The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 551

6Upplies for every imaginable need, even as the broad river and outstretching etreame provide verdure and grain over all the surface of the well-watered la.nd, even ae the atfrighted and fleeing army leaves Rrey which even the halt and the lame will be strong enough to take. In the day of Gods blessing there will be nourishment for the thought- ful, and also for those who feel more than they think; truth for the wise and for the simple, for the mature of mind and for the little child; posts of service for the advanced Christian and also for those who ba.ve just begun their course; such fulness, even to overflow, of all that meets the wants and cravings of the heart, that the weakest ns well as the strongest sha.11 find his place and take his share. YI. Drrn."'E GOARDIA1'""SHI1'. Prosperity is dangerous, but, with God's Spirit in the Church, it shall not be harmful. On the broad river of success and satisfaction the ~ails of the ~piritual enemy shall not be seen (ver. 21). "'l'he sun shall not smite by day;" it will illumine and warm, but will not scorch and wither. Consequently, there shall be- VII. SoUNDKESs AND SECURITY. The inhabitant will not be sick (ver. 24); "Jeru•.. salem will be a quiet habitation," etc. (ver. 20). Spiritual soundness, moral integrity, purity of heart, shall prevail. .And. this abounding, there will be no abatement of prosperity; the stakes will not be removed, the tent will remain; there will be no need for any ii;oing into exile; there will be a happy permanence and fixedness of abode. The picture is one that is ideal rather than actual ; it is what every Church should' aim to present. Only the favour of God can possibly secure it. The vital question is.:_ How is that favour to be won? And that question resolves itself into other questions -Is there occasion for humiliation and a change of spirit and of behaviour? Is there need for more internal union (Ps. cx:uiii. 3)? or for more prayer (Luke xvili. 1-; Ja:s. iT'. 3)? or for more love both of Christ and man (1 Cor. xiii. 1; Rev. ii. 4)? or for more' zeal (Rev. iii. 15) ?-C. Ver. 2.-Constant renewals of Divine hilp. "Be thou their Arm every morning/' Prophetic reference is made to that wonderful morning, when the inhabitants of Jerusalem arose, e.nd, looking forth from the walls of the city, beheld the besieging army of Sennacherib a. multitude of corpses (eh. xxxvii. 36). The prayer is that every morning of life may bring its witness of a.s real, if not as striking, helpings and deliverings and defendings of God. The reference to the "arm" is specially appropriate, as keeping in view the soldierly defence of the city. The prophet and others may do what they can with heart and head; but in view of defence against an outward enemy, those that serve with the arm are specially important. Therefore we have the prayer that the Lord himself might be the Arm of those who have devoted their arm to the country. Matthew Henry paraphrases thus: "Hezekiah and his princes and all- the men of war need continual supplies of strength and courage from thee; supply their need, therefore, and be to them a God all-sufficient. Every morning, when they go forth upon the business of the day, and perhaps have new work to do, and new difficulties to encountsr, let them be afresh animated and invigorated, and, 'as the day so let the strena-th be.'" Treating the text as a basis for meditation, we observe that God has been graciously pleased to arrange our life on earth, not as one continuous and unbroken space of time, but as a succession of brief period•, carefully and regularly separated from each other; a series of days, we call them, divided by ever-recurring nights of sleep. A man's life is not properly a thing of so much length; it is made up of so many days. Looking back over life, the patriarch Jacob says," Few-and evil have the days of the years of the life of my pilgrimage been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the lives of my fathers.'' If our life on earth were one continuous, unbroken scene, it would surely be impossible for any of us to become truly good. So much of our hope of ever winning goodness lies in our being able to try a.gain and again, to begin again and again with each returning day. However hopelessly we may end one day, we may step cheerfully forth to new endeavours as each new morning comes. Then how tenderly helpful is the assurance that we can have the "arm of the Lord" for our help every morning! God's idea of life for us is that it shall be given to us in pieces, separated from each other-pieces shaped and fashioned as he may please, and en.eh piece given to us as fresh as if we were really born again every day. God gives us thus, morning by morning, and day by day, in order that our thoughts may be fully CH, :xxxnx. 1-24.] THE BOOK OF TllE PROPHE'l' ISAIAll. 655