Charles Spurgeon Commentary Isaiah 49:8-9

"Thus saith Jehovah, In an acceptable time have I answered thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages: saying to them that are bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture." — Isaiah 49:8-9 (ASV)

Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; that thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

Dear brothers, what honour the Lord has put upon Christ! In proportion as he has been the despised by men, and the abhorred by the Jewish nation, God has made him to be his own delight, his Well-beloved. He displays through him the marvels of his saving power for his own glory. I pray that it may be displayed among us just now, and in the way mentioned here: I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; that thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves.

Come, beloved, after you receive such a message as this from God's mouth, what prison can hold you? What darkness can conceal you?

The word of Christ will break your bonds apart, and change your darkness into the glory of noonday. May this gracious work be done for any of you who are prisoners here!

And I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages, That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves.

This is Christ's work today, to call out the forgotten ones who are hidden away in the oubliettes, of the Bastille of Despair. He comes and calls them, Go forth, ... show yourselves; and at his bidding they appear, even as Lazarus came forth from the grave at his command. Now listen; this is what becomes of those who come out of sin's prison at Christ's call. They become his sheep:-