Strength In Trouble: A Sermon Preached In The Chapel Of Trinity College, Cambridge, February 23, 1851

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A SERMON,

Isaiah XXX. part of 15th verse.

In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.

THESE words occur in a warning addressed by the prophet Isaiah to his countrymen, in which he rebukes them for seeking strength for their weakness and help for their distress by recourse to foreign allies and new friends; instead of following their ancient guide, the command and word of God, and lending their aid to strengthen His government, as it had long been established among them. They were harassed and distressed by various menaces and assaults of enemies, by invasions and calamities, now on this side and now on that; and so their minds were thrown off their balance ; they were shaken out of that position of trust in God, submission to his will, and determination to abide, through all events, in the way in which he had placed them, which was their true course of conduct as the especial people of God, favoured, directed, and protected by him. They wanted to call in the aid of that ancient foe from which God had so signally delivered and separated them. They wished to be sustained by arms and by combatants of a different kind from those which God had appointed for them, and through which he had so often given them the victory. The old polity, the old spirit, the old mode of warfare, they

thought were no longer to be depended on. They were eager for new modes and new helps. On this disposition the prophet pronounces God's condemnation, "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord." And in like manner in this chapter, ver. 1. "Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord; that take counsel, but not of me; that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin : that walk to go down to Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth: to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and trust in the shadow of Egypt." It is supposed by Commentators that some of the Jews, in their consternation at the impending invasion of the Assyrians, even proposed that the nation should renounce its national religion and assimilate itself to the religion of Egypt, in order to obtain the protection of that kingdom. But even if this were not so, the prevalence of a disposition to disregard the ancient commands and ordinances of God, through which the nation had hitherto prospered,—to let slip the trust in God by which they had hitherto been strengthened and supported,—and to look out for some new mode of dealing with the national affairs, some new principles of polity and religion to remedy the defects now supposed to be felt in the old,—was an offence grave enough to call forth the sternest prophetical rebukes, and to bring down upon their heads re-

doubled denunciations of " woe," if they persisted in such a course of conduct. And along with these rebukes and denunciations, the prophet points out to them what is their true and genuine course. He declares that the Lord shall utterly frustrate and extinguish the new policy thus suggested: he shall break it like the breaking of a potter's vessel, so that there shall not remain a potsherd to take fire from the hearth or water from the well: and then he adds: " For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength."

Language: English

Pages: 28

Format: Kindle Edition

Release: May 13, 2012

Strength In Trouble: A Sermon Preached In The Chapel Of Trinity College, Cambridge, February 23, 1851

William Whewell

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Language: English

Pages: 28

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Release: May 13, 2012

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Strength In Trouble: A Sermon Preached In The Chapel Of Trinity College, Cambridge, February 23, 1851

Strength In Trouble: A Sermon Preached In The Chapel Of Trinity College, Cambridge, February 23, 1851

Strength In Trouble: A Sermon Preached In The Chapel Of Trinity College, Cambridge, February 23, 1851

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