Zephaniah 1:17

They shall walk like blind men.

The sinner a blind traveller

The sinner is on a journey, step by step he is moving on to a destination. But how does he walk? The text tells us as a blind man. How does the blind man walk?

I. Unnaturally. Though a few men may be born blind, vision is one of the chief attributes of humanity. Without the human eye all the beauties of nature would go for nothing. Blindness is unnatural. So is sin. The life of sin is a life of unnaturalness.

II. Privationally. What does the blind lose? The great world of beauty and sublimity, the great firmament of burning worlds, and all the exquisite and exhilarating sensations of vision are excluded from him. What does the sinner lose? Peace of conscience--harmony of feeling--fellowship with the Infinite--power over death--a blessed hope of heaven, etc.

III. Servilely. The blind man must slavishly depend on others to guide him on his way. We have seen him feeling his way with a stick, led by a little child, and sometimes dependent even on a dog. The sinner, however he may boast of his independence, is a slave to the world. He is the servant of sin, a tyrant. He has no true independence.

IV. Perilously. The blind man always feels himself in danger when alone. The sinner’s walk is perilous indeed. His danger is great--ever accumulating, and ever approaching. Such then is the walk of the sinner. But moral blindness is worse far than corporeal.

1. The one is a calamity, the other is a crime.

2. The one is to be pitied, the other is to be condemned.

3. The one can be turned to a good account, the other cannot. (Homilist.).