2. The discovery of hidden treasure (ver. 3), fulfilled in the taking and sacking of two of the wealthiest cities of antiquity, besides other great acquisitions. 3. The strength- ening of Cyrus fur the sake of Israel (vers. 1-4), fulfilled in the brilliant successes or the great Persian conqueror, followed by the liberation of the Jews from captivity. But the interesting fact is the presence and action of the Divine hand in the course of this heathen kiag. Little as Cyrus imagined it, he was under the guardianship and guidance of the Lord of hosts from bis ea.rliest childhood to his last succes~es. Th~ power that snatched him from ea.rliest peril, that made him the wise and capable administrator he became, that planted in him the spirit of humanity and equity, that saved him in a. thousand dangers, and gave so triumphant an issue to his· various e11terprises,-this wa.s none other than the power which is Divine. God was girding him, though he knew not the name and the works of Jehovah. On this unenlightened sovereign, from infancy to age, through all the events of a crowded life, a. Divine hand was laid; its touch was all unfelt, itg secrets undiscovered; but it was there-a gentle, constrnining force, shaping his career, tracing the lines along which he moved, making him the power among the nations that he was in those ancient times. This known fact does two very useful things for us. I. IT GIVES A PROFOUND INTEREST TO ALL HUMAN HISTORY. There is too much in the affairs of men to justify the sarcasm about the "battle or kites and crows;" there is something pitifully small in the contests which proceed in "high places" for honours, titles, and emoluments. In one view the struggles of men are small enough to excite our pity, if not our disregard. But introduce the element of the Divine! Then all is changed. And should we not introduce that element? If God's unfelt hand was on one heathen king, why not on anuther? why not on all the others? If, all unknown, he was upsetting and upraising kin_gdoms in one clime and age, why not in other climes and in other ages? In this view "profane" history becomes "sacred; " for in it we have a record of God's doings in the world. When we read the account of the overthrow of .Assyria, of Persia, of Greece, of Home, of Spain; when we read the careers of .Alexander, of Cresa.r, of Charlemagne, of Napoleon, or Cromwell, of Washington,-in the light of the truth which lies in the text, hnman history is very much more than the story of a "battle between kites and crows;" it is more than the account of human passions in stern conflict, of human ambition workin~ itself up and burning itself out. It is Divine procedure; it is God's outworking and overruling; it is the hand of Gud laid on the aim or man,-unfelt, unrecognized, but directing and controlling, working to wise and righteous issues. In the great events which are the landmarks of history, and in the careers of illustrious men, God is" within the shadow," girding men though they know him not-the mightiest factor by far in all worlds, and even in this, where he is so little known, so much forgotten. II. IT LENDS GREAT IMPORTANCE TO EVERY HUMAN LIFE. Men may imagine that there is nothing sacred about their individual life; that they have very little to do with God and he with them; that God stands in no closer rela1ion to them than that of the Author of the laws by which they are governed, and the ultirnata source of the blessings which they receive. Dut they are wrong. God is much more to them thaa this. He is the Father of their spirits; he is the Saviour of their souls; he is seeking their welfare; is following them out, in his thought and ulfection, to the "far couatry" of sin; is inviting aud promoting their return; is touching them in many ways and at many points, "girding them, though they know him not." The meaniag of all sacred privilege and of all parental discipline is that God is laying his hand upon us, and is saying to us, "Return unto me;" "Come unto me."-O.
Vers. ~.-.An old perplexity. From very ancient times, through very many generations, there has presented itself to the human mind the perplexity which arises from the antagonism of forces. We find everywhere- I. OPPOSITE ASPECTS OF HUMAN LIFE. Here are light and darkness, peace and evil (ver. 7), On the one hand are signs and indications of a marvellous and minute benevofence. In the sea, in the soil, in the forests, in the air, and on the earth; in fish, in insectR, in oeast, in bird, and, above all, in the life and in the mind of rn,,n,-arc• innumerable, inestimable evidences of Divine beneficence. But, on the other hand, there aro drawbacks, there are shadows, there are evils, the number of which we 186 THE BOOK OF 'l'HE PROPHET ISAIAH. [ott. XLV, 1-25.
cannot count, and the nature of which it is difficult to exaggerate, Pleasure is matched with pain; joy is followed by sorrow ; hope is shadowed by fear; peace is waited upon by strife; life is swallowed up by death. II. 'fHE PERPLEXITY THUS OCCASIONED. Wliat is the secret of this strange contrndie- tion ? What is the explanation of it? Shall we find intellectual rest in dualism 1 or shall we fall back upon /ate-upon the blind action of unintelligent forces? or may we rise to the belief in one overruling God? Who shall read the riddle of the unintelligible world? III. THE ARGUMENT FROM THE rssuE. Go far enough on, and we shall find that which enlightens an~ relieves us; we !f1USt look to" the end of the Lord" (Jas. v. 11). 'fhe end of the Lord 1s found: I. In r1ghteousness. (Ver. 8.) At last, in the history of men, families, and nations, the pure and just are exalted, while the wicked are con- sumed and rerish. 2. In salvation. (Ver. 8.) To the suffering ones comes rescue from poverty or oppression; to the sinful ones comes redemption from penalty, reinstatement in the home and kingdom of God. IY. THE SATISFYING TRUTH. After all, only one thing will decide the question- God's revealing Word. It was his declaration through the prophets, "I am the Lord;" "I the Lord have created it." It is the word, the life, the work of Jesus Christ, who reveals to us an ever-present, overruling Father of mankind.-C.