Isaiah 30:18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious to you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy on you… God sets forth Britain amid the nominal Christian nations, as He set forth Israel of old amid the heathen world, as a mighty field in which He displays His dispensations and dealings towards nations in professed and visible covenant with Himself. We are, therefore, not only warranted, but bound to take the words addressed to the ancient people of God, and to apply them to His people in modern times. I. The spirit and attitude which God is here represented as sustaining toward a guilty and corrected, though not forsaken people, is ASPECT AND ATTITUDE OF LONG SUFFERING AND PATIENT FORBEARANCE. II. But there is yet another feature in the attitude and aspect of God towards a land that He waits to see repenting — for GOD IS A GOD OF JUDGMENT. III. LET US APPLY ALL THIS VIEW of the aspect of God towards nations to His recent dealings with ourselves. IV. Lot us not pass lightly by what constitutes THE GREAT MORAL LESSON that springs from the view of God we have been taking. "Blessed are they that wait for Him." We are not to become impatient under God's hand; we are not, because His chastisement yet remains, to forget His mercies. (H. Stowell, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. |
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