The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 395

Ver. 9.-T/u distreu of pampered appetites. "They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it." There is, at first, a carnal pleasure in self-indulgence, in lust of eating and drinking, and in sensuality, But, soouer or later, God takes the song out of it. 'fhis must ever be the distress of mere appetite--it can excite, it can make ever-increasing demands, but it cannot satisfy, To indulge mere appetite and passion is to " spend money for that which is not bread, and . . . la.hour for that which satisfieth not." The young do not believe this; the old man knows it, and be says," Rejoice, 0 young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes : but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment I" an.d that judgment comes either in early death, or in bitterness and woe if life is long spared. Sir W. Raleigh on this ground solemnly warns his Bon: "Take special care that thou delight not in wine; for there never was any man that came to honour e.nd preferment that loved it; for it transformeth a man into a beast, decayeth health, poisoneth the breath, destroyeth natural heat, brings a man's stomach to an artificial heat, deformeth the face, rotteth the teeth, and, to conclude, maketh a man con- temptible, soon old, and despised of all wise and worthy men." And Matthew Henry Bays, "God has many ways to embitter wine and strong drink to those that love them and have the highest gust of them---<listemper of body, anguish of mind; the ruin of the estate or country will make the strong drink bitter, and all the delights of sense taste- less and insipid." The distress of the men of pampered appetites comes in one or the other of the two following forms. I. .ABU:i-'DANCE 1B PBESENTED, BUT THE POWER TO ENJOY 1B GONE, For appetite and passion wear out, after they have fixed in the soul a dull and dreadful craving that gives a man no rest. Late in life circumstances often give the money, the time, the position~ which are essential to self-indulgence, and the man is in the midst of this unspeakable mii:;ery-tbat he is physically unable to enjoy. '!'his is God's bitter punishment of sensuality in this life. ll. APPETITE BECOMES BA VENOUS, AND THEBE 1B NOTHING TO FEED IT ON, Or it slips away, always just out of reach, as the water to Tantalus. Every act of self- indulgence bas e. tendency to repeat itself. You cannot stop with once. But as the act is re1,eated it becomes more intense, it wants more force. 'fhe desire grows until it gets beyc.ud a. man, and nothing on earth can satisfy. Then Providence places a man in 10me cn11tivity, like these pampered Jews, where there is the unspeakable misery of oa, xuv. 1-28.] THE BOOK OF THE :PROPHET ISAIAH. 391