God's voice to cities.
"The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy Name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it." We raise three remarks from this verse.
I. THAT GOD HAS A "VOICE" TO CITIES. "The Lord's voice crieth unto the city." The city meant here is Jerusalem. He speaks to a city:
1. Through its commerce. The failures that follow fraud, indolence, chicanery.
2. Through its morality. The funeral processions that darken the streets, the cemeteries that lie within and around.
3. Through its churches. The sermons that are preached, the agents that are employed to enlighten the ignorant, to comfort the distressed, reclaim the lost. Heavenly Wisdom "standeth at the corner of the streets; she crieth aloud," etc.
II. THE WISE IN CITIES RECOGNIZE THE VOICE. "The man of wisdom shall see thy Name." "And wisdom has thy Name in its eye" (Delitzsch). "And he who is wise will regard thy Name" (Henderson). The idea seems to be this—that the wise man will recognize God's voice. Job says, "God speaks once, yea twice, and they perceive it not." The crowds that populate cities are deaf to the Divine "voice." The din of passion, the hum of commerce, the chimes of animal pleasures, drown the voice of God. But the wise man has his soul ever in a listening attitude. Like young Samuel, he says, "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth." Abraham heard the voice of God concerning Sodom, Daniel concerning Babylon, Jonah concerning Nineveh, Jeremiah concerning Jerusalem. "I will hear what the Lord God will say"—this is the language of wise men.
III. THE JUDGMENT OF CITIES IS IN THAT VOICE. "Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it." The rod is the symbol of judgment. "O Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in their hand is my indignation "(Isaiah 10:5).
1. God warns cities.
2. His warning should be attended to. "Hear ye the rod." The only way to escape is attention. Hear it, and flee for refuge; hear it, and thunder it abroad to alarm the careless; hear it before it is too late. "If thou hadst known the things that belong to thy peace in this day! but now are they hid from thine eyes" (Luke 19:42).
"Heaven gives the needful, but neglected, call.
What day, what hour, but knocks at human hearts,
To wake the soul to sense of future scenes?
Deaths stand, like Mercuries, in every way,
And kindly point us to our journey's end."
(Young.)
D.T.