God will not only "ordain peAOe" in life and at death, bnt also load ue. along all the path of life, and receive us to hie presence and glory when our earthly counie ia run.--0. Ver. 19 (with ver. 14).-Oonttaafed ,".sszies. Taking ver. 19 &s it surely should be taken, in connection and in ~ntrast with ve'r. H, and understanding the prlmary referellce of both of them to be to the ho1)es of the Hebrew nation at• tbo time of the prophecy, we have our attention called to- I. THE ISSUE OF UN'IU<lHTEousm:ss-DEATH. 1. It tends to fatal ruin. Tho tyrants of Babylon, being o,·erthrown, sbonld rise up no more, should never regain their position, were ss dead men whose day was· l:iopelessly and irretrievably gone. • All unrighteousne&'l tends to the same issue; it leads down to loss,. to o\·erthrow, to shame, to a depth of ruin from which there is no recovery, At length the guilty man (party, nation) is down so low that those wbo look on say," He (it) is dead; he shall rise no more." 2. It travels fast to the grave. Guilty violence (Ps. Iv. 23; cxl. 11) and shameful vice (Prov. ii. 18; ix. 18) make a quick passage to the tomb. 3. It sinks into permanent oblivion. God makes "their memory to perish" (see Ps. xxxiv. 16; Pro~·. x. 7; Eccles. ~ii. 10). No man cares to remember those whose lives have been difgraced by sin ; their names lie unmentioned, and theit· ·memory fades 'from view till it is lost in the thickening shadows of time. 4. It goes down to the death which ,is eternal. "The wages of sin is death." ,• II. THE ISSUE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS-REVIVAL. "Thy dead men eh111l live.'' God's people who hnve fallen till they have seemed to be wholly lost shall be recovered and shall reappear. Righteousness is immortal; it cannot be buried and forgotten and lost. 1. It commonly euds in restoration to power and position. Joseph is cast into prison, but be comes out to be the first minister in Egypt. David is driven into the caves, but J,e come.s forth t.o sit down upon the throne. '!'he persecuted people-of God, whether-in Babylon, in the Vaudois valleys, in Holland, in the Highlands of Scotland, in-the-woodil and rocks of Madagascar, come forth when the " red, right hand" of cruelty is slricken down, and appear as those that have risen from tlie tomb. 2. It secu:res 'a:n.esr.thly immortality-that of a lasting recollection: "The righteous shall be had-·in ·everlasting remembrance" (Ps. cxii. 6; Prov. x. 7): that, also, of abiding influence; for the effect of their holy lives and trne, faithful words shall go down to distant generations. 8. It issues in eternal blessedness. The rigb.teons sh~ go into "life:eternal."-C. . . .. .. '
Ver. 20.-The duty ef retirement. There are periods in a iiation's• history, and. there are times in a good man's life, when it is well to .hear and wise to·heed the:admonjtion, "Enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee."· We Iilay let this language suggest to us that we should- L MAKE TI.lil.E FOB DEVOUT REFLECTION. In busy, outwardly active times, when there is an imperious demand on every hand for "work." there is urgedt need that this counsel should bt, given and be taken. Enter into ·the chamber of solemn and eacred meditation; consider what is your present spiritual condition; estimate the progress you ue ma:king in your course; reflect upon the swift and steady passage of your life; realize that the time is not far off ,1•hen all earthly interest will be nothing, and when it will be everything to know that the righteous Judge is well pleased with the witness you are bearing and the work you are doing. • IL CollPEL EACH DA y TO YIELD ITS HOUB OF DIBECT INTERCOU!l.BE WITH GoD. we cannot live, spirit-uany, on public devotion, Nothing will nourish the soul in the absence of private, individual fellowship with God. "Enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray . . . in secret" (Matt. vi.). The most pressing careR, domestic, or official, or public, will not excuse the neglect of private communion.with God. If Daniel, with all the cares of Babylon upon him, found time to pray three times a d;i.y Tegularly (Dan. vi. 10), we can compel our duties to make •l'OOm fur devotion. Every day let God speak to us, and let us speak to him, within the shut <loon; of our own chamber. •• III. TAKE UP THE A'I"I'ITUDE OF BEVEBENT EXPECTATION. There are times when man can du uothiug more than he has done, and all that is left is patient waiting for God. "And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.'' '!'his may be the attitude: 1. O/fM dilig1mt, waiting God'siuc~seon his industry.·~. Ofthe.dis,;iplined, waitin1,1 011. xxv1. 1-21.) THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH.