The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 27

VerB. 1~-14.-The outward_f<YT"fr!' of reU[!ioo,_ ""f,thout inward piety, an offe~ to God. It 1s strange how deeply mgramed the idea 1s m man, that formal acts of worship,. outward acknowledgment, ritual, ceremonia.l, pageantry, constitute religion, and will be accept.ed by God in lieu of the· inward devotion of the heart. Heathenism was full of the notion. Plato tells us that the Greeks thought they miuht commit any number and any kind of BlDB or crimes, and obtain pardon for them at the hands of the gods,' if they offered sufficient sacrifices (Plato, 'Rep.,' ii. § 7). It is evident tha.t the Jews of Isa.ia.h'e time were possessed with a similar idea. They "tried to compensate for their unrightoous lives by sumptuous-perhaps extravagant-performance of ceremonial observances" (Kay). So did the Pha.risees of our Lord's da.y. "Ye pay tithe of mint and anise a.nd Cllillmin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the Law, judg-: ment, mercy, and faith." " Ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence· make long' prayer" (Matt. xxiii 23, 14). And do not professed Christians too often do the ·same? Is not "saying prayers" too often made a substitute for priva.te devotion, and "going: t-0 church" for the true public worship of God? Nay, is not attendance at the Holy: Eucharist itself sometimes allowed to become a mere form? Alas! Isaiah's 'warning. voice is needed as much by Christians as by J ewe. He tells us tha.t the outward form of religion, without inward piety, is not only not plea.sing to God, but is an offence unto. him. It is SO- I. As DlPLYING A LOW AND m"WOBTHY CONCEPTION OF GoD. To imagine that God will be content with external observance is to suppose, either that he is una.ble to· read our hearts or that he does not care how we a.re in our hearts disposed towards him. , It is thus either to question his omniscience or to deny his moral nature. A good father does care whether his sons render him a mere formal obedience or are heartily bent on obeying him through love and gratitude. Only one unworthy of the name is careless upon the point, and content so long as that which he comma.nds is done. IL As A SPECIES OF HYPOOBISY. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites I" was our Lord's denunciation of those who paid tithe of every minutest vegetable, yet were without mercy and faith (Matt. xxiii 23). The outward acts of religion-prayer, praise, observance of fast and festival, attendance at sacraments, and the like--constitute a profession of certain inward feelings-love, gratitude, faith, reverence~and, if these are absent, the performance of the acts is deceptive and hypocritical. . It is to make a pretence that we are what we are not. It is bad enough if it is done to deceive men; but it is worse if we think thereby to hoodwink God. God hates hypocrisy, and is revolted by the conduct of such as "honour him with their lips, while their hearts are far from him." III. .A.a A DESECBATION OF THINGS BAORED. The observances of religion have ·some- thing sacred about them. They are either suggested by nature or forma.lly ordained by God for a holy use ; a.nd, if practised in an irreligious, or even in a non-religioUB, spirit, they are desecrated. It is a mockery to bend the knee and repeat the words of for- mula.ries while our thoughts are straying to other matters, as business, amusements, gaieties-it is emptying things holy of their holiness, and bringing them down to 11 lower leveL We injure ourselves by so doing, we scandalize the truly religious, we give occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme. Better not to "tread God's courts" at all than to do so without a reverent and prayerful spirit. Ver. 15.-God will not listen to the prayers qf the wicked. Sinners sometimes think that they may persist in sin as long as they like, because they can at any time turn to God, ask his forgiveness, obtain pardon, and be sa.ved. But Scripture is very full of warnings that this is not the .case. There is "a sin against the Holy Ghost," which "shall not be forgiven to men, neither in this world, neither in the world to come" (Matt. xii 32). There is a persistence in sin, which" quenches the Spirit" (1 Thees. v.17). Men cannot turn to God whenever they please. The "accepted time" passes away, and they find it impossible to tum to him in true faith and penitence. 'fhey may "say prayers," but they do not really pray. And God shuts his ears against such prayers on. r. 1-31.]' THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 11