The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 348

of bis truth, whllle many who have imagined that they saw have been found to be blind indeed (see John ix. 39). III. BtHPATHY. Israel in Egypt may have thought itaelf unpitled and even for- gotten of God; but it would have been wrong in so thinking (Exod. iii. 7). The Jews in Babylon mt1y have imagined themselves disregarded of Jehovah; but they were mistaken if they so thought. "0 my threshing," etc., exclaims the sympathetic voice of the Lord. When we are tempted to bewail our unpitied and forgotten condition, we must check ourselves as the psalmist had to do (Ps. lxxiii.), or we shall be unjust and even ungrateful; "for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth." The mark of tribulation is the sign of parental love and care. IV. PREPARATION. 'l'he process of threshing prepared the corn for the granary, and ·so for the table, and thus for the fulfilment of its true function. When God stretches us on his floor and makes us undergo the process of tribulation, it is that we may be refined and purified; that we may be made "meet for his use" both on earth and in heaven; that we may be prepared for such higher work and such nobler spheres as we should have remained unfitted for, had he not subjected us to the treatment which is "not joyous but grievous" at the time.-C. Vere. 11, 12.-Taunt, retort, and overture. 1. We take this to be a bitter taunt on the part of the Idumman. " Watchman," he says, "what of this long night of national calamity through which you are passing? Where is the God of David, of Josiah, and of Hezekiah? What about those promises of Divine deliverance which have been your trust," etc.? 2. Then we have the calm retort of the prophet. He says, " ' The morning cometh.' You may see nothing but darkness; but to me, on my watch-tower, there are apparent the grey streaks of dawn. I see afar off, but approaching, a glorious deliverance and return - a repopulated city, rebuilt walls, a reopened temple, a rehonoured sabbatb, a regenerate and a rejoicing people. 'The morning cometh, and also the night: ' to us the morning, to you the night. The sun that shines on you is a setting sun; it is sloping to the west. The dark pall of defeat, captivity, destruction, will soon veil your skies; you have little reason to triumph. We are down, but we are moving up; you are up, but you are moving down.'' 3. And then comes the prophet's overture. "I do not want," he says, " to gaiu a barren victory of words. If yon will approach me in tbe spirit, not of mockery, but of inquiry, really wishing to know the mind of God, I will reply to your question. 'If ye will inquire, inquire ye : return, come.'" As the scoffing Idumrean thus assailed the Jewish Church, so the sceptical European assails the Christian Church, and we have- I. THE TRIU14PHANT TAUNT OF THE SCOFFER, "What," says the scoffer," of this long night through which the Church is passing? Eighteen centuries have gone since Jesus Christ declared that his cross would attract all men unto him; but barbarism is still found on island and continent, idolatry still prevails among the millions of Asia, corrupt Christianity still deludes the peoples of Europe, and in.fidelity, immorality, crime, and ungodliness still hang, like angry clouds, over 'Christian England.' What about this long night of Christendom?" Similarly the hostile critic speaks concerning the individual Christian life, "What of this long night of protracted sickness, of unsuc- cessful contest with financial difficulties, of undeserved dishonour, of repeated losses in the family circle by death, etc. ? " IL THE CALM RETORT OF THE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, He says, "' The morning cometh.' Barbarism is steadily disappearing before Christian civilization; superstition is being honeycombed by doubt; unbelief is finding itself unsatisfied with its hollow husks; earnest, practical religion is making its attack, by a hundred agencies, on immorality and irreligion ; the Churches of Christ are putting on strength, and thero is a sound of victory in the air, there are streaks of morning light in the sky. On the other hand, there are signs that overthrow and utter discomfiture will overtake and overwhelm the unholy doubts of the scoffer. To the oppressed Christian man, even though weeping should endure for the whole night of this mortal life, 'joy cometh in the morning' of the everlasting day.'' III. Trm OVERTURE OF THE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE. He does not content himself with e.n effective retort. His mission is not to silence, but to convince and to help. He kuows that beneath the sueer is doubt or disbelief, and this is too serious IIJl.d tou  34.6 THE BOOK, 01<' 1'H~, PHqPHE1' ISAIAH. [cu. x11. 1""'."~7.