Isaiah 26:9 With my soul have I desired you in the night; yes, with my spirit within me will I seek you early… The judgments recorded in the Old Testament by the special inspiration of God, showing them to be, as common centres, retribution on the sons of men, are intended to lead us to the belief in that final judgment after death of which we read in the New Testament. These early judgments of nations and states were the shadows, "the going before," of that awful time when all mankind shall appear to receive the sentence with its eternal consequences for good or evil. Now, here we see the power of religion in sustaining the soul of man under the awfulness of Divine retribution and the expectations of God's anger on the sons of the world; we see the expression, by those who have passed through such time, set before us as indications of the mind we are to cherish and the hopes we may entertain in view of that final judgment, and it shows the power of religious faith to maintain the soul in peace against the two greatest fears which darken the soul of man. 1. The fear of death. How nature shrinks from what teems to be an annihilation of this life! 2. Yet there is a greater fear than this — the thought of meeting God in the solitary going forth into what seems the dark night. It was not always so with man's soul He did not fear God in his original creation. But as soon as sin was committed observe the change; he shrank from the thought and the presence — from the approaching sound of the Divine appearance. That was the effect of one sin, and since that sin has spread through the whole of nature and has caused sinfulness to taint the whole being of men. Men shrink from their follow creatures when they are better than themselves. Those children who have committed faults shrink from their parents' eyes, however fond they may be of them. Men shrink from themselves when conscious of their own sin, and often it leads them to commit self-murder. Now, religious faith raises a man above these two dark fears haunting the soul, produces peace, and kindles brightest hopes. (T. T. Carter, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. |
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