Isaiah 44:4

Note, It is a great happiness to the church, and a great pleasure to good men, to see the rising generation hopeful and promising. And it will be so if God pour his Spirit upon them, that blessing, that blessing of blessings. The consent they cheerfully give to their part of the covenant,

They shall spring up as among the grass “They shall spring up as the grass among the waters” - בבין חציר bebeyn chatsir, “They shall spring up to the midst of, or rather, in among, the grass. “This cannot be right: eleven MSS., and thirteen editions, have כבין kebeyn, or כבן keben. Twenty-four MSS. read it without the י yod, בבן beben, in the son of the grass; and so reads the Chaldee; בבן beben, in the son of the grass.

Rather, "The seed shall spring up as willows among the grass beside canals of water" [HORSLEY]. Or, "They shall spring up among the grass (that is, luxuriantly; for what grows in the midst of grass grows luxuriantly) as willows by the water-courses," which makes the parallel clauses better balanced [MAURER].

Yet--Though thou hast sinned, yet hear God's gracious promise as to thy deliverance. chosen-- (Isa 41:8).

WE ought not to overlook the first and immediate meaning of these words. There can be no doubt that we have here a promise made to God's ancient people, the Jews. Whatever their sins may have been, God has not forever cast them away. They have become like the dry and thirsty desert, but the day will yet dawn when God's sovereign love shall again visit them and His Spirit shall distil upon them until Israel shall be glorious among the nations and her children shall be multiplied and saved. O that the long-expected day would hasten!

WE ought not to overlook the first and immediate meaning of these words. There can be no doubt that we have here a promise made to God's ancient people, the Jews. Whatever their sins may have been, God has not forever cast them away. They have become like the dry and thirsty desert, but the day will yet dawn when God's sovereign love shall again visit them and His Spirit shall distil upon them until Israel shall be glorious among the nations and her children shall be multiplied and saved. O that the long-expected day would hasten! Break, hallowed morning, for earth's watchers are growing weary! The twelve tribes right longingly wait for the appearance of Messiah the Prince and we also who believe in Jesus, joyfully expect His advent and the gathering together of Israel. How great will be the day of the Lord's gracious visitation! "For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?" If the fall of them is the riches of the world and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness? The vision tarries, but it will surely come! The Glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Be it ours to rejoice in that ancient promise, "There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is My Covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." Leaving this interesting view of the text, we will meditate on it, for practical purposes of comfort to ourselves. Observe that the text begins with the word, "Yet." What an ominous word as to the past! What a cheering word as to the future! "Yet." "Yet." What black words are those which come before it? Surely all is not well. Look at the preceding verses and see.

IN the Christian Church at this moment there is a very general desire for a revival of religion. You may go where you may among Christian people and you will find that they are mourning over the present state of things and saying, one to the other, "When will a greater blessing come? How can we obtain it? When shall we make some impression upon the masses of the ungodly? When shall our houses of prayer be filled with attentive hearers? When will the Lord's kingdom come and His right arm be made bare in the eyes of all the people?" I am delighted to hear the inquiry My soul magnifies the Lord as I discern tokens of growing anxiety about the cause and kingdom of Jesus and the perishing sons of men. This is an omen of better times. "As soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children." Searchings of heart, anguish, groans which cannot be uttered and abounding intercession are the heralds of blessing! They are the sound in the tops of the mulberry trees which calls Believers to bestir themselves in hope of victory! May the movement among the saints continue and deepen till it brings forth a movement among sinners far and wide. At this time, also, there are manifest the most pleasing signs that God is about to work among His people. A very notable gathering of converts has taken place in the town of Newcastle and the two Brothers whom God honored to be the means of it have now moved to the city of Edinburgh. There the ministers of all denominations are united in helping them and in earnestly imploring the Divine blessing of the gracious visitation which has already come upon Edinburgh is such as was probably never known before within the memory of man.

IN the Christian Church at this moment there is a very general desire for a revival of religion. You may go where you may among Christian people and you will find that they are mourning over the present state of things and saying, one to the other, "When will a greater blessing come? How can we obtain it? When shall we make some impression upon the masses of the ungodly? When shall our houses of prayer be filled with attentive hearers?

And they shall spring up - The idea is, that as plants and trees planted by water-courses, and in well-watered fields, grow and flourish, so should their children grow in virtue, hope, piety, and zeal. As among the grass - They shall spring up and flourish as the grass does when abundantly watered from heaven. On the meaning of the unusual form of the word בבים bebēyn, in the Hebrew (“in among”), see Vitringa and Rosenmuller. The ב (b) here is undoubtedly an error of the transcriber for כ (k) (“as”) - an error which, from the similarity of the letters, might be readily made. The Septuagint reads it, Ὡς Hōs - ‘As.’ The Chaldee reads it, כ (k) (“as”). As willows by the water-courses - Willows are usually planted in such places, and grow rapidly and luxuriantly. It denotes here, abundant increase, vigor and beauty; and means that their posterity would be greatly blessed of God. A similar figure to denote the prosperity and happiness of the righteous occurs in Psa 1:3: And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; His leaf also shall not wither. These two verses teach us: 1. That God will pour his blessings on the children of his people - a promise which in all ages, when parents are faithful, is abundantly fulfilled. 2. That one of the richest blessings which can be imparted to a people is, that God’s Spirit should descend on their children. 3. That the Spirit of God alone is the source of true happiness and prosperity to our children. All else - property, learning, accomplishment. beauty, vigor, will be vain. It is by his blessing only - by the influence of piety - that they will spring forth as among the grass, and like willows by the streams of water. 4. Parents should pray earnestly for a revival of religion. […]