of their wir.lt~1it1ess; for t}icy ·who sin' are contciou8 of their einfuluess, though they n:ra blicdeJ by !heir h:i8t;' ,'Wicke<liJ:es~ and ignorance ere therefore closely connected, hut the CohnccLion is of such a. nature that ignorance proceeds from the ~inful di~- posltiuri of. the mind" (Oalviri). Oh" to be wise and·to underaiand" (Deut. xxxii. 29) I, ;rro,v dark 11.nd dreadful the ignorance which seems to shut out the favour and ccimpnssion of the aJl-compaHsionate God! , • V. 1O1tAOLE OF COlll'0l\T. • 'fho hand that smites and brings low le also the hand that taisc9, up; H !icatters in judgment, but recalls and gathers together again in riie'rcy. .Jrto1n the· great river of A~syria to that• of· Egypt the children of Israel will be1·gathered one by olie. A great. trumpet, signalling the Divine· interposition, will be blown (cf. cb: xvlii. 3; xt·1·~; Matt. xxiv. 31), and the scattered abroad will be seen thronging' to the' holy mount in Jerusalem. Thus again there rises upon us tha.t glqrioirs vision bf ·a united and rerieemed Church, gathered out of all nations, for w'hich chal1ge ~nd-'iiuffering, conflict and sifting, prepare. All Christian prayer, activity,·waiting, aiid' watching point toward the coming of the Christ, the Deliverer, to the spirittrnl Zion, to turn away ungodliness and to found the uew and enduring empire of rig'b.teousness.~. •• Ver, "3;-,-Divi;e ·gila;dianship. "Lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." Then there are huitful- powers and, hurtful people in the worl,1. The Word itself lets light in upon the condition of h(Ii:hanity. There are hidden invisible foes; and there is n~ed for One who can discerri ·ab.d· defeat them. . • I.· 'l'i_rE tYE 'l.'HA.T SEES; • This· is all-important. For we are blind to our worst enemies, Evil, puts.on th~ g8rb of gooll. .,And· e:vil bides itself. 'l'he serpent is coiled up·at the bottom of ·the 'cup. l'he adder· lurks in the gra~s. By the river-side the alligator lurks; his skiri the v.ery colour of the stones. God'~ eye can search all. Hfa. vi'sion sweeps all B)?!l,.ce: His vigilance never sleeps. "He that keepeth thee will not-'slwnher."- • • '· • JI; !l'Hi!: HEAi:r THAT LOVES._' This is our truest defence. It is affection tb'lt keers a1i've thi's • yrgi1a:ice. There, is no eye like the eye of love. We know this in a nieasuye fronl' our•"observation·'of·the human spheres. How qnick a mother's eye is to·detect first d~artures from the holy arid the true-'-first dalliances with evil! The tutor inioho "Sure a. guardian.as the parent. All Divfoe revelaLion tells us that God is lov1i. ·Wb'.y 'warp, :rebo~e;--exhort? •Why send the prophet to the, guilty cities, and the onlf 1'Jegotte1i' S6n, thf13aviour, to the lost race? . 'l'his is the e::i:planation of all: "'God so· loved tire 'world." •. 1 III. THE GUARDIANSHIP THAT 1a- co!ii:PLETE. Les~-" any...-· That includes all the forms an\! forces of oyil. W,e may be aw;ike to special dangers, just as we pay honour to"special virtues'.· 'fhho ·.are 'aangers ,vhich are so'pronounced, where the penalties ar'e sb'ma.rke<l;that ou~ conscibusness·'is awake to the dread results. But when we re_~ember the, vast and vnried sources of peril, we rejoice t~ know that there may be im'ri:whity·frotn all disaster. "Deliver ·us from evil" is the prayer taught us by the Sa:vioud 'an'd God' will hear that prayer, for "thine is the power." IV. 'l':tH!: WATCHFULNESS TIIA1' NEVER SLEEPS. "By night and by day." In the darkness· and in'the night. J<'or the darkness is no darkness to God. As Sentinel he never·sleeps. Our watch-fires die out, and the beasts of the forest break into the cam!) in the'silent 'hotlrs of darkness. vVe cannbt- "keep." Ilut the soul is too precious to be left to finite. watch(ulness. Thu Tower of London contains no jewelled crowns so ricli'ib. 'va:lrte-115 th.e natiire that.'contaius the pearl of great price. The temple of Jeru- sn,lem: had' cpstly ·vessels an<l sacrtd altars; but the temple of the soul has in it the tnre Shechin'ah. 'l'h,is is God''s promise.. This is·· his own testimony to himself; and H i~ o. promise, t_o· wear as an umirlct on :the heart in such a world as this.-W. M. S. ' J , I
Ve'rs. 1~11 ...:.:..aocl'k tr/atment of the rebellious ~nd tlte riyhteous. Amid the differeuL and dillli::ult inteqiretatroii.s _and the' n1.1merous an<l dubious applicali,,ns given to these versei( w1/ri1ny·discetn; soi:nc truths respecting God's trcntmeut of human character. : 'I; 'Hrs 'l.'HEATMENT OF TUE _WIOKED. 1. 'l'he, sharpnes, of his instrume-nts. He pli_hi~h:es with "a sore an<l grcnt and strong sword" (ver. 1). Ile "whets his glitter• i~'s\vord" (Deut. xxxii. 41). Out of the mouth of the Son of Go.1 " goeth a sharv HO THE BOOK OF TllE PROPHET 1SAIAll. [ou. xi.vn. 1-M,