The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 2 — Section 481

seeks rest in love. The eternal Father finds his ~at isfaction in his sons and his daughters. III._ MAN VAINLY OFFERING Goo REST IN THINGS. The first shrine for human worsl!1p was the O]}('n firm~ment of ?eaven. It was the only worthy one. The only befittmg_ ~all_s were the distant horizon and the eternal hills; the only suitable roof was the 1lhm~table sky. Yet, from the first of hnruan siu, this temple has proved too vast, too glonous, for man to use. So he has planted groves to circle God to a space• and consecrated mo_untain-peaks to fix God to a point; and built temples ancl churche~ to narrow !~e Infimle to h_urnan gr-asp. Too often man bas offered his temples as an act of sacnlice. He bas given them t-0 God in the vain hope that, satisfied with them God would ?ease to a;sk for highc_r and holier things. We, indeed, in these days, flood no altars with the blood of sacrifices, yet do we not think to offer God rest in the bl"auty of our churches and the charm of our ~crvices? .A.re we not even under this spiritual disp~nsation_, offer~ng God things instead of persons? And yet even we men ca1,not be satisfied with thmgs; then how can we expect our God to be? Our hearts cann~t rest in the artistic fittings of our dwellings, the creations of genius, or the r,ssoc1at10ns of culture. \Ve want love; we must have persons. Lord Lytton expresses our deepest feeling thus- " 0 near ones, dear ones! you in whose right hands Our own rests calm; whose faithful hearts all day Wide open wait till back from distant lands, Thought, the tired traveller, wends his homeward way! "Helpmates and hearlhmates, glnddeners of gone years Tender companions of our serious days, ' Who coloUl' with yoar kisses, smiles, and tears, Life's warm web woven over wonted ways. "Oh, shut the world out from the heart ye cheer I Though small the circle of your smiles may be, The worlcl iii diste.nt, ancl your smiles are near ; This makes yon more than all the world to me." We are "the figures of the true;" shadows in our feeling of the feeling of God. He, too, puts aside all the things we offer him, be they temple, or gold, or work, and persuasively pleads thus with us," My son, give me thy heart." We may give him our things, if we have given him ourselves. Things dead cannot please him. 'l'hings alive with holy love, quickened by the humble, contrite, ths.nkful heart, may find for him tbe rest he seeks. We may give him our buildings when they are alive with the spirit of consecration, our services when they are filled with the spirit of reverential worship, our works when they are animated with gratitude and devotion. Of the living temple he will say, "This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread." IV. MAN SUCCESSFULLY OFFERING GOD REST IN HIMSELF-IN THE POOR AND CONTRITE HEART. The one thing towards which we must think God is ever moving, ever working, by creation, by gracious providences, by the mission of his Son, is to sway the heart of man towar,ls himself, and constrain him voluntarily to say, "This God is our God for ever and ever." But it is only the man of po•)r and contrite spirit who will ever thus turn to God, and give himself over to him. Bruised and broken, in the sense of our ingratitude and sin, penitent and contrite alone, shall we ever be found willing to turn our faces towards our Father. We can give God nothing. We can bring him just our consciously unfaithful and sinful selves. A man can come, unreservedly exposing his whole heart to the eye of God. He can saJ, "Slay me, 0 God, if thou wilt; I deserve it. I am miserable, but leave me not sinful thus. Put me lo shame; I am shameful. Behold! I hide nothing. 'l'hou art Light; expose my darkness. I will not palliate. I am worse than I know. Show me all that I am. I cannot heal myself. If I must die, I will die in thy light." "In this lies the simplicity of faith. He has trusted himself to the Judge of all the earth ; he has abandoned o.11 self-justi5cation; his hea1t is broken, and is ready to welcome mercy undeserved. Guile- lessness (the contrite, humble heart) is the whole secret of Divine peace,"-R, T. on. r.xv1. 1-24.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 499