And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
Ver. 32. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever, &c.] Lest any good soul, hearing the former heavy menaces, should say with the disciples, Mark 10:26, "Who then can be saved?" or, with those despondents in Jeremiah 2:25, "There is no hope," the prophet concludeth with this comfortable corollary,
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord] Yea, that but "nameth the name of Christ" in faithful prayer, desiring and endeavouring to "depart from iniquity," 2 Timothy 2:19; the same
shall be delivered] He shall have safety here and salvation hereafter, Romans 10:13. "Watch ye therefore, and pray always," saith our Saviour, "that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man," Luke 21:36; Luke 21:25. Something God will yield to the prayers of his people when he seemeth most bitterly bent and unchangeably resolved against them, Matthew 24:20, and when the tribulation is so great that it is not likely that any flesh shall be saved, Joel 2:21,22. Prayer, saith one, is the best lever at a dead lift, provided that it be the prayer of faith; for mercy is the mother, faith the midwife of deliverances. Hence it followeth,
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem] Where the pure word of God was preached, Isaiah 2:3, and men's hearts purified by faith, Acts 15:9 ,
shall be deliverance] From all evils and enemies. Psalms 76:3, "There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah." There? where? In Salem, in Zion, Joel 2:2, where God's people were praying. This Moab knew, and therefore more feared a praying people than a numerous army, Numbers 22:3. This the queen mother of Scotland knew, and therefore said, that she feared more the fasting and prayers of John Knox and his disciples than an army of twenty thousand men. Let God's suppliants but call upon him in the day of their trouble, and he will deliver them, that they may glorify him, Psalms 50:15. He will deliver them; yea, and honour them. With long life will he satisfy them, and show them his salvation, Psalms 91:16. Holy Merlin, chaplain to the Admiral of France, at the Parisian massacre, had the performance of this promise, among many others. For understanding the danger they were all in, he prayed in the Admiral's chamber, and, by his command, a little before the murderers brake in, and by a singular providence, escaped into a hay mow, where he lay hidden for a fortnight, and was miraculously fed by a hen that that came daily and laid an egg near by him.
As the Lord hath said] And God's suppliants have steadfastly believed, and do therefore put his promises in suit. In the want of other rhetoric, let Christians in their prayers burden God with what he hath said, sue him upon his own bond, urge this with repetition, Lord, thou hast promised, thou hast promised, and they shall find that he cannot deny himself; and he can as soon deny himself as his promises. "His covenant he will not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of his lips," Psalms 89:34 .
And in the remnant whom God shall call] Those holy brethren that shall partake of the heavenly calling, Hebrews 3:1, to glory and virtue, whether they be Jews or Gentiles. "Faithful is he that calleth them, who also will do it?" 1 Thessalonians 5:24. And although they are but a remnant, which is but a small to the whole piece, a handful to a houseful, a fold to a field, a little, little flock, μικρον ποιμνιον, Luke 12:32, yet being the called of Jesus Christ, Romans 1:6, and such as call upon him in truth, they are not only his called, but chosen and faithful, Revelation 17:14. They are also heirs of that promise, Micah 5:7, which shall be fully made good to them, that, as for their propagation, "this remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people, as a dew from Jehovah." The dew is engendered and distilled from the Lord immediately, so, for their growth and increase, "they shall be as the flowers upon the grass, as the sprouting up of grass and herbs in the wilderness, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men," to come with watering pots to nourish them, as herbs in gardens do, but these have showers from heaven that give the increase.