Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace; that brings good tidings of good… I. THE STATE IMPLIED in the words before us is to be collected from the view of their primary meaning. They originally refer to the Jews captive in Babylon, banished from their country, and deprived of the ordinances of Divine worship, under the displeasure of the Almighty, and oppressed by a haughty and idolatrous enemy. But this is only a faint emblem of that spiritual captivity in which mankind are naturally involved, and from which the Son of God came to deliver us. II. IN WHAT MANNER IS THIS GRACIOUS DISPENSATION DESCRIBED? As the proclamation of good tidings, as the message of reconciliation and peace, as the publication of deliverance and salvation. III. We are now, in some measure, prepared to enter into the spirit of THE EXCLAMATION and to participate in the joyful reception of the message which it announces. Practical remarks: 1. The true nature of the Gospel. It is not, as some would represent it, a mere system of morality. It comprises this, but infinitely more. It contains, first and principally, the offer of parson to the guilty, of deliverance to the oppressed, of salvation to the lost. 2. If such, however, be the nature of the Gospel, how highly should we value it, and how anxious should we be to profit by it! 3. While we rejoice in the good tidings which have been proclaimed to ourselves, let us pray that the multitudes of our fellow-creatures, to whom they have not yet been announced, may speedily hear the same delightful sound; and may exult in the joyful message of the Gospel, until "all flesh" shall at length "see the salvation of God," and "the whole earth be filled with His glory!" (Hugh Pearson, D.D.) Parallel Verses KJV: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! |
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