(3) And we see it in the coming of the Kingdom. It v/as
i68 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
but a hundred years ago that William Carey sat in his cobbler shop in Northamptonshire, his attention divided between the lapstone on his knee and a map of the world hanging on the wall. He said, " There is gold to be mined in India. I will go down after it if you will hold the ropes." He sailed for that pagan land a hundred years ago, wenfc down into the mine, and souls have been responding to that deed of consecration, born out of Carey's travail, in countless multitudes — gold minted in the heavenly treasury and stamped with the image and superscription of our King ! Oh, friends, everything is going right. The nations of the earth are coming unto our God. " Watchman, what of the night ?" There is no night, ^he darkness is past and gone, the Sun of Kighteousness hath risen with healing in His beams ! Be glad and rejoice, 0 peopl"^ of God; the sun shineth brighter and brighter unto the perfect day ! ^
D. J. BurrelL
In the Desert.
Literature.
Campbell (R. J.), Sermons to Young Men, 189.
Doney (C. G.), The Throne Room of the Soul, 101.
Keble (J.), Sermons for the Christian Year, Saints' Days, 286.
Mackray (A. N.), Knots, 115.
Maclaren (A.), Expositions : Isaiah i.-xlviii., 176.
„ Sermons, in. 135.
Matheson (G.), Bests by the River, 119. Mursell (A.), Hush and Hurry, 80. Mylne (R. S.), The Abiding Strength of the Church, 21. Peabody (F. G.), Mornings in the College Chapel, ii. 113. Smellie (A.), In the Secret Place, 390. Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, xxi. No. 1243 ; xlix.
No. 2856. Wells (J.), Bible Images, 115. Christian World Pulpit, xxxv. 109 (Rogers) ; xlvii. 212 (Lawrence) ;
Iv. 83 (Jowett) ; Iviii. 14 (Cuyler). Church of England Pulpit, 1x1. 472 (Freeman). Church Pulpit Year Book, ii. 302. Church Sermons, No. 33 (Hooper).
Churchman's Pulpit, No. 77, Sermons to the Young, i. 32 (Aitken). Contemporary Pulpit, 1st Ser., vi. 357 (Melvill).
Homiletic Review, x. 235 (Vail) ; xi. 248 (Sherwood) ; xlv. 522 (Waters). Preacher's Magazine, iii. 174 (Bradley) ; xi. 300 (Pearse). Treasury (New York), xvi. 597 (Eaton) ; xxi. 125 (Carson).
In the Desert.
A man sh ill be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest ; as /ivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary Ian i. — xxxii. 2.
The sitiation is to be understood by the reading of the previou? chapter, from which this chapter should not be separatfd. The kingdom of Judah is threatened by Assyria. Hezekif.h stands in great danger from Sennacherib. Suddenly Sennacherib is defeated, routed, and returns to his own land. It is tht! hand of the Lord that has done it. Now Isaiah looks forward to the future and sees Judah, thus miraculously delivered from a situation of extreme peril,, recovering herself morally, king, princes, and people vying with one another in doing righteously. First, the king shall reign in righteousness, next, the princes shall rule in judgment. Then (xxxii. 2) the great men of the kingdom shall become the strength and stay of the nation ; or in the woris of the text, "a man " (that is, any man, every man, though perhaps the emphasis is on the great men) " shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest ; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
1[ The nation was anxious about its own security. The per- manence of the national life seemed to be imperilled ; there was a feeling of interest, in all questions which affected the defences of the nation. How can we maintain our national strength ? That was the great question that was stirring the souls of the prophet's countrymen, and the question was being answered as thousands of people are answering it in our own England to-day. Look to your bulwarks, increase the strength of your fortifications, multiply your military forces, enter into alliance with the most powerful among the nations, and put your confidence in the strength of your arms and your armour. That was the predominant counsel
171
172 THE GREAT TEXTS OiF THE BIBLE
of the day, and it all amounted to this— -that the strength and permanence of national life can be built up on a basis of material force. That was the popular conception as to what were the foundations of national stability, and so t^heir policy was shaped in accordance with their views. Thus t-hey strengthened their fortifications, they multiplied and consolidated their forces, and they entered into alliance first with one .nation and then with another, and on this they built their fullest confidence and hope. Those were the conditions amid which the' jorophet worked and with which he had to deal. Against this conception of national security he lifted up his voice like the sound of a trumpet. Oh ! Israel, thy strength, thy stability, thy permanence lie not in things like these. Thy feverish eiforts are iiaisdirected, thou art building upon shifting sand, and thy nation.al life will collapse. The armour will rust and the arm of flesh will fail ; the alliance with material forces is a covenant with death. Not in physical prowess, not in diplomatic shrewdness lies the strength of a nation. It rests in the character of its people. I'^he most dangerous foes of a nation are not outside but within its borders. The foes of a nation which are most to be feared are of its own household. There lies your weakness, says the brave old pi-ophet, and there will lie the secret of your strength. Riches and national permanence are embodied in the national life. Change the emphasis of your policy. You have been busy making alliances ; now make a man.^