from the Alexand. Vers. itself in chap. lviii.
6.

Ver. 2. "_To proclaim a year of acceptance to the Lord, and a day of
vengeance to our God, to comfort all that mourn._"

"A year ... to the Lord" is a year when the Lord shows himself gracious
and merciful to His people; compare chap. xlix. 8. The words farther
still allude to the Jubilee year; and it is in consequence of this
allusion, that we can account for its being a _year_ instead of a
_time_, indefinitely. In that year, a complete _restitutio in integrum_
took place. It was, for all in misery, a year of mercy, a type of the
times of refreshing (Acts iii. 19) which the Lord grants to His Church,
after it has been exercised by the Cross. Hand in hand with the year of
mercy goes the day of vengeance. When the Lord shows mercy to the meek,
and to them that mourn, this shall, at the same time, be accompanied by
a manifestation of anger [Pg 354] against the enemies of God, and of
His Church. The one cannot be thought of without the other. The mercy
of the Lord towards His people is, among other things also, manifested
in His sitting in judgment upon His and their enemies, upon the proud
world which afflicts and oppresses them. It is only in this respect
that the vengeance here comes into consideration; and it is for this
reason also, that the first feature at once reappears in the third
verse. The Lord, in quoting the verse, limits himself to the first
clause, "His first coming into the world was in the form of meekness,"
and, therefore, in the meantime, the bright side only is brought out.

Ver. 3. "_To put upon them that mourn in Zion,--to give them a crown
for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, garment of praise for a spirit of
heaviness; and they shall be called terebinths of righteousness,
planting of the Lord for glorifying._"

It is in this verse that it comes clearly out, that the speaker is not
merely to announce the mercy of God, but, at the same time, to bestow
it; that the announcement is not an empty one, but one which brings
along with it that which is promised; that it is not a Prophet or
Evangelist who speaks, but the Saviour. Such a change cannot be
effected by merely _announcing_ it. Everywhere, in the second part, it
is brought about, not by words, but by deeds. How were it possible that
by mere words, as long as the reality stood in glaring contrast to
them, the believers could become terebinths of righteousness, a
glorious planting of the Lord?--T