The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 2 — Section 234

Ver. 2.-Fitness jO'I' GoiJ:s servi~. The general idea of this section of Iso.in.h's propbeci~s !1eeds to be home in mind. In it "Israel himself, in all bis contradictory charactenst1cs, becomes the engrossing subject of the prophet's rneditn.tions. His r?gt?ration, still future, but indubitabJ.,, is celebmted in eh. Ix. by an ode somewhat sumlar to that on the fall of Babylon in the preceding part. But the nearer the great event nrnves, and the more the prophet realizes the ideal Israel of the future, the more he is depressed by the low spiritual condition of the actual Isrnel. Strange to sav this combination of apparently inconsistent data-the splendour of the future and u;; misery of the present-supplies the material for a specimen of dramatic description rnrpassing anything in the rest <>f the Old Testament" (Cheyne). By the "servant of Jeho,·ah" we may understand those sent forth by God as the prophets and teachers of each age, bea1ing Divine messages of warning and of duty. 'l'bese a.re personified, as it ,~ere, in the one great Divine Teacher, the Messiah. It was one of the most important features of the ministry in every age that it should convict of sin; therefore the work of the mouth is likened to that of a "sharp sword" (comp. Heb. iv. 12, "The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, ... aud is a liiscerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart"). Pindar employs the meta1,hor of the arrow in application to powerful eloquence. And the metaphor of a sword and an arrow, both in the best state of preparation, aptly sets forth· the penetrating and subduing efficacy of the gospel. This one feature of fitness for doing God's work in the world-the eloquent, persuasive, convincing tongue-may introduce to us the general subject of "fitness for God's service." I. IT LIES IN ENDOWMENT. The true servant of God is a gifted man-one to whom special powers have been committed, which powers indicate his work, and make him responsible for the doing of it. The proper idea of a Christian ministry is the separation to the work of preaching and teaching of all those who are evidently divinely endowed for preaching and tRaching work. The right of a man to do any particular kind of work in the world is simply the right which comes from the diviuely given capacity for doing it. If God made us painters, we must paint; if he made us poets, we must shape beautiful thoughts in verse; if he made us preachers, we must preach. Canon Liddon eloquently describes the endowed teacher. "Picture to yourselves a teacher who is not merely under the official obligation to say something, but who is morally convinced that he ha.s something to say. Imagine one who believes a.like in the truth of his message, and in the reality of bis mission to deliver it. Let this teacher be tender, yet searching; let him win the hearts of men by his kin<il.v humanity, while he probes, ay, to the quick, their moral sores. Let him pursue and expose the latent evil of the hnrnan heart through all the mazes of its unrivalled deceitfuluess, without sullying bis own purity, and without forfdting his strong belief i □ the present capacity of every human being for goodness. . . . Clearly, such a teacher must be a moral power;" a "sharp sword." One thing greatly nee~ed in our day is quickness to recognize Divine endowments in men, and brotherly aid to all endowed men in the due exercise of their gifts. IL IT LIES IN THE D1vINE CALL. For the fact of possessing power is not, standing alone authority for its being put forth and exercised. There must be the inward Divi~e call, which may or may not be heard through the voice of outward circumstances. This is the lesson taught by the records of the propbets-Elijo.h, Isaiah, Jonah, etc. They were endowed, but they did not act until they were called. The distinction is expressed. poetically, in Ps. xxxi.x. 3, "While I was musing the fire ~urned: then Epake I with my tongue." Illustrate from apostles, who were endowed with the Holy Ghost, symbolized in tongues of fire; but who were also sent ones. It ie one thing to be ab/,e to speak, it is quite another to be rolled to speak. UI. IT LIEB IN RESPONSIVE GOOD WILL. A man may actually deliver God's message unwillingly and grumblingly, as Jonah did, but it is clear that this cannot be regarded 111, fit se1 vice. Only whell we say, "Lord, just what thou wouldst have me do !. OH, XLIX, 1-26,] THE llOOK OF THE PROPHET !SAIA.FI. 243