Homilist Isaiah 54:7-10 For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you.… This is a word of blessed comfort from One who is able to give it. Here is — I. TEMPORARY AFFLICTION. Observe — 1. Its Author. "I have forsaken." All trial comes from the hand of God Himself. Means may be employed, but He works through and by the means. 2. Its method. "Forsaken." The greatest sorrow of Christ was that He was forsaken of God. The terror of hell will be that it is a God-forsaken world. 3. Its duration. "A small moment." It is nothing in comparison to time, less than nothing in the face of eternity. Affliction may endure for a moment. II. PERMANENT CONSOLATION. Here is — 1. The joy of reunion. How blessed the meeting of friends, separated, it may be, by a quarrel, or a sin. 2. The joy of of forgiveness. "With great, mercies". etc. The past will be overlooked, the future guaranteed. All this will be undertaken by God. As He sends the trials so He sends the mercies. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.WEB: "For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you. |
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