The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 391

out of It, by minimi~ng and dwarfing it (see Matt. xv. 8-9). 8. Violatioo of hia toill as mJmkd in our ccmmon human nature. "Broken the everlasting covenant." 'fhls covenant is well eumruarie:erl in Ps. xxxiv. 15, 16; it has fallen into grievous ·and guilty disregard. Men refrained from righteousness and "did evil," yet they shrank not from the aaouing eye and the uplifted hand of Goel (see Rom. ii. 14, 16). The people of God will do well t-0 ask themselves whether they are not in danger of being obnoxious to the same charge; whether they are not ne?;lecting the will of God as expressly revealed in the words of Christ and hie apostles; or are not changing, by radical misconstruotion, the purpose of their Lord ; or are not setting aside some of the first pl'inciples written in their nature by the Father of spirits. II. THE CALAMITY WlUOB ATTEND8 Dll!OBl!.DmNOE. This is manifold, as indicated in the tel;t. 1. Desolation. Emptiness, waste,dispersion (ver.1), inaccessibility (ver. 10; see alao vers. 3, 6, 12). 2. Degradatwn. The land "turned upside down," so that what was meant for higher ends is employed for baser ones (ver. 1); "utterly spoiled " (ver. 3); defilement (ver. 5); resort to stimulants for false courage (ver. 11). 3. EnjeibUJfflfflt. The land" fadeth a.way,"" Janguisheth" (ver. 4); the strength of the city is gone, for even the gate (the strong place) is "smitten with destruction" (ver. 12). 4. Abjed misery. (Vers. 7, 8.) Even that which usually excites with pleasure has lost its charm ( ver. 9). 6. Oomp7,eteness and commonnl18s of the scourge (ver. 2). Such, in various manifestations, according to the nature of the subject and the character of the guilt, is the calamitons issue of disobedience; so heavy is the devouring curse (ver. 6) when Divine laws are disobeyed and the Divine claims denied. The land, the Church, the family, the individual life, is desolate, is degraded, is enfeebled, is rendered joyless. The best companions are dispersed and life is lonely; the loftier and worthier ends of existence are surrendered for those fess worthy, and ultimately for those which are positively base; the strength of righteousness and virtue gives place to the feeble- ness of folly and to the degeneracy of vice; song dies into silence and then into a waiL (1) Beware of spi.Jitual and then moral decline. (2) Seek and find, in repentance and faith, a way up even from the dark depths of ruin.-C. Vers. 13--16.-1'ie 110ice of tM chastened. We lee.rn- L THAT GoD TEllPEIIB JUDGM:ENT WITH MERCY. (Ver. 13.) There will be some fruit spared, though the olive tree be terribly shaken, though the grapes have been gathered. All will not be taken from the holy land ; a remnant shall be left. Though God strip a man or a nation of his (its) resources, yet will he leave him (it) a remainder, some- thing to console him, something with which he may start anew. A starry night suc- ceeds a stormy day; a calm and quiet age closes a life of struggle and of sorrow; "the old familiar faces" have disappeared, but a few faithful souls still linger who can go back with us in thought and sympathy to early days. II. THAT FBO:M THE LIPS OF THE CHASTENED THERE OFTEN OOM:E SWEET AND EVEN TRIUMPHANT BTB.AINB. (Ver. 14.) Those who have been visited in Divine wrath, and have seen their compatriots carried away into captivity, shall not give way to despond- ency; they shall learn to honour and to rejoice in the majesty of Jehovah; they "shall lift up the voice," "shall sing,"" shall shout" (exult). Something (it does not appear what) in the Divine character will appear to them so majestic, so glorious, so bene- ficeot, that their sweetest and strongest accents will be called forth. To those who stand outside it often seems wonderful and incomprehensible that those who are inside a great aflliction should find such occasion for thanksgiving. But it is certainly true that the sick in their sickness, the poor in their poverty, the bereaved in their loneli- ness, often find more reason for tbaokful song than do the strong in their strength and the wealthy in their riches. And the song they sing is not one in which submission struggles with complaiut, but rather, as here, the happy outpouring of perfect acqui- escence in the Divine will,-the voice of sacred joy UL TH.AT GOD WILL BE GLORLHED BY THOSE FURTHEST OFF AS BY THOSE NEAR TO ms SANCTUARY. (Ver. 15.) "Glorify ye the Lord" in the east (" in the fires"); in 1he west (" the isles of the sea"); "from the uttermost part of the earth," etc. (ver. 16). Under the chastening hand of the Lord Israel went into exile; in exile the truth of God was made known as it otherwise would not have been. In other ways the judg- ID.cnts of God led, and still lead, to the circulation of his truth and to the magnifying  c,a, llIV. 1-28.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 393