Isaiah 55:7

Let the wicked ... - In this verse we are told what is necessary in order to seek God and to return to him, and the encouragement which we have to do it. The first step is for the sinner to forsake his way. He must come to a solemn pause, and resolve to abandon all his transgressions. His evil course; his vices; his corrupt practices; and his dissipated companions, must be forsaken. And the unrighteous man - Margin, “Man of iniquity.” This is a literal translation.

unrighteous--Hebrew, "man of iniquity"; true of all men. The "wicked" sins more openly in "his way"; the "unrighteous" refers to the more subtle workings of sin in the "thoughts." All are guilty in the latter respect, thought many fancy themselves safe, because not openly "wicked in ways" (Ps 94:11). The parallelism is that of gradation.

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IN our childhood we learned from Dr. Watts' Catechism that Isaiah was that Prophet who spoke more of Jesus Christ than all the rest. In the chapter before us Isaiah had been declaring in the name of the Lord the coming and the character of the Redeemer, speaking of Him thus, "Behold I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader and a commander to the people."

IN our childhood we learned from Dr. Watts' Catechism that Isaiah was that Prophet who spoke more of Jesus Christ than all the rest. In the chapter before us Isaiah had been declaring in the name of the Lord the coming and the character of the Redeemer, speaking of Him thus, "Behold I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader and a commander to the people." No sooner had he thus proclaimed the appearance of the Christ, than he beheld whole nations of the heathen rushing to Him and, inspired by that sight, he began at once to address himself to the sinners around him bidding them fly to Him, too. As there is a natural connection between the physician and the sick, so is there between the Savior and the sinner. The Prophet can hardly think of Christ as coming to be a leader, a witness and a commander without at once turning to the wicked and the unrighteous—bidding them forsake their ways, enlist beneath their Commander's banner—and participate in the blessings which He brings. Jesus is a grand attraction for guilty men! "Then drew near unto Him all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him." Christ is always welcomed by those who know they need Him. The self-righteous Pharisees and Scribes murmur at Him, but those who are humble and contrite, because conscious of their guilt, approach Him, wishing, as it were, but to touch the hem of His garment that they may be made whole! As the sun is attended by his planets who borrow all their light from him, so is the Lord Jesus waited on by crowds of sinners who find in Him their hope, their all! As the thirsty harts resort to the water brooks, so do needy souls hasten to Jesus—and it is according to the Divine order that it should be so. Notice what the Prophet has to say. He speaks to the unrighteous and the wicked, and invites them to immediate faith and repentance, for so I understand the passage to mean.

AT first men have very low ideas of sin. It is a trifle, a mere mistake, a failure of judgment, a little going aside—but when the Holy Spirit begins to deal with them sin grows to be an intolerable burden—a fearsome thing full of horror and dismay. The more men know of the evil of sin, the more astounded they are that they ever should have found any pleasure in it, or could have made any excuse for it.

AT first men have very low ideas of sin. It is a trifle, a mere mistake, a failure of judgment, a little going aside—but when the Holy Spirit begins to deal with them sin grows to be an intolerable burden—a fearsome thing full of horror and dismay. The more men know of the evil of sin, the more astounded they are that they ever should have found any pleasure in it, or could have made any excuse for it. Now, it is well when men begin to see the truth about themselves, for even if that truth breaks them into pieces and grinds them small as the dust of the threshing floor, it is well that they are delivered from the dominion of falsehood. At this time, however, while the thought of sin becomes clear, the thought of pardon is not at first so clear. Sin is great and for that reason the sinner thinks it cannot be pardoned, as if he measured the Lord by his sin and fancied that his sin was greater than the mercy of God! Hence our difficulty with men who are really awakened, is to raise their thoughts of God's mercy in proportion to their raised idea of the greatness of sin. While they do not feel their sin, they say that God is merciful and talk very flippantly about it, as if pardon were a trifle. But when they feel the weight of sin, then they think it impossible that sin should be forgiven! In our text God in condescension helps the sinner to believe in pardon by elevating his idea of God. Because God is infinitely superior to man, He can abundantly pardon. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." He can abundantly pardon because His Nature is not on our level.

preached from the last four words of this verse, laying special stress upon the abundant pardon which is given to repenting sinners through the rich mercy of our God. On this occasion, I am going to put the emphasis upon the first part of the verse, speaking more upon the necessity of the sinner forsaking his evil ways and of the unrighteous man abandoning his evil thoughts. There is urgent necessity for us to continually insist upon this course of action.

preached from the last four words of this verse, laying special stress upon the abundant pardon which is given to repenting sinners through the rich mercy of our God. On this occasion, I am going to put the emphasis upon the first part of the verse, speaking more upon the necessity of the sinner forsaking his evil ways and of the unrighteous man abandoning his evil thoughts. There is urgent necessity for us to continually insist upon this course of action. This Chapter, as we noticed in our reading, is full of Gospel teaching and it expresses, under the most striking and cheering metaphors, both the fullness and the freeness of the Gospel. But the Prophet also insists most clearly that the wicked man must forsake his ways and the unrighteous man must turn from his thoughts and return to the Lord that he may obtain the mercy and pardon that God is waiting and willing to bestow. This is not a merely legal demand—it is a Gospel demand found in the center of a Gospel Chapter in the writings of the most Evangelical of all the Prophets. The Chapter begins with a number of gracious and wide invitations and so, naturally, leads on to the promise of the coming Savior. Only God Himself could find a Savior for our ruined race and none but God's own Son could be that Savior. Then there follows, in due order, the promise of a people to be saved. The Savior shall not come to the earth in vain. He shall call a people unto Himself and "nations" shall run to Him.