Charles Spurgeon Commentary Isaiah 55:7

"let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." — Isaiah 55:7 (ASV)

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

The marginal reading is, "He will multiply to pardon." We multiply sin, but God's multiplication table goes farther than ours: "He will multiply to pardon."

Let the wicked forsake his way,

Do not let him wait until he has finished this thing, or done the other, or until he has so much to bring in his hand. Let him run away from his old master, and from his old way, and from his old self at once. May God help him to do so!

And the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return to the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God,

Whom we love, and in whom we trust, and who has pardoned us: to our God.

For he will abundantly pardon.

The marginal reading is, "He will multiply to pardon." He will pardon, and pardon, and pardon, and pardon, and pardon, and pardon, ad infinitum.

Enormous as the sin may be, God's pardon shall suffice to put it all away.

Is this message too hard for you to believe? Oh, broken heart! Does this divine truth seem to you to be too good to be true? Oh, trembling one! Does it seem impossible that the righteous God can cast all your sins behind His back, and drown them in the depths of the sea?

Listen still to our Lord's gracious words.

Let the wicked forsake his way,–

It is a bad way, it is a downward way, it is a way that will end in destruction; do not follow it any longer: Let the wicked forsake his way.

And the unrighteous man his thoughts:

"Thoughts!" says one, "we shall not be hanged for our thoughts." Oh, but you may be damned for your thoughts! No man has really forsaken the way of wickedness until he hates the very thought of wickedness. If your thoughts run after evil, your tongues will soon utter evil, and your hands will soon do evil.

And let him return.

He is like one who has wandered from his father's house: let him return. He is like the dove that flew away from Noah's ark and is ready to faint: let him return.

Unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon

What a blessed word "abundantly" is here! Abundant pardon to cover abundant sin, abundant provocation, abundant rejection of his Word!

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:7).

What a grand word that is! "He will abundantly pardon."

However abundant sin may be, God's pardon is still more abundant.

As Paul puts it, Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Romans 5:20). Sin may be like the great mountains, but the mercy of God is like Noah's flood, that rose above the tops of the highest hills: "He will abundantly pardon."

Let the wicked forsake his way, —

It is a bad way, it is a downward way, it is a way that will end in destruction; do not follow it any longer: Let the wicked forsake his way, —

And the unrighteous man his thoughts:

"Thoughts!" says one, "we shall not be hanged for our thoughts." Oh, but you may be damned for your thoughts! No man has really forsaken the way of wickedness until he hates the very thought of wickedness. If your thoughts run after evil, your tongues will soon utter evil, and your hands will soon do evil.

And let him return –

He is like one who has wandered from his father's house: let him return. He is like the dove that flew away from Noah's ark, and was ready to faint: let him return –

Unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

What a blessed word "abundantly" is here! Abundant pardon to cover abundant sin, abundant provocation, abundant rejection of his Word!