Where is the bill "Where is this bill"] Husbands, through moroseness or levity of temper, often sent bills of divorcement to their wives on slight occasions, as they were permitted to do by the law of Moses, Deut. xxiv. 1. And fathers, being oppressed with debt, often sold their children, which they might do for a time, till the year of release, Exod. xxi. 7. That this was frequently practiced, appears from many passages of Scripture, and that the persons and the liberty of the children were answerable for the debts of the father. The widow, 2 Kings iv. 1, complains "that the creditor is come to take unto him her two sons to be bondmen. " And in the parable, Matt xviii. 25: "The lord, forasmuch as his servant had not to pay, commands him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. " Sir John Chardin's MS. note on this place of Isaiah is as follows: En Orient on paye ses dettes avec ses esclaves, car ils sont des principaux meubles; et en plusieurs lieux on les paye aussi de ses enfans. "In the east they pay their debts by giving up their slaves, for these are their chief property of a disposable kind; and in many places they give their children to their creditors. " But this, saith God, cannot be my case, I am not governed by any such motives, neither am I urged by any such necessity. Your captivity therefore and your afflictions are to be imputed to yourselves, and to your own folly and wickedness.

Is. 50:1-3 Those who have professed to be people of God, and seem to be dealt severely with, are apt to complain, as if God had been hard with them. Here is an answer for such murmurings; God never deprived any of their advantages, except for their sins. The Jews were sent int Babylon for their idolatry, a sin which broke the covenant; and the were at last rejected for crucifying the Lord of glory. God called of them to leave their sins, and prevent their own ruin. Last of all, the Son came to his own, but his own received him not. When God calls me to happiness, and they will not answer, they are justly left to be miserable. To silence doubts concerning his power, proofs of it ar given. The wonders which attended his sufferings and death, proclaime that he was the Son of God, Matt. 27:54.

Is. 50:4-9 As Jesus was God and man in one person, we find his sometimes speaking, or spoken of, as the Lord God; at other times, a man and the servant of Jehovah. He was to declare the truths whic comfort the broken, contrite heart, those weary of sin, harassed with afflictions. And as the Holy Spirit was upon him, that he might spea as never man spake; so the same Divine influence daily wakened him to pray, to preach the gospel, and to receive and deliver the whole wil of the Father. The Father justified the Son when he accepted the satisfaction he made for the sin of man. Christ speaks in the name of all believers. Who dares to be an enemy to those unto whom he is Friend? or who will contend with those whom he is an Advocate? Thus St Paul applies it, Rom. 8:33.

Is. 50:10,11 A child of God is afraid of incurring his displeasure This grace usually appears most in believers when in darkness, when other graces appear not. Those that truly fear God, obey the voice of Christ. A sincere servant of God may for a long time be without view of eternal happiness. What is likely to be an effectual cure in thi sad case? Let him trust in the name of the Lord; and let him sta himself upon the promises of the covenant, and build his hopes on them Let him trust in Christ, trust in that name of his, The Lord ou Righteousness; stay himself upon God as his God, in and through Mediator. Presuming sinners are warned not to trust in themselves Their own merit and sufficiency are light and heat to them Creature-comforts are as sparks, short-lived, and soon gone; yet the children of this world, while they last, seek to warm themselves by them, and walk with pride and pleasure in the light of them. Those tha make the world their comfort, and their own righteousness their confidence, will certainly meet with bitterness in the end. A godl man's way may be dark, but his end shall be peace and everlastin light. A wicked man's way may be pleasant, but his end and abode for ever will be utter darkness __________________________________________________________________

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