The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 2 — Section 156

or vegetable, can exist without wat.er. No spiritual life can exist without grace. Without moisture, neither can the embryo be formed, nor will the seed germinate. Without grace there is no commencement of spiritual life. Water is needed for the sustentation of both plants and animals. Grace is needed for the sustentation of the quickened spirit. III. WATER ~EANSES MEN'S BODIES FROM ALL FILTH AND POLLUTION. The grace of God cleans~s their souls from the filthiness and impurity of sin. His grace is the "one f~unta_i~ upened for sin and for ~nclea_nness" (Zech. xiii. 1); the precious influences of his Spmt can alone take away impurity, and make the soiled soul once more clean in his sight. Wonderful is the cleansing power of water; still moro wonderful is the guilt-removing power of grace. Sins that were "as scarlet" are by grace made "white as snow ; " iniquities that were " red as crimson " become " as wool " (eh. i. 18). It is not merely that the sins themselves are forgiven, but the "evil heart," from which the~ proceeded, is washed, sanctified, and cleansed, so as to retain no taint of evil. IV. WATER REFRESHES AND RENOVATES THOSE WHO ARE WEARY AND FAINT. There is no re[reshi:n~nt to the faint and ~e.i.ry soul comparable to the pouring out upon it of Gods Spmt. When "the parched ground becomes a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water" (eh. xxxv. 7), the result is a complete transformation of the whole appearance of things. "The wilderness and the solitary place" at once "are glad the desert rejoices and blossoms like the rose. . . . It blossoms abundantly . . . the glory of Lebanon is given to it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon" (eh. xxxv. 1, 2). Similarly, when the dry and thirsty soul obtains a. "time of refreshing from the Lord" (Acts iiL 19), its whole condition is on a sudden changed. Gladness succeeds to gloom, happiness to despair, an almost ecstatic bliss to a dull, gnawing sense of misery. The soul puts forth blossoms-rejoices with joy and singing (see the Psalms, passim). Vers. 9-20.-The utter folly of all kinds of idolatry. Idolatry proper-the actual worship of images-is felt by modern Englishmen to be :,o extreme a folly that they have a difficulty in believing it to have at any time btt.:n, or still anywhere to be, the actual religion of a people. Their inclination is to regard it as a symbolism-coarse and ill-judged, perhaps-but yet a well-meaning symbolism, expressive of the truths of natural reli::;ion. But research into the past history of mankind, a.nd investigation of the present condition of the nations by whom idolatry is practised, alike show a real belief in the supernatural power of the images, and a real trust in them for help and protection. Thus the idolatry directly denounced by Isaiah, extraordinary as it seems, is in fact a real form of human folly-one of the many strange aberrations of the human intellect that have an actual existence; and not only so, but one tha.t is widely prevalent. Its "utter folly" is suf!icie,ntly exposed by the prophet, and, as being generally allowed among ourselves, need not be dwelt upon. The folly of other forms of idolatry, though not much less, is not so commonly admitted, and may with advantage be pointed out in connection with portions of Scripture like the present. We may instance- I. THE IDOLATRY OF' PERSONS. Human beings are allowed to stand between us and God-to absorb the thought, the attention, the affections, that ought to have God for ~heir Object. Most often, perhaps, it is a. child; but sometimes it is a. husband, or a ,vife, or a lover, that holds the position, occupying the first place in our heart, and :filling it to the entire exclusion of that Being who has the principal claim on us. Now, what exceeding folly is this! Is it much short of the folly of the old idolaters? To put in the place of God a. mere human being, a form of flesh that may quit us at :iny time, that may change towards us, that has no power to help or save us,-that fa not much superior to the idolater's "graven image." How often does our idol shatter itseU, disappoint our hopes, disregard our wishes, become estranged from us, tear our heartstrings, trample upon our best feelings! How often is it suddenly snatched from us I God is very jealous of rivals near his throne, and very frequently takes from us, by a premature death, the idol that is imperilling our souls. Even in the best case-which is alas I the worst--if our idol stay with us, and do not change, what madness to be wholly wra.pt up in the love of the finite, and to let go from us for ila sake the love of the Infinite Being I II. THB IDOLATf\Y OF WEALTll, "Covetousness," Bt. Paul tells us (Col. iii. 5), •• ill oH, xuv. 1-28.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. lGl