Bible Commentaries

Isaiah 28:16

I. The Christian thrives better from not being permitted to make haste in acquirements. This passage is directed against anything like hurry or bustle. It does not so much declare that the believer can never advance rapidly as that he shall never move with that agitated step which betokens insecurity. It does not denote a sluggish pace to be unavoidable; but simply implies that what is hasty and sudden will not be allowed. And a little reflection will convince us of the advantages of such an arrangement. It holds good in almost everything, that what is done hastily is seldom done well. There is a great deal of rough work in all matters of learning, which the scholar would gladly avoid; but there will be nothing substantial in it unless this natural inclination be carefully opposed. The case is just the same in regard to religion; there is a great deal of rough work here as well as in languages or sciences. It is for the believer's advantage that he is not allowed to slur over this rough work. Take the experience of Christians, and you will find that where progress has been most rapid, the commencement has been most arduous. If the Christian have once been greatly humbled, emptied of self, and alarmed at the view of God's wrath against sin, he will never afterwards lose the feelings thus excited within him. They will accompany him; not to agitate him, but to admonish him; not to terrify, but to alarm.

II. Consider certain of the comforts and enjoyments which are ensured to the believer by the promise that he shall not make haste. (1) He has a protector always at hand, so that in seasons of emergency he need not run to and fro in search of succour. He has nothing to hasten from, for he is shielded against every assault. He has nothing to hasten to, for he is already enclosed within a rampart of security. (2) We speak of the advantages which result from what is called presence of mind. If the Christian but live up to the privileges which this promise includes, he will never know what it is to be scared by unexpected things, or hurried into injudicious. He can never be called upon for instant decision, so. as to have no time for asking counsel of God. (3) Meekness and patience are included in the announcement of our text. It promises the believer that he shall be collected in the midst of danger, confident in the face of difficulties, hopeful in trial, happy in affliction, steadfast in death. "He that believeth shall not make haste."

H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2061.

Our day is one in which men, emphatically, "make haste." Hurry, bustle, drive, meet us at every turn. Of this state of things every one complains, but no one seems able to extricate himself from it. We are drawn into a vortex; it is useless to struggle; all we can do is to yield.

In the passage to which the text belongs, a contrast seems to be drawn between those persons who construct some refuge of their own to protect them from the ills of life, and those others who are willing to avail themselves of that well-built and well-founded House which the Lord God hath provided for them; and then the dismay and disappointment of the one party, when their expectations are found to deceive them, are contrasted with the calm security and confidence of the other. The idea of the text is, that if a man believes in God, and trusts in God, and will consent to work on the lines which God has laid down, he will be saved from that restless, worldly agitation of mind which produces so frequently such calamitous results.

I. Notice how, in temporal matters, this desirable state of things will be brought about. Let a man believe thoroughly in God as one who rewards faithful labour, although He may not see fit to reward it at once, and that man will be kept from the perils into which a restless and unsettled agitation of mind would probably betray him. He can afford to be strong and patient, for he knows that the reward will come.

II. Turn from temporal to spiritual matters. (1) The man who "believeth" has not to run helplessly hither and thither, when a strain comes upon him, seeking for principles to sustain him in the hour of trial. He has got his principles, and they are ready for use. Restless agitation is not his, for his soul is centred and held in equipoise. (2) The man who believes in a living God will not be full of nervous apprehensions about the future of Christianity. Men may break themselves in pieces against the Rock of Ages, but the Rock itself will never move. "He that believeth shall not make haste."

G. Calthrop, Words Spoken to My Friends, p. 136.

References: Isaiah 28:16.—Clergyman's Magazine, vol. xi., p. 277; J. G. Murphy, Book of Daniel, p. 62; H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2061; S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 38.

Isaiah 28:17

All men know themselves to be sinners against God. They know, also, that as sinners they are in peril and are not safe. Hence their anxiety to find some refuge for safety. They know they might find this in the way of forsaking sin and turning to the Lord; but they do not choose to forsake their sins. Hence there seems to be no convenient resource but to hide themselves under some refuge. Our text speaks of the "refuge of lies." Notice some of these refuges.

I. An unsanctifying hope of heaven. A good hope purifies the heart. But there certainly are hopes indulged that fail to purify the heart of those who hold them. Those hopes are worthless—a mere refuge of lies.

II. An old experience, that is all old, is a lie.

III. There are two forms of self-righteousness—the legal and the Gospel—both of which are refuges of lies. The legal depends on duty-doing, evermore trying to work out salvation by deeds of law. The Gospel form sets itself to get grace by works. Men try to get a new heart, not by trying to turn from all sin, but by praying for it.

IV. Universalism is an old refuge of lies. It never saved any man from sin. It throws no influence in that direction.

V. God declares that "the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies." No doubt the hail is the symbol of God's displeasure. He loves truth too well to have the least sympathy with lies. He loves the souls of men too well to have any patience with agencies so destructive. Therefore, He loathes all these refuges of lies, and has solemnly declared that the hail shall sweep them all away.

VI. There is a refuge which is not one of lies. There is a hiding-place which no waters can reach to overwhelm. It lies far above their course. You need to come into such communion with Christ, that His power and presence and fulness shall flow through your heart fully and freely, and be in you a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

C. G. Finney, Sermons on Gospel Themes, p. 119.

References: Isaiah 28:17.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv., No. 1501. Isaiah 28:20.—W. H. Langhorne, Penny Pulpit, No. 1030; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v., No. 244; Homiletic Magazine, vol. viii., p. 67. Isaiah 28:23-29.—S. Cox, Expositor, 1st series, vol. i., p. 88. Isaiah 28:24-29.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. xi., p. 142. Isaiah 28:25.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii., No. 1626. Isaiah 28:29.—Ibid., vol. xii., No. 711.