The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 422

living In &ccordanoe with hie will, illustrating Ohrietian virtues in the daily trans- actions and in the common relationships of life, bearing the best witneRs to the power nnd the excellency of Divine truth, supplying a source of influence which ought to tell on a human heart and to mould human character; but this is of no avail. The hardoned heart is unmoved, its apathy is undisturbed, its course unchanged. III. UNAFFEOTED BY THE EVIDENCES OF Goo's GBEATNEBB. "He will not behold the majesty of the Lord." There are three ways in which tbe majesty or the greatness of God is revealed to us, all of which deserve and demand our most patient and devout attention. 1. In the material world. In the sky, in the sea, in the mountain, in the storm, in the earthquake, etc. "With God," as manifested thus, "is terrible majesty" (Job xxxvii. 22); and he who does" not regard the works of the Lord, nor the opera- tions of his hand," is gniltily blind to the majesty of the Lord. 2. In Divine providenu. The majestic holiness of God is seen in the revelation of his wrath against impurity, intemperance, violence, passion, and all other evils; also in the revelation of his approval of righteousness and peace, in the ordering of our human lives. Whoso is unobservant of this is a wickedly dull scholar in a world where such plain lessons are to be learnt. 3. In the gospel of Jesus Ohriat. There the majesty of God's character shines forth, and we see" the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." In the Incarnation itself, in the character of Jesus Christ, in the severity of the sorrows he bore, in the depth of the shame to which he stooped, in the awfnl moral grandeur of the death he died, in the unspeakable glory of his heavenly mission,-there, indeed, is the majesty of the Lord to be seen. He who will not dwell on this as on that which, above all other things, is worthy of his most patient and reverent regard, is one of" the wicked," with whom God "is angry." LESSONS. 1. Let us be thankful if we are hearing and heeding the voice of God, if we are opening our hearts to the heavenly influence. 2. Let us take earnest heed to the fact that a guilty inattention leads on and down to a fatal deafness.-C. Vars. 12-18.-The. argument from the past. Great things are represented, by the prophetic voice, to have been done, and these furnish the strongest reason to expect great things in the future. I. THE GREAT THINGS Goo HAS DONE FOB ue. 1. He has heard our cry in the day of distress (vers. 16, 17). Few things go home to our hearts more readily than the words of the psalmist, "I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me." It is a great thing to have been heard of God, to have gained his pitiful ear, and to have enjoyed his merciful consideration; that amid the millions of his children he has distinguished us and bent on us his benign regard. 2. He has granted full deliverance. "Other lords . . . have bad dominion . . . but [now] thee only will we celebrate; they are dead;" their very memory is perishing (vers. 13, 14). We may have been under the dominion of some cruel vice (lust, or avarice, or intemperance), or of " the world" (1 John) ; but in the mercy of God these spiritual adversaries have been defe.\ted, have been slain, they are no more to be dreaded, and now a Divine Redeemer is the Object of our adoration; for him we live, hi8 honour we seek, his Name we strive to glorify (ver. 15), in his holy and ennobling service we spend our days and our powers. 3. He lias granted spiritual enlargement. (Ver. 15.) "Thou hast increased the nation, 0 Lord." 'l'o some, especially to those whom he redeems from the bondage of vice or crime, God grants material enlargement, the improvement of their estate, the brightening of their life, the broadening of their sphere. 'l'o all who, at the touch of his liberating band, come out of spiritual captivity into the freedom of bis children, he gives spiritual advancement, increase of knowledge, of joy, of love, of influence, of hope. As we love and serve Christ, we are enlarged on every hand-the horizon of our souls is removed beyond its former bounds. II. TI;IE ARGUMENT THEBEFROM. The fact that God bas done such great things for us-aud all that has been done for us h11s been wrought by him (ver. 12; and see Ps. lx.x.xvii. 7)-is a strong reason to expect other gracious things in I.he future. "Thou wilt ordain peace for us" (ver. 12). It is a scriptural argument that the conferring L'[ greater \Jlessings is a security to us for the possession of smaller ones (see Matt. vi. 25 ; Hom. viii. 32; Ps. lvi. 13). The gifts of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ, (1) his most costly giftBi (2) his most valuable gifts, may be to us a 11trong assurance tha,  426 THE BOOK OF THE Plt0PH.ltT ISAIAH, [<iil. xxn. 1--91.