prevent the admixture of evil from without, with the chosen and separated nation; and its territory was marked out and protected by natural boundaries in a noticeable manner. _"Gathered out the stones,"_--the heathen nations, and the stocks and stones they worshipped. _"And planted it with the choicest vine,"_--a nation of the noble stock of the patriarchs, and chosen and cultivated by the Lord of the vineyard, with especial care, for His own use. _"And built a tower in it,"_--namely, Jerusalem--for the protection and superintendence of the vineyard, as well as to be its farmhouse, so to speak. _"And also made a wine-press therein,"_--where the wine-press seems to point to the same idea as the sending the servants to receive the fruit, in our Lord's modification of this parable: lawgivers, kings, and judges, the temple with its priesthood and ordinances, and the schools of the prophets, were the appointed means for pressing out and receiving the wine--the spiritual virtues and graces of the vineyard. And the end is, that _"He looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes."_--_Strachy,_ pp. 62, 63. THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD. v. 1-7. _Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song, &c._ The points of moral instruction made prominent in this parable are--I. That God's gifts of truth, light as to duty, moral culture, and opportunities for doing good, create peculiar obligations to be morally fruitful, to do justice, and love mercy. II. That men so blessed with privileges will be held to a stern accountability. III. That failing to meet this, they must expect that God will take away their privileges and give them to others who will render the fruits in their season (Matt. xxi. 43). IV. That there is a line beyond which God does not deem it wise to waste His moral efforts upon self-hardened sinners. V. That in His view the exigencies of His moral kingdom demand of Him rather that He made sinners, beyond that line, an example of His righteous displeasure against their awful wickedness, and a warning to other sinners lest they venture too far in abusing His compassionate and long-suffering efforts to reclaim and save them. It is a terrible thing to withstand God in His labours to save the soul.--_Henry Cowles, D.D., Commentary on Isaiah,_ p. 30. GREAT PRIVILEGES. v. 1-7. _Now will I sing to my well-beloved, &c._