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take only a third of our en ergy.— Meyer. v. 3. Holy, holy, holy. The thrice- repeated “ Holy” is one of many hints in the Old Testament of the Trinity in the unity of the Godhead. It was the great Jehovah of hosts, God, three in one, whom Isaiah saw.—Torrey. The holiness of God appeals to man’s three great faculties: (1) conscience as a sinner; (2) affections as a worshipper; (3) reason as a thinker. The three fold cry meets man’s threefold' sinful ness and a threefold God is essential.— S. & W. v. 4. Posts of the door moved. The vibrations of that mighty hymn shook the foundations of the threshold with its thunderous harmonies. The house was filled with smoke, which, since it was the effect of the seraph’s praise, is best explained .as referring to the fragrant incense which, as we know, symbolized the prayers of the saints.— Maclaren. v. 5. Woe is me! Isaiah, in the pre vious chapter, had uttered six woes against others, but his seventh and sorest woe is against himself. The sinner, like the leper, cries, “Unclean!” (Lev. 13:45): Devo. Com. I am un done. Not “ I am, of course, imperfect.” —Eliot., He was occupied, not with his acts but with his condition. There are no excuses at the. throne, no palliating circumstances, no qualifying clauses, no blaming of men or things. There is but one object seen there— seen in its guilt, its wretchedness, and its ruin,— and that object is SELF, and self is undone; that is all that can be said about it.— C. H. M. The same effect was produced on others, by the presence of God (Judges 6:22; 13:22; Job 42:5, 6; Luke 5:8; Rev. 1:17).— Jamieson. People of unclean lips. We have reason to lament, not only that we ourselves are polluted but that the nature and race of mankind are so. The disease is hereditary, an epidem ic, which is so far from lessening our guilt that it should rather increase our grief, considering that we have not done what we might have done for the cleans ing of the pollution of other people’s lips; nay, we have rather learned their way and spoken their language. Mine eyes have seen the King. Contrast this glorious King with the leprous king of verse *1.— Comp. Bible. v. 6. Coal from off the altar. The very moment Isaiah gave utterance to the deep conviction of what he was, he was introduced to the divine provisions of God’s altar.— Sel. A live coal was
PRACTICAL POINTS (1) Isaiah was the Prince of the prophets. (2) The angelic tribute to the Triune God, “ Holy holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts.” (3) It,is better to bend the knee with adoring hearts, than to be compell ed to bow the* knee with an aching heart, in eternity. (4) There is a sin-purging process in the altar-fire that purifies the heart. (5) Perfected love prepares us for the presence of the King. (6) When we preach the demands of God’s holiness we prepare the sinner’s heart for the confession of his sin. (7) The call to service is to the Church Universal. (8) The reply to the call is found in the individual response, “ Here am I; send me.” v. 1. I saw the Lord. We do not so much need correct theories about God as a vision of God Himself. We must see the Lord if we COMMENTS FROM are to be greatly MANY SOURCES used of Him. It Keith L. Brooks is the work of the Holy Spirit to give us a real vision of the Lord. (Acts 7:55, 56; Jno. 16:14.)— Torrey. In this chapter we notice two prominent ob jects, namely, the throne and the altar, and moreover, we perceive the action of these two objects upon the soul of the prophet. It is ever a serious matter for a sinner to find himself standing before the throne of God with the unanswered claims of that throne bearing down upon the conscience. The light of the throne revealed to-Isaiah his true condition. That light was the moral glory of Christ as we read in the Gospel of John, “ These things said Isaiah when he saw his glory and spake of him;” (Jno. 12:41). Christ is the perfect standard by which every one must be mejisured.-jglMcIntosh. v. 2. The seraphims. Nowhere else applied to God’s attending angels. Seraph means “ burning,” implying the burning zeal and dazzling brightness of the seraphim in God’s service.—Maurer. Six wings. Two for meditation, two for humility, two for service. Service should
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