The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 206

Must not truth, virtue, piety, capitulate e.t its summons and leave their treasures to iii impious h1m<ls? So was it with sin generally when the Saviour appeared, to lift up the stnndard of the cross agninst its power, So has it been, again and again, with the forces of superstition, scepticism, vice, ungodliness, as these have assailed some Church of Christ or some servant of God. II. ITS ARREST AND OVERTHTIOW BY D1vmE POWER, Irresistible as the invading army seemed, its victorious course should be arrested and its confident anticipations dashe.-. (vers. 26, 33, 34). The hand of the boastful warrior, outstretched in scornful threaten• ing (ver. 32), Hhould be smitten down and hang helpless. The smiter should himself be scourged, the proud palm disbranched, the great forest felled. Arrogant impiety should be humiliated, and "by the way that he came he should return." So has it been and thus shall it be, on still more serious and critical occasions. God will say to the spiritual adversaries, "Thus far . , . and no further." He will raise up the prophet- the Samuel, the Elijah, the John, the Paul, the Luther, the Wesley-or he will intro- duce the spiritual awakening and moral power which will encounter and defeat the worst efforts of sin and wrong, and impending defeat shall be changed into glorious victory, 'III. Tm: BE-ESTABLISHMENT OF BJOHTEOUSNESS. (Ver. 27.) The burden shall be removed from the shoulder, the yoke taken from the neck; there shall be comfort and freedom for the people of God, that they may walk again in the paths of righteousness, that they may serve again in the vineyard of the Lord. We learn three lessons: 1. That successful sin may well hesitate on its way and tremble for the issue. However appearances may favour it, and though the spoils may seem already in its hand, there is a·Power to be reckoned'with which will arrest its march and conBllme its hopes. 2. That threatened uprightness may be reassured. It need not be afraid of any Assyrian (ver. 24), if it continue in or return to its spiritual iutegrity, God's love for the faithful will remain; his indignation toward the erring who are the penitent will cease (ver. 25).. 3. That the removal of sinful servitude must be contempwary with the acceptance of holy and happy service. (Matt. id. 28-30).-C. Ver. 2.-The Divine avenger of the poor. The idea of a goel, or avenger, belongs to the primitive conditions of society. When there was no settled government, no police, l\nd no magistracy, each individual bad to guard bis life, liberty, and property as best be could. The first and simplest form that mutual protection took was " the family," and the principle was established that the nearest of kin to an injured or murdered person should avenge the injury or death. As this led to feuds among families and tribes lasting for generations, and as it was a kind of rough justice which often became injustice, Moses set the old custom under limitations, appoiuting proper courts for the settlement of disputes, and protecting the manslayer from the avenger until due exami- nation could be made into the circumstances of his crime. In fully civilized society a regular system of law and magistracy is organized; the individual commits his right of personal avengement to the recognized authorities. It is, therefore, of supreme importance to the welfare of any nation that justice should be free to all, should be perfectly fair, and should be a practical avenger of the poor, the distressed, and the wronged. The picture which Isaiah sets before us in this passage reveals a most perilous condition of-society. "All the formalities of justice were observed punctili- ously. The decision of the unjust judge was duly given and recorded, but the outcome of it all was that the poor, the widow, and the fatherless got no redress." "No people had statutes and judgments so righteous as they bad, and yet corrupt judges found ways' to turn aside the needy from judgment,' to binder them from coming at their right l\nd recovering what was their due, because they were needy and poor, and such as they could •get ;,othing by nor expect any bribes from." "There is no surer sign of the misery ofa people than is found in the corrupt administration of justice." And it may be added that a country is on the borders of revolution, or of calamity, when righteousness has forsaken its judgment-seats, and there are no avengers of eocial wrongs. I. THE STATE &F B0OIETY IN WHIOH THE POOR FIND NO HELP IN MAN, Two case~ are suggested. 1. Failure to obtain just judgment. 2. The painful condition of widows, Where there is wee.Ith and luxury there is sure to be poverty in marked and  'l'HE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [on, x. 1-34,