Jehovnh (ver, 3) went about Jerusalem in that humiliating condition, 11nd that he would have unhesitatingly done this all the time if God ha<l required him to do so. Many suggestions have been made on the subject, but it does not occur to any one to entertain the idea that Isaiah would decline to render such an unpleasant service, how- ever long the period of service might be. I. THAT GOD SOMETIMES DEMANDS OF UB BEBVICE WHICII WE FIND IT BARD TO nENDER, It may be: 1. To incwr the hostility of tldise who.ie honour and affecti011, we would fain e11J°oy. Isaiah had to pronounce against an alliance with Egypt and Ethiopia, thus stirring up the active dislike of those politicians who advised that course, We may often have to take a course which is regarded and denounced as unpatriotic or disloyal. 2. To endure privation as the consequence of fidelity. Isaiah, in the fulfilment of his prophetic mission, went half-clad through all changes of temperature, In order to speak t-be true and faithful word which God has put into our mind, or to take the right course which he opens before us, we may have to do that which will lessen our resources and lead to straitened means acd even to serious embarrassment. 3. To expose ourselves to the derisi011, of the sceptic or the scoffing. Doubtless the partisans of Egypt sneered and the idle multitude mocked as the unclothed prophet passed by. It is hard to have to utter that truth or to identify ourselves with that course which entails the bitter raillery of the opponent and the heartless jest of the ribald crowd. But "my servant Isaiah walked naked and bare- foot" as Jong as he was charged to do so. And we conclude- _ II. THAT WE CANNOT HESITATE TO RENDER INSTANT AND FULL COMPLIANCE. For: 1. God's demand is absolute and authoritative. If the filial son hastens to do the behest of his father, the loyal subject that of his king, the brave soldier that of bis commander, however uninviting or even perilous it may be, how much more shall we render instant and hearty obedience to the "Do this" of our heavenly Father, of our Divine Redeemer. 2. God asks us to do that which is small and slight indeed in comparison with the service which, in Jesus Christ, he has rendered us. What are the privations, the insults, the humiliations we may be summoned to endure for Christ when compared with the poverty and the shame and the sorrow to which he stooped for us? 3. Our unpleasant work is prior, and perhaps preparatory, to nobler and more congenial service further on. Faithful in the " few things" now and here, we shall have rule given us over "many things n in the coming years, acd still more truly in the better land.-C. Vere. 5, 6.-The insufficiency of the str011ger. .Assyria attacked .Ashdod with designs on J udma. J udma rested on Egypt and Ethiopia; but these "powers" would be utterly defeated by .Assyria, and their citizens Jed away into captivity with every circumstance of humiliation and shame. In that hour of fear and humiliation (ver. 5) the inhabi- t.acts of Judrea. would be constrained to argne from the insufficiency of Egypt and Ethiopia to their own helplessness. If such strong nations a,s these are ignominiously overthrown, "how shall we escape"? We conclude-- I. THAT TIMES OF SEVERE TRIAL AWAIT us ALL. Not only collectively but indi- vidua.lly considered, .As separate, individual souls we must anticipate that the future has in store for us not only the pleasant, the gratifying, the successful, but also the unpleasant, the painful, even the overwhelming. Some of the more crushing sorrows it may be our fortune to escape, but every one of us will have his share. Sickness which threatens to be fatal; bitter disappointment which appears to throw the whole future path into darkest shadow; bereavement which takes away the very light of our eyes; the sudden loss which strips the tree of branch as well as bloom; the financial or (what is a thousand times worse) the moral failure of beloved friend or near relation; the last illness unexpectedly arriving aud extinguishing many a cherished purpose; the power- ful temptation inviting and almost constraicicg to folly, or vice, or crime;--0ne or more of these things, or things as bad as these, will certainly overtake us all. II. THAT THOSE WHO ARE BTBOl!l'GEB THAN WE ARE SOMETIMES FOUND TO DREAK DENEATB THE BLOW. We hear or read of men who in mental capacity, in educational advantages, in worldly endowments, or in the number of their friends, are superior to ourselves, but who cannot stand the strain of their trial. Either their health breaks down, or their sa.nity seriously suffers, or their fa.ith fails, or their courage and energy 334 THE BOOK OF tr'HE PROPHET ISAIAfJ. [CR. xx. l-'-'8.
wcrum h, or thrir morn.I chAract.er is lost, and cbnsequently their rcplltl\tjoil.'is shattered, ne,·er to be rest-0red. . III. THAT IF THESE STRONGER BOUU! ARE DEATEN, WE MUS'l' BJ!] 1N nANGEROF DEFEAT. If El!jpt and Ethiopia a~ led into captivity, how shall Judrea be delivered--i" how Fhall we escape"? The storm in which such noble vessels founder will wreck ,our fragile bark. On any ordinary human calculations we cannot hopo to· be victorious where spirits so much stronger and wiser than we are have been crushed. ·nut we need not yield to despon<lcncy; if we nre the disciples and followers Of Jesus Christ, and if, therefore, "the Lord is on our side," we may find relief and rest in the thought-- IV. THAT~ HAVE A SAFE REFUGE IN AN ALMIGHTY SAVIOUR. So long as Judrea w~q faithful to Jehovah, she had no need to be afraid of Assyria, and she cot•ld afford to witness the _overthrow of the Egyptian and Ethiopian armies. So long as we are loyal to our Divine Lord we may go fearlessly forward into the future. If the good Shepherd-" the great Shepherd of the sheep ''...:...be our Guardian, we will " fear no evil," though we walk through the valley of the sbadow of death, thongh the darkest shadows shut us round.-C. ·· .