Ver. 13.-FuU alkgia'fl.<XJ to Jehom,h. This may be regarded as etill a part of the ~ong which the exiles would sing when the way wM made plain for their return to their nwn beloved IRnd. The w11.y would not be plain until the great oppressing city of Babylon, and the gr811.t oppressing dynRSty of Nebuchadnezzar, bad been humbled. Then God would "ordain peace " for his people ; and then the full and glad allegiance of his people to him could be fully and freely expressed and manifested. The answering spiritual truth is that we are under the tyranny of other lords-" the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of lire." Even while we struggle and suffer under their oppression, the power of this " body of sin and death," we may hold fast our allegiance to God in heart and purpose ; and we may look on to the time that is speedily coming, when God shall himself accomplish our deliverance, and then our allegiance shall gain full and hearty expression; we shall praise him only, we shall serve him only, and praise and serve him as we ought. Getting illustration from the historical circumst&nces, we may set forth this point in its personal applications under three divisions. I. ISRAEL'S TIIIES OF OPPRESSION UNDER HEATHEN RULERS. These include the oppression under Pharaoh in Egypt; the inroads of nei~hbouring nations in the times of the Judges; the temporary supremacy of the Philistines; the degrading supremacy of foreign idolatrous systems in the age of the later kings ; the crushing of the national life by the self-aggrandizing Assyrians and Babylonians. Israel had a full experience of the power of the oppressor, many "other lords" had held dominion over Israel. 'l'hese may represent the tyrannies of social custom, prevailing opinion, bodily lust, easily besetting sins, and worldly persecution, which now bear so hardly upon the saints of God. If these do but hold a usurped dominion, it is too often so stringent as almost to crush out all expressions of the life unto God. II. ISRAEL'S HEABT OF ALLEGIANCE TO GoD IN TIMES OF OPPRESSION. The elect remnant, in every age, kept the allegiance, though they had to -hide it in secret places, A "ten righteous" ever kept the nation from utter destruction, There is a holy leaven among us now. I!L ISRAEL'S FREEDOM FOR FULL ALLEGIANCE IN THE DIVIlO!: INTERVENTION. Sooner or later God would deliver them, and will deliver us; and then we can open our lips, "make mention of his Name," anil give ourselves openly to him, as we have held ourselves secretly for him all through the trying time.-R. 'l'. Ver. 16.-Prayer forced by trl)tl,ble. One of the commonest, and often one of the most painful, of human experiences. The scoffer bends the knee when life is placed in sudden peril. The prayerless cry mightily when death stares them in the face. Prayer- lessness is only a fair-weather attainment. Like the children who do not seem to care for mother when health abounds, but run to her at once when the head is aching; so we can bravely do without God while the sun shines, but want him when the black thunder-clouds come creeping up against the wind. Let the cholera come into our midst, and almost abjectly the nation begins to ask for days of humiliation snd prayer. As this subject is a somewhat familiar one, the following divisions may give some freshness to the treatment of it. L A SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE IS NOURISHED BY PROSPEBITIEII AND BUOOESSEB. The ordinary man does not feel the need of God when all goes well with him. He does not need prayer, for he is not conscious of anything to pray for. If man can stand alone, why should we seek God? And the Christian man, who believes in prayer, is under grave and serious temptation to neglect prayer when he is successful, and free from care. As soon as we become satisfied with ourselves we begin to lose our" first love." 'fhe spirit of independence and the spirit of prayer never did, and never can, dwell together. Ivy is a poor thing if it grows up independently. Its beauty unfolds only when it leans on another-on one who bas independent strength. 11. A. SPIRIT OF DEPENDENCE IS NOURISHED BY CALAMITIES. In e. thousand forms tl,~y come to us, but their message is always the same. They say to us, "See, you cannot, by yourself." Life is not all sunshine and prosperity. We must take it as a \\'hole, take it as it is. We must reckon for trouble. And for life a.a a whole we need Gud; we ought to be dependent; we should be happy in our depeudence. Jacob, in bis wiiety at meeting Esau, was forced to de~ndence and prayer, Joshua, discomfited - l ou. :u:vu. 1-13.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 433
before Al, we.e forced to prayer. Jehoshaphat, threatened by natione.l foes, flies to prayer. Hezekie.h, stricken with di~ase e.nd facing de~th, turns h~s face to the Wi\ll, and prays. Then impress the ,graciousness of tbo D1v1ne ways with us. Watchmg over our eternal interests God saves us again from the perils of independence, and call~ us back to dependence by putting trouble into our lives, and we learn to say, "Before I was e.filicted I went ;stray, but now will I keep thy Word."-R. T.