The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 113

the day long;" and preBently he comes to pray, with a great intensity of feeling, "Restore unto me the joy of thy !!i!.lvation." 'l'here is a sense in which, like Jerusalem, our "day of grace may be passed," and we may be left to ourselves, to the woe of being ourselves only.-R. T. Ver. 7.-The diffe- ktween what God GBka and what God geu. The original terms of this verse cont.ain a very striking play upon words, which can but imperfectly be rendered ioto English. "He looked for judgment (mishpit). and behold oppres~ sion ( mis,hpach); for r\g~teousness (tsedakah ), and behold a cry ( tswka/1) of the oppressed for help. ' Dr. C. Ge1k1e translat&s the verse thus: "And he hoped for deeds of good, but, behold, there are only deeds of blood; for righteousness, and, lo I there is only the cry of the oppressed." The appeal of God is applicable to all the ages, and, taken in a large sense, may be also applied to us. It should be our exceeding distress that so often we give to God quite other things than he asks of us. I. Gon ALWAYS ASKS FOB RIGHTEOUSNESS. The reference in the text la to publio justice; right dealing between man and man ; due considerateness for others; and the faithful administration of laws, both social and ecclesiastical. 'l'he people ought to be honest in all their dealings, and the magistrates just in all their decisions. But God asks for "righteousness " in a much higher sense than this. 'l'he creatures he has made in his image he wants t.o be like himself. "Be ye holy, for I aa;L holy;" "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." The righteousness that he asks from us he has shown us in the person and the life of his dear Son. It is for us no vague thing, gathered up into a great and somewhat mysterious word; it is. plainly a.nd practically, our being changed into Christ's image, and bringing forth fruits of goodness like his. This may be fully worked out and illustrated along three lines, The righteousness God asks of us is (1) loyalty to. his revealed truth; (2) obedience to his decla.red will; and (3) manifestation, in practical life, of the spirit of heavenly. Divine charity. II. Gon OFTEN GETS" OPPRESSION n AND A" OBY." Here, too, the first suggestion is of social a.nd national evil; injustice of m,agistrates, and_ masterfulness of the strong and wealthy over the poor. Everything w&11 carried by clamour and noise; wickedness had usurped the place of judgment. But here, too, the response made to God may be dealt with in a larger way. The essence of all "oppresijion " and " cry·"· is somebody's self-seeking spirit a.nd self-seeking ways. In this. we grieve God. He asks Hfe for him, and for others in service to him ; and we give him life full of self, tha~ can even trample over his poor in accomplishing our own self-ends. So we, too, coIDe.~nd~r the Divine reproaches and judgment.s.-R. T. Ver. 8.-The covetoUB spirit, and itajud,gment. The picture presented in this verse can be matched by the conduct of our English king, who destroyed the villages to make the New Forest; or by the m11,kere of deer-forests in North Britain, who have driven away the natives. In Isaiah's time the wealthy men were buying up the houses and estate&, and destroying the old village life of Palestine. "In the place of the small freeholders, there rose up a class of large proprietors, while the original holders sank into slavery, or tenants-at-will, paying exorbitant rents in kind or money, and liable at any moment to be evicted" (Dean Plumptre). Bishop Latimer, in the sixteenth century, makes a bold protest against the enclosure of commons. Grasping after property is almost always connected with a neglect of charitable duties and a willingness to sacrifice the good of others. Buch accumulation of land~d property was funda- mentally opposed to the Mosaic regulation& Illustrate by. the law of jubilee, which made all land in Palestine purchaseable only on lease (comp. Numb. xxvii. 1-11; miii 54; 1 Kings xxi. 4; Lev. xxv. 8-17). L LIVING TO GET. There are three ways of looking at life ; three thirigs which we may supremely aim at in life. L We may Jive to get. South says," The covetous person lives as if tbe world were made altogether for him, and not he for the world; to take in everything and part with nothing." AUBtin defines covetousuess as a" dishonest and insatiable desire of gain." The Prophet Micah describes such persons," They covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away :. so they QppreBB a man and hii house, even a Pl&ll anJ hia heritage." 'l'he tenth ·wmmandment wholly  on. v. 1-30.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAa 101