Ver. 16.-The peril of the wilful. " We will ride upon the swift ; therefore shalt they that pursue you be swift." We will-there is man's sin. That is not a fit position for dependent man ever to take. "They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare." "Go to now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city1,.and continue there a ·year, and buy and sell, and get gain .... For that ye ought to say 0 f the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that-." From some points of view these strong-willed.men may be regarded as the noble-men of earth. They have a purpose in life, which,holds in and guides, as with bit and bridle, all the forces of their being, They are the great men in our- mills and warehouses; the foremost as states- men, a.lid in carrying out great social and national enterprises. They seem to have a power of control over all the circumstances surrounding them, and a power of recoil from the greatest disappointments and disasters. Yet this disposition lays men open to peculiar dangers. Strong will is liable to become self-will-to refuse the ordinance of God; to refuse the help of God; to refuse to wait for God. It stands up in fancied majesty and says, "I will." "Whatever God may say or do, I will. I will be rich, I will be successful, I will be great." When a man in such a spirit says, "I will," he is on the very pit-edge, and on the pit-edge blindfolded. I. WILFULNESS IS REDELLIOUSNESS. Because man is God's servant, pledged to carry out his Master's will, and not his own will. Man is God's child, and in duty bound to fulfil his Father's commands. Disobedience is rebellion. II. WILFOLNESS 1s WEAKNESS. Because man is entirely dependent on the God whose will he l"efuses, for the means of accomplishing what he determines to do. His wilfulness is as weak as a child'a who has no money, no power, but depends entirely on his parents. III. Wn.FOLNESS IS FOOLISIINESS. For it is II setting of ourselves against the Almighty God, as if he would allow us to shift nnd rearrange bis plans. Man's wilfulness may make a noise, and bring him into trouble; but it is only a child's attempt to hold back the flowing of the great river of Got!. A little time of vain trying, and then the child is swept away by the nood, which still rolls on. IV. WILFULNESS IS PERIL. lt will be a marvel, almost a miracle, if such a man do li08 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. ; [ott. xu. l'-113.
not "fall into temptation and a 8llare, and into many foolish and hurtr11l lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition."-R. T.
Ver. 20.-Adversity as Divine bread. "The bread of adversity, and the wnter of affliction." V{ e can only think of God by the help of our associations with man. There- fore, in the revelation which he has given us in a book, God is spoken of as if he bad the/orm of a man (anthropomorphism), and as if he had thefeelings of a man (anthro- popathism). We, indeed, know no other moral beings beside man, and probably our senses would alJow of the apprehension of no other. We are not allowed to c~te materil\l images representing God, but we arc allowed to think of God through the fiauree of the human b~ing. Answering to this is the truth that we can only know our°soul through our body; we have to think of it as a kind of spiritual ·body. So it needs oare, clothing, food, etc., even as the body. 'l'his is the line on which it can best be shown that adversity is Divine bread for the soul, which must be nourished by appropriate food. Working out this thought, two points may be more especially treated. I. BBEAD IS THE STAPLE FOOD FOR THE BODY. It is in itself sufficient to sustain life; it contains all the necessary elements for the renewal of vitality. So is adversity the staple food for the soul; for it contains all the necessary elements for the renewal of character. Since we are sinners, wayward, and wilful, the prosperities of life are but like luxuries; an<l ad\'ersity is our st,1ple food, which nourishes humility, penitence, gndly fca.r, and trust. The expression is used of King Manasseh, the wilful, who, in prison, was fed with the bread aud water of afflict.ion, and thereby nourished unto penitence, forsaking of sin, and hearty return to the God of his fathers. If we pray, " Feed me with food convenient for me," we must clearly see that the answer may 1Lclude "adversity and affliction." II. DnEAD IS A Gfil."'ERAL TERM EMllBACING ALL NECESSARY FOOD. And necessary rood for the body includes some things that are unpleasant to the taste. Sometimes even medicine is bread-the very best of bread for us under the circumstances. And 110 our soul-conditions and our soul-culture may make necessary things that are very trying to feeling. "No affliction for the present seemeth joyous, but grievous; never- theless,_ after-ward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit pf righteousness unto them who are exercised thereby."-R. T.