The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 103

devised it. The all-seeing eye of Zens looks upon these things, and they escape him not" (Hesiod, 'Works and Days,' 265, 266). Judgment gets the better of injustice when it comes to the final issue, and the fool who suffers from his avarice knows it to his cost. Like a wroni(ed woman, she passes through the city, bewailing the manners of the people, clothed in mist; for men see not her approach, and know not that she is the cause of their calamities, who have driven her forth by her unjust deeds, Thol!e, continues the poet, who do right by the strangers and the natives of the land- their city flourishes, the people blossom therein; and peace, the nourisher of youths, prevails through the land. To them far-seeing Zeus appoints no bitter war ; famine and cnrse are unknown. The earth produces abundance, the trees drop fruit and honey, the fleeces are heavy on the sheep; and mothers bear a noble offsprina. But often a whole city suffers from an evil man, who is a sinner and devises haughty plane. Pestilence and famine come from the hands of the Supreme upon men; the houses are thinned and the people perish (ibid., vv. 217, etc.). These are close analogies to the great thoughts of our prophet. 2. TM appropriate punishment, Those who have grasped at more than their right will find the coveted good dwindling in their hands, or, like a Dead Sea fruit, turning to ashes on their lips. One bucket only will be obtained from the "yoke " of vineyard ; one bushel of corn from a quarter's seed. Thus may we find in nature a profound Scripture, a record and a testimony of Divine law not to be gainsaid. In this day of science perhaps we fix our thought too exclusively on the dependence of man on Nature. There is another side of trnth equally important-the dependence of Nature on man. In moral energy, in compliance with the laws of right, we become more and more the masters of Nature, and she smiles back upon us with an aspect of recognition and blessing. In the sloth of onr spirit and its corruption from truth we can no longer win the sympathy of the earth ; and her groaning aspect reflects and represents a guilty decline of the soul These truths are general; only experience can teach where and how they must be modified in their application.-J. Vers. 11-16.-Mirth and mourning. I. THOUGHTLEBS PLEABUBE·BEEKING, A scene of habitual dissipation is depicted by the prophet. 1. Wine and music are need, not legitimately, to relax the tension of the overwrought mind, but to dispel thought altogether. Sensuous pleasure is made an end and object, though it can never be healthy except in succession to work. "They rise early in the morning to follow the wassail; late into the night are heated by wine." "Guitar, and harp, and tam- bourine, and flute, and wine is their revel" How wise were the teachings of Plato on the use of music as a means of influence over the mind I He would not permit the employment of" effeminate and convivial" airs in his ideal state, the lax Ionian and Lydian. He would have only two kinds of tunes ; those which represented the tones and accents of the brave man engaged in action, and those which chimed with the devotional and peaceful mood; in short, the tones which reflect the temper of brave men in prosperity and adversity. Makers of harps and dulcimers, and other more elaborate instruments, were not to be maintained in the city (' Rep.,' p. 399). These hints are perhaps too little attended to in our day. Yet there is modem music, e.g. that of the Italian opera in general, which tends to enervate the soul. Rather should we choose to listen to the strains of the great German masters, Beethoven, Handel, MendelSBOhn. These men inspire us with lofty moods and religious thoughts. Avoid mean and brainless music, whether so-called secular or sacred. 2. Blindness to th6 thought and work of God. The most glorione privilege we can enjoy is that of intel- lectual vision of Divine work in nature and in mankind, the loftiest pleasure that of intellectual sympathy with the Divine mind. But the sensuous pleasure excludes the spiritual. Do men consider what they lose by dimming their perceptions and confusing their in;elligence in these lower indulgences? Not on wine and soft music is that •• vision and faculty Divine" nourished, by which the prophet and the worshipper enter into the scene of holiest enjoyments, of enrapturing revelations. The operation of the Eternal in the soul and the world goes on silently and secretly, and we need the " purged ear " that we may listen to his voice, the unclouded eye that we may note events which flow from his causation. II. THE PUlllSHM.ENT OF FRIVOLITY. 1. Captivity comes suddenly upon these revellers, aud they wander forth" unawares," like those who rub their blear eyes after (lb, V, 1-80.] 'l'lIE BOOK OF THE PROPHET lSAlAit.