Excerpt from Faith and Patience: A Sermon for the Times Isaiah prophesied during some of the best, and some of the worst periods of Jewish history. It is not sur prising therefore that his writings should reflect his times. Accordingly we find them, as we sometimes find the skies, piled with tremendous masses of angry cloud, but broken here and there with patches of blue, so pure and rich, as to reassure every beholder of the necessary evanescence of the storm, and of the certainty of the returning calm. Here are some specimens Of these clouds, Behold the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away. In the city is left desolation and the gate is smitten with destruction. Now look through the openings in these clouds, and see how rich a blue lies beyond. Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation. In other words, these clouds that enshroud Zion, and fill the hearts of the timid and unbelieving with dismay, are only the dust of Jehovah's feet as he comes to lay in Zion that precious corner stone. Let this truth take fast hold Of the mind. And what will be the effect? He that believeth it will not make haste. He will not fret with impatience at the tardiness of divine providence, for when God begins to build, the cost has been counted, and the work will assuredly be completed. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.