The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 292

eymp11thy, ln genuineness and greatnees of self-forgetting love-shall every man's throne be established. But he that would sit long on the throne, he that would continue to exercise power with men, he that would retain his influence over men, must be a righteous as well as a genial and gracious man; he must " seek judgment,• must "haste to righteousness;" he must obviously endeavour to do that which is right between man and man; he must eagerly embrace the opportunity of making the crooked things straight, of restoring that which is wrong, of lifting up that which should no longer be abased.-C. Vere. 6-11.-Gui1ty arrogance and commendable compassion. I. THE GUILT OF ABBOGANCE, (Ver. 6.) Moab was proud, haughty, insolent, boastful; she lifted up herself in contemptuous defiance of Judah, of the city of God; and the prophet of Jehovah speaks of her arrogance as a very great offence in the eyes of the supreme Disposer. There is nothing which is more emphatically, or more repeatedly condemned in Scripture than haughtiness of heart or spiritual pride; it is a very rank offence in the estimation of the Holy One. And well may it be so; for what can be more pitifnlly wrong, more utterly unbecoming, than that such puny, ignorant, dependent creatures 118 we are should assert ourselves against the God from whom we came and in whom we live? It should be remembered that there is not only the arrogance of an idolatrous defiance, like that of Moab, but also, as too often found amongst ourselves, (1) the arrogance of unbelief-the product of intellectual pride ; (2) the arrogance of impidy- the daring determination of the soul to live without God, to delay all attention to his sovereign claims until 8 late hour of life; (3) the arrogance of vice-the reckless reso- lution to snatch forbidden and unholy pleasure, whatever Divine laws may be broken, whatever human hearts may be embittered and human lives despoiled, whatever penal consequences may be entailed. II. THE DEPTH OF ITS DIBOOllll!'ITURE. 1. This is seen in the sadness of the cir- cumstances of Moab. Its inhabitants were "stricken p (ver. 7) with a crushing blow (see eh. v.; also ver. 8). Perhaps the culminating feature is seen in the shouting of the harvest home being exchanged for the shouting of the enemy's soldiery taking possession of the spoil (ver. 9). 2. It is also seen in the signs of prevailing misery. "Moab shall howl for Moab; every one shall bowl" (ver. 7). Each one for himself and all for one another; "the people to the city, the city to the provinces." The land should be full of weeping. " Pride cometh before a fall ; " "He that exalteth himself shall be abased.'' These are specimen-passages, representing a large number and a great variety of Divine declarations that arrogance will have a disastrous end. Of course, the special form which the sin takes will usually determine the particular punishment which will ensue. Bot there will surely come defeat, humiliation, dis- tress; and of this distress the most intolerable element will probably be a lacerating remorse, in which the soul will smite itself because it yielded not, as it might have done, in the day of opportunity. III. THE COMPASSION OP' THE BWHTEOUS. (Vers. 9-11.) The prophet is so im- pressed with the deplorableness of Moab'scondition that his heart is powerfully toucheJ. on its behalf, He "bewails" for it; his henrt "sounds like an harp" fur it. Human indignation against sin does well to pass into pity for the sorrow and the ruin which sin entails. This is truly God-like, Christian. "God so loved," with the love of an infinite compassion, this sin-ruilil.ed world, "that he gave his only begotten Son." Jesu~ Christ, when he beheld the doomed city of David, moved with a tender compassion for its coming woes, "wept over it." Let the holy grace of indignation have its due share in the Christian character; the soul that bas it not is seriously wanting: but let it by no means exclude from the chambers of the heart that heavenly guest-Christ-like compassion. Let us have a large and generous pity for the fallea, for the guilty, for those who are suffering the bitter pangs of self-reproach; and let sympathetio sorrow pass speedily into a wise and kind helpfulness, which will lead back from the "far country" of sin and shame to the lt'ather's home of righteousuess and joy .-C. Ver. 12.- Unavai1ing prayer. Moab "will come to his sanctuary to pray, but ho ahall not prevail." 'l'here are two kinds of unavailing prayer- !, Tul!l PBAYEB WlllCII Ill ADDRJSSSl!iD TO N0N·ISXISTl!iNT BElN0S. How pitiable that,  280 THE BOOK, OF THE' ;I?ROPl:IET ISAIJ.ljli [~Hi X\(I·.. h·Y· as the conscqnence of the blinding .influence of sin,. men rhould have Bl)\lnt so much thonl(ht and effort in devotion that must h:we been absoll\tely barre.n .of'iitl 'good result I It is ,painful to think of the multitlllle of fRCrifices~v,cn human, sacrificos_:_that have been offered up bencat,h every sky, of the labours that ·1rnvo .bce11 .undergone, of tho pilgrimages that have beon m;1de, of the turtnres that hal'c been inflioted, of the privations that have been endured, of the observances that have been gone through, and, if la.st not lenst, of the prayers that have been presented fr-1m full and burdened hl'arts, thnt bal'l' all been wastrel, innsmuch as the devotees liave !I'll been 1I1a4,ing their appeal to an car that could not hear, to a hand that could no~ help. • • 11. THE PRAYER WHICH rs UNAVAILINGLY ADDRESSED TO GoD. It is almos.t eqqally sad to thiuk that (,here must have b1·cn, and must be, " vl\St am,e1int of devotlon vainly and fruitlc,sly dir<'cted to the living God. 'l'hcre is (l) .t~e /ormizZyraycr~ the prayer which goctb furlh from feigned lips, in which men "honour God\yith' their lips, but their hearts Bre far removed from him" (eh. xxix. 13); (2) 1h'e pmyer of pride (~cc Luke :x,·iii. 9-14); (3) the prayer of impenitence (Pe, \xvi. l8 ;. P,i-pv." xv. 29'; xx,iii. 9; eh. i. 15); (4) the pray or .of u'!bel.icf (Hcb. .xi. 6); (5Xtho prayer of irrc,·crcnce (Heh. v. 7); (6) the prayer which is unncceptable by reason pf. t)::te nature of the req11est. If we ask God for his interposition ju the spirit of vindicti'veness rather than of generosity, or if we lll'k for material enrichment or ~.~rthly., ponours rather than the Divine favour and spiritual progress, we may be asking forlthat which our hea,·cnly Father will deny r',1, mercy to ourselves. For be ml\y- know thn't the.very thing we crave would pro-re to be the most miscbie1•ous ,thing we coula possibly possess. It may be worth our while to look also at~ .. • . . . Ill. THE PRAYER WHICH DOES 1-O'.I.' SEEM TO PREVAIL, DUT WHICH IS ~OT INEFF,EC~ TUAL. There are many acts of devotion which do ,not bril)g any immediate, dNired 1 csult, but thPy are far froru being vain and fruitless. Such are: 1. The prayers which are not supplicatory at all-those which begin and end in:c,omm~inion,; thosein. which the reverent a11d loving heart of the human child finds ~ 11oly and ,satisfyfojfjciy in holJ.ing fellowship with the heavenly Father, the redeemed spirit.,,vith its,grarion~ Sa,iour, its unchanging Friend. 2. The prayers which are not aqsw,ered a't" the tiroe, bnt after some patient waiting. 3. Tho praye~s which _are, answered in· a way ,il~ µ:ether dill'erent from that expected by the soul... As !h,e, ,propl:uit, ,of t liq Lord. met Naaman'.s request in a way which surprised and even angered,hlm,110 the Jiord,him~elr often me<>ts our requests in a way which surprises and.even uoffends,'' us. , We sbquld prefer the immediate touch of bis mighty hand, renewing, cleansing, enlarging, enlightening. But instead of this, he employs some simple and ~o,mmon. inst,ru- mentality, or some unpleasant discipline, which brings about the chap.ge that is to lw desired. Thus in Newton'.s hymn- " I asked the Lord that I might grow In ·fuith and love and every grace." , ·: But in.ste.'ld of "his 'love's ,constraining power" .subduing sin nnd giving' rest, come assaults from without and wrestlings within ; aµd· when the disturbed and quesUon41~ ft,irit asks, " Why ie this ? " the answer comes-::- ; • "These inwa1,l trials I employ From sdf and pride to set thee free, And break thy achemes of earthly joy, That thou may'st seek thine all in me," ·1 ·; : j'