Isaiah 22

A Nail In A Sure Place

I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place. Isaiah 22:23.

Have you ever seen cups hung on nails or hooks along the edge of a shelf? Quite a number of people hang up their cups like that because they look so nice and tidy and take up less room. But suppose the nail were not driven securely into the shelf, what would happen? The weight of the cup would bring it out, they would both fall down together, and the cup would probably be smashed.

The kind of nail that is spoken of in our text is not the iron or brass one we are accustomed to think about. This nail was a sort of wooden peg. It was driven into the soft mortar in the wall of the house and it served two purposes. Sometimes it was used to make the house firm, to help to keep it together. Sometimes it was employed to hang up beautiful garments, or fine ornaments of gold and silver and bronze, or some trophy of war such as a helmet, a sword, or a shield. The people of the East were very proud of their treasures and very fond of displaying them where all their friends could see and admire them.

You can understand how important it was to find a good place for the nail. If it were driven into a soft piece of plaster, the first thing that was hung on it would bring it out. It could neither stay in itself nor bear the weight it was intended to carry. The surest place to drive in one of these wooden pegs was between two stones. The stones then held it firm and kept it from falling out.

In our text somebody is spoken of as “a nail in a sure place.” That somebody was a man called Eliakim. He afterwards held a very responsible position in King Hezekiah's household. He was put over all his house just as Joseph was put over Pharaoh's house.

Now there are many firm nails in the world people upon whom others can rely but there are also plenty of wobbly nails, and I want to introduce you to a few of them this morning.

1. The first wobbly nail is the boy or girl who doesn ' t do his or her work thoroughly. There are many wobbly nails of this kind, and the worst of it is that they do a great deal more mischief than they intend. For they are often quite well-meaning though they are thoughtless and careless. It is the wobbly nails that are responsible for a great many of the railway accidents and shipping disasters of the world.

The girl who is sent to dust a room and who skips the dark corners because she thinks the dust won't show is a wobbly nail. Nobody can depend on her. The boy who merely glances at his lesson-book so as to have a vague idea of what the lesson is about is a wobbly nail. When the time comes that he has to work in real earnest, he will discover that he has not the necessary elementary knowledge to carry him through. Remember the only nails that are of any use are the kind that “stick in.”

You have all heard of David Livingstone, the great missionary explorer of Africa. He was a man whom everyone trusted and honored. When Livingstone was a boy he lived in a little village in Lanarkshire. His people were very poor, and he had to work very hard. Sometimes he helped his mother to sweep the room and tidy up, and she used to say of him that what David did was always thoroughly done, and that he even swept under the mat. I've known some people who swept all the dirt under the mat, because they were too lazy to sweep it up. But they never became the David Livingstones of the world.

2. The second kind of wobbly nail is the boy or girl who is lacking in steadiness or perseverance. Some boys and girls put their whole heart and soul into a thing so long as it is new, but when the freshness wears off their interest flags. It doesn't matter whether it is a new game or a new lesson; it's all the same. Others get along all right so long as things run smoothly, but the first difficulty they meet shakes them badly, and the second knocks them out altogether.

Have you ever heard the story of the two frogs that fell into a bowl of cream? The first one said, “I'm going to take it easy.” And he sank to the bottom.

But the second one said, “I'll never give in.” And he went on working his legs to keep himself afloat until presently he found himself seated on a good-sized lump of butter! That's the sort of person who always comes up top.

2. The last kind of wobbly nail is the boy or girl whose word cannot he relied on. I am not thinking so much of the people who don't speak the truth although of course they are very wobbly nails indeed. The boys and girls I specially mean are those who can't keep a promise, and those others who can't keep a secret.

The first kind never do what they say. If they promise to meet you at three they will probably turn up about four, and if they promise to mend your bat they will just as likely lose your ball.

And the second kind do what they've said they won't do. If you trust them with a secret they go and tell it to the very next boy or girl they meet.

There is a fine story about a little girl who was only six, but who knew how to keep a secret. She was the granddaughter of Oliver Cromwell, and her grandfather was very fond of her, and often had her on his knee during his Cabinet meetings. Later the ministers began to object. They thought that perhaps it was not safe to have even such a little girl at their meetings, and that she might repeat some State secrets. Cromwell knew that he could trust his granddaughter, but he wanted to prove to the ministers that he could. So one day he whispered something in her ear and told her not to repeat it. Then he set her mother and grandmother to try to make her tell it. But no threats or bribes, not even a whipping, could make her reveal the secret; and at last they had to give up trying. After that the ministers were not afraid that the little girl would tell any State secrets.

Well, boys and girls are not told State secrets nowadays, but it's a great thing to learn to keep a secret, no matter how small it may be. And if we can keep small ones, some day people will trust us with big ones.

Now all the wobbly nails can be turned into splendid firm nails nails that are steady themselves, nails that can help to hold up other people. How can it be done? In one way only.

If we want to be good, firm, reliable nails we must be driven into a “sure place.” And the only really “sure place” is Jesus Christ. If we lay hold on Him, He will keep us firm, He will steady us and strengthen us, He will prevent us from falling.