The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 167

fa.co from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him." There is life in a look. It is so true that the eye is the window of the soul, even as speech is the door of the soul. !' Look unto him, and be ye saved, all the ends of tl1e earth," te!!.Ches us how the whole nature of man can concentrate itself in a look. I. DARK HO'IJ'llS, 'l'he Lord "hides his face." This expression is used, because the face is, tho expression of character and feeling, It reveals our emotions of love anrl ang'er, of confidence and distrust. 'l'o hide it, is to turn away in disgust, in sorrow, in shame. God is ashamed of his people Israel, whom he had eet apart for his glory. A hidden fAce is a terrible punishment. The child feels that, and longs for the returning smile of approval an(\ love. How beautiful is the prayer, "God be mercifol unto us, and bles~ u,s ; .and, cause his face to shine upon us" ! II. DIVINE SUPPLICATION, "I will wait upon the Lord." Not with hurried petition does the prophet ,come, but with an attitude of soul that shall show depth of desire and earnestness of purpose. Prayer is a sign of renewed life. We cannot long con- tinue to ask for blessings that we do not really desire. Hypocrisy soon fatignes, even where it is .not found out; and our poor human nature, sinful as it is, wearies of subterfuges, In waiting upon God we have the surest· evidmce that our penitence is sincere. and. our faith v:ital. III. UPLIFTED VISION. "I will look for him." Men look for so much, and not for God,, For human approval, for earthly success, for ambition's tinsel crown. In lookin~ for,God.his Saviour, the prophet is looking for all that the house of Jacob needs. It is a·wistful eye that we read of here. Anxious, but yet hopeful. Some h'.\d "sought unto familiar spirits,and. wizards that pe.ep and mutter;" and it seems as if the world had not yet :grown· wise enough to forsake all that kind of seeking to-day! "Should not'a people seek unto their God?" asks the prophet; and in every age those who look alone unto him have never been disappointed. When the eyes are opened, and the heart is full, even if the.lips be not eloquent, God can read deep meaning in the earnest gaze of faith ; and he will return and bless his people Israel, according to his Word.- W. M. S.. Vere. l.,..;.4,..,-0rders of ~vice. We may serve God in more ways than one. There ie-. • I. UNWILLING1SEBVIOE.,. :We may conclude, from 2 Kings xvi. 10, 11, that Uriah the priest.(ver., ~) had no real interest in the service of Jehovah; that he did what Isaiah requested, of him with an indifferent, if not a·J)OSitively reluctant mind. We may be," requisitioned" by the great King in the long warfare he is conducting. He who is rebelliously refusing· to: place his intelligence, his spiritual nature, his resources, at the\'command· of the Divine Saviour, need not be surprised if he finds himself constrained to;serve his generation against. his will. By violent excesses sinful men have made their own cause-odious; by shameful cruelty, calling out heroic endurance, they have made·the cause of,truth most honourable in the. eyes of men. God can make the wrath and the, foolishness and even the stubbornness (e.g. Pharaoh) of men to praise him. II. UNCONSCIOUS. SERVICE,. The little infant was a "sign" to the prophet and the people; it rendered a service in its own .way, but it must have been an entirely unconscious one. It is a painful, and should be a preserving thought, that when we do wrong we 11 know not what we do,"-how heinous is our offence, or how large and long will prove to be its issues. On the other hand, it is a pleasant and inspiring thought, that when we are doing right, in our several· spheres and according to our various powers and opportunities, we do not know what service we ere rendering. It may b11 one much niore highly esteemed than we imagine at the time (see Matt. xxv. 37-40). It may ·be,one,th11t has far more valuable and. lasting results than we could possibly calcnla.te. Especinlly: is it true of the little child, that he is unconsciously serving his kind. , The infant in the. family bas a softening,, sweetening, humanizing influence of which it knows.nothing, ·bnt which is ·very beautiful and valuable. Ever and every- where ,will it, be found that " the little child shall lead" them whom no other force will either draw or drive. '" , III. ,AccEPTABhE, SEBVl«m. 'l'his ,is: 1. Intelligent. Whatever the exl.\Ct signifi- cance .or" writing with a rua;i's pen·" ~ver. 1), it is suggestive of the double truth that, in working for God, we should (1) put out all our powern in their fulness and in their  156 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [Clt. VUI, 1-.221,