him, can live to themselves, can live as though there were no God?

4. This is the greatest loss of all. What more has a man, if he has lost the Lord, and has not again found Him, in a world where the Lord is needed so much, where nothing else can make good the loss, and where yet the lost Lord may be found? How welcome to men should be the voice from heaven that tells them that the lost Lord has come near, and may be found, and how and where and when. (Alex. Warrack, M. A.)

No delay

If Adam and Eve were somewhat ignorant, as we suppose them to have been, of Gods omniscience, no wonder that they attempted to escape HIS notice. Their interest appeared to lie, not in seeking the Lord, but in fleeing from Him. Why so? Ignorant as yet of a mercy which was about for the first time to be revealed, they knew Him only as a God of justice and of truth. But what makes it your plain as well as highest interest to seek the Lord, is that you know that He is very pitiful and of great mercy.

I. CONSIDER WHAT WE ARE TO UNDERSTAND BY SEEKING THE LORD. The sense in which this is to be taken is explained by the succeeding verses, Let, etc. It is as a God, who will have mercy on the worst, and abundantly pardon the wickedest, that we are to seek the Lord--seeking Him without an hours delay. We may, as man has often done, stand at a human bar conscious of our innocence. We may refuse to put in a plea for mercy; boldly declaring that we want nothing more, and will accept of nothing less, than impartial justice. At Gods tribunal, however, it is very different. There, simple justice were sure damnation. It is as just and the justifier of them that believe in Jesus, that we are to seek the Lord; and all the blessings which in that gracious character He has, and He promises, to bestow.

II. INQUIRE WHEN THESE THINGS ARE TO BE OBTAINED.

1. The Lord, as bestowing the pardon of sin and salvation of the soul, is to be found in this world, not in another.

2. The Lord is not to be found on a deathbed.

3. The Lord is more likely to be found now than at any future time. We can foretell neither what, nor where we shall be to-morrow. Sin is like the descent of a hill, where every step we take increases the difficulty of our return. Sin is like a river in its course; the longer it runs, it wears a deeper channel, and the farther from the fountain, it swells in volume and acquires a greater strength. Sin is like a tree in its progress; the longer it grows, it spreads its roots the wider; grows taller; grows thicker; till the sapling which once an infants arm could bend, raises its head aloft, defiant of the storm. Sin in its habits becomes stronger every day--the heart grows harder; the conscience grows duller; the distance between God and the soul grows greater; and, like a rock hurled from the mountains top, the farther we descend, we go down, and down, and down, with greater and greater rapidity. How easy, for example, is it to touch the conscience of childhood; but how difficult to break in on the torpor of a hoary head!

III. THE SHORTNESS AND UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE ARE STRONG REASONS FORESEEKING PARDON AND SALVATION NOW. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

Opportunity

How much depends upon timing things, as to advantage, and usefulness, and necessity l In this view, how important is opportunity. (W. Jay.)

Importance of seeking God at the present moment

Let us consider these words--

I. AS AN INJUNCTION TO DUTY. This seeking of God is to be considered, not only as initial, but as repeated and constant.

II. AS AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO HOPE. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. We have the very same thought in the thirty-second Psalm, where it is said, For this shall every one that in godly pray unto Thee in a tune when Thou mayest be found. We are saved by hope. And what a foundation is laid for this confidence! What a foundation is laid in the Word of the Gospel. What a foundation is laid in His invitations. How encouraging is all this! If possibility will sometimes move people, and if probability will commonly move them, how much more will actual certainty influence them; especially when the prize is nothing less than the possession of God--the God of an grace and of glory!

III. AS A SECURITY FROM PRESUMPTION. Though God is to be found, He is not always to be found. (W. Jay.)

The times and places for seeking God

I. WHERE?

1. The mercy-seat, the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. In the Gospel. What is the Gospel? Just the tones of the voice of Jesus Christ, prolonged and perpetuated in the language of man.

3. In the preaching of His word.

4. At the communion-table.

II. WHEN?

1. In time as opposed to eternity.

2. On the Sabbath.

3. In the season of affliction.

4. in an emphatic sense, seek God now, for now is the accepted time, etc. (J. Cumming, D. D.)

The God-seeking work, and God-seeking season

Implied in the text is the appalling fact that man has lost the Lord, the true sovereign and God of his being. But there is another fact which is yet more appalling, that man is unconscious of the terrible catastrophe which has befallen him. But God does not abandon the lost one to his fate. He reminds him of his forfeited state and place; He urges him to return to the home which he has left, and regain the royalty which he has lost, and become one with the God from whom he has alienated himself.

I. THE GOD-SEEKING WORK. Seek the Lord. But the Scriptures represent God as seeking man: this being the case, is it not strange to urge man to seek God? The fact that He seeks us is the ground and reason why we should seek Him. The call of God to us, and His search for us, is our greatest encouragement in seeking Him; for it is a pledge that our calling and seeking will not be fruitless. The text, in the words seek and cell, indicates the method by which we should seek-the Lord. We must return to Him b humble, penitential prayer Seek--Him by the guidance of His word: under the inspiration of His Spirit: through the mediation of His Son. Prove the sincerity of your search by endeavouring to comply with His will. Let the wicked forsake, etc. This is the most urgent duty of sinful man. We can be truly blessed only union with God.

II. THE GOD-SEEKING SEASON.

1. There is a season when the Lord may be found--a time when He is near. He may be found when we feel Him near to us. There are times of spiritual awakening and revival, when we feel the presence and power of God; then may He be found. Them are occasions when we hear His voice,: and feel His influence in the events of life; then may He be found. There are seasons when by the preaching of His word He awakens earnest thought, carries conviction to the conscience, and inspires the heart with noble desires; then may He be found. Now may He be found.

2. There will come a season when the Lord may not be found--a time when He will not be near. Locally, He will be near to all beings everywhere and for ever; but, if any one persist in neglecting merciful calls and gracious offers, there will come a time when such an one will hear no kindly voice from Him, will feel no saving influence from Him. There came such a time in the life of King Saul; and the lost man cried in agony,--God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams. By your own interest, I urge you to seek Him at once. By the solicitude of God for your well-being. (W. Jones.)

I. THE OBJECT, whom we must seek.

1. God hath made Himself an Object to be sought.

2. He is the sole and adequate Object of our desires.

II. THE ACT; what it is to seek Him.

III. THE TIME; when we must seek the Lord. While He may be found. There is no time to seek Him but now. For--

1. It is the greatest folly in the world thus to play with danger, to seek death first in the errors of our life, and then, when we have run our course, and death is ready to devour us, to look faintly back upon life. The later we seek, the less able we shall be to seek; the further we stray, the less willing to return.

2. It is dangerous in respect of God Himself, whose call we regard not, whose counsels we reject, whose patience we daily with, whose judgments we slight, and so tread that mercy under our feet which should save us, and will not seek Him yet, because we presume that, though we grieve His Spirit, though we resist His Spirit, though we blaspheme His Spirit, yet, after all these scorns and contempts, He will yet sue unto us, and offer

Himself, and be found at any time in which we shall think convenient to seek Him. (A. Farindon, B. D.)

The delay of conversion

I. WE SHALL ENDEAVOUR TO PROVE FROM OUR OWN CONSTITUTION, THAT IT IS DIFFICULT, NOT TO SAY IMPOSSIBLE, TO BE CONVERTED AFTER HAVING WASTED LIFE IN VICE. It is clear that we carry in our own breasts principles which render conversion difficult, and I may add, impossible, if deferred to a certain period. To comprehend this, form in your mind an adequate idea of conversion, and fully admit, that the soul, in order to possess this state of grace, must acquire two essential dispositions; it must be illuminated; it must be sanctified.

1. You cannot become regenerate unless you know the truths of religion. Now, every period of life is not alike proper for disposing the body to this happy temperature, which leaves the soul at liberty for reflection and thought. If we defer the acquisition of religious knowledge till age has chilled the blood, obscured the understanding, enfeebled the memory, and confirmed prejudice and obstinacy, it is almost impossible to be in a situation to acquire that information without which our religion can neither be agreeable to God, afford us solid consolation in affliction, nor motive sufficient against temptation.

2. The soul not only loses with time the facility of discerning error from truth, but after having for a considerable time habituated itself to converse solely with sensible objects, it is almost impossible to attach it to any other. In order to conversion, we must have a radical and habitual love to God. This principle being allowed, all that we have to say against the delay of conversion becomes self-established. The whole question is reduced to this; if at the extremity of life, if in a short and fleeting moment, you can acquire this habit of Divine love, then we will preach no more against delay. But if time, labour, and will, are required to form this genuine source of love to God, you should frankly acknowledge the folly of postponing so important a work for a single moment. This being allowed, we shall establish, on two principles, all that we have to advance upon this subject.

(1) We cannot acquire any habit without performing the correspondent actions.

(2) When a habit is once rooted, it becomes difficult or impossible to correct it, in proportion as it is confirmed. Habits of the mind are formed as habits of the body; the former become as incorrigible as the latter. As, then, in the acquisition of a corporeal habit, we must perform the correspondent actions, so in forming the habits of religion, of love, humility, patience, charity, we must habituate ourselves to the duties of patience, humility and love. Further, we must not only engage in the offices of piety to form the habit, but they must be frequent; just as we repeat acts of vice to form a vicious habit. We make a rapid progress in the career of vice. But the habits of holiness are directly opposed to our constitution. When we wish to become converts, we assume a double task; we must demolish, we must build. Such is the only way by which we can expect the establishment of grace in the heart; it is by unremitting labour, by perseverance in duty, and by perpetual vigilance. Now, who does not perceive the folly of those who procrastinate their conversion? who imagine that a word from a minister, a prospect of death, a sudden resolution, can instantaneously produce perfection of virtue?

II. WE SHALL DEMONSTRATE THAT REVELATION PERFECTLY ACCORDS WITH NATURE ON THIS HEAD; and that whatever the Bible has taught concerning the efficiency of grace, the supernatural aids of the Spirit, and the extent of mercy, favours, in no respect, the delay of conversion.

1. The first proofs of which people avail themselves, to excuse their negligence and delay, and the first arguments of defence, which they draw from the Scriptures, in order to oppose us, are taken from the aids of the Spirit, promised in the new covenant. To this objection we must reply. We shall manifest its absurdity--

(1) By the ministry God has established in the Church.

(2) By the efforts He requires us to make, previously to our presuming that we have received the Holy Spirit--

(3) By the manner in which He requires us to co-operate with the Spirit, when we have received Him.

(4) By the punishments He has denounced against those who resist His work.

(5) By the conclusions which the Scripture itself deduces from our natural weakness, and from the necessity of grace.

2. The notion of the mercy of God is a second source of illusion. God is merciful, say they, the covenant He has established with man is a covenant of grace. A general amnesty is granted to every sinner. Hence, though our conversion be defective, God will receive our dying breath, and yield to our tears. What, then, should deter us from giving free scope to our passions, and deferring the rigorous duties of conversion, till we are nothing worth for the world? Detestable sophism l Here is the highest stage of corruption, the supreme degree of ingratitude.

III. WE SHALL ENDEAVOUR TO CONFIRM THE DOCTRINES OF REASON AND REVELATION BY DAILY OBSERVATIONS ON THOSE WHO DEFER THE CHANGE.

1. You may oppose to us two classes of examples. In the first class, you may arrange those instantaneous conversions which grace has effectuated in a moment by a single stroke; and which apparently destroy what we have advanced on the force of habits, and on the economy of the Holy Spirit. In the second class, you will put those other sinners who, after the perpetration of enormous crimes, have obtained remission by a sigh, by a wish, by a few tears; and afford presumptive hopes, that to whatever excess we may carry our crimes, we shall never exceed the terms of mercy, or obstruct reception at the throne of grace. Consider that many of these conversions are not only out of the common course of religion, but also that they could not have been effectuated by lees than miraculous powers. Consider that, among all those sinners, there was not one in the situation of a Christian who delays conversion to the close of life. Consider that you are enlightened with meridian lustre, which they had scarcely seen. Consider that you are pressed with a thousand motives unknown to them. Consider that they continued, for the most part, but a short time in sin; but you have wasted life in folly. Consider that they possessed distinguished virtues, which rendered them dear to God; but you have nothing to offer Him but dissipation or indolence. Consider that they were distinguished by repentance, which afforded constant proof of their sincerity whereas it is still doubtful whether you shall ever be converted, and you go the way to make it impossible. See, then, whether your arguments are just, and whether your hopes are properly founded.

2. Hitherto we have examined the cases of those sinners who apparently contradict our principles; let us briefly review those by which they are confirmed. Let us 1)rove that the long-suffering of God has its limits; and that in order to find Him propitious, we must seek Him while He may be found, and call upon Him while He is near. Three distinguished classes of examples confirm these illustrious truths.

(1) Public catastrophes.

(2) Obdurate sinners.

(3) Dying men. Happy are they who are cautioned by the calamities of others! (J. Saurin.)

Scripture blessings conditional

The blessings promised in the Scriptures are always, more or less, conditional.

1. Here is a condition of time. While He may be found. While He is near.

2. Then, there are conditions on the part of men. The wicked is to forsake his way, etc. (J. Parker, D. D.)

The best time to seek the Lord

These verses (6, 7) are vitally connected. We must not overlook the fact that while salvation is offered to all, there is a time when it can be best sought; and, because of the moral barriers which maturity in sin makes, can be more easily obtained. The text teaches us--

I. THAT THE LORD IS SPECIALLY NEAR TO SOME.

1. To the young. It is not mere poetry, but a literal fact, that Heaven lies about us in our infancy. The soul then is--

(1) Purer.

(2) More tender.

(3) Less rebellious.

2. To those who are convinced of sin and are conscious of their need of Him The distance between the soul and God is not a physical, but a moral one. God cannot come near to the soul that clings to its guilt with a culpable pertinacity. But when that pertinacity gives way to penitence He draws near and presents a pardon, and then the hand of faith has only to be stretched out to receive it.

II. THAT THOSE TO WHOM THE LORD IS THUS NEAR MAY EASILY FIND HIM NOW, BUT MAY FIND HIM ONLY WITH DIFFICULTY IN AFTER YEARS, OR MAY NOT FIND HIM AT ALL. Childhood and youthhood, how soon they are succeeded by manhood, and, unless there be early and immediate reformation, by maturity in selfishness and sin 1 Convictions, deep, fervent, strong, how soon they are consumed by contact with the world, unless they are immediately turned to good account! Delay will bring--

1. More difficulty.

2. More danger.

3. Damnation!

III. THAT THERE IS HOPE FOR THE OLDEST AND MOST HARDENED SINNERS WHO HAVE ALLOWED THEIR BEST TIME FOR SEEKING THE LORD TO PASS. Salvation is offered them; but there are conditions which they will find it difficult to comply with.

1. The casting off of evil habits. Let the wicked forsake his way.

2. The abandonment of impious iniquitous, thoughts. And the unrighteous man his thoughts.

3. The sub-mission and surrender of the soul to God. And let him return unto the Lord. Are you prepared to comply with these conditions, hard, rigorous, only because your sins have made them so? If so, you are offered--

(1) Mercy sufficient, comprehensive, to cover your sins.

(2) Multiplied pardon to cancel, your multiplied transgressions and crimes.

Conclusion: Do not defer your souls safety until--

(1) To-morrow. Christ may not be near then; may not be found though you call.

(2) Your dying hour. You may be delirious, or so surprised or so stultified by your affliction as to be disinclined to seek. (E. D. Solomon.)

Abundant pardon

In these words there is both exhortation and promise: There is exhibited--

I. SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE DONE.

II. SOMETHING THAT MAY BE ENJOYED. (Principal Morison, D. D.)

Duty and privilege

I. DUTY is inculcated on the one hand.

II. BLESSING is held out to view on the other. (Principal Morison, D. D.)

The lost Lord

God is near us in His works. But, in startling contrast to this evident nearness of God in His works, comes the injunction of our Scriptures--Seek ye the Lord. Why? Because ye have lost Him.

I. CONSIDER TWO OR THREE EVIDENCES OF THIS STARTLING FACT.

1. Here is a company of persons. It is the time for pleasant talk and the happy methods by which men give the hours wing. What wide circle the conversation sweeps. And yet through all the company there is a severe proscription of one subject. There is a certain rule of breeding or taste or custom to which all defer. Suppose, for a moment, that one should break the rule and begin to talk of God in a reverent way, would not all feel that a dissonant chord was struck? Would not talk about God be very apt to be voted out, even in such a rightfully glad company? Is it not a quick, true test of the way they feel about Him? They have no sense of a blessed intimacy with Him.

2. Behold, also, the fact of a lost Lord in the universal feeling that, while it is natural for a man to love certain earthly objects--his children, for example--it is somehow not natural for a man to love God as he feels all the time he ought.

3. See, too, a further evidence of the fact in the attitude of the conscience toward Him. Man cannot get out of himself the conviction that the condition of soul which God intended for him is that of a sweet intimacy with Himself. And yet, like the cherubim at the gates of Eden with the flaming swords flashing every way, conscience stands preventing entrance into such condition. Man is consciously a criminal at the bar of the inviolable law; and standing there speechless and helpless, God is the most fearful being in the universe to the man. And yet, never with his Lord thus lost can man be at peace.

II. A METHOD OF SEARCH FOR THE LOST LORD.

1. Let the wicked forsake, etc.

2. Let him return, etc. Repentance is double-sided. Not only must the man forsake, he must return.

III. THE SURE RESULT OF SUCH RIGID SEARCH--the Lord will have mercy and will abundantly pardon.

IV. THE TIME FOR SUCH RIGID SEARCH FOR THE LOST LORD--While He may be found. That time is now, because refusal to seek God forces one into the firmer habit of hostility to Him. (W. Hoyt, D. D.)

God unknown, yet known

1. If you mentally retire a few steps from it, and look at it reflectively and from a general point of view, you will find in the passage this notable paradox; that it invites you to seek a God who yet cannot be found, to know a God who yet cannot be known. For where should we seek God if not in His ways; or how shall we know Him, except by coming to know His thoughts! And yet, while we are urgently invited to seek Him, we are expressly told that them is the widest disparity between His thoughts and our thoughts, between His ways and our ways. Now this strange paradox opens up to us what is, and is likely to remain, the great religious question of the time. Whether there is a religion at all, whether there is any revelation of the will of God, nay, whether there is any God to speak to us and to reveal His will; and, if there is, whether we know or can know anything about Him. In its higher modern form, atheism does not so much deny the existence of God as declare that, if there be a God it is impossible to demonstrate His existence, impossible to have any true knowledge of Him and of His will; impossible, therefore, to have any real fellowship with Him. If the atheism of to-day erect any altar at all--and some of its representatives are men of a profoundly religious temperament, and must have some form of worship--the only altar they will consent to erect is one which, like that at Athens, bears the inscription, To an unknown God. If He does exist, they are sure that He cannot be what men have for the most part taken Him to be, nor like what even the best men are; sure that, being infinite and eternal, all virtues, all moral qualities and graces, must take a very different form in Him to that which they take in us. Their assumption, together with their calm and reasoned assertion that Science yields no proof of His existence, have bred some doubt even in the bosom of the Church itself. What we think of the sun does not much matter to the sun and cannot possibly alter its nature or put an end to its existence. And what men think of God does not and cannot change Him. Science says, or some of her disciples say for her: In the whole range of visible and observed phenomena we find no proof of God. What then? If men will go to the visible for the invisible, to phenomena for realities, how can they hope to find what they seek? They might as well go to the sand of the desert for water, or to the troubled sea for a solid foundation. The Bible claims to be the very Word of God. And yet does it not everywhere affirm, what Science and Philosophy are proclaiming as a discovery of their own, that God is past finding out; that He is unsearchable, neither to be discovered nor comprehended by mans feeble powers? The Scriptures, then, do proclaim God to be unknowable, above our reach, in a great variety of forms; they declare that as the heavens are high above the earth, so high are His ways above our ways, and His thoughts above our thoughts. So that modem scepticism, original as it takes itself to be, is simply announcing, as its last discovery, what the apostles and prophets found out centuries on centuries ago.

2. But you will naturally ask: Does not the Bible teach us something more than this? something more than that God cannot be found out by dint of intellectual research? Yes! Admitting God to be unknowable, it yet affirms that He may be known. We cannot find Him out to perfection, but He sufficiently, and most truly, reveals Himself to us in His works, in His Word, in His Son. Gods thoughts and ways, we are told, are as high above ours as the heavens above the earth. But the heavens, high as they are, are yet known to us; and, though known, are yet unknown. We none of us know all that the heavens contain and reveal, nor all the laws which are at work upon and within them. But though heaven be so imperfectly known to us, does any sane man doubt that there is a heaven, or that it holds within it the sun, moon, and stars? Does any sane man doubt that we know something of the mechanical and chemical structure of the heavenly bodies, of the laws by which their movements are governed and controlled, of the mode in which they affect us, and the world in which we live, and the other worlds related to them? Unknown to us, and even unknowable, not to be found out to perfection, we nevertheless know them--know at least enough of the heavens to be sure that they exist, and to guide us in all the practical purposes of life. And it is precisely in the same sense that God is both known to us, and unknown. We have not learned, we cannot learn, all that He is, all that He does, or all the reasons which determine the several aspects and movements of His providence: but we may know, we do know and are sure, that He is, and that He rules over all. No doubt we know Him, in part, by our reason. It is not to reason alone, nor to reason mainly, that the Bible appeals. The Bible nowhere deals with God as a problem to be demonstrated, nor professes to give a complete or a philosophical view of His Being and the qualities of His Being. It shows us a more excellent way of finding Him. It affirms that as we ourselves grow in righteousness we shall come to know Him who is righteous; that as we grow in purity we shall see Him who is pure; that as we grow in love we shall become one with Him who is love. Blessed are he pure in heart, for they shall see God. And is that not the way in which we come to know all persons, and especially good persons? The child does not know his father perfectly: but need he doubt that he has a father? The child can never know the goodness of a good father until he becomes good himself and a father: but need we, therefore, doubt whether his father be a good man? And may not we in like manner know that God is; do we not know that He is, although we are but children in understanding? If you have once come to know God for yourselves in this most natural yet Divine way, you will cleave to Him, and to your faith in Him, though the heavens should fall and time should be no more. Your feet are on the rock, and the everlasting arms are about you for evermore. (S. Cox, D. D.)

The incredible mercy of God

If there be some who find it hard to believe that there is a God, there are others who find it equally hard to believe that He is good, so good that He can forgive all sins, even theirs. Look at these verses again, then, and mark their ruling intention. The prophet had been commissioned to carry a message to the captive Jews who sat by the waters of Babylon and wept when they remembered Zion. The message was that, heinous as their iniquity had been, their iniquity was pardoned. But sinful men, especially when they are suffering the bitter punishment of their sins, are apt to be hopeless men. As nothing is possible to doubt and despair, as above all the energy of active moral exertion is impossible, God sets Himself to remove the natural incredulity and hopelessness of the men He was about to save. That His mercy is incredible, He admits; but He affirms that it is only incredible in the sense of being incredibly larger and better than they imagine it to be. They might have found it impossible to forgive those who had sinned against them as they had sinned against Him. But, pleads God, My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways. It is a mercy which does not condone mens sins, but a mercy which saves them from their sins, which calls upon them and compels them to abandon their wicked ways and their unrighteous thoughts. No mercy short of this would be true mercy. To make men happy in their sins is impossible, as impossible as to make them good in their sins. For sin is misery; sin is a bondage to an alien and malignant power which every free spirit must resent and abhor. And even if this ignoble miracle were possible, if a man could be made happy while violating the very law of his being, who that is capable of reflection, of virtue, of goodness, would care to have such a miracle wrought upon him? To be happy in sin he must cease to be himself, cease to be a man. The mercy of God, viewed as saving men from evil thoughts and ways--which is the only true mercy--is simply incredible: so the prophet affirms, so we profess to think and believe. But do we really believe it Do we act as if we did? Many hardly believe that they have sins which need a great act of Divine forgiveness. Many more do not know that, in order to forgive, God must punish their sins. When the punishment comes, they take it as proving that He has not forgiven them, as proving the severity, the anger of God, not His mercy. In our turn, indeed, we all doubt the mercy of God when we most need to believe in it, distrust it when we most need to cast ourselves upon it. Any profound consciousness of sin is apt to make that mercy incredible to us. In our cooler moments it may help us to remember that the very punishments that wait on sin, since they wait on it by a constant and invariable law, are designed for our good. All natural and universal laws must subserve our welfare, if the world and human life be ruled by God; and, among others, the law which metes out to every man the due reward of his iniquities. In part we can even see how this law contributes to our welfare. It makes us terribly aware that we have sinned--a fact we are very slow to realize. We must expect to be convinced ofthe compassion of God, not so much by having the kindness of His laws demonstrated to us, as by listening to the men whom we believe to have had the largest experience of His ways and to enjoy the profoundest sympathy with HIS thoughts. Just as we come to know the righteous God by becoming righteous, so we may hope to learn more of Him from the men whose righteousness is far more eminent and conspicuous than our own. Just as we come to know the mercy of God by becoming merciful, so we may hope to acquaint ourselves more fully with Him by listening to men far more merciful and gracious than ourselves. Such a man, a teacher such as this, now stands before us in the prophet who penned these words. (S. Cox, D. D.)

A fatal delusion

If Satan ever smiles, it is surely when he sees the transgressor lay the flattering unction to his soul that he may take the devils opiates, and take his own time for waking. (Anon.)

The peril of neglect

God hath promised pardon to the penitent, but He hath not promised to-morrow to the negligent. (Ambrose.)

Missing the tide

Ian Maclaren writes of being at the seaside and of watching the fishing-boats as they returned in the evening. They used to wait outside till the tide rose high enough for them to enter the harbour. One night a boat missed the entrance. The men were careless, or they did not tack properly. The others were all inside. A feeling of pity for that boat came over me just as if it had been a living creature. I rose at night to look out of the window. There it was--it had missed the tide. Men and women, the greatest tide that runs is the tide that carries us into the kingdom of God. The most splendid effort of wisdom within a mans power is to seize the tide when it is at its flow.

Opportunity

I remember one day as I went through the woods near Mount Hermon School, I heard bees, and asked what it meant. Oh, said one of the men, they are after the honey-dew. What is that? I asked. He gave me a chestnut leaf, and told me to put my tongue to it. I did so, and the taste was as sweet as honey. Upon inquiry I found that all up and down the Connecticut valley what they call honey-dew had fallen, so that there must have been altogether hundreds of tons of honey-dew in this region. Where it came from I dont know. It sometimes seems as if the honey-dew of Heaven has fallen for us, and if any one has not tasted its sweetness it is his own fault. (D. L. Moody.)

Call ye upon Him while He is near"

In one sense God is always near us, but there is another kind of nearness. We may live in the same house with persons, and yet in sympathy, in mutual understanding and helpfulness, we may be as far away as if a Chinese wall was built between us. We cannot help them because we cannot get near them. So at times God is nearer to us than at others; we feel His presence; the heart is receptive. Then, of all times, we should seek the Lord. (Christian Age.)

Delay inseeking God

Seek God whilst thou canst not see Him; for when thou seest Him, thou canst not find Him. Seek Him by hope, and thou shalt find Him by faith. In the day of grace He is invisible, but near; in the Day of Judgment He is visible, but far off. (Gregory.)

The present all-important

Under each clock in a certain paint factory is hung a neat glass sign, reading, Do It Now. It is the motto of the company, and serves to remind the employes that the present is the all-important time. (Sunday School Chronicle.)

The merciful God near, yet unrecognized

There is a story of a prodigal who came back from the far country and could not find his fathers house. He wandered on and on, and at last, in the gathering night, sank down, heart-sick and faint, on the steps of a little cottage. Without knowing it, he was on his own fathers door-step. Inside sat the aged father and mother, their hearts hungering for their long-lost boy. Outside, bowed and crushed and longing for love and for home, lay the weary, homesick son-on the very threshold of home, but not knowing it. So near to the gates of Heaven is every human soul that is penitent, weary of sin, longing for Divine mercy and love. (J. R. Miller, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa 55:6-7. Seek ye the Lord, &c. — Having discoursed of the office and work of Christ, and showed that he should call people and nations to himself and to God, the prophet now endeavours to persuade the people to hearken to his call, and to seek the Lord; that is, to labour to get the knowledge of God’s will, and to obtain his grace and favour, neither of which could be obtained save in and through Christ. And this exhortation is general, like that Isa 55:1, intended for all nations, both Jews and Gentiles, implying that both of them had lost the favour and knowledge of God, and were gone astray from him. While he may be found — In this day of grace, while he offers mercy and reconciliation, which he will not always do: see Pro 1:24, &c.; Luk 19:44; 2Co 6:2. Call upon him while he is near — Near to you by his gracious presence and his offers in his ordinances, and ready and desirous to receive you to mercy upon the following conditions. Let the wicked — Any wicked man, either Jew or Gentile; forsake his way — His evil or wicked way; his sinful course or manner of life; called his way, as being natural, customary, and dear to him, and in opposition to God’s good way. Let him cease to do evil, Isa 1:16. Observe well, reader, men’s seeking God in the use of outward means, and even the calling upon him in prayer, will do them no lasting good, unless this be attended with the reformation of their lives; and the unrighteous man his thoughts — The sinful desires, intentions, and purposes of his mind. Thus he strikes at the root of all sinful actions, and shows that the heart must be changed as well as the outward conduct. And let him return unto the Lord — As he departed from God by sin, so let him return to him by sincere repentance and faith, productive of new obedience. By this he signifies, that a mere abstinence from wicked courses is not sufficient, without the exercise of the contrary graces and virtues. And to our God — To the God of Israel, who is, and has shown himself to be, a most merciful and gracious God; for he will abundantly pardon — He uses so many words and arguments to encourage and lead them to repentance, because the persons here principally addressed had been guilty of idolatry, apostacy, and many other acts of gross wickedness, which he knew, when they came to themselves, and to have a serious sense of their sins, and of the just and holy nature and law of God, would be an insupportable burden to their awakened consciences, and would make them ready to conclude that God would not pardon such horrible delinquencies; in consequence of which they would rather be driven from God, than induced to draw near to him.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

GOD UNKNOWN YET KNOWN

Isa_55:6-9. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, &c.

There is a paradox in these words. They invite us to seek a God who yet cannot be found, to know a God who yet cannot be known. For where should we seek God if not in His “ways;” or how shall we know Him except by coming to know His “thoughts”? And yet, while we are urged to seek Him, we are expressly told that His thoughts and ways are as high above ours as the heavens are high above the earth. Is God, then, unknowable absolutely? Consider—

I. THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION RETURNED BY SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. Science says, or some of her disciples say for her: “In the whole range of visible and observed phenomena we find no proof of God.” What then? If men will go to the visible for the invisible, to phenomena for realities, how can they hope to find what they seek? They might as well go to the sand of the desert for water, or to the troubled sea for a solid foundation. Votaries of philosophy say: “In the whole range of human experience and knowledge we can find no proof that God is, or no means of coming to know Him as He is.” What then? So far as their affirmation is true, do they say anything the world has not heard on still higher authority before?—anything which the Bible does not say again and again? “Canst thou by searching find out God!” No doubt we know Him, in part, by our reason. According to one great thinker, the starry heavens and the law of conscience are a sufficient proof of the being and rule of God to the thoughtful and susceptible heart. Still, it is an open question whether the logic and researches of reason can carry us further than the position assumed by one of the leading expositors of modern science, who says, “that there is a God I can neither affirm nor deny; that we can discover and know Him I wholly doubt: and yet in my most open and best moods I am dimly aware of the Creative Power which we call God.” And perhaps we shall never be able to prove the existence of God any more than we can prove our own.

II. THE ANSWER RETURNED BY REVELATION. The Scriptures, in a great variety of forms, do proclaim God to be above our reach. The Bible nowhere undertakes to demonstrate His existence, though it everywhere assumes and asserts it; and God Himself has warned us that we must wait for a full and perfect knowledge of Him until this mortal put on immortality. Admitting God to be unknowable, the Bible yet affirms that He may be known. We cannot find Him out to perfection, but He sufficiently and most truly reveals Himself to us in His works, in His Word, in His Son. Take the illustration of the text. God’s thoughts and ways, we are told, are as high above ours as the heavens above the earth. But the heavens, high as they are, are yet known to us, and, though known, are yet unknown. The most accomplished astronomer will tell you that in the heaven above, as in the earth beneath us, there is very much more to be learned than he has acquired or hopes to acquire. But though “heaven” be so imperfectly known to us, does any sane man doubt that there is a heaven, or that it holds within it the sun, moon, and stars? We know at least enough of the heavens to guide us in all the practical purposes of life. And it is precisely in the same sense that God is both known to us and unknown. We cannot learn all that He is, all that He does, or all the reasons which determine the several aspects of His providence; but we may know, we do know and are sure, that He is, and that He rules over all. For consider—

III. THAT IN MAN TO WHICH GOD REVEALS HIMSELF. The pure in heart shall see God. The Bible says: “The righteous God reveals Himself to righteousness, the pure God to purity, the kind God to kindness.” In proportion as we approach to moral purity and perfection, we possess ourselves of the organ or instrument by which we may see Him. Paul affirms that as we nourish ourselves in faith, in hope, in charity, we shall come to know Him even as also we are known by Him; and John, that if we purify ourselves we shall hereafter see Him as He is, and be like Him. Is not that the way in which we come to know all persons, and especially good persons? The child does not know his father perfectly; but need he doubt that he has a father? Do we not know that God is, although we are but children in understanding? Is not this scriptural, this Divine way of coming to know God the natural and reasonable way? It is not by arbitrary caprice that God often hides Himself from the wise who want to find Him out by logic, by quest of intellect, by force of reason and induction, and reveals Himself to the “babes” who keep a simple, sincere, and loving heart. It is only because goodness and purity and kindness can only reveal themselves to kindness and purity and goodness. The true way to know God is by the heart, by the great moral qualities and emotions through which we are most closely akin to Him.—Samuel Cox, D.D.: Genesis of Evil, pp. 61–76.

The incredible Mercy of God

If there be some who find it hard to believe that there is a God, there are others who find it equally hard to believe that He is good,—so good that He can forgive all sins, even theirs, and cleanse them from all their iniquities. The Prophet had been commissioned to carry a message to the captive Jews. It was that, heinous as their iniquity had been, it was pardoned; and that to the merciful and relenting heart of Jehovah it seemed as if they had already endured “double” for all their sins, i.e., twice as much as their sins had deserved (Isa_40:2). Hence He was about to appear for them, to appear among them, delivering them from their captivity (Isa_40:3-11; Isa_55:12-13). In this message, God was drawing near to them; finding them, that they might find Him. But sinful men, especially when they are suffering the bitter punishment of their sins, are apt to be hopeless men.

As nothing is possible to doubt and despair, God sets Himself to remove the natural incredulity and hopelessness of the men He was about to save. That His mercy is incredible, He admits; but He affirms that it is only incredible in the sense of being incredibly larger and better than they imagine it to be. They might have found it impossible to forgive those who had sinned against them as they had sinned against Him. “But,” pleads God, “My thoughts are not your thoughts,” &c. The main point of these verses is not so much that God Himself is unknowable to us, as that His mercy is incredible to us. If, then, we would learn the lesson of these words, and take their comfort, what we have to do is,

I. TO CONVINCE AND PERSUADE OURSELVES THAT THE MERCY OF GOD IS IMMEASURABLY, INCALCULABLY, GREATER THAN WE HAVE CONCEIVED IT TO BE, SO MUCH GREATER THAT IT NATURALLY APPEARS TO BE ALTOGETHER INCREDIBLE TO US. We must get ourselves to believe, that the more largely we think of the Divine Mercy the more truly we think of it, if only we remember that it is a mercy which does not condone men’s sins, which calls upon them and compels them to abandon their “wicked ways” and their “unrighteous thoughts.” No mercy short of this would be true mercy. To make men happy in their sins is impossible, as impossible as to make them good in their sins. For sin is misery. And even if this ignoble miracle were possible, who that is capable of reflection, of virtue, of goodness, would care to have such a miracle wrought upon him? To be happy in sin he must cease to be himself, cease to be a man. What we really desire when we ask for mercy is a mercy that will be at the pains to cleanse us from the soils of evil and strike its fetters from our souls. And so long as we cherish this desire, we may be sure that the mercy of God stands waiting to meet it, to outrun all our thoughts and expectations, all our wishes and hopes. The very punishments that wait on sin, since they wait on it by a constant and invariable law, are designed for our good. This law makes us terribly aware that we have sinned,—a fact we are very slow to realise. We ought to take the retributions which wait on sin, not as proofs that God has abandoned us and ceased to care for us, but as proofs that He is near us, so near that, if we seek, we shall find Him, that, if we call on Him, He will answer us. By His merciful punishments God is at once convicting us of sin and calling on us to repent, that, repenting, we may be forgiven, purged, saved.

II. WE MUST EXPECT TO BE CONVINCED OF THE PITY AND COMPASSION OF GOD, NOT SO MUCH BY HAVING THE KINDNESS OF HIS LAWS DEMONSTRATED TO US, AS BY LISTENING TO THE MEN WHOM WE BELIEVE TO HAVE HAD THE LARGEST EXPEDIENCE OF HIS WAYS AND TO ENJOY THE PROFOUNDEST SYMPATHY WITH HIS THOUGHTS. This is a corollary from the conclusion, that it is not by arguments addressed to the understanding that we come to know God, or the mercy of God, but by experience and sympathy. Just as we come to know the righteous God by becoming righteous, so we may hope to learn more of Him from the men whose righteousness is far more eminent and conspicuous than our own. Just as we come to know the mercy of God by becoming merciful, so we may hope to acquaint ourselves more fully with Him by listening to men far more merciful and gracious than ourselves. Such a man, and teacher, was the prophet who penned these words. This man has a claim to speak of God with an authority which few can rival. And this is what he has to say to you of God,—that God’s mercy transcends all your conceptions of mercy, that it seems incredible to you only because it is so large and rich and free that you can very hardly bring yourselves to believe in it. Isaiah’s testimony is, that in all those painful, restless, self-despairing moods bred in you by the sense of sin, God is drawing near to you, and calling on you to seek His face; and that, if you do seek Him, you shall find Him.—Samuel Cox, D.D., Genesis of Evil, pp. 77–90.

SEEKING THE LORD

Isa_55:6-8. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, &c.

The previous context was addressed, in the first instance, to the Jews; and now the prophet seems to press upon them the practical question—What, then, ought you to do? Shall the Gentiles (Isa_55:5) enter the kingdom of heaven before you? How will you prevent it? By excluding them? No; the true course is to enter with them, or, if you will, before them.

But it may be doubted whether this is the chief meaning of the text. Its terms are in no respect more restricted than those of the preceding verses, and especially the first part of the chapter, which obviously relates to the wants of men in general, and the best way to supply them.

Notice in this passage—

I. THE REASON IMPLIED FOR THE COMMAND. If the words “while He is near” denote “while He continues in a special covenant relation to the Jews,” then the command would seem to imply that by seeking the Lord and calling upon Him, that peculiar, exclusive covenant relation might be rendered perpetual, which was not the case. Or if, on the other hand, “while He may be found” denotes in a general way the possibility of finding favour and forgiveness at His hands, then the reason suggested is in no respect more applicable to the Jews than to the Gentiles. In this sense God was just as near to the one as to the other. The principles on which He would forgive and save were just the same in either case. The necessity of seeking, the nature of the object sought, the way of seeking it, are wholly independent of external circumstances. There is a limit to the offer of salvation, which is made to all. If there were not, sin would be without control. If the sinner could suspend his choice for ever, there would be no punishment. Even in this life there is a limit. There is a time when God is near, and when He may be found. There must be a time, therefore, when He is no longer near, and is no longer to be found.

II. THE MANNER IN WHICH GOD IS TO BE SOUGHT. Not in this or that locality. Regard not those who say, “Lo, here; lo, there!” “Call upon Him.” But is no reformation, no change of life required? Not as the meritorious cause of salvation. It is purchased by another. But you cannot avail yourselves of it and continue as you are. The same voice which says, “Seek ye the Lord,” says likewise (Isa_55:7), “Let the wicked forsake his way”—a common figure for the course of conduct. He who would tread the way of God must forsake the way of sin. How?—by a mere external reformation? No; the law of God extends to the “thoughts,” &c. But this is still merely negative. It cannot be that what God calls men to is a mere negation, a mere abstinence. There must be commands as well as prohibitions. The mere cessation of former habits would be insufficient; nay, it is impossible. An active being must have something to seek as well as something to avoid. Evil courses can be really abandoned in no other way than by exchanging them for good ones. This is a dictate of nature, of reason, of experience, of revelation. “Let him return unto the Lord.” The fact is assumed that all have departed from Him. The words may seem strictly applicable only to backsliders; but they are indeed appropriate to all mankind. Can any departure be more real or deplorable than that which involves, not merely individuals, but the whole human family? The terms of the summons do indeed point back to that original apostasy under the curse of which the whole race groans. In the exercise of faith in Christ, and of that repentance which has never yet failed to accompany it since the world began, and of that zeal and obedience which can no more fail to spring from such repentance and such faith than the fruit can fail to spring from the prolific seed, “Let the wicked forsake his way,” &c.

III. THE INDUCEMENT HELD OUT TO RETURN. It is man’s part to forsake his evil ways and thoughts, to return to God, to seek Him, and to call upon Him. None of these can he do until God enable him. But this is true of every service which man ever renders. Though unable of himself to do these things, he is still bound to do them. It is his part to do them; and when he has performed his part, what does God promise in return? What will He do for man? He will have mercy upon him. Mercy is the inducement offered, and mercy is precisely what the sinner needs. Without this nothing can be given, or, if given, can do him any good. Mercy implies two things, misery and guilt. In all of us, the two pre-requisites are found abundantly—misery present and prospective, misery not produced by chance, but by our own sin. To us, then, this inducement ought to be a strong one. But, alas! the sinner is insensible of his condition.

IV. THE PROOF THAT SIN AND SALVATION ARE IRRECONCILABLE. Isa_55:8 gives a reason for the call to reformation and repentance. Here the same two words are placed in opposition—“ways” and “thoughts”—“let the wicked,” &c., i.e., you cannot walk in My ways and the ways of sin; you cannot think My thoughts, and yet cherish thoughts of sin; you must choose between sin and salvation. Many are afraid of hell; they are willing to be saved from it, but that is all. That slavish fear is the sum of their religion. They must keep their sins. Judge not God by man. God pardons nothing, or He pardons all. Man may be unforgiving when he is not just. God can be just, and yet not unforgiving. Man can be himself unjust, and yet condemn the innocent. God can be just, and yet justify the guilty. His grace will not save men in sin, but will freely save them from sin—since it will pardon sin itself to the believer, and whenever it pardons at all, will abundantly pardon even the chief of sinners—however foreign such forgiveness may be from human passions and human feelings: let the sinner hesitate and doubt no longer.—J. Alexander, D.D.: Gospel of Jesus Christ, pp. 357–370.

The characters here described. All are sinners, but some have repented and obtained forgiveness; while some remain impenitent and unforgiven. To which class do you belong? If to the latter, this discourse is especially addressed to you.

I. A GRACIOUS PROCLAMATION.

The Lord, “may be found. “He is near.” “He will have mercy.” “He will abundantly pardon.” God is ready to save sinners. As a father, who follows the steps of his wayward son, unwilling to cast him off, anxious to induce his return, ready to receive him on the first indication of a change. His heart is full of mercy. He desires to bestow a full forgiveness and make the reconciliation complete. There is the fullest proof of this—

1. In the atonement of Christ, which in itself and by the Divine arrangement affords a satisfactory basis for the exercise of mercy.

2. In the declarations of His word.

3. In the preaching of the gospel. This proclamation of mercy to man proceeds from the Divine love.

II. AN EARNEST CALL.

“Seek ye the Lord,” &c.

1. It is practical. It implies that the sinner must not lie still and wait for some hitherto unexperienced impulse. In the work of salvation there is doubtless something he cannot do. But there is something he can do. The text demands action. Do that which lies within your own province and is in your own power.

2. It is plain. What do these directions involve?

(1.) Repentance.

(2.) Abandonment of sin—God will save no man in his sins.

(3.) Prayer. He is to be called upon. God’s readiness and desire to save do not dispense with the necessity for prayer. He does not force salvation on any. He excites the desire for it, and then responds to the sinner’s cry. The penitent is sure to cry. The first sign of a child’s life is when it cries.

(4.) Faith. Faith in the word of God, faith in the saving power of Christ, which, however feeble at first, renounces self-righteousness as well as sin, and rests simply in Him (Rom_10:11; Rom_10:14).

3. It is essential.

III. A SOLEMN MONITION.

“While He may be found.” “While He is near.” This is clearly a monition. It indicates that there is a limit beyond which the opportunity is not extended. The opportunity is limited to the present life. We will not enter upon the awful question of judicial blindness; the terrible case of those who so persistently refuse to see the truth of Christ that their blindness and hardness become a punitive infliction. Nor on the cases of those whose opportunities are terminated by removal of residence, or by sickness. Nor on the cases of those whose opportunities are cut short by the terrible occurrence of insanity before the gospel is accepted; except to remark that the question is fairly suggested, how they will be dealt with, who up to the moment when the condition of responsibility ceased to exist, failed to seek the mercy which had been proffered. We will assume that ordinarily the opportunity, the possibility of salvation, continues during the present life. But the text implies the termination of that possibility. The present life is the grand opportunity. There is none beyond. At least, whatever may be the principle on which those will be dealt with to whom the gospel was never made known, the warnings addressed in Scripture to the hearers of the gospel imply that, so far as they are concerned, no second opportunity will be afforded. And none can say how near death is. Accept the offer of mercy without delay.—J. Rawlinson.

I. A DUTY ENJOINED, viz., to make the favour of God the object of our pursuit. “Seek ye the Lord,” “Call ye upon Him.” We must seek Him; 1, in the way of genuine repentance. It is vain to think of seeking God without such sorrow for sin and hatred of it, as lead on to “cease to do evil, and to learn to do well” (H. E. I. 4269–4273).

2. In the exercise of faith in Christ. He alone has made provision for our return to God; and if we do not take advantage of the provision thus made for us, we must remain at a distance from God for ever (Joh_14:6).

3. In the use of those outward means of grace which He has appointed, such as the Word of God and prayer. We cannot expect that God will work miracles on our behalf. If we wish for the manifestation of His favour, we must wait for it in the use of such means as He has instituted for the purpose of making such manifestation to the soul (H. E. I., 3444–3459).

II. A TIME SPECIFIED FOR ITS PERFORMANCE. There is one sense in which God is ever to be found, and is ever near us. But Isaiah does not here refer to His omnipresence, for that is perpetual. He means a nearness of God in a way of grace and favour, a readiness in His appointed way to bestow every blessing upon us. In this sense, it is the plain doctrine of the text, that there is a time when He is near us and will be found of us, and that there is also a time when He is distant from us and will not be found of us.

1. This is a truth which holds good in the case of collective bodies of men. For nations there is a time of mercy. God affords them in rich abundance the means of grace; this is the accepted time, when God is near and ready to be found. If these privileges are abused or neglected, there follows a time of wrath, and He will no longer be found of a people who have thus slighted His mercy. Examples:

(1) Compare what is said of the Jewish nation (in Deuteronomy 4) with their present condition.

(2) The nations among whom Christian churches were planted by the apostles and their immediate successors, now, as the just reward of the abuse of their privileges, groaning, for the most part, under the scourge of Mohammedan tyranny and imposture. How full of solemn admonition are these instances for the inhabitants of this land!

2. It holds good also in respect to individuals.—

(1) With respect to every person who is favoured with the means of grace there is a time of mercy, in which, if he seeks the Lord, He will be found of him. Generally speaking, this is the time of the present life. More especially it is vouchsafed when, by means of His Word, His Spirit strives in our hearts. The hour of conviction should be the hour of conversion.

(2) But for individuals also there is a time of wrath, in which God will no longer be found of them. If we neglect to seek Him until we are removed out of this world by death, it will then be for ever too late to do so (Luk_13:25). But it is by no means impossible that that time may arrive even on this side of the grave. If we persevere in acting in defiance of our convictions, if we refuse to yield to the salutary motions of His Spirit, He may be provoked to give us over to final impenitence and to judicial hardness of heart (H. E. I., 2349, 4249, 4250).—John Natt, B.D.: Posthumous Sermons, pp. 168–183.

Implies—

I. THAT MANKIND HAVE LOST HIM.

1. This loss is caused by sin (Isa_53:6; Isa_59:2). Sin has offended the Divine Lawgiver. Hence there is moral distance between Him and us. We are aliens, strangers, far off by wicked works. While man was holy he had communion with Him; but the pure One cannot commune with transgressors. We have lost the Divine friendship, image, &c.

2. This loss is the precursor of infinite and eternal loss. Who can fully estimate it?

3. It is a loss which no human resources can repair (Mic_6:6-7; Rom_9:31-32; Rom_10:1-3).

II. THAT A WAY HAS BEEN DEVISED BY WHICH THE DIVINE FAVOUR MAY BE REGAINED. That way is through the mediation of Christ (2Co_5:19; Joh_3:16; Rom_5:2; Eph_2:18; Eph_3:12). Formerly, the Lord was sought through sacrifices; but all were typical of the one great sacrifice offered up on Calvary. Those harbingers of the cross are now no more, a Divine Victim has bled, and the way of salvation is through Christ (Heb_7:25).

III. SUBMISSION TO THE DIVINELY APPOINTED PLAN OF SALVATION BY THE USE OF THOSE MEANS SCRIPTURALLY SPECIFIED. Man has sought out many inventions by which to be saved Rom_10:1-3, with Php_3:4-9; 1Co_3:11).

1. A deep conviction that we cannot be happy till we have found the Lord, combined with the renunciation of self-righteousness (Act_2:37).

2. Diligent inquiry and attention.

3. Faith in Christ and earnest prayer.

IV. SEEKING THE LORD REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. We are prone to procrastinate. Some say they are too young, &c. The Lord may be more easily found—

1. In early life.

2. Under the preaching of the Gospel (Gal_3:1).

3. When under Divine conviction.

CONCLUSION.—The privilege of seeking the Lord is limited to the present life. Our opportunities are passing away, &c. Seek Him now.—Helps for the Pulpit: Second series, pp. 10–14.

Propose and answer three questions—

I. Why you should seek the Lord?

We could give many reasons why you should, but you cannot give one why you should not. That a man should be religious is the first dictate of reason, and the first command of Revelation. It is recommended too by the sense of interest (1Ti_4:8). Seek the Lord for three reasons—

1. Because you cannot be happy without Him.

2. Because you have much to apprehend from His displeasure as sinners.

3. Because you have everything to hope for from His friendship. “In His favour is life.”

II. When you should seek the Lord?

1. Now, while He may be found.

2. Now, while He is near.

III. How you should seek the Lord?

1. Penitently. Renouncing the sins you have loved.

2. Believingly, without distrust.

3. Joyfully, without despondence.

4. Continually, without end.—S. Thodey.

I. The character of the persons to whom the invitation is directed. Partly implied, and in part declared. They are distinguished not by their excellence and valuable qualities, but rather by those marks which prove them unworthy of the Divine regard or consideration. Such is our natural condition, and hence to us is the word of salvation sent.

1. To such as are ignorant of God. This is implied in the exhortation to seek Him. Man is naturally unacquainted with Him.

2. To those whose characters are marked by the wickedness of their lives.

3. To those whose state is indicated by their thoughts. Men look at the outward appearance, God at the heart. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

II. The nature of the exhortations addressed to them. It is the manner of God and not of men thus to speak.

1. The import of the injunctions. These are suited to the characters of the persons addressed. They are exhorted—

(1.) To seek the Lord.

(2.) To the exercise of prayer.

(3.) The abandonment of every sinful course.

(4.) Return to God. No more neutrality.

2. The season to which these exhortations apply.

III. The encouragements afforded to an immediate obedience.

1. The promise of mercy.

2. A plenitude of forgiveness.

3. Confirmation derived from the experience of others: “And to our God”—the God of His people. The language of piety—the experience of those who have found mercy. The idea is, He who has bestowed mercy upon us, will be ready to bestow it on others. “I obtained mercy.”

CONCLUSION.—Learn the duty of immediate return to God and submission to Christ. Come as you are.—George Smith, D.D.

I. There is moral distance between Christ and unconverted sinners. He thinks of them; they do not think of Him. He loves them; they do not love Him. He wishes them to do His will for their own benefit; they refuse. Awful antagonism. II. This moral distance can be removed. How? Not by sinners remaining passive. They must seek the Lord; know Him; call upon Him; pray to Him; trust Him. III. A time when this moral distance cannot be removed. When will this be? No day nor hour specified. The duty of sinners, therefore, is to seek and call now. Do not delay for a moment, lest then it may be too late.—A. M’Auslane, D.D.

PARDON TOR THE PENITENT

Isa_55:7-9. Let the wicked forsake his way, &c.

I. AN EXHORTATION TO REPENTANCE. Embraces three particulars.

1. The wicked man must forsake his way—the way of the multitude who do evil, the broad way which leadeth to destruction. We should confess our sin. But true repentance is something more than a bare confession of sin; it is a forsaking of sin (Isa_1:16; H. E. I. 4269–4272).

2. The unrighteous man must forsake his thoughts. It is not enough that the outward conduct should become moral, decent, and amiable. This is the case with many who yet know nothing of the grace of God in truth. Repentance, when it is genuine, strikes at the root of the evil: it will no more allow its possessor to indulge impure ideas, sinful thoughts, and unholy affections than it will suffer him to become guilty of gross immoralities and abominable crimes. It labours to expel from the temple of the heart whatever is displeasing in the sight of God, and endeavours to keep it swept and garnished for His reception (Psa_19:12; Psa_19:14),

3. His evil way and his evil thoughts forsaken, the penitent must next return unto the Lord, like the prodigal son in the parable.

II. A PROMISE OF PARDON. Upon the man who really obeys the exhortation God will have mercy, and will abundantly pardon him. Penitence is the indispensable pre-requisite to pardon. Not that it entitles any man to it (H. E. I. 4225–4228); but it qualifies us for it.

III. AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO LAY HOLD ON THE PROMISE (Isa_55:8-9). Before the truly penitent, their guilt often lies so clear and huge, that it seems to them that it would be presumption were they to hope for pardon. They are awe-stricken by the number of their sins, or by their enormity, or by the fact that they are the transgressions of backsliders. They feel that they could not forgive corresponding offenders and offences against themselves. See how the prophet answers them (Isa_55:8-9; H. E. I. 2331–2337.—Daniel Rees: Sermons, pp. 170–186.

I. The resemblance between God and man.

1. God has His “thoughts.” Multitudes of these have been manifested in creative works, providential events, the plan of salvation, &c. Man has his “thoughts.” He is always thinking, even when sleeping. Cannot prevent him from thinking. This is the grandeur of his nature.

2. God has His “ways”—His methods of working. So has man.

II. The difference between God and man in regard to thoughts and ways. Might be illustrated variously; the text limits us to pardon.

1. Men unwilling to pardon. God extremely willing.

2. Men disposed to pardon a few. God ready to pardon all.

3. Men inclined to pardon certain offences. God will blot out all iniquities.

4. Where are the men who make sacrifices to pardon? God, to pardon, gave His Son, &c.

III. This difference renders a moral change on the part of man necessary.

1. Unless he does so he cannot have fellowship with God. Two cannot walk together except they are agreed. God does not require to change, therefore man must change or be lost for ever.

2. If man returns to God, He will most mercifully deal with him. What encouragement!—A. M’Auslane, D.D.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

So gracious is the offer which Jehovah now makes to His people, so great are the promises that He makes to it, viz., the regal glory of David, and the government of the world by virtue of the religion of Jehovah. Hence the exhortation is addressed to it in Isa 55:6 and Isa 55:7 : "Seek ye Jehovah while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return to Jehovah, and He will have compassion upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." They are to seek to press into the fellowship of Jehovah (dârash with the radical meaning terere, to acquire experimental knowledge or confidential acquaintance with anything) now that He is to be found (Isa 65:1, compare the parallelism of words and things in Jer 29:14), and to call upon Him, viz., for a share in that superabundant grace, ow that He is near, i.e., now that He approaches Israel, and offers it. In the admonition to repentance introduced in Isa 55:7, both sides of the μετάνοια find expression, viz., turning away from sinful self-will, and turning to the God of salvation. The apodosis with its promises commences with וירחמהוּ - then will He have compassion upon such a man; and consequently לסלוח כּי־ירבּה (with כּי because the fragmentary sentence ואל־אלהינוּ did not admit of the continuation with ו) has not a general, but an individual meaning (vid., Psa 130:4, Psa 130:7), and is to be translated as a future (for the expression, compare Isa 26:17).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

55:6-9 The prophet calls for a response while the time is right.

55:6 while you can find him: When God graciously extends an invitation to salvation, people must respond (65:1; Jer 29:13-14; Hos 5:6; 10:12). Those who do not seek him at such times risk never having the opportunity again.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

When he offereth himself by the preaching of his word.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The condition and limit in the obtaining of the spiritual benefits (Isa 55:1-3): (1) Seek the Lord. (2) Seek Him while He is to be found (Isa 65:1; Psa 32:6; Mat 25:1-13; Joh 7:34; Joh 8:21; Co2 6:2; Heb 2:3; Heb 3:13, Heb 3:15).

call--casting yourselves wholly on His mercy (Rom 10:13). Stronger than "seek"; so "near" is more positive than "while He may be found" (Rom 10:8-9).

near--propitious (Psa 34:18; Psa 145:18).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found] Rab. David Kimchi gives the true sense of this passage: "Seek ye the Lord, because he may be found: call upon him, because he is near. Repent before ye die, for after death there is no conversion of the soul."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(6) While he may be found . . .—The appeal shows that the promised blessings are not unconditional. There may come a time (as in Mat_25:11) when “too late will be written on all efforts to gain the inheritance which has been forfeited by neglect (2Co_6:2).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6, 7. The call to repentance, because of the nearness of the kingdom of God.

while he may be found … while he is near] in the “acceptable time” the “day of salvation” (ch. Isa_49:8). Comp. further Jer_29:12-14.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found,.... The Lord is to be sought unto at all times, whenever the people of God meet together, especially on sabbath days, and while the external ministry of the word lasts, and life itself; so the Targum,

"seek the fear of the Lord, while ye are alive.''

Kimchi compares it with Ecc 9:10. The Jewish writers, as Aben Ezra and others, generally interpret it before the sealing of the decree, or before the decree is gone forth. It may be understood of place, as well as time, and be rendered, "seek the Lord in the place where he may be found" (l); God is to be found, as Aben Ezra observes, in all places, and at all times; under the Old Testament there was a particular place appointed for the worship of God, the tabernacle and temple, where he was to be sought unto, and might be found; under the New Testament, all places are alike, and wherever the church and people of God meet together, there he is to be sought, and there he may be found, even in his house and ordinances:

call ye upon him while he is near; the same thing designed by different words: seeking and calling design not only prayer, but the whole of public worship, and the time and place when and where the Lord is to be found, and is near. Aben Ezra thinks it refers to the Shechinah in the sanctuary. Perhaps it may have some respect to the time of Christ's incarnation, and his being in the land of Judea; and to the destruction of the temple by the Romans, when the Lord could be no more sought unto, and found in that place; or when the Christians were obliged to move from Jerusalem, because of the siege of it; and when the Jews had no more an opportunity of hearing the Gospel there.

(l) So in the Jerusalem Talmud, as quoted by Abendana on the place,

"seek the Lord, where he is found, in the synagogues, and in the schools; call upon him, where he is near, in the synagogues, and in the schools.''

And so another Jewish writer, mentioned by him, interprets the words,

"whilst the Shechinah is found in the sanctuary; before he hides his face, and causes his Shechinah to remove from you.''

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Seek ye the Lord - The commencement of religion in the heart is often represented as seeking for God. or inquiring for his ways Deu 4:29; Job 5:8; Job 8:5; Psa 9:10; Psa 14:2; Psa 27:8. This is to be regarded as addressed not to the Jewish exiles only or uniquely, but to all in view of the coming and work of the Messiah. That work would be so full and ample that an invitation could be extended to all to seek after God, and to return to him. It is implied here:

1. That people are by nature ignorant of God - since they are directed to ‘seek’ for him.

2. That if people will obtain his favor it must be sought. No man becomes his friend without desiring it; no one who does not earnestly seek for it.

3. That the invitation to seek God should be made to all. In this passage it is unlimited (compare Isa 55:7). Where there are sinners, there the invitation is to be offered.

4. That the knowledge of God is of inestimable value. He would not command people to seek that which was worthless; he would not urge it with so much earnestness as is here manifested if it were not of inexpressible importance.

While he may be found - It is implied here:

1. That God may now be found.

2. That the time will come when it will be impossible to obtain his favor.

The leading thought is, that under the Messiah the offer of salvation will be made to people fully and freely. But the period will come when it will be withdrawn. If God forsakes human beings; if he wholly withdraws his Spirit; if they have committed the sin which hath never forgiveness; or if they neglect or despise the provisions of mercy and die in their sins, it will be too late, and mercy cannot then be found. How unspeakably important, then, is it to seek for mercy at once - lest, slighted now, the offer should be withdrawn. or lest death should Overtake us, and we be removed to a world where mercy is unknown! How important is the present moment - for another moment may place us beyond the reach of pardon and of grace! How amazing the stupidity of men who suffer their present moments to pass away unimproved, and who, amidst the gaieties and the business of life, permit the day of salvation to pass by, and lose their souls! And how just is the condemnation of the sinner! If a man will not do so simple a thing as to ask for pardon, he ought to perish. The universe will approve the condemnation of such a man; and the voice of complaint can never be raised against that Holy Being who consigns such a sinner to hell.

Call ye upon him - That is, implore his mercy (see Rom 10:13; compare Joe 2:32). How easy are the terms of salvation! How just will be the condemnation of a sinner if he will not call upon God! Assuredly, if people will not breathe out one broken-hearted petition to the God of heaven that they may be saved, they have only to blame themselves if they are lost. The terms of salvation could be made no easier; and man can ask nothing more simple.

While he is near - In an important sense God is equally near to us at all times. But this figurative language is taken from the mode of speaking among people, and it denotes that there are influences more favorable for seeking him at some periods than others. Thus God comes near to us in the preaching of his word, when it is borne with power to the conscience; in his providences, when he strikes down a friend and comes into the very circle where we move, or the very dwelling where we abide; when he lays his hand upon us in sickness, he is near us by day and by night; in a revival of religion, or when a pious friend pleads with us, God is near to us then, and is calling us to his favor. These are favorable times for salvation; times which, if they are suffered to pass by unimproved, return no more; periods which will all soon be gone, and when they are gone, the sinner irrecoverably dies.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Near. He will shortly (Calmet) turn to the Gentiles, John xii. 35., and Acts xiii. 46. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Seek ye the Lord: having discoursed of the office and work of Christ, and showed that he should call people and nations to himself, and to God, he now endeavours to persuade the people to hearken to his call, and to seek the Lord, i.e. to labour to get the knowledge of God’s will, and to obtain his grace and favour; neither of which things were to be done but in and through Christ. And this invitation or exhortation is general, like that Isa 55:1, reaching to all nations, both Jews and Gentiles, implying that both of them had lost him and his favour, and were gone astray from him. Seek him, ye Gentiles, whom he now inviteth so to do, and will assist in finding him. And seeing the Gentiles seek him earnestly, let their example provoke you Jews to imitate them therein, and take heed that you do not reject him, whom they will receive and own.

While he may be found; in this day of grace, whilst he offereth mercy and reconciliation to you; which he will not always do. Compare Pro 1:24, &c.; Luk 19:44; 2Co 6:2. While he is near; near to you by his gracious presence and offers in his ordinances, ready and desirous to receive you to mercy upon the following conditions.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6-9. Seek ye the Lord — Now. This time of spiritual restoration, when God is more manifestly near than usual, is the best time, because a crisis time.

Let the wicked forsake his… thoughts — Man’s thoughts differ from God’s in regard to his own character. He does not see himself a sinner as God does. Repentance is, therefore, an immediate duty. Other reasons are given in Isa_55:8-9.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Seek ye the Lord. Again the strain changes. The people are once more addressed, but in a tone of reproach. Israel must "seek the Lord" without delay, or the opportunity will be past; God will have withdrawn himself from them. He "will not alway be chiding, neither keepeth he his anger for ever". (Psa_103:9)

Vers. 6-13. Exhortations and assurance.

I EXHORTATIONS. "Seek ye Jehovah." This is the beginning of a religious life to seek for God, to inquire for his ways. (Job_5:8 Job_8:5 Psa_9:10 Psa_14:2 Psa_27:8) "While he may be found" (Psa_32:6) a time of finding." For a bitter "day" will come, when woe to his foes! (Isa_65:6, Isa_65:7) It is hinted that a time will come when the offer will be withdrawn. "If a man will not do so simple a thing as seek for mercy, as ask for pardon, he ought to perish. The universe will approve the condemnation of such a man." "Who knows what a day may bring forth, and what may be the dangers of an hour"s delay? This is most sure, that every particular repeated act of sin sets us one advance nearer to hell. Who can tell, while we go on our audacious course of sin, but God may swear in his wrath against us, and register our names in the black rolls of damnation? And then our condition is sealed and determined for ever." "Call upon him;" i.e. implore his mercy. (Joe_2:32 Rom_10:13) How easy the terms of salvation! how just the condemnation of the sinner who calls not on God, first for pardon, then for a share in the promises! (Jer_29:12-14) God (according to the manner of man"s thoughts) seems to be nearer at some times than at others to men. Some special influences are brought to bear; some facilities of salvation. "He comes near to us in the preaching of his Word, when it is borne home with power to the conscience; in his providence, when he strikes down a friend, and comes into the very circle where we move, or the very dwelling where we abide; when he lays his hand upon us in sickness. And he is near to us by day and by night; in a revival of religion, or when a pious friend pleads with us, God is near to us then, and is calling us to his favour. These are favourable times for salvation times which, if unimproved, return no more." "Let the ungodly forsake his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts." To seek Jehovah must involve the renouncing of all other gods; the calling upon him, the cessation of prayer in heathen temples; and, with this, all the "thoughts," the habits and feelings, of impure heathen life. It is to renounce corruption and destruction for blessedness and peace, which are contained in the thoughts of Jehovah. (Psa_36:5, 6 Jer_29:11) "He has plans for accomplishing his purposes which are different from ours, and he secures our welfare by schemes that cross our own. He disappoints our hopes, foils our expectations, crosses our designs, removes our property or our friends, and thwarts our purposes in life. He leads us in a path we had not intended, and secures our ultimate happiness in modes which we should not have thought of, and which are contrary to all our designs and desires.

II ASSURANCE OF FUTURE FELICITY.

1. The certainty. God"s purposes fulfil themselves. They are as certain as the law of gravitation, as the falling of rain and snow. In poetic religious thought these elements of nature are his angels. (cf. Psa_148:8 Psa_102:4) They fulfil his purpose in inanimate nature; so shall his Word fulfil his purpose in the moral world it shall not return empty, nor until it has done its work. (On truth compared to rain or dew, see Psa_72:6 2Sa_23:4 Isa_5:6)

2. Its glory and joy. The exode from Babylon is not only meant, but the glorious condition of Israel after the return. It is compared to the transition from the wilderness (the misery of the exile), with its monotonous dwarf shrubs, to a park of beautiful trees, (Isa_41:18, Isa_41:19) in the midst of which Israel is to walk "in solemn troops and sweet societies". (so in Isa_35:9)

3. The sympathy of nature. (For similar views, see Isa_14:8 Isa_35:1, Isa_35:2, 10 42:10, 11 44:23. So in Virgil, "Ecl.," 5:62; and in Oriental poetry generally) When the god Rama was going to the desert, it was said to him, "The trees will watch for you; they will say, "He is come! he is come!" and the white flowers will clap their hands. The leaves as they shake will say, "Come! come!" and the thorny places will be changed into gardens of flowers." A change will be produced in the moral condition of the world, as great as if the useless thorn should be succeeded by beautiful and useful trees. It is of the very soul of poetry that it hints and presages spiritual events which cannot be made clear to the senses nor certain to the understanding. J.

God"s especial nearness.

It is one of the familiar Scripture truths, open even to the little child, that God is always near to us; and that there is no time we can think of when he may not be found by the humble, believing heart. But there are times when he is comparatively near, and when, if we are wise, we shall go to him in the spirit of full self-surrender, shall enter the kingdom of his grace, and secure his everlasting favour.

I THE PERIOD OF YOUTH; when the mind is open, the conscience tender, the soul responsive.

II THE DAY OF VISITATION; when the stricken and wounded heart wants a Divine Healer, and can find none but in him who binds up the broken heart and heals its wounds.

III THE TIME SPECIAL PRIVILEGE; when we listen to the minister, read the book, have fellowship with the friend whose true and earnest voice has an unusual power to penetrate to the secret places of our soul.

IV THE HOUR OF DIRECT DIVINE CONTACT; when God lays his hand upon us, touches the springs of our sacred thought, reveals to us our sinfulness and our need, awakens us to the seriousness of our life and the nearness of eternity, and calls us to return unto himself. Wise is it beyond all earthly wisdom then to hearken and obey, to seek the Lord while he may be found, to call upon him while he is near; foolish is it beyond all other folly to turn a deaf ear or to show a disobedient spirit then; for God may never again come so near to our souls may never again be so readily found by our human spirits; the distance between us and our Saviour may be continually enlarging, until some great gulf of sin or hardheartedness separate us from his side and from his service evermore. C.

The time for seeking after God.

Compare "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." "To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." After showing the need for seeking after God, and the duty of seeking, dwell on the appropriate time for the seeking, unfolding and illustrating two points.

I THE TIME FOR SEEKING IS NOT FIXED BY OUR CONVENIENCE. Yet men constantly act as if it were. They assume that they can find God when they please. But such an idea proves that they neither know themselves nor God.

1. They do not know themselves; for a man is not at all sure of feeling the desire when he thinks he will and arranges to. If a man plays with his deeper emotions, and puts off responding to them until some unknown time, he has no security that the feelings will return. If a man resists good inclinations, he will find that he cannot get them when he would.

2. And they do not know God; for he can never permit man to play with his offers of mercy and willingness to accept. Rejected gifts, neglected gilts, cannot he still pressed on acceptance. It is inconceivable that God can ever wait on man"s convenience. We must take advantage of God"s time for seekers, for he can never recognize times that seekers are pleased to arrange for themselves.

II THE TIME FOR SEEKING IS FIXED BY GOD"S INVITATIONS. It must be; for the gift is an absolutely sovereign and free gift, and the Giver must be allowed to find his own time and way. If salvation were a matter of purchase, we might expect it to be dependent on our good will. It is wholly a matter of grace, and so absolutely dependent on God s good will. Our Lord even said, "No man cometh unto me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him." The general invitations of God stand in his Word; the precise and special invitations to individuals, in which we find our golden opportunities of salvation, are, in the text, called times when "God may be found," or when God is propitious towards us; and times when "God is near," or gives an impressive sense of his nearness. Such times may appear to us as

(1) providences, circumstances that arouse, awaken, humble us; or as

(2) persuasions, such as come through appeals of ministers, or the atmosphere of revival-times. Anything, everything, that brings to us the sense of God"s nearness is an appropriate thing to set us hopefully seeking after salvation, eternal life, and heart-rest in God. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Seek - labour to get the knowledge of God's will, and to obtain his grace and favour. While - In this day of grace, while he offers mercy and reconciliation. Near - Ready and desirous to receive you to mercy.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“Seek ye Jehovah while He may be found; call ye upon Him while He is near.” The literal translation would be, ‘in His being found, in His being near’. By a sudden apostrophe he turns from the Messiah to those whom He had come to save, and exhorts them to embrace this great salvation, to be reconciled with God. A similar exhortation, implying like the present that the day of grace is limited, occurs in Zep 2:2-3. The Jew had great cause to beware lest the Gentile should outstrip him, and the Gentile might be reasonably urged to partake of those advantages which hitherto had been restricted to the Jew; but both are called to the same duty, namely, that of seeking and calling upon God, expressions elsewhere used both severally and together to express the whole work of repentance, faith, and new obedience.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Israel Called to Repentance

v. 6. Seek ye the Lord, so the Lord now calls out to Israel through the proclamation of His prophet, while He may be found, while the time of grace is still present with them; call ye upon Him while He is near, while His salvation is so close at hand in the Word of His grace, while the opportunity for repentance is still held out.

v. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way, no longer, in contempt of God, pursuing the way of his own lusts and desires, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, his evil inclinations and intentions, and let him return unto the Lord, to the God of the covenant, and He will have mercy upon him, forgive all his iniquities, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon, literally, "He makes much to forgive," He is most ready to forgive, His mercy is limitless. Cf Rom 5:20; Isa 1:18; 1Ti 1:13-17.

v. 8. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord, for the thoughts of the wicked are evil and lead into everlasting destruction, whereas the ways of the Lord are good, righteous, and holy, and lead into everlasting salvation.

v. 9. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, separated by an infinitely great distance, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. At the same time it is true that, although the weight of man’s sins, the foolishness of wicked ways, is so great as to make them seem unpardonable, yet God does not cease to let His Word be proclaimed in richest measure.

v. 10. For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, according to the regular course of nature, and returneth not thither, namely, without carrying out the designs of God, but watereth the earth, the moisture being absorbed by the soil, and maketh it bring forth and bud, so that it grows and matures in due time, that it may give seed to the sower, for next year’s seed-corn, and bread to the eater, the human family thus being provided with food from year to year,

v. 11. so shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth, proceeding thence to fulfill the purpose set by the Lord; it shall not return unto Me void, without giving to men at least some spiritual benefit, but it shall accomplish that which I please, what He chooses to have done, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it, for it is the Word filled with His almighty power, and the omnipotent God Himself is active in and through it. The Gospel is a power of God unto salvation, Rom 1:16-17.

v. 12. For ye, the people of the Lord, now in shameful captivity, shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace, to leave their captivity behind and to return home to Zion. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands, all creatures, as it were, rejoicing over the salvation enjoyed by the children of God, since it culminates in the bliss of heaven.

v. 13. Instead of the thorn, symbol of sin and misery, shall come the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree, both of these trees being representative of the finest products of faith in good works; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off, a monument of glory to Jehovah which would last throughout eternity. All sinners in the whole world, who rely upon the promise of the Lord in His Word, will find that these promises will be fulfilled in their case, eternal salvation and glorification being theirs through His grace.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Seek Yahweh while he may be found

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Seek Yahweh while you can still find him" (See: Active or Passive)

Let the wicked leave his path

The word "wicked" refers to wicked people. Yahweh speaks of wicked people no longer sinning as if they were to stop walking along a path that they had been traveling. AT: "Let wicked people change the way they live" (See: Nominal Adjectives and Metaphor)

the man of sin his thoughts

The verb may be supplied from the previous phrase. AT: "let the sinful man leave his thoughts" (See: Ellipsis)

his thoughts

Possible meanings are 1) "the way he thinks" or 2) "his plans"

he will pity him

"Yahweh will pity him"

to our God

The verb may be supplied from the first phrase in this sentence. AT: "let him return to our God" (See: Ellipsis)

translationWords

Yahweh

evil

sin

God

forgive

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

when He is found Before the verdict is promulgated, when He still says to you, “Seek Me.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Seek ye the Lord. This appeal is made to the contemporaries of the prophet, telling them to seek the Lord, since they knew that they would be redeemed from Babylon, and after that again from all other nations.

While He may be found by those that seek Him. God is certainly everywhere at all times; but the meaning of this phrase is, while the decree is not yet resolved upon: in a similar way the phrase, while He is near is to be explained, namely, while He permits His glory to rest upon the temple.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.