The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 174

lt.THE MID~IGl'IT GLOOM (JJJ' THE 'CHR18T1AN OJ'TEJI'· ARIBEB ll'ROM THE IDEA OF ollANOE IN GoD. Ohristian joy comes from a clear consciouRnees of the Divine nc·ar- ncss-" the face of God shiiJing _upon his servant." Christia,n woe comes when God seems to be 11fo.r off, hidden ; it is ns· tho □ ,'~h the sun had passed in behind a clond; the face that made heaven for us shows frowns. It may well be called midnight dark- ness w.hen· the soul has conceived the idea of changed relations in God. One or two comforting considerations may be dwelt on. 1. Change in God only comes as a consequence of change in the Uhristian .. •He is the unchangeable One; but in his rule he adjusts relations to those whom ·he would ble~s. To tile sinner, he is a God of holy indignations. 'l'o the penitent, he is a God of saving mercies. To the earth- child, trying to Hve a. godly life, he is a. watching, guiding Father. To the Christian in trouble or pain, he is a tender, comforting Mother. He is not varying and uucer- ta.in; that would make him untrustworthy. He is adapting himself to us, so that if ever God seems to have changed towards us, we may be quite sure that the truth is we have changed tow,trds him. 'If he hides himself, there must be some cherished wrong in us, as certainly a.s there was in the Is.rael of Isaiah's times. 2. Change in God is never change in his feelini!:s, only in sensible relations. It should be settled, as one of our immovable truths, that there can be no real change in Gori, whatever appearances we may discern.- Look Iong with our human eyes, and the firmest steeple will seeI!} to be trembling :11.nrl tottering to a fall; but the trembling is only in our vision. • For a" litt]e·mom~fit'God may hide his face from you, but with great loving- kir;idness he_ 'Yill gather you.''· Cl:ia-nge in sensible-relations there may be. The joy of liis love' we_ tn'a:y lose, not his io".e,' The'impulse of. bis grace we may Jose, not the grace. Tl:ie'·comfort of his presence we ma,y Jose, not the presence. It should, indeed, humble us that we.may lose so much, but even in our soul's midnight hours we need not despair. ' .As 1the child in the dark w'hispers· "Father!" and is at neace whe,n the father-irms ·press· closer, so' we,, in' the night, may ·find that if our Father's face is hidd,en, otlr Fa~be(~imself is-near.-R.-T_. V~r: 18.-Man every way Go~s instrument, "Behold, I and the- children whom Jehovah bath given me a.~ for signs n.nd for omens in Israel from Jehovah Sabaoth, who dwelleth on Mount _Zion-" (Cheyne's translation). 'fbe thought here is very si_inple and very familiar, and no more the.Ii tbo statement of divisions, for the ordering of thought, can be necessary. TaWec•St. Paul's-figure of the ~• living sacrifice,n as incltidiag body, soul, spirit, and relationships, all consecrated to God's service, a.nd ilh1sirate-' • ·• • ~- How a n;ia,n's body ma:y be consecrated to God. • II. How a. man's health' may··bo-conseciated to God. III.' Hdw a. man's gifts uiay 'be consecrated to God. IV. How.a man's possessions ma:y: be consecrated to God. 'V.. How a. man's personal 'friendships ma.y be consecrated to God. VI. How a man's family life may be consecrated to God. VII. How a m~u•s social influences may be consecrated to God.-R. T. Ver. 20.=T/re standard of truth and morals. This text is not merely II Divine declaration. It rests upon the grea.t fact that man can never be satisfied until he gets a staridii.rd of truth and _duty outside of and ape.rt from himself. No man anywhere cai{reacl:i an intelli'gent satisfaction by becoming wholly a la.w unto himself. The mothl 'sense in'every uian is vitiated, and· its,a.ttesta.tions are uncertain. The testi- mony'of c6:nscience is variable; it is not now alwa.ys prompt, decided, and faithful in its judgments. It may appea.r at first sight a.s if there were many men who are living entirely according to their ·own will, following wholly the "devices and desires of their own h'earts." . But, if we look a. little deeper, we eha.11 find that they a.re all striving after conformity to some standa.rd, ba.d or ~ood, that is outside them. It is often custom, etiquette, society, the moral level of the age in which they happen to live. Th·e're-lire common fa.llacies which tone thti Jives of some, a.nd multitudes are content to make a standard of the teachings of an autho1itative priesthood. Even the hermit, dwelling apart, separated from the 'associations of his fellow-men, cannot be satisfied with his own standardi be even finds an ideal outside himself, ia the life, eadnrece,  THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAII. [ OH, VIII, 1-22