The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 166

revolution, rumours of dre11d, or the evils of social life reem intolerable, we may go into our chamber, shut t.o the door, pray to our Father in secret., flee to the steps of the altnr that slopes through darkness up t.o God, and lo I a new scenery unfolds, and from the seoret place of the Most High fear vanishes, and reverential contemplation reigns in the spirit. Ill. SoLEMN WARNINGS. He who will ever prove an Asylum to the faithful and 11n Altar of refuge, will be t.o the faithless a St.one of stumbling, a Rook of offence, a Trap, a.nd a Snare. We know how these thoughts were applied to the coming Christ, and how tbey were fulfilled. Set" for the fall and rising again of many.in Israel," and for the " r~,·ealing of the thought.s of many hearts," he is to them that believe precious- " a Stone, a tried Stone; and he that believeth on him shall not be'confounded," 1. The Name of God is an obje,;t of dre,a,d, or of d,elighl to us according to the sta~e of our 0wn affections. 2. Truth is a touchstone. Either we recognize in it the "pearl of great price," &nd are willing to i;:acrifice all to possess it, or it is like a certain stone of which Plutarch tells, found in the river !nachos, which tamed black in the. hand of the false witnes.5. Truth s~ms like falsehood t.o the debased imagination and depraved will.-J. Vers. 16-22.-The helplessness of superstition. Here a mass oCthought is found, ~truggling for expression as the new-lighted fuel strug~les into. flame, " . I. THE ORACLE SEALED. 'Tis time to make an .end.. Let what b:as been written remain, rolled up and sea.led and kept, until the day when those taciturn lette1·s shall find their tongue and burst int-0 flame. .And, indeed,.every true· thing. may be said to be "written down for. the time to come, for ever and ever." It may be lost sight of for a time, but only to be recovered. For though the records of human thought, nay, the human mind itself, is a palimpsest, oft scribbled over, the eternal writing of God upon the conscience is indelible, and will be seen, despite wilful. blindness and· pedantic glosses. The testimony we bear is first a.nd last for the eyes of God. .The ·Roman poet (Hor.,' Ep.,' i. 20) seems t.o dread the fate of oblivfon for his-verse at certain moments- cannot brook the thought that -his roll .shall be pa.eked ill.to its case. and left unread. But such was not to be the fate of the poetry of Horace, nor of any true poetry.. God can read through the closed pages of true lives, and faithful utteri,.nces fi1;1d audience in the court of angels, in the balls of eternity. II. PLEDGES OF FUTURE GOOD. "I and the children whom Jehovah hath given me are signs and omens in Israel on the part of Jehovah of h0$ts, who d\\telleth on the Zion- mount." His own name meant "God's salvation;" those of, his children, as we have seen, .. The remnant will ceturn" (or," be converted"), and "Hasten-booty, Speed-spoil." Fur the soul that is strong in faith is also strong in hope, and it makes its own omens, or finds omens where others can see none. IlL MAGICAL SUGGESTIONS BEPUDIATED. The wizard,.the magician, the "medium," a.s be is now called, was in great vogue in the days of Ahaz. Just as at modern seances, 1b.ese media. would imitate the supposed voices of ghosts in. some low chirping or muttering tone. Wha.t keener. satire could be launched against such pra.ctices than that of the prophet! It is indeed turning to the dead, instead .of to·the .living and the true God. Where the ta&te for truth is spoiled, the appetite for the extraordinary and marvellous springs up; and men will fe.ll headlong into the greatest follies, provid!ld they flatter their self-conceit, though wide awake to their interest, and keen to detect the impositions of others in gener-dL • IV. Too-LATE REPENTANCE. The language is condensed, the thought fused in a 1Dass. But the meaning seems to be-too late will .the weak and wicked apply to the.tr11e oracles they had forsaken for the false.. " In extreme distress, and afflicted with the pangs of starvation, the man rushes as a maniac through the land, cur~es in .themo~ent uf his terrible di.,;tress and ex.asperatio.n his god apd lord whom he vamly and slavishly served, aud directs his eyes upwards to the trne Gotl. But when he looks down to the earth again because he bad discerned no light above, he sees there the m?st dreadful darkness and distres,i, without any ray of light, without any hope br~alung through it, and thus he is huut.ed forth again into the darkness t.o perish therein (cf. Job xv. 22, 23; xviii. 5, 13)" (Ewald).-J. • Ver. 17.-Waiting and Woking. "A~-I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth. hi& llU, vttl, 1-22.] THE BOOK OF Till PROPHET ISAIA:Et. 155