October 23

1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called Trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified

4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cases, the desolations of many generations

5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your ploagomen and your vouchressors.

6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our

God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

7 For your shame ye shall have double, and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore to their land they shall possess the double, everlasting joy shall be unto them.

8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath cooked me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the roke of righteousness, as a bridegroom deceit himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

That this chapter refers to the Messiah is abundantly proved by the fact that the Lord Jesus expressly applied it to Himself (Luke iv. 21). The Redeemer came that He might "preach good tidings"—that He might apply the balm of consolation to all hearts, and give them joy and peace. And the time will yet come when His mission shall be fully realized.

"All the processes of society are to exhibit more of Christ; so that at last the day shall come when in all the earth, like a man without a pain from head to foot, mankind shall be without a sadness, or a sigh, or a sorrow; when the whole globe, in all its parts, shall be filled full of Him who filleth all things, who is the head and animating brain of time and the world; and the globe, no longer singing a requiem, no longer singing of things gloomy and sad, clothed with light and inspired with joy, shall go chanting in its rounds, and the heaven and the earth shall sing together. And so the consolation shall come."—H. W. Beecher.

Closet Promise.—O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction.—Jer. xvi. 19.

And sure I am that it is better to be sick, providing Christ comes to the bedside, and draws by the curtains, and says, "Courage! I am thy salvation," than to be lusty and strong, and never be visited by Christ.—Rutherford.