All these evils, so full of fierce and destructive energies, will soon be as the dust beneath our feet. The bread of life for the hungry, the water of life for the thirsty.II. The meaning is obviously, They, all depend upon Thee; men and beasts alike.2. The prophet Isaiah wrote it at approximately 700 B.C. It is proved that Hebraism can exist without a temple and without a priest, without an altar and without a land, without anything or anybody save the soul and God. The New Testament In an indirect manner, then, this encouraging passage of Scripture reminds us of the cause of our spiritual declensions. It has already conquered half the world, and controls the whole. There is many a young man who thinks, "I find plenty of occupation for my energy in the service of the world, but if I become a religious man, then I am sure to become a poor, lifeless, morose character." God is so near. V. Tymms.It is a great mistake to suppose that only the puny are liable to downfalls. For every new occasion, every new trial, every new labour, we shall get new power. The truth lies the other way! Wesley fashioned modern England by faith. THE BASIS OF LIFE'S EXALTATION. The soul of fallen man naturally grovels on the earth; his face instead of being raised to heaven, is prone toward the ground. In the power to endure it. )God's grace sufficient for all life's stagesJ. You know who wrote that, and how true to the experience of a Christian is his picture. 3. By waiting on the Lord the stream flows into its appointed bed. THE DUTY ENJOINED. But in time the eye becomes dim, and the subtle beauties of a fine painting cannot be seen; the ear becomes dull, and the sweetest music charms no more. All the motives which the Gospel presents before him feed his hopefulness and increase his working power. But as they came round the curve from one line to the other friction and gravitation asserted their power. There are various reasons why we should constantly apply to God for a renewal of our spiritual strength. Entwisle.I. That’s a contrast that the text brings out. But the prophet has a deeper thought than this. We may be summoned to a post of great responsibility, to the performance of arduous duty. He is making His will. In the weary pilgrimage which they have to finish, in the sore warfare in which they are engaged, He will strengthen and uphold them. (2) While only the few can thus fly, many can only run. And the man who waits upon God enters into that eternal calm and blessedness.(F. )Despondency and hopefulnessW. Halsey. Our text speaks not only of flying, but of running and walking. THE HOPES THAT ARE BASED ON FAITH IN GOD GIVE STRENGTH ENOUGH TO APPROACH HIM. When a soul has its inner life hid with Christ and lives a life of true consecration it is enabled to take wing, and its "citizenship is in heaven." We renew our strength to meet misfortunes and to carry our load of grief or bereavement, to keep a cheerful heart under the depression of disease, and when chilled by the cold shadow of death. Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year. We see the years move on, and the everlasting truth subdue all to itself. "Run, and be weary," etc.1. The energy of this life manifests itself in various ways. Any special duty, also, tends, by its very specialty, to brace us for the doing of it; there is, moreover, the goal in view, and the prize to be won. But, in order to obtain aid from on high, we must make use of the appointed and appropriate means. The more alert and bold a youth will be, the more certainly he will at some time overtask his strength. On Him only (Psalm 62:5). For the less strength we feel we have, the more we shall need and ask from Him. 1. What, then, is meant by this "waiting upon the Lord"? Energy properly appertains to the will; indeed, it is nothing else but strong will; and where this exists there will be active exertion. When the determination of the will is not only fixed but strong, then the soul is in a vigorous state. Let us, therefore, see what there is in reserve for us in the large world into which Isaiah is prepared to conduct us We are at once made aware of its vastness, to the expanding and refreshing of our spirits, for we are brought face to face with God in all the majesty of His perfections: the infinite Greatness, to which the nations are as the small dust of the balance. The helplessness of man in spiritual things is a disease for which no remedy has been discovered, and for which no remedy ever will be discovered but that which the Word of God points out.I. -------------------- Many things he desires to do but cannot. Wrong may prosper for a time. There must be stillness of soul, dependence, expectation.III. One part was taken on by the engine to the higher end of the platform, the other and hinder remained where it was. There was a time when our human nature seemed to possess much spiritual strength, but there came a time when it was all lost; and from that time, in the experience of every human being, it has had to be renewed. But waiting on the Lord implies much more than this. A. Let me translate that last word again, translate it by a word that is about as wide in its English significance as the word used by the prophet in his own time, "They shall mount up, they shall run, they shall go." "They shall mount up," etc. Purer air.2. II. Tymms. They "wait for the Lord, and in His word do they hope" (Psalm 130:5). The men who led the remnant back were God-fearing men like Ezra and Zerubbabel, men who waited on God. Luther changed the course of the centuries by faith. There is a vast deal of verve in the original Hebrew; it signifies to be strong enough to hold out. (Sunday School Chronicle. But when the Holy Spirit enters into any man, his thoughts and affections are raised to those things which are above. Untroubled quiet.4. Experience has proved that, to a great many souls, public worship is the greatest help they ever get, that it gives wings to their holiest prayers and brightness to their gladdest songs of praise, and that it does bring them nearer to God than any other external agency that they know of. If we have failed, or have been foiled, God will put us on our feet again. Just such a well of spiritual force is the Lord Jesus Christ. When, in like manner, the spiritual strength of the Christian is impaired, and he is ready to sink under.the pressure of temptation or distress; when his consolations appear to be nearly exhausted; or when, through the prevalence of remaining unbelief and corruption, he becomes languid in duty, or faint under affliction — his decays of strength are recruited from above; new fountains are opened for his comfort; he rises as from the ground, on which he was sitting in feebleness and sorrow, and no longer with faltering, but with firm and steady steps, pursues the course of active duty, or of patient suffering, in which he is appointed to move. To wait on the Lord is the drawing nigh unto Him, to pour out our wants before Him, though He knows them so well, to plead the necessities arising out of our own ignorance, waywardness, and poverty of soul, to ask for His light to shine in our darkness, to clear our minds of the mists and fogs of native prejudice and of traditional error, to make plain before us our path of duty, and to keep our feet steadfast therein, to take into His loving hands the discipline and correction of our hearts, and to make us willing to undergo it, to keep us from all vanity and lies, and from every form of subtle self-deception, so that we may ever be true to Him and to ourselves. Halsey. Howells.I. There is no searching of His understanding. Paul had had his eagle "flights," but he did not make much of them. Renewal often comes to men in their extremity like this.3. They are both to be censured and pitied.4. Every moment the speed was reduced, and finally the carriages came to a standstill a foot away from those to which they were to be attached. ALL RENEWAL OF STRENGTH SHOULD BE REGULAR. Zeal fills the soul with courage to encounter enemies and surmount obstacles. Our deepest affections are stirred when we are told that redemption was made in love. So it is possible for the Christian to be moving on by a power that very soon expends itself, and by a process of exhaustion he falls back again under the gravitating influence of his evil tendencies. What is the reason of all this? Spasmodic efforts are dangerous. God has provided hours for rest and refreshment.I. But, for the most part, these exhaustive pleasures rapidly fret away that on which they depend. This man, however, has this double life. Tymms. (a)Because he has a great way to go, much ground to be despatched; therefore there is need of speed for the passing over it. Use all strength as a gift of God. All the men and women of power are men and women of prayer. One who waits upon the king behaves in a different way from one who waits upon an ordinary person. The "walking" is the most important part after all. a. God has provided hours for rest and refreshment.I. They could not suggest to the prophet his religious thought, but his inspired genius laid them under tribute to assist the utterance of a thought of higher inspiration. God has provided hours for rest and refreshment.I. If you want the flash of a new inspiration the man of God will receive it; if you want swift progress the man of God is equal to it; if you want steady perseverance you shall find it in the man of God also. They are said, in our text, "to mount up on wings as eagles." There are two wings in our spiritual ascent — faith and obedience. But here we have a direct promise from a covenant-keeping God, that our strength shall be renewed adequate to all the demands which a perilous enterprise can render necessary.3. The inertness of the despondent continually deepens their despondency, increases their weakness, and aggravates their misery. Horton, D. D.)Waiting upon the LordJ. He would exhaust his strength if he continued working. As long as you rest, in the place of power and blessing the stream will flow through you unceasingly.II. In consequence of the exhausted spirits of the weary traveller never being renewed, some who did run well are hindered, and halt in their career; while others adopt altogether a retrograde movement, return to the path of their former delights, apostatise from the faith, and become worse than infidels.2. V. Tymms.I. To walk and not faint is sometimes more difficult than to run and not be weary. There is also the heroic courage in speeding one's way as on eagle's wings in defiance of earth-born cries and warnings, and in lofty scorn of earthly interests and pursuits. You see the problem with the people of Judah was that they thought God had abandoned them or was too weak or far too removed to be bothered with their problems. Many things he desires to do but cannot. Halsey.The spiritual teaching of this verse is, that for all the stages and moods of our life-pilgrimage Heaven's grace is available and sufficient.(J. Is it not just what we want — to get higher, to go faster, and to be more calmly consistent? They that wait upon the Lord shall "change," that is, they shall have another strength bestowed upon them, and such as will be more useful to them. Godliness is progress without fatigue. There are conflicts to be endured with our spiritual foes, within our own hearts; we live in a world that is lying in wickedness; we have to do with matters concerning the present life that are often very trying and perplexing in their nature, and often is our courage likely to fail. "My peace I give unto you," that is the legacy. And perhaps it is in this region that a godly patience is needed most for the constant renewal of our spiritual strength. They that wait upon the Lord shall "change," that is, they shall have another strength bestowed upon them, and such as will be more useful to them. Let's say my wife has ordered new living room furniture. (1) The motion itself. A. (1) The calm of a believing soul may be heightened into a kind of ecstasy. The expression "wait upon" is a most felicitous one, because while it includes prayer it means and covers so much more.1. And I am bound to say that those who find the least pleasure and the least benefit from public worship are those who do not wait on the Lord in private. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength," they are coupled up to the source of power without, and being coupled to the power without, the effect of every throb of the engine is communicated to the carriages, and the love of every beat of the heart of God comes down to the Church of the living God.(F. "Having done all, to stand!" (Job Orton. In short, to wait upon God is to be a religious man.II. We renew our strength to meet misfortunes and to carry our load of grief or bereavement, to keep a cheerful heart under the depression of disease, and when chilled by the cold shadow of death. "They shall mount up with wings as eagles." S. Plumptre, M. Did the prophet put this last in his brief summary because patience is one of those Christian graces that has its perfect work the latest?(J. And that power God has provided. All outward observances, whether private or public, have no meaning, and can have no avail without that conscious voluntary movement of the soul towards God. In the power to endure it. It is a power that is not your own, a power that comes from no earthly source, a supernatural power, power from on high which the prophet is here offering.(F. Our spiritual strength seems to include chiefly three things —1. Elevated devotion. Major Prophets (2) There are races to be run down here upon the earth, special duties to be performed, for which a man must gird himself by special effort. )Standing stillJ. We know how it is with children. Hence it is for these that the prophet chiefly writes. It is not a stationary state. V. Tymms.I. This is the religion of the Bible: is it not a noble thing? These are all comprehended in one expression, "waiting on the Lord."III. )The strong in danger of exhaustionT. Wesley fashioned modern England by faith. "Waiting on the Lord" by prayer has the same effect on them that it has on an empty bucket to set it under a rain-spout. So a heaven-bound soul flies in company with God.(T. He has kept the world going all these ages; and my short life of sixty, seventy, or eighty years — will my God not care for and maintain that? Running. The result will be as it is figuratively expressed: We shall mount up; we shall run; we shall walk.I. Howells. Patience has sometimes a dull, torpid, chrysalis aspect; but, when the time is ripe, patience passes into a winged rapture which rises gladly into the sunshine of heaven. (3) Here is the swiftness and agility of the motion. Desire.2. There must be approach to God.2. They do not know by experience the blessings of communion, and therefore these outward aids in public worship are of little use to them. It expresses a solid endurability such as belongs to a stiff piece of oak that never bends and never breaks under heavy pressure. Spurgeon. How can you do it? A. L. Wiseman, B. A.Mount up with wings as eagles, run, walk. On Him only (Psalm 62:5).2. A. )Waiting upon the LordJ. So to-day in every Christian Church, in every Christian enterprise, in every modern fight for righteousness and truth, there are some men who never know when they are defeated; there are some men who, because of this, are invulnerable men; and the men who, when cast down always say there is lifting up, the men who can live and die for Divine ideas, the men who to-day are converting savage races into Christian peoples and working out in painful and prosaic details, and with much danger to their lives in some cases, the glowing dreams of ancient seers respecting the transformation of mankind, these are they who wait in secret on their God.(T. "A deathbed is a detector of the heart." Never failing to seek and obtain fellowship with God in the highest, always daring to attempt great actions, this heavenly minded man has thoughts and yearnings which raise his mode of life above the level of common things. who can bring life out of decay? As our natural life requires to be nourished by suitable food from day to day, without which it would decline and death would ensue, so the spiritual life of the Christian needs to be recruited continually, with the nutriment which is suited to its growth and strength.3. Clear and comprehensive views of the truth of God. As our natural life requires to be nourished by suitable food from day to day, without which it would decline and death would ensue, so the spiritual life of the Christian needs to be recruited continually, with the nutriment which is suited to its growth and strength.3. He flies in company with the sun. Horton, D. D.)Renewing strengthT. What has he to trust in for the continuance of the hope that these desires shall be gratified? 1. He outflies many of the petty vexations and grovelling desires that drag a worldling down into the mire. Spiritual worship requires a strict and holy discipline over the mind, constant vigilance and heartfelt dependence upon Divine grace. We see the years move on, and the everlasting truth subdue all to itself. It is a power that is not your own, a power that comes from no earthly source, a supernatural power, power from on high which the prophet is here offering.(F. It was in this greater exigency that his inner ear caught the promise, "My grace is sufficient for thee."(J. It puts forth its utmost strength in rising towards its Source when the Christian enters into fellowship with the Father and the Son.1. This is first chapter of new. Zeal to the soul is what animal heat is to the body. Prayer is the waiting posture of the soul.2. Howells.I. 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