The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 502

H. THEIR rmrn,HMENT. 1. Fruitlm expenditt,,re, (Vers.4-6.) They would take 1he trouble to secure princely ambassadors, nnd these would travel through inhospi- table and perilous regions, laden wilh costly gifts, paying servile attention to the foreigner-and all for nothing; an immensity of trouble and no profit whatever. 2. Bitter disappointment. (Ver. 7.) The land from which they hoped so much would prove utterly useless; their expectations would end in nothing but chagrin; their exasperntion could only find expression in an opprobrious epithet, in a bitter epigram ,lirected against Egypt. 3. Mortification. "The strength of Pharaoh shall be their shame," etc. (vers. 3, 6). 'l'he result of this attempted alliance would be political reproach ; and the court and the nation would be ashamed of having taken a step that turned out so ill. These are the common penalties of sin : the waste of that which is precious-time, money, strength, reputation, energy, affection, etc.; disap- pointment-the soul finding out that that in which it trusted caunot do what it hoped, that it leaves it still empty, still athirst, still poor; shame-the position in which it is dishonoured of men, and has keenly to reproach itself for folly into which it need not have fallen, for sin which it might easily have shunned. IIL THEIR ALTERNATIVE. God was with them; one of his truest and most faithful prophets was at hand, accessible at any hour. Why not trust in the Almighty? ·why not ta.kc counsel of the All-wise? The alternative to sin is always at hand. 'l'he gates of obedience are unfastened; the oracles of God are open; the paths of 11irty are such as every foot may tread.-C. Vers. 8-14, 17, 18.-.Aspects of sin. This severe denunciation by the prophet of the sins of the Jews may remind us of some of the darker and sadder aspects of sin itself. I. THE PERMAJ,...ENCY m' ITS RECORD. Isaiah was to record the guilt of "the rebellious children" in a book, that it might be there inscribed "for the time to come for ever and ever." And in the sacred volume there stand written, to be read .for all time, the accusations which the Lord brought against Israel; the record of their national perversity remains after all these centuries have passed, and will remain for centuries to come. Apart from such instrumentality as was here employed, the sins we commit find a lasting record. '!'hey are printed in the faces and the forms of men, they are legible in their lives, they are apparent in their characters, they survive in their reputation, they live on for ever in the ineffaceable influences which are left behind them and which are transmitted from age to age. The sins of the fathers may be read in the lowered and injured lives of the children unto the third and the fourth generation. We little think bow and where and when our guilt is being recorded in one or other of the many books of God. If. !Ts ODDUR.ACY. "Children th.'\t will not hear the Law of the Lord" (ver. 9). Contumacy reaches its ntmost length when it closes its ears against the Word of the all-wise and almighty God. It is by degrees that the heart becomes thus hardened. Diminished pleasure, inattention, avoidance, the closed ear of the soul-by such stages ws these ma.n descends to the obduracy which is here rebuked, III. ITs POWER OF IMPOSING ON ITSELF. (Vers. 10, 11.) When sin is in full pos- session of the soul it makes men believe that to be false which they do not wish to be true, and that true which they do not like to consider false; it prevails on them to regard the rugged things to be wrong, and the smooth things to be sound; then it leads them to find a voice for this palatable and comforting doctrine; so that they encourage those to speak who will keep silence as to all Divine but disagreeable truth, and give utterance to pleasant and profitable perversions. IV. THE APPARENT SUDDENNESS OF ITS PENALTY. (Ver. 13.) 'l'he spendthrift is getting poorer every month for many years, but bankruptcy comes on him suddenly at last. The dishonest man is getting hopelessly involved for years, but his reputation is l,Jastcd in an hour. The fascinations of the cup are long gaining ascendency, but in home evil day t.he victim of this baleful vice is seen staggering in the street~. P~ssio_n may have been winning the mastery from youth upwards, but at a certam point 1t lilazes forth and the life-blood is shed. Penalty generally comes at last with seeming suddenness,'iike the breaking wall that has long bent but comes down in a moment. V. TKE COMPLETENESS OF ITS PENALTY. (Ver. 14.) VI. !Ts APPROPRIATENESS. (Ver. 16.) The runishment of Judah's sin 1houldhave  o.b, Ult, 1-33.] THE DOO:tr OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH, 503 I e. morkcd correRpondence with the guilt itself. This is constant. Sins of the flesh make their mark upon the body; sins of the mind leave their stain upon the spirit; folly in the home will end in domestic sorrow; he that withholds from others starves himself; he that oppresses others does violP-nce to his own soul, et<'. There will always be found a. fitness in the penalty to the sin for which a man is suffering. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap;" he that soweth the wind, shall reap the whirl- ,vind (Gal. vi. 7; Hos. viii. 7).-0. Ver. 15.-Quiet strength. These beautiful words suggest- I. THE FIRST DUTY OF THE ERRING. Judah bad forsaken God to find a refuge in another power; the first duty of the nation, therefore, was "to return" unto the Lord, and to find its rest and its salvation in him. This is now and ever the immediate duty of all wanderers from God; both of those who have never been reconciled to him through Jesus Christ, and ·of those who, like the Jews on this occasion, have tempo- rarily forsaken his service; The way of return is that of penitent confession (Rom. x. 10), of trust in the Divine promise (Acts x. 43), of surrender to the Divine will (Acts i,r. 6). II. 'l'rIE STRENGTH OF QUIET ACTIVITY. "In quietness . . . shall be your strength." It is a common fallacy that noise and strength are closely allied. On the contrary, it is the quiet and even the silent things which a.re the strong ones. The thunder startles or appals, but it cffe_cts nothing;_ gunpowder deafens the ear, but it enriches no one ; tempestuous rhetoric excites to momentary force of feeling, but it adds nothing to character. It is the silent forces of gravitation and electricity acting for ages without being known to exist; it is the soft sunshine and the still rains of heaven; it is the quiet words of the calm teacher finding their way to the mind and workin 6 conviction anri conversion there ;-it is in these things, and in things like these, that real power resides. The quiet strength of a gentle mother's purity and love, of a faithful father's warning, of au honoured teacher's counsel and example, of an earnest Church's testimony and work ;-these are the God-given agencies by which the world is to be won to righteous- ness and truth. Noisy, spasmodic, irregular outbursts may be anxiliaries, but they are only that. HI. 'l'nE POWER OF FAITII. "In confidence shall be your strength." Sometimes we have simply to wait for God, and the best thing we can do is to " be still'' an<l wait; our activity would only be harmful (see Exod. xiv. 13). So it was on this historical occasion (see eh. xxxvii.). So was it ofteri with our Lord's disciples (Mark iv. 39, 40; Acts i. 4). So is it now, when in duty or in danger we have done all that we can do; then we wait ~or God-our expectation is in him only (Ps. xxxix. 7; !xii. 5).-0. Ver. 18.-God's waiting and ours. I. Gon's WAITING FOR us. "Will the Lord wait." We may look at: 1. The occasions of his waiting, He waits "that he may be gracious." (1) 'rhat he may show bis grace in forgiveness; in "having mercy upon us," or in making us to feel that we are the subjects of his mercy. (2) That he may show his grace in interposition, delivering from danger, relieving from distress, saving in sickness. (3) That he may show his grace in final and complete redemption (Rom. viii. 23)-the taking his children away from the struggle and sorrow of earth to the rest and joy of heaven. 2. The reason of his waiting. It is because "the Lord is a God of judgment," or of rectitude. (1) He cannot forgive us till we return in spirit to him and accept bis rule, until we obey his supreme command (John vi. 29). (2) He cannot interpose until bis intervention is fitted to purify and sanctify us. (3) He can- not call us home until the privilege and discipline of time have prepared us for the scenes and spheres of eternity. II. Oun WAITING FOR Gon. "Blessed are all they that wait for him." 1. Blessed is the patient inquirer; for he who seeks the truth and waits till light shines in upon his soul will surely find his goal. 2. Blessed is the patient worlcer; for he who sows the good seed of tho kingdom and waits for God to give the increase will "doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." 3. Blessed is the patient su.f!ei·er; for ho who" waits for the morning" through the night of pain, or loneliness, or poverty, or any other ill, will find that the glory which is to be revealed will mako the sufi'erings of tho present time incomparably small (Rom, viii. 18). Now God wait.i  THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [Ott. xxx. 1-83,