Isaiah 54:5-8

SWEET assurance! Surprising condescension. Does Jesus, by whom all things were made, fill this sweet relation? Is He my nearest and dearest relative? Yes: He loves thee more than any other.

He is more closely united to thee, and more deeply interested in thee.

He is the Bridegroom, thou art the bride; He has espoused thee to Himself, has made full provision for all thy present wants, and is gone to prepare thy everlasting habitation, where thou art to dwell...

SWEET assurance! Surprising condescension. Does Jesus, by whom all things were made, fill this sweet relation? Is He my nearest and dearest relative? Yes: He loves thee more than any other. He is more closely united to thee, and more deeply interested in thee. He is the Bridegroom, thou art the bride; He has espoused thee to Himself, has made full provision for all thy present wants, and is gone to prepare thy everlasting habitation, where thou art to dwell with Him and enjoy His love. The...

Jesus, the Redeemer, is altogether ours and ours for ever. All the offices of Christ are held on our behalf. He is king for us, priest for us, and prophet for us. Whenever we read a new title of the Redeemer, let us appropriate him as ours under that name as much as under any other. The shepherd's staff, the father's rod, the captain's sword, the priest's mitre, the prince's sceptre, the prophet's mantle, all are ours. Jesus hath no dignity which he will not employ for our exaltation, and...

If God withholds from us the tokens of his love, an explanation may almost always be found in the fact that we had made light of them in some way or another. God gives his love unto us that he may draw us by its sweet influences to renounce evil and to embrace good. If we receive the expressions of his loving-kindness and manifest no corresponding readiness to forsake sin, then it becomes needful that we should take lessons in the value and virtue of his love, through the privation of it....

There are many who say, “Who will show us any good?” Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. § I will sing of Your power; yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; for You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.In my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.” … You hid Your face, and I was troubled. I cried out to You, O Lord; and to the Lord I made supplication:  “What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Will the dust...

This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.You shall no longer be termed Forsaken … but you shall be called Hephzibah [My Delight Is in Her] … for the Lord delights in you … As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. § He has sent Me … to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.  I will greatly rejoice...

Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.“For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy...

Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. §  I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. § With the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb...

Do not fear … ,” says the Lord, “for I am with you; … I will not make a complete end of you. I will rightly correct you.” § “For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer … “For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”...

Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you.”I have forgotten prosperity. And I said, “My strength and my hope have perished from the Lord.” § Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever. § Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over...