The Unreliableness of Man
W. Clarkson Isaiah 2:22 Cease you from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of ? Some think this verse should commence Isaiah 3.; but it is an exhortation naturally following on the humbling of all human pride and the destruction of all human glory. Man at his best estate is altogether vanity, therefore do not rely upon man. God is from everlasting to everlasting, therefore trust him. The counsel is elsewhere given in Scripture, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited' (Jeremiah 17:5, 6). "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Quick-passing breath is the symbol of fleeting life (Genesis 2:7; Genesis 7:22); and the sentence of the text would better read, "Cease from man, in whose nostrils is a breath." Trusting man was the sin of Isaiah's age. Compare, later on, the afflicted nation Booking succor from Egypt rather than from God, and therefore coming under the prophet's reproach. But man-trusting is a characteristic sin of our age; and we also need to learn that there is - I. NO TRUSTING IN MAN'S POWER. That is within very narrow limits. "Let not your eye be to the power of man, for it is finite and limited, derived and depending; it is not from him your judgment proceeds. Let not him be your fear, let not him be your hope; but look up to the power of God, to which all the powers of men are subject and subordinate." There is so much that man can do, we fail to realize, as we should, that he fails us just at the points of our extremest need, at the times when trouble overwhelms, heart fails, and fears are on every side. The man came to Christ with confidence that he could help, but doubting his will. We may seek our fellow-men in our troubles, confident of their good will, but full of fears as to their ability. II. NO TRUSTING IN MAN'S KNOWLEDGE. That, indeed, is vast and wonderful; and it is ever-increasing. And yet it is uncertain; we cannot make any foundations of it. What men call facts of knowledge are again and again disproved by the discovery of other facts; and what men call theories give place to new theories, as fresh minds work upon the old data, and gather new. Apart from revelation men have never found out reliable truth respecting God, man, sin, redemption, or the future. III. NO TRUST IN MAN'S CHARACTER. The most humiliating thing in human life is the failure from righteousness of those whom we have admired, trusted, and loved. Character, built on self, is uncertain, and in peril whenever temptation draws nigh. In middle life the honorable man so often fails from either (1) drink, (2) dishonesty, or (3) sensuality, that we have sometimes felt we could say, in a moment of excitement, as David did, "All men are liars." IV. NO TRUST IN MAN'S EXAMPLE. It is always imperfect; it never can be an absolute model. Only one man set us an example that we should follow his steps, and he was the Divine man. We can follow no other man wholly. We can only follow one of our fellows so far as he follows Christ, and so we really only follow the Christ in him. Where, then, are we to trust? "Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." "None of them that trust in him shall be desolate." - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? WEB: Stop trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?