The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 402

HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-8.-Hymn of praiu to Jenovah. I. THE PERSONAL APPBOPRJATION o• Goo. ~hie is one of the greRt marks of personal, spirit-ual religion. Other nations have known their gods as lenders in war, protectors of hearfh anrl home; it was reserved for Israel and for Christfanity to think of the High and Holy One as tenanting the heart and soul of .the believer. Jehovah is not only "my father's God,"-this would be merely tra- tliUqnal religion; but "my God," "my Salvation,"-this is personal religion (Exod. xv. ,2). 'l'.heJanguage of Ps. xviii. 28 and cxlv. l seems echoed here. The prophet becomes ",choral leader of (he Church of the future," of the Church in all ages. The echoes of all past a.gee. gather up into one volume, and become II mighly prophecy of the future. ',fhe ,thought of thefa,ithfulness of the Eternal enters into the appropriation of his Name. Jle is II covenant-keeping God. What he has been in the past is a pledge of what he will be in the future. "There eball never be one lost good; what was eha11 be as before.". -II. -Tµ:i;: INCOMPARABLE WISDOM AND TRUTH OF Goo. This, too, is a thought deeply ill)pressed from the olden time. "Who is like unto thee, 0 Lord, among the gods? who is like thee; glorious in holirieRs, fearful in praises, doing wonders ? " (Exod. xv. 11 ; cf. :Ps. lxxvii. 15; lxpiii., 12). This is seen in his counsels and in the execution of them. 1. His far-rraching counsels. God's thoughts are not extempore inspirations, a9cidental-" happy," as we say, springing up in no fixed order or method; they origi- nated "long ago" (eh. xxii.11; xxxvii. 26). To God nothing is sudden or unforeseen; though to us it may seem" the unexpected always happens." All things were ordained _by him before the foundation of the world (Acts xv. 18). "All the wonders which happen contrary _to.the expectation of men are the result of that regular order which God_ maintains in governini the world, arranging all things from the beginning to the end. Now, since we do not understand' tbcse secret decrees, and our powers of under- standing cannot rise so high, our attention must therefore be directed to the manifesta- _tion of them; for -they are concealed from us, and exceed our comprehension, till the Lord reveal them by his Word, in which be accommodates himself to our weakness; for hjs de_cree is ·unsearchable" (Calvin). 2. The faithful realization of them in history. :'l'he_ iiµpe.rial city, the city of Is!ael's oppressors (eh. xxiv. 10), is destroyed. It has become a rtjirioqs heap of stones; arid the palace of the barbarians will never again rise out of those .rui"ns. It is symbolic in its fate of heathen pride and power and super- stition, and ,an ,that eialts ii.self against .the true God and the true religion. III. Tm: EFIFEOT OF ins JUDGM~N'J'.S ON _THE HEATHEN. They will honour the mighty : God of Israel. • They will be coover·ted from rudeness an<i. wildness to meekness and lowly reverence, -The. former oppressors will bow in fear before· him. "They are affrigbted, and give gl'ory to the God of heaven" (Rev. xi. 13). For in great crises, in days of judgment, the nature of Jehovah and bis rule is made manifest to men. The calm, unbroken smile of the summer day does not so reveal God to us in his power and beneficence as the thunder and the lightning, followed by the refreshing rain. Revo- lutions awaken the slumbering consciences of the nation; and God. is revealetl, not only by the objects and institutions he overthrows, but by those which are protected ami fostered in the midst of and. by the very means of change. He is seen to have been, in the magnificent imagery of the prophet, "a fortress to the weak, a f"rlress to the poor in his distress, 11 refuge (rpm the storm, 11 shadow from·tbe heat" (cf. eh. xxx. 3; iv. 6; xxxii. 2 ; xvi. 3). As be ·can quell the fiery beat by bringing up e. shady thicket of clouds (Jer. iv. 29; _Exod, xix. ~; Ps. xviii. 12), or say to the proud wa\"eS of the sea, • "T_hus far, arid no 'further I" so dill he dispel the thundering hordes of the assailants of bis -people. ·so'iu latel' times did he meet the" blast of threats and 8laughter" (Acts ix. l) from the mouth· of an arch-pei·sccutor, and turn, by his mighty and merciful selt:. manifestation, tliat arch-persecutor into an arch-apostle. And to the infant Church be became what is described in ver. ~. Behind the providence which "frowns," the " smiling face" is ever hidden. • IV. '!'HE ULTIMATE CONSUMMATION. In this mountain of Zion, where the prophet dwells, the seat of the. Divine presence, 11 feast of fat things, with wines on the Ieee well etmined, will be made for all peoples, They wil\ he incorporated into the kingdom of 404: THE BOOK OF THE PROPHE'l' ISAIAH. [CK. xxv. 1-12.