Homilist Isaiah 30:21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk you in it, when you turn to the right hand… Man is a traveller. He has lost his way. He needs a guide, both to bring him back to, and keep him in, the right path to the end of the journey. Where is that guide to be found? It is referred to in the text. "A word behind thee." The following remarks are suggested concerning this guiding word. I. It comes to man from WITHOUT. There are inner guides placed there by our Maker in our constitution. Reason. Conscience. But both these have failed us. They themselves are lost in the haze of depravity. Hence the need of a guide from without; such a guide as "the word." It comes from God to man — 1. Through nature. 2. Through Christ. II. It comes to man in EXPLICITNESS. "This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." There is no indefiniteness here, no vagueness, and no uncertainty; no suggesting a choice between different ways. The word reveals the right and only way, and that way is Christ. "I am the way" — "Follow Me." III. It comes to man from MYSTERY. "Behind thee." Thou dost not see the speaker. The voice breaks out from the dark past. It comes from "behind." Behind all that is seen and heard, behind all the phenomena of nature, behind the universe, from God Himself, the Mysterious One. IV. It comes to man, BUT HE MUST LISTEN. "Thou shalt hear." This hearing is the want. Men's spiritual ears are deaf. The guiding word is everywhere. "There is no speech nor language where His voice is not heard." Open thine ear: listen and thou shalt catch the guiding directions. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. |
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