Ver, 16.-Praye+ ,in, t1ouble, · "·Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, tboy poured out 8 prayer when thy chastening we.s upon them." The "other lords," mentioned in the thirteenth verse, a.re all impotent in the hour of tribulation. Truly they n.re.dead,.as Carlyle says,, {' These idols of yours are wood; you pour wax and oil on them; the flies stick on them ; they a.re not God, I tell you; they are black wood." So at.,the Reformation. Speaking of Luther, he says, "The quiet German heart, modest, patient of much, had.at length got more than it could bear. Formalism, pagan-popeism, and other falsehood and corrupt semblance, had ruled long enough; and here once more was a .man found who durst tell all men. that God's world stood, not on semblances, but realities ; that life was a truth, and ndt a lie! " There are idolatries in every age; but the idols of rank and fame and pleasure are of no avail :in; ,the: hour of trouble.. I. HERE IS RECEPTION. The Lord receives them. He does not spurn their approach because they have kept away till then. The great Father never reproaches ,tlie,repenta.nt,returning Israel. ·No. ,Unlike the proud, resentful spirit of man," the Lord G.od is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness." The haughty ,spirit:of man would resent the :approach of one who was simply driven by stress of weather into the haven of his protection. II. HERE ·IS BEALITY. They are filled with earnestness. It is no easy ritual of .the lips. They "poured out" a prayer. Very expressive indeed is that. The rock was.rent; and the waters flowed forth. The poor bruised heart could contain its agony ·no longer.: There wa'S confession. '!'here was that blessed "outness" which of itself brings relief;...These men had seen the .pouring forth of the swollen Jordan, and of the storm-filled streams of Lebanon. So· is it that the earnestness of the soul at once engages the attention and interest of God. It matters little whether prayer be liturgical or free; ·whether: it be in .the sanctuary. or. the closet, so long as the soul seeks God as the hart desireth the water-brooks; and the literal rendering of" prayer" here is "secret speech." UI. •HERE IS DISCIPLINE, '' When thy chastening was upon them." This is very different from self-chosen and self.,.inflicted chastisement. Some Christians in every age have become self-tormentors: some, with the Fla:geHants, in the infliction of physical tortute, and,some in: constant introspection-painful searching of their own motives, and mourning over their own want cif faith and of feeling. But this text speaks of God's own discipline-a Father's' discipline, and therefore a wise, a kind, and a safe discipline. Moreover, it is but for'" a· season." We read, "when thy discipline was uporu them,D.·which, in its very ,language, tsuggests that it is not a lasting condition. The ,Jews co.me back from exile. Their punishments for idolatry gave place to pardon and restoration. So it' is now. , Gbd does: not delight in the sufferings of his children. "Tribulation worketh .patience;." our "weeping may: endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning,".. In the heart of the prickly encasement there is opening out a beautiful flower.-W. M. S;
-'Vel'll;;6r:7,"8 (latter, half).-The righte01J,sneas of Gocfs rule. I. ITS APPARENT ABSENCE. We still find on the eart-h," them that dwell on high "-the arrogant, the presumptuous, the oppressor; there is to be seen" the lofty city,'' exalted in its pride of powcr,idealing its blows upon the weak and suffering, fearing not God nor regardiog the rights of men. In every age, beneath every sky, these men and these cities have been known. To. those who have been humiliated and ill treated, God has seemed absent; his righteousness has appeared afar off; their cry has been, "How long, 0 Lord, how Jong dost thou not avenge," etc'.? .Among such suffering and perplexed ones are down-trodden peoples, persecuted Churches, wronged individual men aud women. II. lTs. ASSERTION IN DUE TIME. The justice of God "is not dead, but sleepeth." It may be trner to say that it waits in patience for the hour of manifestation ; then it descend.a ; e.nd it appears: 1. In the utter overthrow of iniquity. 'fhe lofty are laid low, the proud city Is brought down to the ground (ver. 5). lustead. of power is utter enfeeblement; the weapon of crualty is stricken out of its hand, the words of condt'm- nation and cursing are taken out of its mouth. Instead of honour is humiliation·; the throne is,ex.changed for the very dust of tho ground; and instead of uuholy joy is hopeless mi,ery;, 2. In the cxalta'tion of Ieolitude (var. 6). Those who ha,v"' been THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [oit. xxVL 1-21.