This attitude and confession of Isaiah is but a blessed anticipation of

the attitude and confession of Israel when at last they shall look upon Him

Whom they pierced:

'We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as

filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the

wind, have taken us away' (Isa. 64:6).

Isaiah, in the course of his commission, stood before men and

pronounced woe to them because of their sins.  Twenty times does he pronounce

this woe, but before he uttered one note of denunciation upon others, he

bowed in the presence of the Lord and confessed:

'Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I

dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen

the King, the Lord of hosts' (Isa. 6:5).

Here is the true spirit of ministry.  'Considering thyself, lest thou

also be tempted' (Gal. 6:1), is a New Testament equivalent.

Moreover Isaiah did not first speak of the unclean people among whom he

dwelt; he spoke first of himself.  This, too, finds parallels in such

passages as Daniel 9, 'we have sinned etc.'; and Nehemiah 1, 'we have dealt

very corruptly, etc.'.

There are times when we must preach wrath and speak of condemnation,

but in doing so let us remember that we are ourselves but brands plucked from

the burning.  A preacher once told a friend he was going to preach 'hell' to

a certain congregation; 'I hope you will preach tenderly' was the rejoinder.

This is the attitude expressed in the reply of Isaiah after his commission of

judgment, 'Lord, how long?' (6:11).  This attitude of mind and heart must

have pleased the Lord that sent him.

The threefold 'Then said I' of the commission of Isaiah speaks for

itself.  The structure shows that they include his confession and his

cleansing, his consecration and his commission, as well as his commiseration

with his people, and the message of commination that he had to pronounce.

His confession was specific, 'unclean lips'.  His cleansing was equally

specific, 'This hath touched thy lips', and Isaiah then heard the voice of

the Lord saying: 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' (Isa. 6:8).

Let us pause.  God had the sovereign right to command the service of

any of His creatures.  He could have sent an unclean or an unwilling Isaiah

to do His service; He could, we say, if might be the only criterion.  But God

is holy, and He therefore uses clean vessels.  He could have ordered Isaiah

to take up his commission, He could, we say, if omnipotence were His only

attribute, but He had made man after His Own image, and therefore, instead of

commanding Isaiah, he says in Isaiah's hearing: 'Whom shall I send, and who

will go for Us?'  And Isaiah's service becomes willing service.

'Then said I, Here am I; send me' (Isa. 6:8).

Yet again, notice Isaiah's reply.  He, on his side, might have said,

'Here am I, I am going,' but he did not.  Instead, as a child of redeeming

grace, he begins to reflect the image of his Lord, and says with a beautiful

blend of willingness and submission, 'Here am I, send me'.