Aged saints are sometimes in distress. Guernsey: The American National Preacher. Let us see how God carries men.—The first requisite for an upright bearing is ground—something to rest upon. Clearly, then, the mind and heart and conscience should be prepared. The Lord and His own are one. (H. Belfrage, D. D.). But God is not by grace going to undo His work by nature. I knew that just before I should reach home I should pass through what to me was the gloomiest and thickest wood that ever was. THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIVINE CARE. BibliographyEllicott, Charles John. Size is 8 x 10. Church Pulpit Commentary. I remain, unchangeably, with the same tenderness, the same affection, the same care. Here is a safe investment. Let the conduct of God to the aged be imitated by us as far as possible. This implies weakness and inability in us, support and assistance from Him. For this purpose, Isaiah describes the desolation Cyrus should bring upon Babylon, and foretells that he should carry captive their gods, who would be insufficient to help either their worshippers or themselves. Poverty is a frequent accompaniment of old age.—Such a termination of human life, when viewed apart from religion, is cheerless and melancholy. And the most steadfast moral universe, and most righteous moral governor, is no comfort--but rather the reverse--to the man with a bad conscience, whether thatconscience be due to the guilt or to the habit of sin. 2. He sometimes in a most wonderful manner strengthens the powers of the mind. God has made this sin and guilt of ours His special care and anguish. BibliographyGill, John. 1457, 1458, 4246). 3. His people are always the objects of his tender solicitude. The elasticity of youth rises above a change of circumstances; old age sinks under it. "I will." He will ever succour them under their trials. 1876. But the Bible which the child readeth is the Bible of the grey head. "Commentary on Isaiah 46:4". One reason why we take so slowly to the idea of God’s bearing or carrying us, is because we divorce it from the fact that He made us; and we rook at the bearing simply as a concession, forgetting that God the Redeemer is bound up with God the Creator. 1. "Even I will carry you, and will deliver you." BibliographyPoole, Matthew, "Commentary on Isaiah 46:4". 1870. 1. "Calvin's Commentary on the Bible". In hours of anguish for recent sin. 4. This subject displays--. And then God calls upon His people to consider whether He was such a god as these (Isa ). These gloomy anticipations crowd upon the contemplation of old age. Their relish for company, business, and pleasure is gone (2Sa ; P. D. 103, 113). Secular embarrassment, personal or family affliction, spiritual trials, &c. 2. All things, &c., change; but God is ever the same. To the Christian the brightest and happiest period in his history. This. 1. (1.) But he has one hope, and that is the very same which he had when he first trusted in Christ. 1. The character of Him who makes the promise confirms it. They testify that the God of their youth is the God of their later years. How unreasonable and unbecoming is it for aged saints to sink under their burdens and infirmities! And even to your old age I am he.] True, death is also near the young; only to them he does not show himself so plainly. Father. He has peculiar fellowship with Christ. The truth also comes out experimentally in the Christian life of each one of us. "I am He that I was of old to the saints in former generations, and will continue the same through every succeeding age, and not like the idols of the heathen, that were made yesterday, and are destroyed to-morrow." "And [even] to [your] old age I [am] he; and [even] to hoar hairs will I carry [you]: I have made, and I … 4. 2. Every little thing is ready to overset them, but God will carry them by supporting their spirits, and putting strength into them, so that they shall not faint and sink (Deu 33:25). Various are the burdens which the aged have to bear, and various are the duties which they are required to perform, and for which they have no might. H. Walker: Companion for the Afflicted, pp. “I have made, and I will bear”--will bear what I have made. 1. Of peculiar hope. He will deliver. 3. Unwearied. "I will carry.… I will bear." I could almost fancy I saw the outline of a great, strong man flashed upon the darkness--so vivid was the impression, not only on the ear, but also on the imagination. "Even to your old age," &c. Surpasses that of the most tender parent, which naturally dies away as the child reaches manhood. To God the words of our text direct us. (f) Seeing I have begotten you, I will nourish and preserve you forever. Earthly possessions, instead of a help, often become a burden and a snare. To direct by His wisdom; to protect by His power; to comfort, strengthen, and sustain by His Spirit; to supply all need by His all-sufficiency; to support in death by His rod and staff (Psa 23:4). He "made, and will bear." The sun of God's favour may shine on the declining days of a life spent in the darkness of unbelief, but such a case does not fall within the scope of this promise. Parents usually die before their children. This second creation far exceeds the first; it is the best of God's works,—the creation of a Christian out of a mere man. This promise to Israel is especially applicable to every aged Israelite. There is the burden of existence. He hath no children to launch out in business. BibliographyBeza, Theodore. Old age with God--it is love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness. But if any one shall examine it properly, it will be found that we never make so great progress as not to need to be upheld by the strength of God, for otherwise the most perfect man would stumble every moment; as David also testifies, “Forsake me not in the time of old age, withdraw not from me when my strength faileth.” (Psalms 71:9. Angels around befriending virtue's friend: Sinks to the grave with unperceived decay. This was no small comfort to old David, {Psalms 71:18} to Dr Rivet and others; and well it might. Venerable fathers in the faith, and mothers in Israel, take these words for your joy. "What do you mean by putting ourselves in the way of the promise?" Have you repented, &c.? Life is a school, and experience is a teacher. Let us work while it is called to-day. Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible. But this inference is as repugnant to sound reasoning as it is to the precepts of the Bible, and the spirit of piety (H. E. I. "Even to your old age, I am He." (1.) To comfort and animate their hearts who expected to die in a strange land, and were greatly distressed at the remembrance of Zion, God encourages them still to hope in Him. Sometimes a man’s heart will shake him off this ground.—Conscience says, ‘God has made thee, but thou hast unmade thyself.’ When this comes to a man it is the most sinking time in his life. So the soul requires this assurance, and God has confirmed it in His Word: ‘I have made, and I will bear.’ The responsibility of life is God’s; we have been sent here at His will. IV. II. He hath few hopes of the future in this world. Isa . We cannot feel it more than He does. Old age with God--it can stand with the prophet, even in the midst of catastrophe and ruin and death, claiming as its own the sustaining words, “Even to your old age I am He,” &c. (J. R.Macduff, D. D.). And He will do it. Isaiah 46:4. Let it teach you to be joyful. What a consoling promise! How unreasonable such a conclusion! In contrast to them Jehovah, who had, like a mother, carried His people, would continue to carry them, through all the duration of their existence. You who are advanced in life can bear testimony to the Lord's faithful love, which has attended all your days. He knew all we should be, before He set His heart upon us and made us His own. Then the whole darkness was vocal with the crash of his voice. They broke the idols into pieces and loaded them on pack animals and on ox carts and carted them to the dump. It appears as a matter of tolerance. THE IMMUTABILITY OF GOD. (3.) May we not regard this declaration as a sufficient antidote to the apprehensions we are apt to entertain in prospect of the various anxieties and inconveniences of advancing years? 81-82. What is at the bottom of the whole story but this truth of sonship? I have done it, and I will carry you; And I will bear you and I will deliver you. God hath been an old friend to you, a tried friend, and you may be assured He will never leave nor forsake you; especially when you consider—. Endeavour in the midst of your trials to cultivate a thankful disposition. 1629). Not, if you can help it, in casting off the duties you owe to the world and the Church. Isaiah 45 Isaiah 47 ... An integrated digital Bible study library - including complete notes from the Believer's Bible Commentary and the Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (NIV and NRSV) - is just a step away! 5. "God can put a fresh kernel into an old and worn-out husk." God has a large family; but, as Bishop Hall observes, none of His children can go alone. "Commentary on Isaiah 46:4". Some of you are in darkness. The aged are ready to complain, and in many cases with truth, that relatives and friends are cold to them, and weary of them. Must He not know all your needs, distresses, and fears? 5. But God's promise is larger than our poor thoughts. He created, permitted us to be born as members of a sinful race. THE CRY OF THE AGED SAINT IN TIME OF DISTRESS (Psa ). 3. Denomination: Methodist. What stronger argument can there be to encourage your faith in His promises, than your long experience of His goodness? Never let it go. If God gives you ability for active services, abound in them, for death is at hand. God has brought some of you well on in your journey to old age, and will you not acknowledge His goodness? Death stands before them; a dark enemy who must be faced; a dread moment when, amidst unknown suffering, all that has made life interesting must be left behind. It assures them of His patience and indulgence. Even amid the infirmities of age, his cup of happiness must be full. But this Gospel of God’s love bearing our sins is of no use to a man unless it goes with another--that God bears him up for victory over temptation, for attainment in holiness. In all these things we are doomed to be solitary. The inhabitant within peeps out at the windows of your body, sees and hears, is collecting knowledge on which it may live and be happy when the house of the body totters with age, and is crumbling into dust. Have I not an intellectual part, which distinguishes me from the brute creation? What a precious thought, young men and women, is contained in this text! It is that which defines the measure of the prodigal’s sin. (1.) Plutarch giveth this for a reason why old men are so covetous, viz., because they fear they shall not have τους θρεψοντας και τους θαψοντας, such as will keep them while they live, and such as will bury them decently when dead. 9. This is the case of the labouring poor, and of many widows. BibliographyExell, Joseph S. "Commentary on "Isaiah 46:4". Old age hath its peculiar blessedness. You cannot survive His power to help. 2. Isaiah 46:4 And [even] to [your] old age I [am] he; and [even] to hoar hairs will I carry [you]: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver [you]. This subject is admirably adapted to lead the aged to their proper duties. (2.) Some of us may think we can dispense with His help on the way to old age, though when we reach it, with enfeebled powers and diminished comforts, we may be glad to have recourse to His help. Isa ). How many of us know from most blessed experience what it is to have a great High Priest touched with the feeling of our infirmities. 2. But these words express the character of God's care for us. 2. 3. The most essential part—God’s being life within us.—All human metaphors fall far short of describing God’s relation to man. 1. He fears every now and then that the pitcher will be "broken at the cistern;" for "the noise of the grinders is low." God himself will do it; "I" is emphatic and exclusive. If you are children of God through Jesus Christ, all His promises are your inheritance and estate. 1. He will correct you for the failings of age to secure their amendment, and to make your decline a more happy specimen of the beauty and the power of religion; but it will be with a gentle hand. THE NATURE OF THE CARE WHICH GOD EXERCISES OVER US, expressed in the words "carry," "bear," "deliver," which stand in contrast to what is said (Isa ) of the idol-gods of the Chaldeans. IV. In trouble. Psa . (C. At such times we remember several things, as that it is a period. In a yet more special sense His own believing people (1Ti ). It implies unabated affection. BibliographyExell, Joseph S. "Commentary on Isaiah 46:4". Remember your individual interest in the special care of your Heavenly Father. Thus he is in danger of sinking into neglect; perhaps he is too sensitive, and fancies himself neglected and forsaken when it is not really the case. A life of usefulness will go far towards it. Others have claimed us as children; and we early learned to say, My father. How blessed it is to begin in the early morning to love and serve God! THE PERIOD OVER WHICH GOD'S CARE EXTENDS.—"Even to your old age," "to hoar hairs." Is the old man lonely, like the last leaf which the storm has left clinging to the tree? So if old age is reached by you, you will find that you have indeed solved the problem of transforming it into a season of true blessedness. Bullinger's Companion bible Notes". That is, "I am the same; I remain unchangeable, with the same tenderness, affection, and care." Not only do I not need to be borne and carried myself, as the idols (Isaiah 46:1), but I will bear, carry, and deliver my people. 4. But to them we owe our being subordinately, and instrumentally: to Him we owe it supremely and efficiently. 1. But our heavenly Father will continue to exist through our lives and beyond. (4) Even to your old age.—The care of a mother ceases, in the natural course of things, before a man grows old, but the fatherly, we might almost say the mother-like, maternal care of Jehovah for His chosen ones endures even to the end of life. It infallibly secures the punishment of the finally impenitent. Often the faculties of the soul languish. The cross is its measure. Try it free for 30 days. I. "Commentary on Isaiah 46:4". III. 1909-1922. Testimony. The repeated and explicit declarations of Holy Scripture (H. E. I. But suddenly, suddenly, in this darkness and loneliness, God’s voice rings out, “I am here; fear not; never nearer than now, in your hoar hairs and old age.” (J. Munera sint author quae preciosa facit. Then, in our loneliness, we shall need the friendship of God. The aged need the fulfilment of this promise. Though originally made to Israel, and applied to them in a national sense, each believer can make it his own (2Co ); and it is good for us, not only to rest on such a promise as we pass into the future, but to mark its fulfilment in our past experience, and in the experience of others who at life's close have borne testimony to the continued goodness, the sustaining power, the unfailing faithfulness of Him whom they trusted and served. Are we to suppose that God conceives a purpose less sharply or works it out with less intensity than a man does? That God is still unchanged, we learn from the sweet experience of all the saints. May we not ask Him to bear with us whom He made, redeemed, and took to be His children by adoption and grace? Then we are naturally deprived of many who took an early interest in our welfare. What will God do for us in future? 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