The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 2 — Section 29

by righteous means and in the fear of the Lord, 2. Take CRrneet heed that honourable and <'Ven sllcrcd succcs.~ does not delude 1md corrupt the soul. II. THE A'ITITUDE OF GOD TOWARDS ARROGANT MEN. 1. Continual regard, (Ver,28.) "I know thy ab0de," eto. God's presence, his observant eye, is in the dwellmg ie in ihc_ch&rnbcr o~ the guilty; it foll?ws their steps whithcr,;oever they go; it wit~esses 1 heir actions with whatsoever cunnmg they may be hidden from human eyes. 2. Keen d!:~p_leasure. The entire passllgP-, particularly ver. 23, is indicative of stern disapproval. l noevout and ~o<lless men, still more impious and flagrantly wicked men, should bo ~~de ~o lll1d<'r~t:rncl that., thongh they may be congratulating themselves, and though hkc-mm,10d neighbours m~y be approving and even 11pplauding them, the God in whose lrnnd tb~ir breath is, _and ~o whom they are accountable for everything they do, regards them with deep_, D1vrne d1_s1:leasure. His awful anger rests upon them-that righteous resentment which the D1vme Ruler must feel towards those who are spoiling and degrading the ~ubjects of his rule. 3. The i11fti'cti-On of appropriate penalty. (Ver. 29.) Jehovah would make the arrogant conqueror" go back by the way by which he came." God alwa_Ys Yisits those wbum he has to punish with penalties suited to their sins. The haughty are humbled to the dust; those who partake of unlawful pleasure will suffer corresponding pRin; they who rob others of their reputation will fall into utter disrepute; the rogue that preys on society will be impoverished, etc. 4. A Divi11e use of their lives and actions. (Vers. 26, 27.) Little as it imagined it, the Assyrian rower was an instiume.nt in Jchovah's hand. God will make sinful men's lives serve as beacons to warn others if they cannot he used in a worthier and more acceptable way. III. THE TRIUMPH OF HOLY TRUSTFULNESS. The virgin <laucrhter 0 of Jerusalem had been greatly despised, but she trusted in the Divine D~liverer, and her hour of rescue and of trium;,b was at hand (ver. 22). The children of God may have to pass through a period of sore trial, of bitter anguish; their redemption may be long delayed; it may seem as if God's band were shortened (eh. L 2; Rev. vi. 10); but the time of deliver- ance will certainly arrive: whetlier it be from distracting anxieties, or consuming doubt, or protracted pain, or weary loneliness, or cruel oppression, or the shadow of death, the days of darknesa are numbered, and the hour of triumph i.tt drawing near.-C. Ver. 31.-Root and fi·uit, or character in its corn,pleteness. The text speaks of two necessities for the plant in its perfection-root and fruit; it may speak to us of the complete human character. I. CHARACTER IS OFTEN FOUND IN MANIFEST INCOMPLETENESS. 1. We have character deficient in fruitfulness. Some men are intelligent, acquisitive, contemplative; they have solid knowledge; they have reached clear and strong convictions; they have formed admirable private and domestic habits. But they bring forth very little fruit; they exert very little influence; they are inco=unicative; they have nothing to say when something needs to be said; they have no tact or courage for action when some- thing demands to be done. These men contribute little, or nothing appreciable, to the advancement of truth and righteousness; they are not the forcible factors they have had the means of becoming in the society in which they move. 2. We have, also, ciiaracter deficient in root. Some men are exuberant in expression; they communicate freely; they are forward to sp~k and to act on every possible occasion; they are con- stantly efflorescent. But they lack knowledge, judgment, wisdom; they have not trained their minds ; they have not compared their thoughts with those of others, and come to sound and settled conclusions; they have not acquired fixed habits of mind and of life; they are uncertain and unreliable quantities, on whom you cannot safely reckon in t1e day ,,f trial. Of thtse two orders of human character neither is without excellency, but both are manife~tly incomplete. II. U-1/JIIIPLE'l'J,:NEBS 01'" CHARAOTEB IH BEOilF.TTADLE IN Goo's BIGHT AND IN OURS. 1. lt u unbeautiful. 1"or it lacks symmetry; it is one-sided, aacl therefore offensive to tl,e spiritual eye. 2. It is a state of insecurity. 'l'h•J man that haH root without fruit, knowledge and experience without action and influencC', is a mRn who "has not" hie owa possessions (see Matt. xxv. 29), for he is making no seriou~ practical use of them, aud from him who" hatb not" will be taken away, by the constant penalty which attends Il(•glect, "even that which he hath "-viz. hie unused capacity. And the man who bas fruit without corresponding root will find that his influence will soon wane, OH, xxxvu. 1-38.) THE BOOK OF TJ-rn PIWPHET ISAIAH.