The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 328

came to hP.r in the ordinary ways, and appeared to her citizens as the result of common causes. They accounted for them by reference to general laws, to visible human po,rnrs, to known processes and current events. Yet we know them to havo been distinctly and decidedly of God, by whatever instrumentalities they may have been brought about. " The Lord shall smite Egypt" (ver. 22). So now with us; the evils which overtake us---f!ickness, separation, disappointment, losses, bereavement, eto. -may occur as the result of causes which we can discover and name; nevertheless they may be regarded as visitations, as chastisement, as discipline, from the hand of God, ll. THAT THESE WOUNDS OF Goo's CAUSING ARE INTENDED BY HIM TO ABOUND U~""I'O THE HEALTH OF THE WOUNDED SPIRIT. " He shall smite and heal." God's main purpose in smiting was to bring about a far healthier condition than existed before. .Aftcrward,s the chastening would " yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness;" :.nd for this end chiefly, if not wholly, it was sent. We are to consider that this is always God's design in sending affliction to his children. He smites that he may heal, and that the new health may be much better than the old-that the blessing gained may greatly outweigh the loss endured (2 Cor. iv. 17). To part with bodily health and to obtain spiritual l!Oundness, to lose material possessions and secure treasures which make " rich toward God,"-this is to be enlarged indeed. III. THAT THE RESTORATION OF THE SMITTEN BPIB.IT IS A'l"l'ENDED AND FOLLOWED BY v ARIOUS BLESSINGS. 1. The soul addressing itself to God in earnest prayer. " They shall cry unto the Lord" (ver. 20); "He shall be entreated of them" (ver. 22). 'l'his is an act of returning from folly and forgetfulness unto the God who has been forsaken: "They shall return," etc. (ver. 22; see also ver. 21). 2. The soul seeking God's acceptance in his appointed way. "There shall be an altar to the Lord" (ver. 19). However interpreted, this passage points to the special means appointed by God through Moses for obtaining forgiveness of sin, and suggests to us the one way-repentance and faith-by which we must seek and may find the Divine mercy. 3. Profession of attach- ment to God. These five cities should "swear to the Lord of hosts" (ver. 18). The pill&r at the border would perhaps be an obelisk, making mention of his Name as the One that was worthy of human adoration. 4. The service of the lip. They would "speak the language of Canaan "-the language spoken by the people of God. Language is far from being everything, but it is far from being nothing (P8. xix. 4 ; Matt. xii. 37 ·; Bom. x.10). By truthful, kindly, helpful speech, and in sacred song, we may do much in serving and in pleasing God. 5. Consecration. "They shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and shall perform it;" the solemn presentation of self unto a Divine Saviour and a lifelong redemption of the vow.-C. VeT'I!. 23, 24.-The crown ofprivilege. The promise of the text may not have seemed to Israel so gracious and so inspiring as many others; but it was one that might well have been considered surpassingly good. For it predicted that the time would come when Israel should be closely associated as "a third" with two great world-powers- Egypt and Assyria; not, indeed, to triumph over them, but to be "a blessing in the midst" of them. This is the very crown of privilege. Concerning privilege itself we may consider- I. !TB UNDOUBTED EXIBTENCE. There are "elect'' nations and individuals; it is not onlr a truth written in the pages of Scripture, but a fa.et con.firmed by all testimony and observation, that God has conferred on some much more than he has allotted to others. To one nation (man) he gives one talent, to another two, and to another five. Physical strength, iatellectual capacity, force of character, material wealth and natural advantages, knowledge, revealed truth,-theee are some of the privileges by which men and nations &re favoured. II. ITS PERIL. 'l'he great danger attending the possession of privilege is that of entirely mistaking the object of the Creator in conferring it; of assuming that he beatowed it simply for the gratification or the exaltation of its recipients. This was the disastrous mistake which the Jews made: hence their spiritual arrogance, their selfishness, their pitiable exclusiveness, their misreading of Scriptur~, t~eir maltr~at- ment of their Messiah. It is a mistake we are all tempted to make; 1t 1s one agamst which we do well to guard with the utmost vigilance; for It le a sinful one, and one that carries ruin in its train. tin. xtx. 1---25,] THE BOOK Olt' TH~ PROPHET ISAIAH. 326