The snare is broken, and we are escaped.
Our help is in the name of Jehovah;
He made heaven and earth.—Ps. cxxiv.
“I perceive, Myron, that your eyes are turned towards the west, and I read your meaning. You think that the [Romans], before whom already Carthage and Corinth have fallen, and to whom so many nations have bowed the neck, may threaten the liberty of Israel. But stern and implacable as they are to all their enemies, they keep faith with their friends and allies; and he whom they aid may think himself secure upon his throne. Besides, Israel has still higher hopes. Let me only remind you of the commencement of my narrative, in which I showed, that Israel was destined to communicate the faith of Abraham to all nations, by means of the law; and that the Messiah is to be the Patriarch of the human race. To bring this to pass, Israel became a nation in Egypt, received the law from Sinai, conquered the Holy Land under the judges, obtained a temple under its kings, and was taught obedience by the vicissitudes of calamity and prosperity in successive centuries. All now exists together—Israel is a nation, has the law and obeys it willingly. The time therefore cannot be remote, when all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in the seed of Abraham and the son of David. The sins which are still found in Israel alone prevent his immediate appearance. As soon as they repent, and keep but one sabbath as they ought, the expectation of Israel will come. For thus has Isaiah prophesied; ‘Thus saith the Lord; my salvation is near and my righteousness is about to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it, that keepeth the sabbath free from pollution, and restraineth his hand from doing any evil.[[73]] He that is promised shall come and that speedily. Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee! The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.’[[74]] In this hope I conclude my narrative, which, long as it has been, is too short for the subject, with that psalm, so full of thankfulness and hope:
Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises to our God;
For it is pleasant, and praise is comely.
Jehovah doth build up Jerusalem,
He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel;
He healeth the broken in heart,
And bindeth up their wounds.