I. We have here an invitation, addressed to us by Jehovah Himself, to hearken diligently unto Him, to incline our ear, and to come to Him. There is something peculiarly touching in the invitations of the Word of God, which, if men would but pause and reflect, could not fail to make an impression upon their hearts. "Hearken diligently unto Me," God says; "incline your ear." He would take you, as it were, each one separately by himself, and reason and counsel with you. The matters of which He would treat with you are too important to be handled in a crowd, too sacred to be discussed amid the noise and bustle of worldly avocations. The Lord will have sinners cometo Him; He will have all distance annihilated between your souls and Him; He will have you brought into the closest relationship and communion with Himself; He will have you not only within hearing of His voice, but in His very embrace.
II. The reasons for our closing with this invitation are two, and each of them is very weighty. (1) You will be vast gainers if you follow the leadings of the Divine Spirit, and go into conference with God, and embrace His terms. "Hear, and your soul shall delight itself in fatness; hear, and your soul shall live." The life of the believer is the only life of real enjoyment upon earth. What will it be when he dwells with God Himself? (2) To refuse the offer is to lose the soul. "He that sowed to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption," and that for ever. He who will not embrace Christ must stand before God with all his guilt upon his head guilt that cannot then be pardoned; for there remaineth now no more sacrifice for sin.
A. D. Davidson, Lectures and Sermons,p. 472.
References: Isaiah 55:4. H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit,No. 1507; Clergyman's Magazine,vol. xiii., p. 144.