The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 109

turn away but oannot. At first a etnall silken cord, U become& at last an adatnantlne chain. II. I-rs l'OWER OF PERVERSION, Itcompels good things to minister to evil (ver. 12). ., The harp and the viol," ~to., Rre e:1:ccl1ent things in theil· way Rnd in thoir place; but, used for the purpose or enlivening and protracting im:nooe1'ate indnlgcnce, they 1uo ~rverted to an evil and guilty end. Music is meimt to cheer, to attr11ct toward 'th&:t ~-hich is good, to gladden the hrart and to brighten the life of man ; it reaches its bighest function when, in the worship of God, it conducts the thought nnd utters• the feeling of nrn.n toward the Supreme. Made the minister of vice, it sinks to Its lowest level. The love of strong drink can thus pervert t.he good gifts of God to unworthy uses. lII. ITS DEGRADING TOUCR. It lead~" men of strength to mingle strong drink" (var. 22) in order that they may glory in their power of drinking. In many lands nnd a:ges men have boasted of their power to withstand the influence of the intoxicating cup. What a miserable dr.gmdation of human st.rength I That men who are capable or per- forming n(lblcst deeds, of rendering highest service, of engaging in Divine worship, should prostir.ute their powers by trying to drink much wine without becoming iiiebriated,- this is a shocking degradation of human faculty. • • IV. lTs nLnmnm Th"FLUENCE. "Thry regard not the work of the Lord,"cetc. (ver. 12). Certainly, 11t the table of unrestrained revelling, God would be forgotten• and his works be disrcgar,led; but not there alone is the influence or intoxication felt. 'l'he man •who gives wny to this indulgence finds his mental powers becoming clouded, his spiritual i:ensibilities benumbed, his 11ppreciation of the sacred and the Divine lessened if not lost. Strong drink dulls and deadens the higher facultie; of the soul, and the nobler functions of our manhood are nndischar[!ed, its purer joys abandoned. V. 'I'HE woE IT WORKS. "\Voe unto them," etc. (ver. 11) ! Beyond·the evils which we have been tracing to the intoxicating cup--evils which are of themselves woe enough for any one sin to work-thc·re are: 1. The loss of .physical strength and beauty. 2. The loss of reputation and of friendship. • 3. The foss of self-respect and, with this, the sinking or the moral character; the upgrowth of attendant·moral evils. t Death 11.Ild condemnation.-C. Yers. 13-17.-The calamities of spiritual ignorance. The miseries which are un- folded i.n this passage are ascribed, in the thirteenth verse, to ignorance. "My prople are gone, etc., . . . because they have no knowledge." But it is necessary to distin- guish here. We must consider- L THE IGNORANC WHICH IS SPffiITUAL AND THEIIEFORE GUILTY. There is ignorance which is entirely mental and which is wholly guiltless; e.g. that of the little child who cannot understand some of the obligations into which we grow, or that of the heathen who cannot possibly acquire a knowledge of Christ I\Ild his salvation ...There is a mental ignorance which is not guiltless, but culpable; viz. that of the man who has not acquired the information he had the opportunity of gaining in earlier days, and that :of the man who goes down through iniquity and immorality ir.to intellectual feebleness nn<l impo- tence. But the ignorance of which our text treats (ver. 13) is not mental, but spiritual; it is that of the whole spiritual nature rather than of the understanding; it is that ot men who had a formal knowledge of God and duty, but who did not lay it to heart and did not act upon it. It is the ignorance of the nation, which might, if it would, under- stand what the will of God is in the matter o! Di vine worship, or in regard to its poor and uninstrictcd members, or to its uncivilized and helpless neighbours; but which will not take the trouble to ascertain it, or even blinds its eyes so that it ·shall not see it. It is the io-nomnce of t:he individual rn,an, who has indeed an undefined knowledge of his oblig~tions to his Father and his Saviour, but who studiously keeps it out of view; w:ho will not present it to the eyes of his soul, lest he should be constrained to reproach himself and to change his course. These are they who "have no knowledge," .in the sense of the prophet. IL 'l'HE CALAMITIES WHICH IT ENTAILS. These are manifold, as the passage intimates. They include: 1. &ile-" going into captivity" (ver. 13); dwelling in a "far country;" being, spiritually, where all is strange and alien and hostile, a long way from God nnd from the privileges of hie house and the enjoyment of bis service, 2. .d void ancl cm. v. '1-30,] 'rHE BOOK OF THE PROPIIE'l' ISAIA:0:. 95