The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 2 — Section 189

our seeing, there is much cloud and mystery about God's providential dealings with us; but our souls know that be makes "all things work together for good." 3. 'l'o our seeing, the redemption of the human race from sin is a profound and awful mystery; but our souls know that Christ" shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satis- fied." 4. To our seeing, the future of the human race is all hung about with clouds and darkness. The very terms, " eternal life," " eternal death," are but folds of the wondrous veil that hides the unspeakable from our view ; but our souls do enter into rest. Righteousness and love will preside over man's future, as truly as over the past and the present. We may rejoice in a God who hideth himself. We may be glad that the clouds hang low about him, that the mystery of him cannot he solved, and that he therefore calls for a great wondering, lowly adoration, and the perfect trust. Our God is within the grasp neither of our hand nor of our mind. Nothing in heaven above or earth beneath can be, in any full sense, a likeness of him. The grandest things do but hint his grandeur; the most lovely things do but suggest his loveliness; the truest things are but faint echoes of his truth. Away, beyond us, above us, he soars into the "light inaccessible "-our ever-blessed God, who, though he hideth himself, is our Saviour.-R. T. Ver.19.-Seeking in vain. Henderson regards this as an appeal "to the publicity and perspicuity with which the Divine predictions had been announced ; with manifest reference to the responses of the heathen oracles, which were given from deep and obscure caverns, or the hidden recesses of temples ; and were, at the best, artful and equivocal, and, in cases of extreme difficulty, were altogether withheld." Cheyne says, "'fhe heathen oracles are as obscurtl in their origin as they are unveracious and dis- appointing. Those who deliver them say, as it were, 'Seek ye me as chaos.' But the revelations of Jehovah are the embodiments of righteousness and uprightness." (comp. Prov. viii. 6). It may be urged (1) that God's message to men is plain; (2) is satisfactory; (3) is just. Or it may be shown that God's will is clearly and suffi- ciently revealed, in all its several forms: (1) in creation ; (2) in history; (3) in indi- vidual experiences; (4) in Word-revelations spoken directly within man, as the law of conscience; and (5) in Word-revelations spoken to man, as the law of conduct. It is suggestive of illustration to recall the declaration of our Lord Jesus, "In secret have I said nothing" (John xviii, 20). Another line of treatment maybe offered. I. MEN's SELF-PURSUITS END IN VANITY. We do "seek them in ~in." Illustra- tions should be taken from the Book of Ecclesiastes, which is precisely this-a man's record of his seeking the "chief good" as he could conceive it. He sought this way and tnat, in every conceivably hopeful direction, and with every possible advantage in the search; and his conclusion of the matter is, "Nothing satisfies. All is vanity." Byron sought self-satisfaction in pursuing self-ends; aud long ere old age could come with its burdens he wrote, "The worm, the canker, and the grief, are mino alone.'' Before the ruins of the self-seeking life, we stand and say," So is he who he[l.reth up riches for himself, and is not rich toward God.'' II. MAN-MADE RELIGIONS END IN VANITY. To trust them is" spending money for that which is not bread." Illustrate this by showing how, in St. Paul's day, the Athenians had multiplied gods because, one after another, they bad been sought, and failed to satisfy; and at length they even, in their unrest, inscribed altars to the "Unknown God." III. GoD'S WAY OF LIFE IS ABUNDANTLY SATISFYING. It is a living fountain of waters. 1. It meets the soul-cry for righteousness in God. 2. It meets the soul-cry for pardon of sin. 3. It meets the soul-cry for restored and happy relations with God. 4. It meets the soul-cry for power to perform that which is good. 5. It meets the yearning of the soul for assurance concerning the future. So men never seok God in vain.-R.T. Ver. 21.-Just i,nd saving. The idea is that God is strictly faithful to his covenant, and therefore he must be a saving God. Saving is implied and involved in the covenant. There is the further assertion that God stands alone as a Saviour; there is no God who can save besides him. The point which may be unfolded and illustrated is that there is here declared the union of two attributes in God which, in human actions, ISAIAH-II, O  194 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHE1' ISAIAH. [oH, xLv, 1-26,