HOMILETICS. Ver. 6.-The fear of the Lord, Ju<l,ah's treasure, The beet treaeure of a nation is a religious spirit. Judrea. had been re.ve.ged by the host of the Assyriane under Senna- cherib, had had e.ll her "fenced cities" taken (eh. xxxvi. 1), had been stripped of her most 12recious tree.sure& in silver and gold (2 Kings xviil. 14:-16; 'Eponym Canon,' p. 135) by the rapacious king, and was left with an empty treasury, down-trodden vine- yards, and fields unsown (2 Kings xix. 19); but her best treasure still remained to her- she we.s rich in "the fear of the Lord." The fear of the Lord gave her (1) wisdom, to direct her steps a.right, to keep out of entangling alliances, and abstain from provoking attack; (2) energy, to throw off her depression and struggle manfully against her mis- fortunes, to clear and sow her \ands, replant her vineyards (2 Kings xix. HJ), and rebuild her villages and country towns; and (3) complete trust in God, to support her amid all trials and troubles through which she might have to pass, and secure her against the despondency which is the worst foe of declining states. After the deliverance which she had experienced, it must have been plain to her that "God was in the midst of her;" that bis power had no limit; and that, so long as she feared him and put her trust in his protection, she was safe from any and every enemy. A nation thus circum- stanced is a thousand times richer than one which bas countless store of silver and gold laid up in its treasuries, granaries overflowing, lands teeming with crops, magnificent cities full of goodly merchandise, well-stored magazines and arsenals, but no trust in a. Divine Protector, nor reliance on him who is alone " mighty to save." Ver. 10.-The opportuneness of God'sjudgments. It is characteristic of Divine inter- positions that they take place at the moment of greatest need. Isaac is on the point of being sacrificed when the angel calls to Abraham out of heaven (Gen. xxii. 10, 11). Elisha. is compassed about with horsemen and chariots, and on the point of falling into his enemies' hands, when they are smitten with blindness (2 Kings vi. 15-18). The Israelites are hemmed in between the Egyptians and the sea, and must perish on the morrow, when the waters are divided for them, and a way opened to them for escape (Exod. xiv. 10-22). More especially is the appropriateness of the time noticeable, when the interposition is in the shape of a. judgment. Judgments are opportune doubly: (1) with respect to those on whom they fall; (2) with respect to those whom they relieve. I. JUDGMENTB ARE OPPORTUNE WITH RESPECT TO THOSE ON WHOM THEY FALL. God is so merciful that be will not judge men "before the time," or until they have "filled up the measure of their iniquities."· Hence it is the general rule that his enemies a.re nt their greatest height of exaltation, and at the very acme of their haughtiness and pride, when the fatal blow falls upon them. Assyria bad reached the zenith of her greatness under Sennacherib in B.c. 700. He himself had reached a. pitch of arrogance unknown to former kings (2 Kings xix. 23, 24; ver. B), when the destroying angel went forth. So Nebuchadnezzar was stricken down at the height of bis glory and his glorying (Dan. iv. 29-33); and Haman bad attained to the greatest elevation possible for a subject (Esth. v. 11) when be was seized and banged in front of his house. Herod Agrippa (Acts xii. 21-23) is another instance; and so, perhaps, is Arius. ll, JUDGMENTS ARE OPPORTUNE WITH RESPECT TO 'l'HOSE WHOM THEY RELIEVE. Generally, though not always, a. deliverance accompanies a judgment. God, when hu "pu teth down one, setteth up another." Hezekiah and the Jewish nation were delivered by the destruction of Sennacherib's host. Mordecai was saved when Haman suffered death. Alexander and the Catholics of Constantinople breathed again when Adu suddenly expired. The Church had rest when Galerius perished miserably. It is in their utmost need especially that God succours men, perb.a.ps because they then turn to him with most sincerity, and offer their supplications to him with most earnest- nee When they call to him "out of the depth," their need and their faith both plead for them, and he " bears their voice" (Ps. cxxx. 1, 2).
Ver. 17.-" The King in his beauty." When Christ appeared on earth at his first coming, he" had no beauty that men should desire him" (eh. liii. 2). Roughly clad and toil-worn, whatever _the heavenly expression of his countenance, be did not strike 544, THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH, [oe. xxxm. 1-24.