Spurgeon's Notes on the OLD Testament

[In one file]

 

GENESIS

Chapter 1

 

Verses 1-31

 

Genesis 1:1. In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth.

When that "beginning" was, we cannot tell. It may have been long ages before God fitted up this world for the abode of man, but it was not self-existent; it was created by God, it sprang from the will and the word of the all-wise Creator.

Genesis 1:2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

When God began to arrange this world in order, it was shrouded in darkness, and it had been reduced to what we call, for want of a better name, "chaos." This is just the condition of every soul of man when God begins to deal with him in his grace; it is formless, and empty of all good things. "There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way."

Genesis 1:2. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

This was the first act of God in preparing this planet to be the abode of man, and the first act of grace in the soul is for the Spirit of God to move within it. How that Spirit of God comes there, we know not, we cannot tell how he acts, even as we cannot tell how the wind blows where it wills, but until the Spirit of God moves upon the soul nothing is done towards its new creation in Christ Jesus.

Genesis 1:3-4. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

"Light be." "Light was." God had but to speak the word, and the great wonder was accomplished. How there was light before there was any sun, — for the sun was not created until the fourth day of the week — it is not for us to say. But God is not dependent upon his own creation. He can make light without a sun, he can spread the gospel without the aid of ministers, he can convert souls without any human or angelic agency, for he does as he wills in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.

Genesis 1:5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

It is a good thing to have the right names for things. An error is often half killed when you, you know the real name of it; its power lies in its being indescribable; but as soon as you, you can call it "darkness," you, you know how to act towards it. It is a good thing also to know the names of truths, and the names of other things that are right. God is very particular in the Scripture about giving people their right names. The Holy Spirit says, "Judas, not Iscariot," so that there should be no mistake about the person intended. Let us also always call persons and things by their right names: "God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night." "And the evening and the morning were the first day." Darkness first and light afterwards. It is so with us spiritually; first darkness, then light. I suppose that, until we get to Heaven, there will be both darkness and light in us; and as to God’s providential dealings, we must expect darkness as well as light. They will make up our first day and our last day, until we get where there are no days but the Ancient of Days.

Genesis 1:6-8. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

"The firmament" — an expanse of air in which floated the waters which afterwards condensed, and fell upon the earth in refreshing showers. These waters above were divided from the waters below. Perhaps they were all one steamy conglomeration before, but now they are separated. Note those four words, "and it was so." Whatever God ordains always comes. You, you will find that it is true of all his promises that, whatever he has said, shall be fulfilled to you, you, and you, you shall one day say of it all, "and it was so." It is equally certain concerning all his threatenings that what he has spoken shall certainly be fulfilled, and the ungodly will have to say "and it was so." These words are often repeated in this chapter. They convey to us the great lesson that the word of God is sure to be followed by the deed of God. He speaks, and it is done.

Genesis 1:9-13. And God said, Let the waters under the Heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

Having attended to the air, God further exercised his power by setting the earth in order. Observe the remarkable fact that, no sooner had God made the dry land appear, than it seemed as if he could not bear the sight of it in its nakedness. What a strange place this world must have looked, with its plains and hills and rooks and vales without one single blade of grass, or a tree, or a shrub; so at once, before that day was over, God threw the mantle of verdure over the earth, and clad its mountains and valleys with forests and plants and flowers, as if to show us that the fruitless is uncomely in God’s sight, that the man who bears no fruit unto God is unendurable to him. There would be no beauty whatever in a Christian without any good works, and with no graces. As soon as ever the earth appeared, then came the herb, and the tree, and the grass. So, dear brethren, in like manner, let us bring forth fruit unto God, and bring it forth abundantly, for herein is our heavenly Father glorified, that we bear much fruit.

Genesis 1:14-19. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the Heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the Heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the Heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Whether the sun and moon are here said to be absolutely created, or whether they were only created so far as our planet was concerned by the dense vapors being cleared away so that the sun and moon and stars could be seen, is a matter of no consequence at all to us. Let us rather learn a lesson from them. These lights are to rule, but they are to rule by giving light. And, brethren, this is the true rule in the Church of God. He who gives most light is the truest ruler, and the man who aspires to leadership in the Church of God, if he knows what he is at, aspires to be the servant of all by laying himself out for the good of all, even as our Savior said to his disciples, "Whoever of you, you will be the chief, shall be servant of all." The sun and moon are the servants of all mankind, and therefore do they rule by day and by night. Stoop, my brothers, if you, you wish to lead others. The way up is downward. To be great, you, you must be little. He is the greatest who is nothing at all unto himself, but all for others.

Genesis 1:20-23. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and bird that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of Heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged bird after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let bird multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

There was no life in the sea or on the land until all was ready for it. God would not make a creature to be unhappy. There must be suitable food to feed upon, and the sun and moon to cheer and comfort before a single bird shall chirp in the thicket or a solitary trout shall leap in the stream. So, after God has given men light, and blessed them in various ways, their spiritual life begins to develop to the glory of God. We have the thoughts that soar like bird in the open firmament of Heaven, and other thoughts that dive into the mysteries of God, as the fish dive in the sea, and these are after-development, after-growths of that same power which at the first said, "Let there be light."

Genesis 1:24-25. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

There is as much wisdom and care displayed in the creation of the tiniest creeping insect as in the creation of leviathan himself. Those who use the microscope are as much amazed at the greatness and the goodness of God as those are who use the telescope. He is as great in the little as he is in the great. After each day’s work, God looks upon it, and it is well for us every night to review our day’s work. Some men’s work will not bear looking at, and tomorrow becomes all the worse to them because today was not considered and its sin repented of by them. But if the errors of today are marked by us, a repetition of them may be avoided on the morrow. It is only God who can look upon any one day’s work, and say of it, as a whole, and in every part, that it is "good." As for us, our best things need sprinkling with the blood of Christ, which we need not only on the lintels and side posts of our house, but even on the altar and the mercy-seat at which we worship God.

Genesis 1:26-28. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the bird of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the bird of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.

God evidently meant the two persons, male and female, to complete the man, and the entireness of the manhood lies in them both. The earth is completed now that man has come upon it, and man is completed when the image of God is upon him, when Christ is formed in him the hope of glory, but not until then. When we have received the power of God, and have dominion over ourselves, and over all earthly things, in the power of God’s eternal Spirit, then are we where and what God intends us to be.

Genesis 1:29-30. And God said, Behold, I have given you, you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you, you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

Now you, you see God’s commissariat. He has not made all these creatures in order to starve them, but he has supplied them with great variety and abundance of food, that their wants may be satisfied. Does God care for the cattle, and will he not feed his own children? Does he provide for ravens and sparrows, and will he suffer you, you to lack anything, O you, you of little faith? Observe that God did not create man until he had provided for him neither will he ever put one work of his providence or of his grace out of its proper place, but that which goes before shall be preparatory to that which follows after.

Genesis 1:31. And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

Taken in its completeness, and all put together, God saw that it was very good. We must never judge anything before it is complete.

 

Chapter 2

 

Verses 1-17

 

Genesis 2:1-8. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to until the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Everything was ready for man’s use, every fruit-bearing tree for his nourishment, every creature to do his bidding, for it was the will of God that he should "have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the bird of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." God did not place the man formed in his image, after his likeness, in an unfurnished house or an empty world, and leave him to provide for himself all that he required but he prepared everything that man could possibly need, and completed the whole plan by planting "a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed."

Genesis 2:9. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

That tree of life in the midst of the earthly paradise was to be symbolic of another tree of life in the paradise above, from which the children of God shall never be driven as Adam and Eve were driven out of Eden.

Genesis 2:10-14. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pishon: that is it which compasses the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasses the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goes toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

That river in Eden also reminds us of the "pure river of water of life clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb," of which we read almost at the end of the Revelation that was given to John in Patmos. Thus the beginning and the end of the Bible call our attention to the tree of life and the river of life in the paradise below and the better paradise above.

Genesis 2:15. And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

There was to be occupation for man even in paradise, just as they who are before the throne of God in glory "serve him day and night in his temple." Idleness gives no joy, but holy employment will add to the bliss of Heaven.

Genesis 2:16-17. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden, you, you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you, you eat thereof you, you shall surely die.

Apparently, Adam was not forbidden to eat of the fruit of the tree of life, though, after his fail, he was cast out of Eden, as God said, "lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever." He might freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except one: "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you, you shall not eat of it." It was a slight prohibition, yet the test was more than man, even in a state of innocence, was able to endure, and, alas! his failure involved all his descendants, for he was the federal head of the human race, and "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men." Happily, there is another federal Head, and therefore we read, "For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded unto many."

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 2:1-17; and Revelation 22.

 

Chapter 3

 

Verses 1-24

 

Genesis 3:1-9. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yes, has God said, You, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You, you shall not eat of it, neither shall you, you touch it, lest you, you die. And the serpent said unto the woman, You, you shall not surely die: For God does know that in the day you, you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you, you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed; fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. .And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where are you, you?

In tones of mingled pity and rebuke he asked, "Where are you, you?"

Genesis 3:10-11. And he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, —

Note the calm majesty of every word. Here is no human passion, but divine dignity: "And he said," —

Genesis 3:11-12. Who told you, you that you, you were naked? Have you, you eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded you, you that you, you should not eat! And the man said, The woman whom you, you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

There is no sign of true confession here. Adam had been an unfallen creature a few hours before, but, now, he had broken the commandment of the Lord, and you, you can see how completely death was brought into his moral nature; for if it had not been so, he would have said "My God, I have sinned, can you, you and will you, you forgive me?" But instead of doing so, he laid the blame for his sin upon his wife, which was an utterly mean action: "The woman whom you, you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." He almost seemed to lay the blame upon God because he had given him the woman to be with him. He was guilty of unkindness to his wife and of blasphemy against his maker, in seeking to escape from confessing the sin which he had committed. It is an ill sign with men when they cannot be brought frankly to acknowledge their wrong-doing.

Genesis 3:13. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that you, you have done?

Oh, that question! How far reaching it is! By her action, and her husband’s, the flood-gates had been pulled up, and the flood of sin had been let loose upon the world. They had struck a match, and set the world on fire with sin. And every one of our sins is essentially of the same nature, and has in it, substantially, the same mischief. Oh, that at any time when we have sinned, God would ask each one of us the question, "What is it that you, you have done?"

Genesis 3:13. And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Still, you, you see, there is no confession of guilt, but only the attempt to push the blame off upon somebody else. The Lord God did not ask the serpent anything, for he knew that he was a liar, but he at once pronounced sentence upon him: —

Genesis 3:14-15. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because you, you have done this, you, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon your belly shall you, you go, and dust shall you, you eat all the days of your life: And I will put enmity between you, you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you, you shall bruise his heel.

And, now, there is no creature so degraded as that once bright angel, who is now the devil. He is always going about with serpentine wriggling, Seeking to do more mischief. On his belly does he go, and still is dust his meat. That which is foul, material, carnal, he delights in. And his head is bruised, blessed be the name of the Woman’s promised seed! The old serpent’s head is bruised with a fatal bruising, while the wounded heel of our Savior is the joy and delight of our hearts.

Genesis 3:16-17. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in sorrow you, you shall bring forth children; and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you, you. And unto Adam he said, Because you, you have hearkened unto the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, you, saying, You, you shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you, you eat of it all the days of your life;

How obliquely fell the curse! Not, "Cursed are you, you," as the Lord said to the serpent; but, "Cursed is the ground for your sake."

Genesis 3:18-21. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to you, you; and you, you shall eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of your face shall you, you eat bread, until you, you return unto the ground; for out of it were you, you taken: for dust you, you are, and unto dust shall you, you return. And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Some creature had to die in order to provide them with garments, and you, you know who it is that died in order that we might be robed in his spotless righteousness. The Lamb of God has made for us a garment which covers our nakedness so that we are not afraid to stand even before the bar of God.

Genesis 3:22-24. And the Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to until the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 7

 

Verses 1-24

 

Genesis 7:1. And the Lord said unto Noah, Come you, you and all your house into the ark;

Notice that the Lord did not say to Noah, "Go into the ark," but "Come," plainly implying that God was himself in the ark, waiting to receive Noah and his family into the big ship that was to be their place of refuge while all the other people on the face of the earth were drowned. The distinctive word of the gospel is a drawing word: "Come." Jesus says, "Come unto me, all you, you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you, you rest;" and he will say to his people at the last, "Come, you, you blessed of my Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you, you from the foundation of the world." "Depart" is the word of justice and judgment, but "Come" is the word of mercy and grace. "The Lord said unto Noah, Come you, you and all your house into the ark;" —

Genesis 7:1. For you, you have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

Therefore God drew a distinction between him and the unrighteous, for he always has a special regard for godly people.

Genesis 7:2-3. Of every clean beast you, you shall take to you, you by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of birds also of the air by sevens the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

Of the clean creatures which might be offered in sacrifice to God you, you see that there was a larger proportion than there was of the unclean, that there might be sufficient for sacrifice without the destruction of any species. The unclean beasts were mostly killers and devourers of others, and therefore their number we to be less than that of the clean species. Oh, that the day might soon come when there would be more of clean men and women than of unclean, when there would be fewer sinners than godly people in the world, though even then there would be the ungodly "by two" like the unclean beasts.

Genesis 7:4. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

It is the prerogative of the king to have the power of life and death, and it is the sole prerogative of the King of kings that — "He can create, and he can destroy." But what destructive power is brought into operation because of human sin! Sin must be a very heinous thing, since God, who despises not the work of his own hands, will sooner break up the human race, and destroy everything that lives rather than that sin should continue to defile the earth. He has destroyed the earth once by water because of sin, and he will the second time destroy it by fire for the selfsame reason. Wherever sin is, God will hunt it; with barbed arrows will he shoot at it; he will cut it in pieces with his sharp two-edged sword, for he cannot endure sin. Oh, how foolish are they who harbor it in their own bosoms, for it will bring destruction to them if they keep it there!

Genesis 7:5. And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.

Here was positive proof of his righteousness, in that he was obedient to the word of the Lord. A man who does not obey God’s commands may talk about righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith, but it is clear that he does not possess it, for faith works by love, and the righteousness which is by faith is proved by obedience to God. "Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him," and so proved that he was righteous before God.

Genesis 7:6. And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

He was nearly five hundred years old when he began to preach about the flood, — a good old age to take up such a subject. For a hundred and twenty years he pursued his theme, — three times as long as most men are ever able to preach, and now at last God’s time of long-suffering is over, and he proves the truthfulness of the testimony of his servant by sending the flood that Noah had foretold.

Genesis 7:7-8. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps upon the earth,

This largest and most complete menagerie that was ever gathered together was not collected by human skill; divine power alone could have accomplished such a task as that.

Genesis 7:9. There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

They "went in." Noah had not to hunt or search for them, but they came according to God’s plan and purpose, even as, concerning the salvation which is by Christ Jesus, his people shall be willing to come to him in the day of his power; with joyfulness shall they come into the ark of their salvation.

Genesis 7:10-11. And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of Heaven were opened.

Perhaps the world was in its prime, when the trees were in bloom, and the birds were singing in their branches, and the flowers were blooming on the earth, "the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of Heaven were opened."

Genesis 7:12-13. And the rain was upon the earth forty day and forty nights. In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

These eight persons are very carefully mentioned. "The Lord knows them that are his," "and they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up" — or, shut up — "my jewels," as he was about to do in the case. In similar fashion, God makes a very careful enumeration of all those who believe in him, precious are they in his sight, and they shall be preserved when all others are destroyed.

Genesis 7:14. They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth after his kind, and every bird after his kind, every bird of every sort.

"Every bird of every sort," that is, every kind of bird; they are all mentioned over again. God makes much of salvation, oh, that we also did! We may recount and rehearse the story of our rescue from universal destruction, and we need not be afraid or ashamed of repeating it. As the Holy Spirit repeats the words we have here, you, you and I may often tell out the story of our salvation, and dwell upon the minute particulars of it, for every item of it is full of instruction.

Genesis 7:15-16. And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.

Now the jewels are all in, and therefore the casket is closed.

Genesis 7:17. And the flood was forty days upon the earth;

Just as it had been foretold, for God’s providence always tallies with his promises or with his threats. "Has he said, and shall he not do it?"

Genesis 7:17. And the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

You, you can see it begin to move until it is afloat. The same effect is often produced on us; when the flood of affliction is deep, then we begin to rise. Oh, how often have we been lifted up above the earth by the very force that threatened to drench and drown us! David said, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted," and many another saint can say that he never was floated until the floods were out, but then he left the worldliness with which he had been satisfied before, and he began to rise to a higher level than he had previously attained.

Genesis 7:18-19. And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole Heaven, were covered.

If Moses had meant to describe a partial deluge upon only a small part of the earth, he used very misleading language; but if he meant to teach was that the deluge was universal, he used the very word which we might have expected that he would use. I should think that no person, merely by reading this chapter, would arrive at the conclusion that has been reached by some of our very learned men, — too learned to hold the simple truth. It looks as if the deluge must have been universal when we read that not only did the waters prevail exceedingly upon the earth, but that "all the high hills, that were under the whole Heaven;" that is, all beneath the canopy of the sky, "were covered." What could be more plain and clear than that?

Genesis 7:20-23. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of bird, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the bird of the Heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

This is the counterpart of what will follow the preaching of the gospel those who are in Christ shall live, shall rise, and reign with him forever but none of those who are outside of Christ shall so live. "Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark."

Genesis 7:24. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

 

Chapter 8

 

Verses 1-22

 

Genesis 8:1. And God remembered Noah,

Noah had been shut up in the ark for many a day, and at the right time God thought of him, practically thought of him, and came to visit him. Dear heart, you, you have been shut out from the world now for many days, but God has not forgotten you, you. God remembered Noah, and he remembers you, you.

Genesis 8:1. And every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark:

Does God remember cattle? Then he will certainly remember men made in his own image He will remember you, you, though you, you think yourself the most worthless one on the face of the earth: "God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark."

Genesis 8:1. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;

Winds and waves are wholly under God’s control. I suppose that this was a very drying wind, so the waters began to turn to vapor, and gradually to disappear. It is God who sends the winds; they seem most volatile and irregular, but God sends them to do his bidding. Blow it east, or blow it west, the wind comes from God; and whether the waters increase or are assuaged, it is God’s doing. Are the waters very deep with you, you, dear friend? God can dry them up, and, singularly enough, he can stop one trouble with another, he can dry up the water with the wind. I have known him very strangely with his people, and when they thought they were quite forgotten, he has proved that he remembered them, and both the winds of Heaven and the waters of the sea have had to work their good. There is not an angel in Heaven but God will make him to be a servant to you, you if you, you need him; there is not a wind in any quarter of the globe but God will guide it to you, you if it is necessary; and there are no waves of the sea but shall obey the Lord’s will concerning you, you.

Genesis 8:2. The fountains also of the deep and the windows of Heaven were stopped, and the rain from Heaven was restrained;

God works upwards, and stops the windows of Heaven. He works downwards, and stays the breaking up of the fountains of the deep.

"He everywhere has sway,

And all things serve his might."

Be not afraid; he can open the windows of Heaven, and pour down abundant blessings for you, you, and he can let down the cellar-flaps of the great deep, and stop its flowing fountains.

"When he makes bare his arm,

What shall his work withstand?"

Genesis 8:3-5. And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

God told Noah when to go into the ark, but he did not tell him when he should come out again. The Lord told Noah when to go in, for it was necessary for him to know that; but he did not tell him when he should come out, for it was unnecessary that he should know that. God always lets his people know what is practically for their good. There are many curious points on which we should like to have information, but God has not revealed it, and when he has not revealed anything, we had better not try to unravel the mystery. No good comes of prying into unrevealed truth. Noah knew that he would come out of the ark one day, for was he not preserved there to be a seed-to keep the race alive? Noah was not told when he should be released, and the Lord does not tell you, you when your trouble will come to an end. It will come to an end; therefore wait, and be patient, and do not want to know the time of your deliverance. We should know too much if we knew all that will happen in the future. It is quite enough for us if we do our duty in the present, and trust God for the rest. Still, I think that Noah must have been very pleased when he felt the ark grating at last on the mountains of Ararat. He could not build a cook for his big ship; but God had prepared a berth for it on the mountain side Now, as he looked out, he could see, here and there, a mountain top rising like an island out of the great expanse of water.

Genesis 8:6-7. And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro,

Sometimes alighting on the ark; then flying away again.

Genesis 8:7-10. Until the waters were dried up from of the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from of the face of the ground; But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet other seven days;

I wonder whether Noah sent out these creatures on the Sabbath mornings. The mention of seven days, and the resting in between seems to look like it. Oh, dear friends, sometimes people send out a raven on the Lord’s day morning, and it never brings them anything. Send out a dove rather than a raven; come to the house of God with quiet, gentle, holy expectation, and your dove will come back to you, you. It may be that it will bring you, you something worth bringing one of these days, as Noah’s dove brought to him.

Genesis 8:10-11. And again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

The waters were abated as far as the fruit trees; not only the tallest forest trees, but some of the fruit trees were uncovered from the water. The dove had plucked off "an olive leaf." Perhaps you, you have seen a picture of the dove carrying an olive branch in its mouth, which, in the first place, a dove could not pluck out of the tree, and in the second place, a dove could not carry an olive branch even if she could pluck it off. It was an olive leaf, that is all. Why cannot people keep to the words of Scripture? If the Bible mentions a leaf, they make it a bough; and if the Bible says it is a bough, they make it a leaf.

Genesis 8:12. And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

Noah could read something from that leaf that the dove brought to him, but he learned more when she did not return to him. He knew that she had found a proper resting-place, and that the earth was clear of the flood.

Genesis 8:13. And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth:

That was a happy New Year’s day for Noah. He was glad to find himself at rest once more, though not yet at liberty.

Genesis 8:13. And Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

Why did not Noah come out? Well, you, you see, he had gone in by the door, and he meant to come out by the door, and he who opened the door for him, and shut him in, must now open the door for him, and let him out. He waits God’s time, and we are always wise in doing that. You, you lose a great deal of time by being in a hurry. Many people think they have done a great deal when they have really done nothing. Better take time in order to save time. Slow is sometimes faster than fast. So Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked out, but he did not go out until God commanded him to do so.

Genesis 8:14. And in the second month,

Nearly two months Noah waited for the complete drying of the earth.

Genesis 8:14. On the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.

"The face of the ground was dry" in the first month; "the earth was dried," the second month. Noah might have thought it was dry enough before; but God did not think so, there was enough mud to breed a pestilence, so Noah must wait until God had made the earth ready for him.

Genesis 8:15-16. And God spoke unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark,

Noah must wait until God speaks to him. Oh, that some people would wait for God’s command, but they will not! He shall bless your going out and your coming in if you, you will go forth and come in when he bids you, you. "Go forth," says the Lord, "Go forth of the ark."

Genesis 8:16-19. You, you, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons’ wives with you, you. Bring forth with you, you every living thing that is with you, you, of all flesh, both of bird, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him: Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, and whatever creeps upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

That was a very wonderful procession, it was the new beginning of everything upon the earth. Whatever evolution or any other folly or evil of man may have done, everything had to begin again over. Everybody was drowned save these great fathers of the new age, and all must begin from this stock.

Genesis 8:20. And Noah built an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Common sense would have said, "Spare them, for you, you will want every one of them." But grace said, "Slay them, for they belong to God. Give Jehovah his due." I have often admired that widow of Sarepta. When she had but a handful of meal, she made a little cake for God’s prophet first, but then God multiplied her meal and her oil. Oh, if we would but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all things should be added unto us! Out of the small stock he had, Noah took of the clean beasts, and of the clean birds, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Genesis 8:21. And the Lord smelled a sweet savor;

Noah’s faith was pleasing to God. It was Noah’s confidence in a bleeding sacrifice that gave him acceptance with the Lord. God thought upon his Son, and that great Sacrifice to be offered long afterwards on the cross, and he "smelled a sweet savor."

Genesis 8:21. And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.

God always speaks comfortable words to those who bring an acceptable sacrifice. If you, you would hear the voice of a divine promise, go to the atoning blood of Jesus. If you, you would know what perfect reconciliation means, his to the altar where the great Sacrifice was presented.

Genesis 8:22. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

They never have ceased. He have this year had a long and dreary winter; it looked as if spring would never come. Only a few days ago, the chestnuts were just beginning to turn green, and then there came the little spikes, and now you, you can see them in full flower. How faithfully God fulfills his covenant with the earth! How truly will he keep his covenant with every believing sinner! Oh, trust you, you in him, for his promise will stand fast forever!

Verses 15-22

 

Genesis 8:15-21. And God spoke unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, you, you, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons’ wives with you, you. Bring forth with you, you every living thing that is with you, you, of all flesh, both of bird, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him: every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, and whatever creeps upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. And Noah built an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savor;

Until then, the earth had been obnoxious to Jehovah. He had put it away from him as a foul thing, drowned beneath the flood; but after the offering of Noah’s sacrifice, the Lord smelled "a savor of rest."

Genesis 8:21-22. And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground. And any more for man’s sake, for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Thus we see what we may expect so long as the earth remains, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Now let us read a few verses from Jeremiah’s prophecy.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 8:15-22; and Jeremiah 33:15-26.

Verses 20-22

 

Genesis 8:20-21. And Noah built an altar unto the Lord and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offering on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savor; —

A savor of rest, —

Genesis 8:21-22. And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

So that you, you all live under a covenant, — a gracious covenant, and, by virtue of it, the day succeeds the night, the summer follows the winter, and the harvest in due course rewards the labor of the seedtime. All this ought to make us long to be under the yet fuller and higher covenant of grace, by which spiritual blessings would he scoured to us, — an eternal day to follow this earthly night, and a glorious harvest to follow this time of seed-sowing.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 8:20-22; Genesis 9:8-17; and Isaiah 54:1-10.

 

Chapter 9

 

Verses 8-17

 

Genesis 9:8-10. And God spoke unto Noah, and to his sons with him, sayings, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, you, and with your seed after you, you; And with every living creature that is with you, you, of the bird, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you, you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

Happy birds, and happy cattle, and happy beasts of the earth to be connected with Noah, and go to come under a covenant of preservation and we, — though only worthy to be typified by these creatures which God had preserved in the ark, — are thrice happy to be in the same covenant with him who is our Noah, our rest, our sweet savor unto God.

Genesis 9:11-17. And I will establish my covenant with you, you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you, you and every living creature that is with you, you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token for a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud. And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you, you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, —

What a wonderful expression that is! It is similar to that remarkable declaration of Jehovah, recorded in Exodus 12:13. "When I see the blood, I will pass over you, you." The blood was not to be sprinkled inside the house where the Israelites might be comforted by a sight of it, but outside the house, where only God could see it. It is for our sake that the rainbow is set in the cloud, and we can see it there; yet infinite mercy represents it as being there as a refreshment to the memory of God: "The bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it,"-

Genesis 9:16. That I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

So, when my eye of faith is dim, and I cannot see the covenant sign, I will remember that there is an eye which never can be dim, which always sees the covenant token; and so I shall still be secure notwithstanding the dimness of my spiritual vision. For our comfort, we must see it; but for our safety, blessed be God, it is only needful that he should see it.

Genesis 9:17. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

Now let us read what the Lord says, through the prophet Isaiah, concerning this covenant.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 8:20-22; Genesis 9:8-17; and Isaiah 54:1-10.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Verses 1-7

 

We will read two or three passages in the Book of Genesis concerning God blessing his servant Abraham. Turn first to the twelfth chapter.

Genesis 12:1. Now the lord had said unto Abram, Get you, you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, unto a land that I will show you, you:

It was God’s intention to keep his truth and his pure worship alive in the world by committing it to the charge of one man, and the nation that should spring from him. In the infinite sovereignty of his grace, he chose Abraham,—passing by all the rest of mankind,—and elected him to be the depository of the heavenly light, that through him it might be preserved in the world until the days when it should be more widely scattered. It seemed essential to this end that Abraham should come right out from his fellow-countrymen, and be separate unto Jehovah, so the Lord said to him, "Get you, you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, unto a land that I will show you, you."

Genesis 12:2-3. And I will make of you, you a great nation, and I will bless you, you, and make your name great; and you, you shall be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless you, you, and curse him that curses you, you: and in you, you shall all families of the earth be blessed.

There, you, you see, was the missionary character of the seed of Abraham, if they had but recognized it. God did not bless them for themselves alone, but for all nations: "In you, you shall all families of the earth be blessed."

Genesis 12:4. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

He had already attained a fine old age, but he had another century of life before him, which he could not then foresee, or expect. If, at his age, he had said, "Lord, I am too old to travel, too old to leave my country, and to begin to live a wandering life," we could not have wondered; but he did not talk in that fashion. He was commanded to go and we read, "So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him."

Genesis 12:5-6. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

Fierce and powerful nations possessed the country; it did not seem a very likely place to be the heritage of a peace-loving man like Abraham. God does not always fulfill his promises to his people at once; else, where would be the room for faith? This life of ours is to be a life of faith, and it will be well rewarded in the end. Abraham had not a foot of land to call his own, except that cave of Machpelah which he bought of the sons of Heth for a burying-place for his beloved Sarah.

Genesis 12:7. And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto your seed will I give this land: and there built he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.

Thus, you, you see, Abraham began his separated life with a blessing from the Lord his God.

Further on in his history he received a still larger blessing when he returned from his victory over the kings.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 12:1-7; Genesis 14:17-24; and Genesis 22:15-18.

 

Chapter 13

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 14

 

Verses 17-24

 

Genesis 14:17-18. And the King of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

One who exercised both the kingship and the priesthood, the only person that we know of who did this, and who, therefore, is a wonderful type of that marvelous King-Priest of whom we read in the 110th Psalm, and in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

Genesis 14:19-20. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of Heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

It must have been peculiarly refreshing to Abraham to be met by a man of kindred spirit, and one whom he recognized as his superior. No doubt he was weary, though triumphant; and so, just then, the Lord sent him special refreshment, and, beloved, how sweet it is to us when the greater Melchizedek meets us! Jesus Christ our great King-Priest, still meets us, and brings us bread and wine. Often, the very symbols on his table have been refreshing to us, but their inner meaning has been far more sustaining and comforting to our spirit. There is no food like the bread and wine that our blessed Melchizedek brings forth to us, even his own flesh and blood. Well may we give him tithes of all that we have. Nay more, we may say to him, "Take not tithes, O Lord, but take all!"

Genesis 14:21. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to yourself.

They were all Abraham’s by right as the spoils of war.

Genesis 14:22-23. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of Heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and that I will not take anything that is your, lest you, you should say, I have made Abram rich:

Sometimes, a child of God will find himself cast, through force of circumstances, into very curious companionship. For the sake of Lot, Abraham had to go and fight the enemies of the king of Sodom, and sometimes, in fighting for religious liberty, we have had to be associated with persons from whom we differ as much as Abraham differed from the king of Sodom but right must be fought for under all circumstances. Yet, sooner or later, there comes a crucial test in which our true character will be discovered. Shall we personally gain anything by this association? We loathe it even while we recognize that it is needful for the time being, but we have not entered it for the sake of personal gain.

Genesis 14:24. Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

They had a right to it. What we do ourselves, we do not always expect others to do. There is a higher code of morals for the servant of God than for other men; and we may often think of what they do, and not condemn them, although we could not do the same ourselves, for we are lifted into a higher position as the servant of the Lord.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 14:17-24; Genesis 15.

 

Chapter 15

 

Verses 1-21

 

Genesis 15:1-3. After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am your shield, and your exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what will you, you give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me you, you have given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

Perhaps he did not doubt the promise, but he wanted to have it explained to him. He may have wondered if it meant that one born in his house, though not his son, was to be his heir; and that, through him, the blessing would come. He takes the opportunity of making an inquiry, that he may know how to act. At the same time, there does seem to be a clashing between Abraham’s question, "What will you, you give me?" and the declaration of God, "I am your shield, and your exceeding great reward." There is a great descent from the language of the Lord to that of the most stable believer, and when you, you and I are even at our best, I have no doubt that, if all could be recorded that we think and say, some of our fellow-believers would feel that the best of men are but men at the best, and that God’s language is after a nobler fashion than ours will ever be, until we have seen his face in glory.

Genesis 15:4-5. And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be your heir; but he who shall come out of your own affections shall be their heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward Heaven, and tell the stars, if you, you be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall your seed be.

Now was his faith tried indeed, he had no child, he was himself old, and his wife also was old, yet the Lord’s promise was, "So shall your seed be" as the stars of Heaven. Could he believe it? He did.

Genesis 15:6. And he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Oh, what a blessing to learn the way of ample faith in God! This is the saving quality in many a life. Look through Paul’s list of the heroes of faith; some of them are exceedingly imperfect characters’ some we should hardly have thought of mentioning, but they had faith; and although men, in their faulty judgment, think faith to be an inferior virtue, and often scarcely look upon it as a virtue at all, yet, in the judgment of God, faith is the supremest virtue. "This," said Christ, "is the work of God," the greatest of all works, "that you, you believe on him whom he has sent." To trust, to believe, this shall be counted to us for righteousness even as it was to Abraham.

Genesis 15:7-8. And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought you, you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you, you this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

What! Abraham, is not God’s promise sufficient for you, you? O father of the faithful, though you, you do believe, and are counted as righteous through believing, do you, you still ask, "Whereby shall I know?" Ah, beloved! faith is often marred by a measure of unbelief; or, if not quite unbelief, yet there is a desire to have some token, some sign, beyond the bare promise of God.

Genesis 15:9-11. And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fouls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

Here is a lesson for us. Perhaps you, you have some of these unclean birds coming down upon your sacrifice just now. That raven that you, you did not lock up well at home, has come here after you, you. Eagles and vultures, and all kinds of kites in the form of carking cares, and sad memories, and fears, and doubts, come hovering over the sacred feast. Drive them away; God give you, you grace to drive them away by the power of his gracious Spirit!

Genesis 15:12. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

He had asked for a manifestation, a sign, a token, and, lo, it comes in the "horror of great darkness." Do not be afraid, beloved, if your soul sometimes knows what horror is. Remember how the favored three, on the Mount of Transfiguration, "feared as they entered into the cloud;" yet it was there that they were to see their Master in his glory. Remember what the Lord said to Jeremiah concerning Jerusalem and his people, They shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it." That is the right spirit in which to receive prosperity, but as for adversity, rejoice in it, for God often sends the richest treasures to his children in wagons drawn by black horses. You, you may except that some great blessing is coming near to you, you when a "horror of great darkness" falls upon you, you.

Genesis 15:13. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

It was to be a long while before the nation should enter upon its inheritance. Here is a promise that was to take four hundred years to ripen! Some of you, you cannot believe the promise if its fulfillment is delayed for four days; you, you can hardly keep on praying, if it takes four years; what would you, you think of a four hundred years promise? Yet it was to be so long in coming to maturity because it was so vast. If Abraham’s seed was to be like the stars of Heaven for multitude, there must be time for the increase to come.

Genesis 15:14-17. And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you, you shall be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

True emblems of the Church of God with her smoke and her light, her trying affliction, yet the grace by which she still keeps burning and shining in the world.

Genesis 15:18-21. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

He mentions the adversaries to show how great would be the victories of the race that should come and dispossess them. Let us always look upon the list of our difficulties as only a catalogue of our triumphs. The greater our troubles, the louder our song at the last.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 14:17-24; Genesis 15.

 

Chapter 16

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 17

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 18

 

Verses 17-33

 

Genesis 18:17-19. And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of him.

Abraham is called "the friend of God." It was not merely that God was his Friend; that was blessedly true, and it was a great wonder of grace; but he was honored to be called "the friend of God"’-one with whom God could hold sweet converse, a man after his own heart, in whom he trusted to whom he revealed his secrets. I am afraid there are not many men of Abraham’s sort in the world even now; but, wherever there is such a man, with whom God is familiar, he will be sure to be one who orders his household aright. If the Lord is my Friend, and if I am indeed his friend, I shall wish him to be respected by my children, and I shall endeavor to dedicate my children to his service. I fear that the decline of family godliness, which is so sadly remarkable in these days, is the source of a great many of the crying sins of the age; the Church of God at large would have been more separate from the world if the little church in each man’s house had been more carefully trained for God. If you, you want the Lord to confide in you, you, and to trust you, you with his secrets, you, you must see that he is able to say of you, you what he said of Abraham, "he will command his children and his household after him."

Genesis 18:20-22. And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord.

He was in no hurry to close that blessed interview; when he had once come into the Lord’s immediate presence, he lingered there. Those who are friends of God like to be much in their Lord’s company.

Genesis 18:23. And Abraham drew near,

There is nothing like coming very close to God in prayer: "Abraham drew near." He was about to use his influence with his great Friend; not for himself, but for these men of Sodom, who were going to be destroyed. Happy are those who, when they are near to God, use the opportunity in pleading for others, ay, even for the most wicked and abandoned of men.

Genesis 18:23-25. And said, Will you, you also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Perhaps there be fifty righteous within the city: will you, you also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from you, you to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from you, you: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

Abraham bases his argument upon the justice of God; and when a man dares to do that, it is mighty pleading, for, depend upon it, God will never do an unjust thing. If you, you dare to plead his righteousness, his infallible justice, you, you plead most powerfully.

Genesis 18:26-30. And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: perhaps there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: will you, you destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spoke unto him yet again, and said, Perhaps there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake. And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Perhaps there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.

This time the patriarch has advanced by ten; before, it was by fives. Pleading men grow bolder and braver in their requests. A man who is very familiar with God will, by-and-by, venture to say that which, at the first, he would not have dared to utter.

Genesis 18:31-32. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Perhaps there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Perhaps ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

He went no farther than to plead that Sodom might be spared if ten righteous persons could be found in it. I have heard some say that it was a pity Abraham did not go on pleading with God; but I would not dare to say so. He knew better when to begin and when to leave off than you, you and I do; there are certain restraints in prayer which a man of God cannot explain to others, but which he, nevertheless, himself feels. God moves his servants to pray in a certain case, and they do pray with great liberty and manifest power. Another case may seem to be precisely like it: yet the mouth of the former suppliant is shut, and in his heart he does not feel that he can pray as he did before. Do I blame the men of God? Assuredly not; the Lord deals wisely with his servants, and he tells them, by gentle hints, which they quickly understand, when and where to stop in their supplications.

Genesis 18:33. And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

We know that the angels went down to Sodom, where they were received by Lot, and despitefully used by the Sodomites. We will continue our reading at the twelfth verse of the next chapter.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 18:17-33; Genesis 19:12-28.

 

Chapter 19

 

Verses 12-28

 

Genesis 19:12. And the men said unto Lot, Have you, you here any besides? son in law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whatever you, you have in the city, bring them out of this place:

Let me bid every Christian man to look about him, among all his kith and kin, to see which of them yet remain unconverted. Let your prayers go up for them all: "Son in law, and your sons, and your daughters."

Genesis 19:13-14. For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord and the Lord has sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out, and spoke unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you, you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

"The old man is in his dotage," said they; "he always was peculiar, he never acted like the rest of the citizens; he came in here as a stranger, and he has always been strange in his behavior."

Genesis 19:15-16. And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take your wife, and your two daughters, which are here; lest you, you be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him; and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

I have always felt pleased to think that there were just hands enough to lead out these four people, Lot, and his wife, and their two daughters. Had there been one more, there would have been no hand to lay hold of the fifth person; but these two angels, with their four hands, could just lead these four persons outside the doomed city. God will always have agents enough to save his elect; there shall be sufficient gospel preaching, even in the darkest and deadest times, to bring his redeemed out of the City of Destruction. God will miss none of his own.

Genesis 19:17. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for your life; look not behind you, you, neither stay you, you in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest you, you be consumed.

Perhaps the old man’s legs trembled under him; he felt that he could not run so far; and, beside, the mountain seemed so bleak and dreary, he could not quite quit the abodes of men.

Genesis 19:18-21. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, your servant has found grace in your sight, and you, you have magnified your mercy, which you, you have showed unto me in saying my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted you, you concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for you, you have spoken.

I think that I have said to you, you before that this sparing of Zoar is an instance of the cumulative power of prayer. I may liken Abraham’s mighty pleading to a ton weight of prayer, supplication that had a wonderful force and power. Lot’s petition is only like an ounce of prayer. Poor little Lot, what a poor little prayer his was! Yet that ounce turned the scale. So, it may be that there is some mighty man of God who is near to prevailing with God, but he cannot quite obtain his request; but you, you, poor feeble pleader that you, you are, shall add your feather’s weight to his great intercession, and then the scale will turn. This narrative always comforts me I think that Zoar was preserved, not so much by the prayer of Lot, as by the greater prayer of Abraham which had gone before; yet the mighty intercession of the friend of God did not prevail until it was supported by the feeble petition of poor Lot.

Genesis 19:22. Haste you, you, escape thither;

The hand of justice was held back until God’s servant was safe. There can be no destruction of the world, there can be no pouring out of the last plagues, there can be no total sweeping away of the ungodly until, first of all, the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads, and taken to a place of security. The Lord will preserve his own. He lets the scaffold stand until the building is finished; then, it will come down fast enough.

Genesis 19:22-28. For I cannot do anything until you, you be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that, which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham got up early in. the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord: and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

What must Abraham’s meditations have been! What should be the meditations of every godly man as he looks towards Sodom, and sees the smoke of its destruction? It might do some men great good if they would not persistently shut their eyes to the doom of the wicked. Look, look, I pray you, you, upon that place of darkness and woe where every impenitent and unbelieving spirit must be banished forever from the presence of the Lord! Look until the tears are in your eyes as you, you thank God that you, you are rescued from so terrible a doom! Look until your heart melts with pity for the many who are going the downward road, and who will eternally ruin themselves unless almighty grace prevent!

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 18:17-33; Genesis 19:12-28.

 

Chapter 20

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 22

 

Verses 1-19

 

Genesis 22:1. And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt-

That is, "God did test or try"-

Genesis 22:1-2. Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now your son,

"But, Lord, I have two sons, Ishmael and Isaac."

Genesis 22:2. Your only son,

"But, Lord, both Ishmael and Isaac are my sons, and each of them is the only son of his mother."

Genesis 22:2. Isaac, whom you, you love,

See how definitely God points out to Abraham the son who is to be the means of the great trial of his father’s faith: "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you, you loves","-

Genesis 22:2. And get you, you into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you, you of.

It was usually the way, in God’s commands to Abraham, to make him sail under sealed orders. When he was first bidden to leave his country and his kindred, and his father’s house, he had to go to a land that God would show him. They have true faith who can go forth at God’s command, not knowing where they are going. So Abraham did, and now the Lord says to him, "Take Isaac, and offer him for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you, you of."

Genesis 22:3. And Abraham rose up early in the morning,-

Obedience should be prompt, we should show our willingness to obey the Lord’s command by not delaying: "Abraham rose up early in the morning,"-

Genesis 22:3. And saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and cleave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

All the details are mentioned, for true obedience is very careful of detail. They who would serve God aright must serve him faithfully in little things as well as in great ones. There must be a saddling of the donkey, a calling of the two young men as well as Isaac, and a cleaving of the wood for the burnt offering. We must do everything that is included in the bounds of the divine command, and do it all with scrupulous exactness and care. Indifferent obedience to God’s command is practically disobedience, careless obedience is dead obedience, the heart is gone out of it. Let us learn from Abraham how to obey.

Genesis 22:4. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

His was deliberate obedience; he could bear suspense, thinking over the whole matter for three days, and setting his face like a flint to obey his Lord’s command.

Genesis 22:5. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide you, you here with the donkey; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you, you.

Abraham did not deceive the young men, he believed that he and Isaac would come to them again. He believed that though he might be compelled to say his son, "God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." Abraham bade the young men stay where they were, they must not see all that he was to do before the Lord. Oftentimes, our highest obedience must be a solitary one; friends cannot help us in such emergencies, and it is better for them and better for us that they should not be with us.

Genesis 22:6. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife;

That knife was cutting into his own heart all the while, yet he took it. Unbelief would have left the knife at home, but genuine faith takes it.

Genesis 22:6-8. And they went both of them together. And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

Abraham here spoke like a prophet; in fact, throughout this whole incident, he never opened his mouth without a prophetic utterance; and I believe that, when men walk with God, and live near to God, they will possibly even without being aware of it, speak very weighty words which will have much more in them than they themselves apprehend. Is it not written, concerning the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, "his leaf also shall not wither"? Not only shall his fruit be abundant, but his casual word, "his leaf also shall not wither." So was it with it Abraham. He spoke like a prophet of God when he was really speaking to his son in the anguish of his spirit, and in his prophetic utterance we find the sum end substance of the gospel: "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering." He is the great Provider, and he provides the offering, not only for us, but for himself, for the sacrifice was necessary to God as well as to man. And it is a burnt offering, not only a sin-offering but an offering of a sweet savor unto himself. "So they went both of them together." Twice we are told this, for this incident is a type of the Father going with the Son and the Son going with the Father up to the great sacrifice on Calvary. It was not Christ alone who willingly died, or the Father alone who gave his Son, but they went both of them together," even as Abraham and Isaac did here.

Genesis 22:9. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there,

See him pulling out the large, rough, unhewn stones that lay round about the place, and then fling them up into an altar.

Genesis 22:9-10. And laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

So that, in intent and purpose, he had consummated the sacrifice, and therefore we read in Hebrew 11:17, "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he who had received the promises offered up his only-begotten son." He had virtually done so in the esteem of God though no trace of a wound could be found upon Isaac. How often God takes the will for the deed with his people! When he finds them willing to make the sacrifice that he demands, he often does not require it at their hands. If you, you are willing to suffer for Christ’s sake, it may be that you, you shall not be caused to suffer and if you, you are willing to be a martyr for the truth, you, you may be permitted to wear the martyr’s crown even though you, you are never called to stand at the stake, the scaffold or the block.

Genesis 22:11. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of Heaven, and said Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

Abraham always gives the same answer to the Lord’s call, "Here am I."

Genesis 22:12. And he said, Lay not your hand upon the lad, neither do you, you anything unto him: for now I know that you, you fear God, seeing you, you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.

The needful test had been applied, and Abraham’s faith had endured the trial. God knows all things by his divine omniscience, but now he knew by this severe test and trial which he had applied, that Abraham really loved him best of all. Notice that the angel says, "Now I know that you, you fear God." I do not think that the gracious use of godly fear has ever been sufficiently estimated by the most of us; here, the stress is not laid upon the faith, but upon the filial fear of Abraham. That holy awe, that sacred reverence of God is the very essence of our acceptance with him." The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." "The Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him." This is a very different thing from slavish fear; it is a right sort of fear, the kind of fear that love does not cast out, but which love lives with in happy fellowship.

Genesis 22:13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Here is another type of our Savior’s great sacrifice on Calvary,-the ram offered in the place of Jesus. How often do you, you and I have our great Substitute very near to us, yet we do not see him because we do not lift up our eyes and look. "Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns." So, if you, you lift up your eyes, and look the right, ay, you, you will see the great sacrifice close by you, you held fast for you, you, even as this ram was caught to die instead of Isaac. Oh, that you, you may have grace to turn your head in the right direction, and look to Christ and live!

Genesis 22:14. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

God will foresee; "God will"-as we usually say,-"provide," which is being interpreted, fore-see. He will have everything ready against the time when it will be needed. He who provided the ram for a burnt offering in the place of Isaac will provide everything else that is required; and you, you may depend upon it that he who, in the greatest emergency that could ever happen, provided his only-begotten and well-beloved Son to die us the Substitute for sinners, will have foreseen every other emergency that can occur, and will have fore-provided all that is needful to meet it. Blessed be the name of Jehovah-jireh!

Genesis 22:15-16. And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of Heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, says the Lord,

"Because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself."

Genesis 22:16-18. For because you, you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son: that in blessing I will bless you, you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the Heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because you, you have obeyed my voice.

There stands the old covenant, the covenant of grace made with Abraham concerning his seed. Paul writes to the Galatians, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He says not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to your seed, which is Christ." It is in Christ that all the nations of the earth are to be blessed. If there is a nation that has not yet heard the gospel, it must hear it, for so the promise stands, "In your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." We may look for a glorious future from the preaching of Christ throughout every land, for so the covenant was made with Abraham because he had obeyed God’s voice.

God had been good to Abraham before that time, for he was his beloved friend, but now he lifts him up to a higher platform altogether, and makes him a greater blessing than ever. It may be that God is about to test and try some of you, you in order that he may afterwards make you, you to be greater and more useful than you, you have ever been before.

Genesis 22:19. So Abraham returned unto his young men,

As he said that he would.

Genesis 22:19. And they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

So the Lord bore his servant through this great trial, and blessed him more than he had ever blessed him before.

Verses 15-18

 

Genesis 22:15. And the angel of the lord called unto Abraham out of Heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, says the lord, for because you, you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son: that in blessing I will bless you, you,—

"Whenever I am engaged in blessing, I will bless you, you. I win not pronounce a blessing in the which you, you shall not share: ‘In blessing I will bless you, you,’"—

Genesis 22:17-18. And in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the Heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because you, you have obeyed my voice.

See the result of one man’s grand act of obedience, and note how God can make that man to be the channel of blessing to all coming ages. Oh, that you, you and I might possess the Abrahamic faith which thus practically obeys the Lord, and brings a blessing to all the nations of the earth!

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 12:1-7; Genesis 14:17-24; and Genesis 22:15-18.

 

Chapter 23

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 24

 

Verses 1-16

 

Our subject is the value of divine guidance, and we shall, therefore, read two passages of Scripture illustrating the truth which we hope to enforce.

Genesis 24:1. And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

Happy man that can say that, who has a blessing everywhere! And yet Abraham had his "but," for as yet Isaac was unmarried, and perhaps he little dreamed that for twenty years afterwards he who was to build the house of Abraham was to remain childless. Yet so it was. There was always a trial for Abraham’s faith, but even his trials were blessed, for "God blessed Abraham in all things."

Genesis 24:2. And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray you, you, your hand under my thigh:

According to the Eastern manner of swearing.

Genesis 24:3. And I will make you, you swear by the Lord, the God of Heaven, And the God of the earth, that you, you shall not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:

This holy man was careful of the purity of his family; he knew what an ill-effect a Canaanite wife might have upon his son, and also upon his offspring. He was, therefore, particularly careful here. I would that all parents were the same.

Genesis 24:4-5. But you, you shall go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring your son again unto the land from whence you, you came?

The servant was very careful. Those that swear too readily they know not what, will before long swear until they care not what. Better still is it for the Christian to remember the word of Christ, "Swear not at all, neither by Heaven, nor by earth, nor by any other oath." Doubtless the doctrine of the Savior is that all oaths of every sort are lawful to the Christian, but if they ever be taken, it should be with deep circumspection and with earnest prayerfulness, that there be no mistake about the matter.

Genesis 24:6. And Abraham said unto him, Beware you, you that you, you bring not my son thither again.

He knew that God had called him and his kindred to inherit the land of Canaan, and, therefore, he was not willing that they should go back to their former dwelling-places.

Genesis 24:7. The Lord God of Heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spoke unto me, and that swore unto me, saying, Unto your seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before you, you, and you, you shall take a wife unto my son from thence.

What simple faith! This was the very glory of Abraham’s faith; it was so simple, so childlike. It might be many miles to Padanaram, but it does not matter to faith. "My God will send his angel." Oh! we are always making difficulties and suggesting hardships; but if our faith were in lively exercise, we should do God’s will far more readily. "Who are you, you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you, you shall become a plain." Brethren, let us be of good heart and of good courage in all matters, for doubtless the angel of God will go before us.

Genesis 24:8-11. And if the woman will not be willing to follow you, you, then you, you shall be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning that matter. And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.

Now I think I may freely say that this looks something like what we call "a wild-goose chase." He was to go and find a wife for a young man left at home; he knew nothing of the people among whom he was to sojourn, but he believed that the angel of God would guide him aright. What ought he to do, now he had come near to the time when the decision must be made? He should seek counsel of God, and observe that he did so.

Genesis 24:12-14. And he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray you, you, send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down your pitcher, I pray you, you, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give your camels drink also: let the same be she that you, you have appointed for your servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that you, you have showed kindness unto my master.

I do not know that he is to be imitated in setting a sign to God; perhaps not, but he did his best; he left the matter with God, and a thing is always in good hands when it is left with him. There is a deal of wisdom in this sign, however. Why did he not say, "The damsel that shall first offer me to drink"? No; she might be a little too forward, and a forward woman was not a fit spouse for the good and meditative Isaac. He himself was to address her first, and then she must be ready, with all cheerfulness, to do far more than he asks. She was to offer him to drink, and draw water for his camels; she would thus not be afraid of work, she would be courteous, and she would be kind, and all these meeting in one might show him, and by this test he might very wisely discover, that she was a fitting woman for Isaac, and might become his spouse.

Genesis 24:15. And it came to pass, before he had done speaking,

Ay, he did not know that promise, "While they are yet speaking I will hear"; but God keeps his promises before he makes them, and, therefore, I am sure he will keep them after he has made them.

Genesis 24:15-16. That, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

And so on; I need not read the rest of the story, because we now find that, through earnest prayer, the good servant has been rightly led. We will now turn to another passage where we shall have another instance of a difficult case, where another person put his case before the Lord, and sought guidance and found it.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 24:1-16; 1 Samuel 30:1-13; 1 John 1:1-3.

 

Chapter 25

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 26

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 27

 

Verses 1-29

 

Genesis 27:1-4. And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I. And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death: Now therefore take, I pray you, you, your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; And make me savory meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat: that my soul may bless you, you before I die.

A sad misfortune to lose the sight of the eyes! How greatly, how much more than we do, ought we to thank God for the prolongation of our sight, and it has been well remarked by one of our greatest men of science "that we seldom hear Christian men thank God as they should for the use of spectacles in these modern times." A philosopher has written a long paper concerning the blessings which he found in old age from this invention, and we, enabled still to read the Word when our sight decays, should be exceedingly grateful for it. After all, with all alleviations, it is a very great trial to be deprived of one’s eyesight, but those who are in good company. While they have some of the greatest divines in modern history, they have here one of the best of men — one of the patriarchs whose eyes were dim so that he could not see. He seems to have had some sort of mistiness of soul about this time which was far worse, and so he desired to give the blessing to Esau, whom God had determined should never have it.

Genesis 27:5-11. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spoke unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard your father speak unto Esau your brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savory meat, that I may eat, and bless you, you before the Lord before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you, you. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savory meat for your father, such as he loves: And you, you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, and that he may bless you, you before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:

He does not appear to have raised any objection to what she proposed on moral grounds, but only on the ground of the difficulty of it and the likelihood of being discovered. It only shows how low the moral sense may be in some who, nevertheless, have a desire towards God and have a faith in him. In those darker days we can hardly expect to find so much of the excellencies of the spirit as we ought to find now-a-days in those who possess the spirit of God fully.

Genesis 27:12-15. My father perhaps will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be your curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them. And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savory meat, such as his father loved. And Rebekah took goodly clothing of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:

And Esau, altogether a man of the world, one very like the sons of other families around about, took care to adorn himself in goodly clothing. It seems always more becoming to the worldling than the Christian. Jacob had a suit good enough for this occasion, but the worldly man had not. I would that those who fear God were less careful about the adornments of their persons. There are far better ornaments than gold can buy —ornaments neat, and clothing lovely — may we all possess them.

Genesis 27:16-19. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck: And she gave the savory meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I who are you, you, my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau your firstborn;

Which, whatever may be said about it, was a plain lie, and is not to be excused upon any theory whatever. It was as much a sin in Jacob as it would be in us, except that perhaps he had less light, and the general cunning of those who surrounded him may have made it more easy with him and a less tax on conscience for him to do this than it would be in our case. "I am Esau," said he. Why is all this recorded in the Bible? It is not to the credit of these men. No! the Holy Spirit does not write for the credit of man: he writes for the glory of God’s grace. He writes for the warning of believers now, and these things are examples unto us that we may avoid the blots and flaws in good men, and may thereby ourselves become more what we should be.

Genesis 27:19-20. I have done according as you, you bade me: arise, I pray you, you, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that you, you have found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord your God brought it to me.

Here he draws God’s name into this lie, And this is worse still.

Genesis 27:21-29. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray you, you, that I may feel you, you, my son, whether you, you be my very son Esau or not. And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him. And he said, Are you, you my very son Esau? and he said, I am. And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless you, you. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank. And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the small of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed: therefore God give you, you of the dew of Heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: Let people serve you, you, and nations bow down to you, you: be lord over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you, you: cursed be every one that curses you, you, and blessed be he who blesses you, you.

So he tied his own hands: he could not revoke his blessing, or, had he done so, he would have brought the curse upon himself.

 

Chapter 28

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 29

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 30

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 31

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 32

 

Verses 1-32

 

Genesis 32:1. And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

What an encouragement the visit of these angels must have been to Jacob after the strife which he had had with Laban! But, dear friends, angels often come to meet us, though we know it not. As in the old classic story, the poor man said, "This is a plain hut, but God has been here," so we may say of every Christian’s cottage, "Though it be poor, an angel has come here," for David says, "The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear him, and delivers them." As the angels of God met Jacob, I trust that, if you, you have come here after some stern battle, and trial, and difficulty, you, you may find the angels of God meeting you, you here. They do come into the assemblies of the saints. Paul tells us that the woman ought to have her head covered in the assembly "because of the angels," that is, because they are there to see that all things are done decently and in order.

Genesis 32:2. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

He gave it a name to commemorate God’s having sent the angels, and called it "two camps" or "two hosts."

Genesis 32:3. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

He is out of one trouble with Laban; now he is into another with Esau.

Well did John Bunyan say. —

"A Christian man is seldom long at ease;

When one trouble’s gone, another does him seize."

Genesis 32:4-5. And he commanded them, saying, Then shall you, you speak unto my lord Esau; Your servant Jacob says thus, I have adjourned with Laban, and stayed there until now: and I have oxen, and donkeys, flocks, and menservants, and women-servants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in your sight.

This is very respectful language, and rather obsequious, too; but when a man knows that he has done wrong to another, he ought to be prepared to humble himself to the injured individual; and, though it happened long ago, yet Jacob really had injured his brother Esau, and it was but right that, in meeting him again, he should put himself into a humble position before him. There are some proud people who, when they know that they have done wrong, yet will not own it, and it is very hard to end a quarrel when one will not yield, and the other feels that he will not either. But there is good hope of things going right when Jacob, who is the better of the two brothers, is also the humbler of the two.

Genesis 32:6-7. And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau, and also he comes to meet you, you, and four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed:

And well he might be, for an angry brother, with four hundred fierce followers, must mean mischief.

Genesis 32:7-8. And he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands; and said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.

This is characteristic of Jacob. He was a man of plans and arrangements, a man of considerable craftiness, which some people nowadays call "prudence." He used means, and he sometimes used them a little too much. Perhaps he did so in this case; but, at the same time, he was a man of faith, and therefore he betook himself to prayer.

Genesis 32:9-12. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which said unto me, Return unto your country, and to your kindred, and I will deal well with you, you: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which you, you have showed unto your servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray you, you, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And you, you said, I will surely do you, you good, and make your seed as the sand of the seas which cannot be numbered for multitude.

A prayer most humble, most direct in its petitions, and also full of faith. That was a grand argument for him to use: "You, you said, I will surely do you, you good." This is one of the mightiest pleas that we can urge in praying to God: "Do as you, you have said. Remember the word unto your servant, upon which you, you have caused me to hope." O brethren, if you, you can remind God of his own promise, you, you must win the day, for promised mercies are sure mercies.

"As well might he his being quit,

As break his promise, or forget."

"Has he said, and shall he not do it? "Only for this will he be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them, and we must take care that we call his promise to mind, and plead it at the mercy-seat.

Genesis 32:13-21. And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother; two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams, thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she donkeys, and ten foals. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space between drove and drove. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meets you, you, and asks you, you, saying, ‘Whose are you, you? and where go you, you? and whose are these before you, you? Then you, you shall say, They be your servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us. And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall you, you speak unto Esau, when you, you find him. And say we moreover, Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept of me. So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.

If Jacob had been true to his faith in God, he would have dispensed with these very prudent preparations; for, after all, the faithfulness of God was Jacob’s best defense; it was from God that his safety came, and not from his own plotting, and planning, and scheming. There are some of you, you, dear brethren, who have minds that are naturally given to inventions, and devices, and plans, and plots, and I believe that, where this is the case, you, you have more to battle against than those have who are of an ample mind, and who cast themselves more entirely upon the Lord. It is a blessed thing to be such a fool that you, you do not know anyone to trust in except your God. It is a sweet thing to be so weaned from your wisdom that you, you fall into the arms of God. Yet, if you, you do feel that it is right to make such plans as Jacob made, take care that you, you do what Jacob also did. Pray as well as plan, and if your plans be numerous, let your prayers be all the more fervent, lest the natural tendency of your constitution should degenerate into reliance upon the arm of flesh, and dependence upon your own wisdom, instead of absolute reliance upon God.

Genesis 32:22-24. And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two women-servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

It was the man Christ Jesus putting on the form of manhood before the time when he would actually be incarnate, and the wrestling seems to have been more on his side than on Jacob’s, for it is not said that Jacob wrestled, but that "there wrestled a man with him." There was something that needed to be taken out of Jacob, — his strength and his craftiness; and this angel came to get it out of him. But, on the other hand, Jacob spied his opportunity, and, sending the angel wrestling with him, he in his turn began to wrestle with the angel.

Genesis 32:25. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

So that he was made painfully to realize his own weakness while he was putting forth all his strength.

Genesis 32:26. And he said, let me go, for the day breaks. And he said, I will not let you, you go, except you, you bless me.

Bravely said, O Jacob! And you, you sons of Jacob, learn to say the same. You, you may have what you, you will if you, you can speak thus to the covenant angel, "I will not let you, you go, except you, you bless me."

Genesis 32:27-28. And he said unto him, What is your name? And he said Jacob. And he said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob, —

The supplanter, —

Genesis 32:28. But Israel: —

A prince of God; —

Genesis 32:28-29. For as a prince have you, you power with God and with men, and have prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray you, you, your name.

That has often been the request of God’s people, they have wanted to know God’s wondrous name. The Jews superstitiously believe that we have lost the sound of the name of Jehovah, — that the name is unpronounceable now altogether. We think not so; but, certainly, no man knows the nature of God, and understands him, but he to whom the Son shall reveal him. Perhaps Jacob’s request had somewhat of curiosity in it, so the angel would not grant it.

Genesis 32:29. And he said, Wherefore is it that you, you do ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

He did not give him what he asked for, but he gave him something better, and, in like manner, if the Lord does not open up a dark doctrine to you, you, but gives you, you a bright privilege, that will be better for you, you.

Genesis 32:30-32. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew which shrank.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 32. and Psalms 119:33-40.

Verses 22-30

 

We shall read three short portions of Scripture, all illustrative of the great truth that God has sometimes given grace to his people to overcome himself, the Almighty has condescended to be vanquished by man. First, let us read the story of Jacob in the Book of Genesis, the thirty-second chapter, at the twenty-second verse: —

Genesis 32:22-24. And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two women-servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. And Jacob was left alone;

He had made a quiet oratory for himself by sending everyone else of the company over to the other side of the brook; his own resolve being —

"With you, you all night I mean to stay,

And wrestle until the break of day."

Genesis 32:24-25. And there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw —

When the wrestling Man, the Angel of the covenant, saw —

Genesis 32:25-26. That he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, so he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaks. And he said, I will not let you, you go, except you, you bless me.

When we come nearest to God, we must have a deep sense of our own personal weakness; it must never be supposed, if our suit prevails with Heaven, that there is anything in us, or anything in our prayers, to account for our prevalence. Whatever power we have, must come from God’s grace alone; and hence, usually, when we pray so as to prevail with the Lord there is at the same time a shrinking of the sinew, a consciousness of weakness, a sense of pain; yet it is just then that we are prevailing, and therefore we may rest assured that our prayer will be answered. The Angel said, "Let me go," at the very time when Jacob felt the shrinking of the sinew: "He said, Let me go, for the day breaks. And he (Jacob) said, I will not let you, you go, except you, you bless me."

Genesis 32:27-29. And he said unto him, What is your name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince have you, you power with God and with men, and have prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray you, you, your name. And he said, Wherefore is it that you, you do ask after my name?

Holy desires will be realized, and believing prayers will be answered, but mere curiosity will not be gratified. Those who read the Scriptures with a view simply to find out novelties that may tickle their fancy, read in vain. The covenant Angel will give you, you what you, you will if it be needful for you, you; but he will not answer your idle questions. He said to Jacob, "Wherefore is it that you, you do ask after my name?"

Genesis 32:29-30. And, he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

Thus did Jacob the wrestler overcome his God. Now turn to the thirty-second chapter of the Book of Exodus, where we find a description of the sin of idolatry into which the Israelites fell while Moses was absent in communion with God upon the mountain. The people brought their golden ear-rings to Aaron, and he made a calf, and they bowed before it, saying, "These be your gods, O Israel, which brought you, you up out of the land of Egypt." While this wickedness was going on, Moses was on the mountain-top with God.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 32:22-30; Exodus 32:7-14; and Mark 7:24-30.

 

Chapter 33

 

Verses 1-12

 

Genesis 33:1-2. And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.

He placed them in the order of his affection for them, the best-beloved in the rear.

Genesis 33:3-4. And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.

God had been very gracious to him, and all his fears were gone, so he met Esau as a brother, not as an enemy, and the four hundred men were willing to become his protectors.

Genesis 33:5. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with you, you? And he said, The children which God has graciously given your servant.

There was a considerable number of them altogether, more than enough, I expect most of you, you would think if you, you had them; but Jacob did not speak of them disparagingly, but he described them as "the children which God has graciously given your servant."

Genesis 33:6-10. Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. And he said, What meanest you, you by all this drove which I met? And he said, What meanest you, you by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord. And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that you, you have unto yourself. And Jacob said, Nay, I pray you, you, if now I have found grace in your sight, then receive my present at my hand:

For, among Orientals, it is such a common custom to offer and receive presents, that, if they are not accepted, it is regarded as an affront.

Genesis 33:10-12. For therefore I have seen your face, as though I had seen the face of God, and you, you were pleased with me. Take, I pray you, you, my blessing that is brought to you, you; because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it. And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before you, you.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 32, Genesis 33:1-12.

 

Chapter 34

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 35

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 36

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 37

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 38

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 39

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 40

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 41

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 42

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 43

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 44

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 45

 

Verses 1-13

 

Genesis 45:1-2. Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him: and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud:

Emotion long pent up grows violent; and when at last it does burst forth, it cannot be restrained: "He wept aloud."

Genesis 45:2-3. And the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; does my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

What a rush of thoughts must have passed through their minds when they remembered all their unkind behavior toward him! There is no wonder that "they were troubled at his presence."

Genesis 45:4. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you, you.

He pleads with them, he who was far greater than they—a prince among peasants,—now prays to them; and is it not wonderful that the Lord Jesus, our infinitely-greater Brother, at times pleads with us, even as he said to the woman at the well, "Give me to drink"? Joseph said unto his brethren, "Come near to me, I pray you, you."

Genesis 45:4-5. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you, you sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, not angry with yourselves, that you, you sold me hither: for God did send me before you, you to preserve life.

"You, you did very wrong, but I say nothing about that, for I want you, you to notice how God has over-ruled your action, how your sin has been made to be the means of your preservation and the preservation of many besides: ‘God did send me before you, you to preserve life.’"

Genesis 45:6. For these two years has the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be eating nor harvest.

There were to be five more dreary years of utter desolation and want.

Genesis 45:7. And God sent me before you, you to preserve you, you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

How wonderfully those two things meet in practical harmony,—the free will of man and the predestination of God! Man acts just as freely and just as guiltily as if there were no predestination whatever; and God ordains, arranges, supervises, and over-rules, just as accurately as if there were no free will in the universe. There are some blind people who only believe one or other of these two truths; yet they are both true, and the one is as true as the other. I believe that much of the theology which is tinged with free will is true, and I know that the teaching which fully proclaims electing love and sovereign grace is also true; and you, you may find much of both these truths in the Scriptures. The fault lies in trying to compress all truth under either of those two heads. These men were truly guilty for selling their brother, yet God was truly wise in permitting him to be sold. The inference which Joseph draws from their misconduct is, of course, an inference of love. Love may not be always logical, but it is sweetly consoling, as it must have been in this case.

Genesis 45:8. So now it was not you, you that sent me hither, but God: and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

See how Joseph traces God’s hand in his whole career.

Genesis 45:9. Haste you, you, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:

See how love attracts; Joseph must have his brothers near him, now he wants to have his father also near. "Go up to my father, and say unto him, ‘Come down unto me.’ "See how great love turns pleader again; he who said to his brethren, "Come near to me," sends to his father the message, "Come down unto me."

Genesis 45:10. And you, you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you, you shall be near unto me, you, you, and your children, and your children’s children, and your flocks, and your herds, and all that you, you have:

Our common saying, "Love me, love my dog," is very true. Love me, love even my flocks and my herds. So the blessing of God extends to all that his chosen people have; not only to their children, but to all that they possess.

Genesis 45:11-13. And there will I nourish you, you; for yet there are five years of famine; lest you, you, and your household, and all that you, you have, come to poverty. And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks unto you, you. And you, you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you, you have seen; and you, you shall haste and bring down my father hither.

Love is impatient to have the object of its affection brought near. Now we will read two short portions out of the Song of Solomon, from which you, you will see how love evermore craves for nearness to the loved one. The Song opens thus:—

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 45:1-13; Song of Solomon 1:1-7; Song of Solomon 3:1-5.

Verses 9-28

 

Genesis 45:9. Haste you, you, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down unto me, tarry not:

Joseph, having made himself known to his brethren, bids them return to their father, and bring him down to Egypt to see his long-lost son.

Genesis 45:10-11. And you, you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you, you shall be near unto me, you, you, and your children, and your children’s children, and your flocks, and your herds, and all that you, you have: and there will I nourish you, you; for yet there are five years of famine; lest you, you, and your household, and all that you, you have, come to poverty.

It is just like Joseph to speak thus kindly, and to put the invitation so attractively to his father: "You, you shall be near unto me." That would be the greatest joy of all to old Jacob; and this is the greatest joy to a sinner when he comes to Christ, our great Joseph, "You, you shall be near unto me." It is not merely that he gives us the land of Goshen to dwell in, but he promises that we shall be near unto him, and that is best of all.

Genesis 45:12-22. And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks unto you, you. And you, you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you, you have seen; and you, you shall haste and bring down my father hither. And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. Moreover he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him. And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto your brethren, This do you, you; lade your beasts, and so, get you, you unto the land of Canaan; and take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you, you the good of the land of Egypt, and you, you shall eat the fat of the land. Now you, you are commanded, this do you, you; take you, you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father and come. Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.

And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. To all of them he gave each man changes of clothing; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of clothing.

Benjamin was his full brother, so he loved him best, and gave him most.

Genesis 45:23-24. And to his father he sent after this manner; ten donkeys laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she donkeys laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way. So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that you, you fall not out by the way.

This was a sure sign that Joseph knew his brethren, and they might well recognize him even by that precept, for their consciences must have told them that it had been their common habit to fall out either with or without occasion, so he bids them not to do so.

Genesis 45:25-28. And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, and told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: and Israel said,

See how quickly the patriarch changes from Jacob into Israel; when his spirit if revived, he becomes Israel.

Genesis 45:28. It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

Now we are going to read in the Gospel according to John, the fifth chapter, beginning at the twenty-fourth verse.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 45:9-28; and John 5:24-44.

 

Chapter 46

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 47

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 48

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 49

 

Verses 1-28

 

l, 2. And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you, you that which shall befall you, you in the last day. Gather yourselves together, and hear, you, you sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

It must have been a great comfort to the old man to have all his twelve sons with him. What a quiet answer this was to his former unbelief! They were all there, yet he could remember the time when he had said, "Me have you, you bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and you, you will take Benjamin away." Ah! we also shall have in our later days to chide ourselves for our foolish unbelief. "Jacob called unto his sons," so he was not bereaved after all. They are all here, Jacob. It falls to the lot of few fathers to have twelve sons, and to fewer still to have all twelve of them gathered about his dying bed. "Gather yourselves together." They were to keep together as a family; and shall not the people of God keep together? Come away from the world, beloved, but come close to one another; be one household, be it your delight to assemble around your elder Brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you, you that which shall befall you, you in the last days." We are not told nowadays everything about the future, but much of the future is unfolded to us in the great principles of the law and the gospel, and we may learn very much of holy foresight by coming to the oracles of God.

Genesis 49:3. Reuben, you, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

The patriarch fixes his eyes on his firstborn; he must say something sharp that would dishonor him, but he does not deny him the rights of birthright. He clothes him with the robes and the jewels of primogeniture, and then he strips him: —

Genesis 49:4. Unstable as water, you, you shall not excel; because you, you went up to your father’s bed; then defiled it: he went up to my couch.

So a man may have great opportunities, and yet lose them. Uncontrolled passions may make him very little who otherwise might have been great. Reuben was "the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power," yet his father had to say to him, "You, you shall not excel."

Genesis 49:5. Simeon and Levi —

They stood next according to the order of birth: "Simeon and Levi" —

Genesis 49:6. Are brethren;

They are very much like each other.

Genesis 49:6-7. Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not you, you into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not you, you united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they dug down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

Hence we do not read of the tribe of Simeon in the blessing of Moses at the end of Deuteronomy; but the Levites had this curse turned into a blessing, for, though they were scattered, yet they were scattered as priests and instructors to the other tribes. Happy is that man who, though he begins with a dark shadow resting upon him, so lives as to turn even that shadow into bright sunlight. Levi gained a blessing at the hands of Moses, one of the richest blessings of any of the tribes. This holy man, Jacob, in dying, did not express himself according to the rules of natural affection but he yielded himself up to the Spirit of God; hence he had to say very much that must have been very bitter for a father to say, and he said it in all faithfulness being taught of the Spirit concerning things to come.

Genesis 49:8. Judah, —

Now the patriarch changes his tone, for he has come to that tribe which would take the birthright, out of which the Christ would come: "Judah" —

Genesis 49:8. You, you are he whom your brethren shall praise:

They praised God for him, they praised God by him, they praised God in him; he is the type of Jesus, of whom we can say all this with great emphasis.

Genesis 49:8. Your hand shall be in the neck of your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you, you.

In the person of David, in the long line of kings of the tribe of Judah, all this came true; and in the person of the great Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, all this has come true to a very high degree.

Genesis 49:9. Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, you, you are gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?

The coat of arms of Judah was a lion couchant, in the fullness of his strength, keeping still, waiting to spring upon his adversary. Our Lord Christ is such a lion today; "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" couchant, lying down: "who shall rouse him up ?" Ah ! if he be once fully aroused what power will he put forth when he shall spring upon his adversaries ?

Genesis 49:10. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Jacob’s eyes were dim, but he could see a very long way; he could see to the coming of Christ, the Shiloh, the Pacificator, the Peace-maker; he could see that day when the Jews would cry, " We have no king but Caesar," for the Shiloh would have come, and the scepter would have departed from Judah’s tribe. "Unto him shall the gathering of the people be." Oh, that it might be so today! May many be gathered to Christ! He is the true center, and we gather unto him. May the divisions of the Church be soon healed by a general gathering unto Christ, who alone is the center of the Church. "Unto him shall the gathering of the people be."

Genesis 49:11-12. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

They were to have a land in which would be milk for babes and wine for strong men; surely this land is "your land, O Emmanuel!" What nourishing milk there is in the gospel, and what exhilarating wine for those who know the love of Christ!

Genesis 49:13. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his brother shall be unto Zidon.

When the land was divided by lot, the lot was disposed by God to the complete fulfillment of Jacob’s prophecy. Many things may seem to be left to chance, but they are not, the hand of God still guides and controls. This blessing is very suggestive "Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for a haven of ships." If God puts you, you by the mind that you, you are a haven for ships, the Lord, in his providence, fixes your position. See that you, you turn it to account for the good of others.

Genesis 49:14-15. Issachar is a strong donkey couching down between two burdens: and he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.

Issachar’s was a poor case; he was so idle, so fond of rest, that he was willing to become a servant unto tribute. This seems hardly a blessing yet it was true of Issachar. He was strong, but then he was an donkey as well as strong, so he liked couching down between two burdens much better than bearing either one of them, yet he had to bow his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.

Genesis 49:16-17. Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that bites the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

This tribe would show more cunning than courage; it would excel rather in the strategy of war than in the force of arms. Here the old man paused, and refreshed himself by saying, —

Genesis 49:18. I have waited for your salvation, O Lord.

What a happy breathing-space is this! When you, you and I also are near our journey’s end, may we be able to say, as Jacob did, "I have waited for your salvation, O Lord." He could not have said that once. This is the very Jacob who had, in his earlier days, been full of crafty policy, and tricks and schemes; but he has done with all that now, and he is able truthfully to say, "I have waited for your salvation, O Lord."

Genesis 49:19. God, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

This has been the blessing of many a child of God, — to fight, and apparently to lose the battle, yet to win it at the end. O you, you who are striving against sin, or seeking to win souls for Christ, after many disappointments may you, you be able to clutch this sweet assurance, "He shall overcome at the last."

Genesis 49:20. Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Asher was a tribe that was placed in a very fertile region where everything was crowned with delight. Oh, to have our inheritance where we feed upon the bread of Heaven, and where the deep truths of God become to us royal dainties!

Genesis 49:21. Naphtali is a hind let loose: he gives goodly words.

Naphtali was a tribe notable for those that could speak freely, helped of God with a holy freedom in bearing testimony to his truth.

Genesis 49:22. Joseph —

Ah, now the patriarch comes to his beloved Joseph, and here the old man lingers long, longer than upon any other of his sons: "Joseph" —

Genesis 49:22. Is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:

The Hebrew puts it, "Joseph is a son of fruits, even a son of fruits by a well; whose daughters run over the wall."

Genesis 49:23-24. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hand were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)

Joseph is a type of him who is both the Shepherd and the Stone to us, the Shepherd who defends us, provides for us, and dies for us, and the foundation on which we build for time and eternity.

Genesis 49:25-28. Even by the God of your father, who shall help you, you; and by the Almighty, who shall bless you, you with blessings of Heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: the blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spoke unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

Verses 1-33

 

Genesis 49:1-3. And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you, you that which shall befall you, you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, you, you sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father. Reuben, you, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

All this was to Reuben’s advantage, yet he was spoiled through one fault.

Genesis 49:4. Unstable as water, you, you shall not excel; —

So it is clear that the greatest strength and dignity and power will not serve a man, so as to make him excel, if he be unstable. There are many such persons still remaining in the world; their doctrine changes like the moon, and we never know what it is. Their spirit and temper constantly change; their pursuits are sometimes in one direction, and sometimes in another; they are "everything by starts, and nothing long;" and to each of them it may be said, "Unstable as water, you, you shall not excel.":

Genesis 49:4-7. Because you, you went up to your father’s bed; then defiled you, you it: he went up to my couch. Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not you, you into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not you, you united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they dug down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for if was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

It is a very remarkable circumstance, well worthy of notice, that this curse was turned into a real blessing, especially in the case of the tribe of Levi. It is true that they were divided and scattered, like handfuls of salt, throughout the whole of Israel, for they were attendants upon the Lord’s priests, and they had cities appointed to them so that, while they did dwell here, and there, and everywhere, it was in order that they might reach the whole of the people, and prove a blessing to them. Are any of you, you laboring under a very serious disadvantage? Does it look to you, you like a curse? Then pray to God to make it into a blessing. I believe that, often, the worst thing that can happen to Christian men is really the best thing, for, while nature would cry out, "The clouds are to be dreaded," grace can reply, — The clouds you, you so much dread Are big with mercy, and shall break In blessings on your head.

Genesis 49:8. Judah, you, you are he whom your brethren shall praise:

His name was praise, and such was his history to be, for David came of that tribe, and great David’s greater Son, whom it is our joy to praise.

Genesis 49:8. Your hand shall be in the neck of your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you, you.

While that was true of Judah, it is still more true of him who sprang out of Judah, even our Lord and King, the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

Genesis 49:9. Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, you, you are gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion, who shall rouse him up?

Our Lord overcame his enemies even in the thicket of this world; and all power is given unto him now that he has "gone up" again into his glory. Let that man beware who would attack this Lion of the tribe of Judah: "Who shall rouse him up?" If you, you persecute his followers, you, you will rouse him up. If you, you deny his truth, trample on the doctrine of atonement, and reject his love, you, you will rouse him up. But beware in that day, for terrible is the King of Judah when he is once aroused. Wherefore, submit yourselves to him: "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you, you perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little."

Genesis 49:10. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

When did the dominion depart from Judah until the Lord Jesus came as the Seat One? And unto him, to this very day, the people gather, and more and more shall gather in the latter days.

Genesis 49:11-12. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice wine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

It was literally so with Judah, but it is gloriously as with our Lord to this day. It was his blood which yielded the juice of those rare clusters of the choice vine; and now, with garments dyed with his own blood, he comes from Edom, for he has trodden down his foes, and he cries, "I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me."

Genesis 49:13. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.

So did Zebulun dwell even until the day when our Lord came, for Matthew writes concerning him, "Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up."

Genesis 49:14-15. Issachar is a strong donkey couching down between two burdens: and he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.

This was a poor character for Issachar to possess; it was a tame-spirited tribe, that loved rest and ease, and therefore did not fight with the common foe. Issachar crouched down between the burdens instead of taking them up and bearing them; God grant that none of us may be of that lazy tribe! I think that I know some who are; they could do a great deal, but they see that rest is good, and the land is pleasant, so they idle away their days.

Genesis 49:16-17. Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that bites the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

Dan is noted among the tribes for its famous leap, capturing that distant part of the country for itself. Here good old Jacob, worn out by what he had already said, exhausted by the ecstasy into which as a prophet he had been cast, paused awhile, and panted.

Genesis 49:18. I have waited for your salvation, O Lord.

But he soon resumed his prophecy: —

Genesis 49:19. Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

Many of God’s servants belong to this tribe, for their life is spent in conflict. They do not seek it, but it comes to them; and, for a time, they seem to be overcome, yet let them clutch at the promise given by God.

Genesis 49:20. Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Well fed, and then yielding correspondingly. There are some people who like to have their bread to be fat, but they yield to the King no dainties. Let it not be so with us; but let us both feed well and yield well.

Genesis 49:21. Naphtali is a hind let loose: —

The type of what a Christian minister should be,— indeed, what every Christian worker should be,— "a hind let loose," one who can say with David, "O Lord, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, and the son of your handmaid. You, you have loosed my bonds."

Genesis 49:21. He gives goodly words.

He has liberty in speech, freedom of utterance, he is not in bonds, he is as "a hind let loose."

Genesis 49:22. Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; —

Where he can suck up abundant nutriment,—

Genesis 49:22. Whose branches run over the wall:

He does more than he is expected to do; nothing seems to content him, his "branches run over the wall."

Genesis 49:23-24. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength,

You, you know how sorely Joseph was persecuted by his brethren, yet how the Lord was with him in all his troubles. It appears from these words that he was himself an archer, and that he was not in a hurry to shoot his arrows; his bow remained still. It is the strong who can afford to be quiet; as you, you go across the village green, a goose will hiss at you, you, while the strong ox lies down calmly, and takes no notice of you, you: "His bow abode in strength," —

Genesis 49:24. And the arms of his hands —

Not only his hands, but the arms of his hands —

Genesis 49:24-27. Were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) even by the God of your father, who shall help you, you; and by the Almighty, who shall bless you, you with blessings of Heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: the blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Little Benjamin is the last of the tribes.

Genesis 49:28-33. All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spoke unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them. And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the came that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the Spirit, and was gathered unto his people.

It is a very sweet thing to die with a blessing on your lips, and it is equally good to live in the same spirit. Our Lord Jesus was blessing his disciples when he was taken from them; and since we do not know when we shall be taken sway from our relatives, let us be always blessing them. May the Lord, who has blessed us, make us a blessing to others!

 

Chapter 50

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

EXODUS

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Verses 1-10

 

Exodus 3:1. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

It must have been a great change for Moses, after forty years in the court of Pharaoh, to be spending another forty years in the wilderness. But it was not waste time; it required the first two periods to make Moses fit for the grand life of the last forty. He must be a prince, and he must be a shepherd, that he might be both a ruler and a shepherd to God’s people, Israel. He must be much alone; he must have many solitary communings with his own heart; he must be led to feel his own weakness. And this will be no loss of time to him; he will do more in the last forty years because of the two forties thus spent in preparation. And it is not lost time that a man takes in putting on his harness before he goes to the battle, or that the reaper spends in sharpening his scythe before he cuts down the corn.

Exodus 3:2. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

How near God seemed in those ages when he could be beheld in a bush or sitting under an oak! And is he not equally near to us if we are but prepared for his presence? Surely pure eyes are scarce, or sights of God would be more frequent, for "the pure in heart shall see God."

Exodus 3:3-5. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said. Here am I. And he said, Draw not near hither: put off your shoes from off your feet, for the place whereon you, you stand is holy ground.

God is not to be viewed by curiosity; he is not to be approached by presumption. A holy trembling well becomes the man who would commune with the most holy God. We are not fit for fellowship with God without some measure of preparation, There is something to be put off before we can behold the Lord.

Exodus 3:6. Moreover he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

Partly because of the universal superstition that if God appeared to any man, he would surely die; but in Moses’ case, perhaps more because of an appreciation of the holiness of God and of his own unworthiness. There is not a man among us but what must do as Moses did if we are in a right state of mind. They that think they are perfect might presume to look, but they that are truly so, as Moses was, would, as he did, hide his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

Exodus 3:7. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

Beautiful verse. God had seen and God had heard, as if their griefs had had two avenues to his heart. God sees not with eyes, and hears not with ears, as we do, but he speaks after the manner of men, and he says by two ways they had reached his very soul: "I have surely seen the affliction; I have heard their cries"; and then he adds, as if to show the perfection of his sympathy with them: "I know their sorrows." Now it is quite true today concerning us and concerning our God, he has seen, he has heard, and he knows — "I know their sorrows." When the sorrow is known, then God begins to work. He is no passive spectator of the misery of his chosen, but his hand goes with his heart.

Exodus 3:8. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

"Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me," and when the cry of God’s children goes unto him, depend upon it there will be something moving before long. When a father hears the cries of his children, when a mother hears the cry of her babe, it is not long before there will be a movement of the heart and of the hand. I am sure, brethren and sisters, there have been crises in English history which have been entirely due to the prayers of God’s people. There have been singular occurrences which the mere reader of history cannot understand, but there is a number still alive who wait upon God in prayer, and they make history. There is more history made in the closet than in the cabinet of the ministry. There is a greater power at the back of the throne than the carnal eye can see, and that power is the cry of God’s children.

Exodus 3:9-10. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send you, you unto Pharaoh, that you, you may bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

I do not wonder that Moses opened his eyes when he knew what a poor creature he was for God to say, "Come now, therefore, and I will send you, you unto Pharaoh" — the very man whose life was sought by Pharaoh — "I will send you, you unto Pharaoh" — the man that had been rejected by his own people when he took their part — "You, you may bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." Oh! let us be ready for any commission. If God were to say that he would build up Heaven by the poorest and meanest among us, it would not be for us to draw back. Let him do what he wills with us! Oh! for a faith to believe that in the midst of our weakness God’s strength would appear.

Verses 1-14

 

This chapter tells of the appearance of God to Moses in the Wilderness. Has he removed from us brethren? He used to be seen by godly souls by mount and stream and sea; and even bushes were alive and blazing with the indwelt Godhead. Oh, that he would reveal himself to us tonight! I am going to read this chapter with this longing in my heart. I pray that the same longing may be in the heart of every child of God: "Show me your face: show me your face, my God, tonight."

Exodus 3:1. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

There is nothing dishonorable about common trade, and matters of business at all. Here is a shepherd, who keeps his flock, and God keeps him and reveals himself to him. When God wants a man to lead his people he seeks for him not among idlers, but busy, active men, and God was pleased to show himself more to Moses as a shepherd, than he had ever shown himself to him as a prince in Egypt. I find no glowing Deity in the halls of Pharaoh, but I find the consuming fire manifested in the lone wastes of the desert of Sinai.

Exodus 3:2. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

Well might it say, "Behold." I have seen a bush set alight by a match. It blazed in a moment, but it was gone in another moment. It burned up so fiercely and hastily. But God was pleased to make a poor consumable bush to be the unharmed place of his abiding. He dwells today in the human person of the Savior. The Godhead is in Christ. He dwells today in the church, which might well enough be consumed by his presence; but it is not consumed. He can come and dwell in my heart and in yours tonight, and yet we shall bear the presence of Deity to the hour of our death. He has a way of so throwing himself into our feebleness that it becomes strong, and that which might otherwise have been destroyed, is even preserved by his presence. The bush burned with fire, and was not consumed.

Exodus 3:3-4. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

Oh, that personal call, that voice from God to the heart! How much we need it. Do you, you not remember when first the Lord called some of you, you? Then he says to you, you tonight, "I have called you, you by my name. You, you are mine." Own that sweet impeachment, confess that you, you are his, and say to him, "For suffering or for service, here am I ready, yes ready, even as Moses was. Here am I."

Exodus 3:5. And he said, Draw not near hither: put off your shoes from off your feet, for the place whereon you, you stand is holy ground.

Stand as a servant stands in the presence of his master in the East. He is not expected to wear in the court of his master the shoes which have trodden in the mire of the world. Now, put off your cares, put off your carnal thoughts, put off yourself, put off your sin. When God is near, solemnity and deep reverence become us. "The place whereon you, you stand is holy ground."

Exodus 3:6. Moreover he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

You, you need not hide your face if God shall appear to you, you, though I am sure you, you will do it. You, you may come boldly. It is your Father’s face: it is the face of one who is reconciled to you, you in Christ. Therefore open your eyes and look; and may the Lord show himself to you, you!

Exodus 3:7. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

Now, you, you troubled ones, are not these verses real music to you, you? God has seen your afflictions, there are God’s eyes; God has heard your cry, there are God’s ears. "I know their sorrows": there is God’s mighty understanding. He is thinking about you, you. He knows all that which tries you, you tonight.

Exodus 3:8-10. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send you, you unto Pharaoh, that you, you may bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

"Come now therefore," This was a very extraordinary thing to follow after all that. God has seen the affliction of his people. What then? He says, "I am come down to deliver them." What then? Why, the next thing is that he is going to use this trembling man who stands awe-struck with his shoes from off his feet in the presence of the still burning bush. "Come now, therefore."

Exodus 3:10. And I will send you, you unto Pharaoh, that you, you may bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

You, you have been praying for a blessing. God is going to give it through you, you. You, you have been looking east and west and north and south for some deliverer that shall win souls and stir up the church. God calls you, you to do it. He invites you, you to undertake this gigantic service, and I think that I see the color come into your face, and then fly away again. You, you are ready to faint at the thought of such a charge laid upon you, you.

Exodus 3:11. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?

Now, catch this: —

Exodus 3:12. And he said, Certainly I will be with you, you;

What more does Moses want? He said, "Who am I?" This showed his weakness. God said, "Never mind who you, you are. Certainly I will be with you, you." Here was strength enough for him.

Exodus 3:12. And this shall be a token unto you, you, that I have sent you, you: When you, you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you, you shall serve God upon this mountain.

And he did. You, you know how Sinai trembled while God made it his throne, and how Moses must have been strengthened when he did exceeding fear and quake before God when he recollected that this same God had appeared to him when he was alone in the desert, and had promised that they should worship him there.

Exodus 3:14. And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:

That is his name: the Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable God.

Exodus 3:14. And he said, Thus shall you, you say unto the children of Israel, I AM has sent me unto you, you.

Oh, what a glorious commission — to receive it direct from the self-existent God, who is the same forever and ever, and only has immortality. Speak to us tonight, you, you great I am, Jah, Jehovah, God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob. Speak to this company in this house of prayer tonight, because of Jesus, Joshua, Jehoshua, Jehovah, Jesus. I have tried to show you, you how that name of Jesus has the name "Jehovah" hidden away in it. Because of him, draw near to us, O Lord.

This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 3:1-14; Romans 9:1-25.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Verses 1-20

 

Exodus 10:1-2. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these my signs before him: and that you, you may tell in the ears of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you, you may know how that I am the Lord.

God would stamp the early history of Israel with the deep impression of his Godhead. His overthrow of the proud Egyptian king should let Israel know in the very beginning how great a God had chosen her to be his own peculiar portion.

Exodus 10:3. And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long will you, you refuse to humble yourself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.

Can you, you imagine these humble individuals, Moses and Aaron, thus bearding the great king whose word could make their heads to roll upon the sword? They were not afraid, for God was with them; and they who speak in God’s stead are traitors if they be not brave. The ambassadors of so great a King must not demean themselves by fear, therefore right boldly said they to Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long will you, you refuse to humble yourself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me."

Exodus 10:4-6. Else, if you, you refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into your coast: and they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remains unto you, you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you, you out of the field: and they shall fill your houses, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither your fathers, nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.

Moses had delivered his message, he had uttered his solemn warning, so he waited no longer in the tyrant’s presence.

Exodus 10:7. And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God; know you, you not yet that Egypt is destroyed?

The seven former heavy judgments had so effectually bruised Egypt that the people began to cry against their king for his obstinacy in still further resisting God.

Exodus 10:8-9. And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go? And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord.

Pharaoh was inclined to make terms with Moses, but God will have no conditions with men who are rebelling against him. An unconditional surrender is all that God will accept.

Exodus 10:10-11. And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, you, as I will let you, you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you, you. Not so: go now you, you that are men, and serve the Lord for that you, you did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

See how proud, how stout-hearted towards evil is this wicked and foolish king. When his people appeal to him to yield, he only does so for a moment, and then he drives out the messengers of God in anger.

Exodus 10:12-17. And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left. And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you, you. Now therefore forgive, I pray you, you, my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your God, that he may take away from me this death only.

See how he is obliged to come to his knees at length. He will be up again soon, for his heart is not humbled, though he is eating his own words. An unhumbled heart is not subdued by judgments; it is so apparently, but really it is still a heart of stone.

Exodus 10:18-20. And he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the Lord. And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.

God kept his grace back from him, so that he relapsed into his natural state of obduracy. Pharaoh is the great mirror of pride and obstinacy; I wonder whether we have a Pharaoh here. Now let us turn to the 105th Psalm, and see further what God did against this proud Pharaoh.

This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 10:1-20; and Psalms 105:26-38.

 

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Verses 1-20

 

Exodus 12:1-2. And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you, you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you, you.

God thinks a great deal of the redemption of his people. When he redeemed them out of their Egyptian bondage, he took care that the mighty deed should be worthily commemorated. Thenceforth, the Jewish year was to begin with the celebration of the national deliverance; and now, when any of us are converted to God, and so are set free from the slavery of sin, we should reckon that then we really begin to live. All the previous part of our life has been wasted; but when we are brought truly to know God, through faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, then have we realized, indeed, what life is. The month of our conversion should be to us the beginning of months, the first month of the year to us.

Exodus 12:3-4. Speak you, you unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: and if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.

The worship of God must be rendered in an orderly manner, with due thoughtfulness and preparation. This paschal supper was not to be celebrated in any fashion that the people might choose; but they were to take time to have the lamb properly examined, that it might be found perfect in every respect, and that everything might be set in order so that the feast should be observed with due reverence and solemnity. Let us take care that we act thus in all our devotions; let us never rush to prayer or hasten to praise; but let us pause awhile, and think what we are about to do, lest we offer the sacrifice of fools, and so cause the Lord to bid us take back that which we have brought to put upon his altar without due thoughtfulness.

Exodus 12:5. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: you, you shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

It was to be a type of Christ, and, therefore, it must be the best that they had. It must be in the prime of its strength, otherwise it would not be a fit emblem of the "strong Son of God" whose mighty love moved him to give himself to death for us.

Exodus 12:6-10. And you, you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with .fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And you, you shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remains of it until the morning you, you shall burn with fire.

Everything was to be done exactly according to God’s order; the alteration of the slightest detail would have spoiled it all. I wish that all Christians would remember this rule with regard to the ordinances of God’s house. They are not for us to make, or for us to alter, but for us to keep.

Exodus 12:11. And thus shall you, you eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you, you shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’S Passover.

They were thus to exercise an act of faith. Why were they to eat in haste, but that they expected soon to be gone? They were to stand like travelers who are starting upon a journey, believing that God was about to set them free. Oh, that we would always exercise faith in all our devotions, for without faith it must ever be impossible to please God.

Exodus 12:12-13. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you, you for a token upon the houses where you, you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, you, —

What a grand gospel statement that is! When the sinner sees the blood, it is for his comfort; but it is God’s sight of the blood that is, after all, the grand thing; and when is it that he does not see it?

Exodus 12:13-20. And the plague shall not be upon you, you to destroy you, you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you, you for a memorial; and you, you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; you, you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. Seven days shall you, you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you, you shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation to you, you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you, you. And you, you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall you, you observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, you, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whoever eats that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. You, you shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall you, you eat unleavened bread.

Thus we see God instituting a commemoration of the deliverance of his people out of Egypt. How much more ought you, you and I, with joyful gladness, to remember the deliverance of our soul from the slavery of sin and Satan! Let us never forget it. I should like to refresh the memories of bygone times with you, you who know the Lord; the Lord help you, you now, with deepest gratitude, to recollect the day when first you, you saw your Savior, and the yoke was taken from your neck, and the burden from your shoulder, glory be to the delivering Lord!

Verses 1-27

 

Exodus 12:1-2. And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you, you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you, you.

And for this reason that, now, as a nation, they were to begin their separate history, separate in existence from all the rest of mankind.

Exodus 12:3-4. Speak you, you unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house: and if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.

The separation of the lamb was to take place some four days before the time of its slaughter. Probably it was kept in the house, according to the Jewish tradition it was so, and they would hear it bleating, and be reminded of the purpose for which it was to be slain.

Exodus 12:5. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: you, you shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

You, you know what a type this is of Christ, "without blemish," offered up for us in the very fullness of his strength, in the prime and glory of his manhood, giving himself up to be our Paschal Lamb, "The Lamb of God."

Exodus 12:6. And you, you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

Just as the sun went down, or just before it set for the evening. There is also the marginal reading "between the two evenings." The even before the sun set, was the first, and then the daylight after the sun set was the second evening.

Exodus 12:7. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

Not on the threshold, lest it should be trodden upon; and woe be unto the man who shall trample upon the blood of Christ! On the two side posts and on the lintel was placed the mark indicating that God had redeemed the inhabitants of that house with blood.

Exodus 12:8-9. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.

We are to have a whole Christ, with his head of wisdom and his heart of love, the walk and conversation of Christ, and all the inward secret life and grace of Christ all to be ours.

Exodus 12:10. And you, you shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remains of it until the morning you, you shall burn with fire.

Not a bone was to be left for the Egyptians to treat with dishonor, but all was to be consumed.

Exodus 12:11-12. And thus shall you, you eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you, you shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against as the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.

All those false gods had been smitten in the different plagues; and now, inasmuch as the Egyptians regarded the firstborn in the family with veneration, the last stroke was about to be struck, and Pharaoh and all his subjects would stagger under the tremendous blow.

Exodus 12:13. And the blood shall be to you, you for a token upon the houses where you, you are:

Oh that we would all look upon the blood of Jesus as a token, — a token of divine love in giving the Well-beloved to die for us, — a token that justice has had its due, — a token that we are perfectly secure forever!

Exodus 12:13. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, you,

It is God’s view of the blood of Christ, which is the all-important matter; when he looks at Christ upon the cross, and is satisfied with the atonement that he there offered, the Lord passes over all those for whom Christ died as a Substitute.

Exodus 12:13-15. And the plague shall not be upon you, you to destroy you, you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you, you for a memorial, and you, you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; you, you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. Seven days shall you, you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you, you shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.

Therefore he was no partaker in the redemption purchased by blood. He who is not purged from hypocrisy may say what he likes, but the blood will not save him unless he repents. There must be the putting away of this leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, or else even the blood of atonement will not avail.

Exodus 12:16. And in the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation to you, you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you, you.

What rest this brought into the houses of the Israelites! There was not only deliverance from the plagues, but there was also rest from all manner of work. Herein is the blessedness of the blood of the Lamb; when it comes to the home and the heart of the believer, it gives him rest of soul while others are toiling in vain to get relief by their own works.

Exodus 12:17-25. And you, you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread, for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall you, you observe this day in your generation, by an ordinance forever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, you, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whoever eats that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. You, you shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall you, you eat unleavened bread. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you, you a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover. And you, you shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin, and none of you, you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians and when he sees the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you, you. And you, you shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you, you and to your sons forever. And it shall come to pass, when you, you be come to the land which the Lord will give you, you according as he has promised, that you, you shall keep this service.

What! were they never to forget the slaying of the lamb and the sprinkling of the blood? No, never. Not when they came to Canaan, to the land that flowed with milk and honey, and when God had wrought other great marvels for them? No, never; and the highest honor that we shall ever have will be this, to be able truthfully to sing, —

"A monument of grace,

A sinner saved by blood."

Exodus 12:26-27. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, you, What mean you, you by this service? That you, you shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’S Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshiped.

 

Chapter 13

 

Verse 21-22

 

We are going to read once more the familiar story of how the Lord relieved his people from the power of Egypt after he had brought them out of the house of bondage.

Exodus 13:21-22. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way: and by night in pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: he took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 13:21-22; Exodus 14.

 

Chapter 14

 

Verses 1-31

 

Exodus 14:1-2 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth between Migdol and sea, over against Baalzephon: before it you, you shall encamp by the sea

It might have been sufficient for the pillar of cloud to move that way; but it was really such an extraordinary thing for the Lord to lead the people right down to the sea that he gave a special command as well as the movement of the cloud. That Moses himself might not be staggered by what would seem to him to be such strange guidance the Lord tells him what to say to the people and then gives him this explanation:

Exodus 14:3-4. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness has shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so.

Those four words, "And they did so," though they are very short and very simple words, express a great deal. Oh, that it might always be said of all of us whenever God commands us to do anything, "And they did so."

Exodus 14:5. And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?

Nothing but the grace of God will truly humble men. These Egyptians had been crushed by terrible plagues into a false kind of humility, but they were soon as proud as ever. Nothing but the omnipotent grace of God can really subdue a proud and stubborn heart.

Exodus 14:6-8. And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.

They were resolute and brave as long as they realized that God was with them; and the Egyptians behind them were bold and proud although God was not with them. There were two high hands that day, the high hand of the proud, puny Pharaoh and the high hand of the ever-blessed omnipotent Jehovah.

Exodus 14:9-10. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon. And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid:

Forgetting what God had done for them, and promised to them, they became timid at the sight of their old master. They knew the cruelty of the Egyptians in time of war, and their hearts failed them.

Exodus 14:10. And the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.

Ah, dear friends, if they had cried to the Lord in true believing prayer, they would have been worthy of commendation; but they did not do so. They cried out unto the Lord in an unbelieving complaint, as the next verse plainly shows: —

Exodus 14:11-12. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you, you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore have you, you dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell you, you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

What cowards they were, and how faint-hearted! Were these the people that were to conquer Canaan? Were these God’s chosen people? Ah, judge them not, for you, you and I have often been quite as faint-hearted and quite as fickle as they were. May God forgive us as he again and again forgave them!

Exodus 14:13-15. And Moses said unto the people, Fear you, you not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you, you to day: for the Egyptians, whom you, you have seen to day, you, you shall see them again no more forever The Lord shall fight for you, you, and you, you shall hold your peace. And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore cry you, you unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:

Moses was no doubt praying in his heart though it is not recorded the he uttered any words in prayer; but it was not the time for prayer, it was the time for action. When people sometimes say when they know their duty, "We will make it a matter of prayer," they generally mean that they will try to find some excuse for not doing it. You, you need not pray about any matter when you, you know what you, you ought to do; go and do it.

Exodus 14:16-20. But lift you, you up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them: and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: and it came between the camp the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these; so that the one came not near the other all the night.

God was like a wall of fire between them and their enemies, so that they had no cause for fear even though the Egyptians were so near.

Exodus 14:21-25. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians. And took of their chariot wheels, that they drove them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.

They were now in the midst of the sea between the two high walls of water, and before they could flee see what happened to them: —

Exodus 14:26-31. And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared, and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the water returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the hosts of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses.

And well they might! Yet how soon they murmured both against the Lord and against Moses!

This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 13:21-22; Exodus 14.

 

Chapter 15

 

Verses 1-21

 

Exodus 15:1-10. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spoke, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider has he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his host has he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: your right hand, O Lord, has dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of your excellency you, you have overthrown them that rose up against you, you: you, you sent forth your wrath, which consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of your nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. You, you did blow with your wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

They were all noise, and bluster, and boast; but observe the sublime attitude of God, how readily he eased himself of his adversaries: "You, you did blow with your wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters."

Exodus 15:11-14. Who is like unto you, you, O Lord, among the gods? who is like you, you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? You, you stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them. You, you in your mercy have led forth the people which you, you have redeemed: you, you have guided them in your strength unto your holy habitation. The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestine.

That is, the heathen nations who, at that time, inhabited the land of Palestine: "Sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestine."

Exodus 15:15. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.

This great deed of God would be told, and told again, all over Palestine; and the inhabitants would feel that their end was come, for who could stand against Israel’s mighty God?

Exodus 15:16. Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of your arm they shall be as still as a stone; until your people pass over, O Lord, until the people pass over, which you, you have purchased.

And how still they were! All the forty years that the Israelites were in the wilderness, they were scarcely ever attacked; and even then, it was not by the inhabitants of Canaan, but by the wandering Bedouin tribe of the Amalekites, who slew the hindmost of them. It was wonderful that no troops ever came out of Egypt to molest God’s people after the destruction at the Red Sea; neither out of Canaan did any come to block their way. When God strikes, he makes his adversaries dread all future conflicts.

Exodus 15:17-21. You, you shall bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which you, you have made for you, you to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. The Lord shall reign forever and ever. For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them, but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing you, you to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously! the horse and his rider has he thrown into the sea.

They sang as in an oratorio, Miriam singing the solo, and all the women joining in the jubilant chorus; and well might they rejoice after the great deliverance which the Lord had wrought for them.

This exposition consisted of readings from Hosea 2:14-15; and Exodus 15:1-21.

Verses 1-27

 

Exodus 15:1. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spoke, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider has he thrown into the sea.

Note, that they were singing, singing a very loud and triumphant song; and you, you would have thought that they would have kept on singing for the next forty years. It was such a triumph, such a deliverance, God’s arm was made so bare before their eyes, that you, you would have thought that their jubilation would have lasted throughout a lifetime, at the least. On the contrary, it lasted a very little while. Yet what a song it was that they sang! "I will sing unto the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider has he thrown into the sea." What a song of triumph that is which is sung by souls saved from sin, and death, and Hell, by the great atoning sacrifice of Christ! Oh, when we first realize that we are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, we do, indeed, "feel like singing all the time", for our sins are washed away, and we have a notion that we shall always keep on singing until we join in the song of the glorified in Heaven. So it ought to be; but, alas, from sad experience we know that it is not so! However, the song of Moses and the children of Israel goes on:

Exodus 15:2. The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

The heart is prompted by gratitude to think of doing something for God. It thinks of preparing him a habitation; but what habitation shall we prepare for him whom the Heaven of heavens cannot contain? All that we can possibly do is too little for the greatness of his grace and his glory. "You, you did well that it was in your heart," said the Lord to David, though he might not prepare God a habitation. It is well that it is in our heart today to do some little thing for the glory of God. As an old Puritan says, we give for love-tokens a cracked sixpence, or a flower that soon fades. It is accepted as a love-token, not for its intrinsic value, but as an emblem of what our heart feels, and would do if it could. Even so it is with the Lord and the service his people seek to render to him. He takes our trifles, and makes much of them.

Exodus 15:3-5. The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his host has he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.

And this is what has happened to all the powers that were against us. Our sins, where are they? Has not the Lord cast them into the depths of the sea? Yes, blessed be his name forever! We, like Israel on the other side of the Red Sea, praise the Lord that we have escaped out of the hand of the oppressor, and that Pharaoh holds us as servants no longer. To the Lord alone is due the glory of our deliverance.

Exodus 15:6-8. Your right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: your right hand, O Lord, has dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of your excellency you, you have overthrown them that rose up against you, you: you, you sent forth your wrath, which consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of your nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.

What cannot God do? The liquid becomes solid; nature itself changes when the God of nature puts forth his power. Trust you, you in God, and he will do wonders for you, you also, as he did for his ancient people Israel.

Exodus 15:9. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.

How the powers of darkness rage and rave! What a flurry they are in! What big words they speak! What cruel designs they harbor against God’s people! See how still and calm is the Lord amid all their raging.

Exodus 15:10. You, you did blow with your wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

God has only to use his breath to blow upon them, and away they go, and all their boastings, too. One word from the mouth of God can destroy all our doubts and fears. The breath of his Spirit can sink all our enemies, and make us sing for joy of heart at our great deliverance.

Exodus 15:11-13. Who is like unto you, you, O Lord, among the gods? who is like you, you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? You, you stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them. You, you in your mercy have led forth the people which you, you have redeemed: you, you have guided them in your strength unto your holy habitation.

The song becomes prophetic. All joy gets to be prophetic; at least, the joy of earth when once it is touched with the live coal from off the heavenly altar. We begin to praise God "for all the grace we have not tasted yet," as Israel here does. They praise the Lord for leading his people through the wilderness, and bringing them unto his holy habitation, even while they are only at the beginning of their journey.

Exodus 15:14. The people —

That is, the Canaanites, —

Exodus 15:14-15. Shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestine. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.

When they hear of the great things that Jehovah has done for his people, they shall feel that the day of their doom is come. Who can stand against so mighty a God? Yet there are some, in our day, whose hearts are stouter and harder than the hearts of the dukes of Edom and the mighty men of Moab. They hear of God’s judgments upon the wicked, and of the terrible doom of the ungodly, and yet they dare to defy the Lord, and to continue in their evil ways.

Exodus 15:16-18. Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of your arm they shall be as still as a stone; until your people pass over, O Lord, until the people pass over, which you, you have purchased. You, you shall bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which you, you have made for you, you to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. The Lord shall reign forever and ever.

How grandly that last note must have pealed forth from the hundreds of thousands of male voices! The women must also have sung it with the utmost conceivable joy as they struck their timbrels, and danced before the Lord.

Exodus 15:19-22. For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing you, you to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider has he thrown into the sea. So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.

At first, they were afraid of too much water, from the waves of the sea; now they are afraid of too little. Will their songs be over in three days? Ah, yes! At the end of the third day they came to some springs of water, but they were brackish or bitter.

Exodus 15:23-24. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured —

Ah, these singers had sadly changed their notes! Where are the timbrels now? "The people murmured"

Exodus 15:24-27. Against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, and said, If you, you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, and will do that which is right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon you, you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that heals you, you. And they came to Elim,

They did not stop long at Marah, probably only a few hours.

Exodus 15:27. Where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees and they encamped there by the waters.

That Elim must have been prepared on purpose for Israel. Twelve springs of water — that was the number of the tribes. Threescore and ten palm trees that was the number of the elders. I do not wonder that Moses noted these numbers. It must have seemed remarkable that, long before they came there, there were the wells and there were the palm trees all ready for their encampment. It was most significant that these things should have been prepared according to the number of the children of Israel; but everything else is arranged by the same rule. When the Lord divided the people, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the children of Israel. It is by this line that he builds his Church still. It is according to his thoughts of his own people that he rules everything in his providence. There are a few verses in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, at the seventh chapter, which we will read concerning this subject.

This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 15; and Jeremiah 7:21-26.

 

Chapter 16

 

Verses 1-36

 

Exodus 16:1-2. And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

They have been only about six weeks in the wilderness, and already they are up in arms against their leaders. Remember that we have the same kind of people to deal with as Moses and Aaron had. The children of Israel were no better than any other nation; and I do not think they were any worse. We may take them as a fair average of human nature, which is a discontented, rebellious thing in the best of circumstances.

Exodus 16:3. And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for you, you have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

They forgot all about the brick-making, and the whips, and the iron bondage, and they recollected nothing but the fleshpots of Egypt. Ah, me! how soon, when we escape from a great trial, we forget it! The present much smaller one seems far heavier than that which is past.

Exodus 16:4. Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from Heaven for you, you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

See God’s answer to man’s murmuring. They send up their complaint, and he promises to rain bread down from above. It is a blessed story on God’s part all along; a rain of mercy for a smoke of complaining.

Exodus 16:5. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.

Now let us read at the eleventh verse.

Exodus 16:11-12. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel:

"I have heard them." God always does hear. Oh, his wonderful patience! If he took no notice of the murmurers, or punished them for their wickedness, we should have no cause for wonder; but he is longsuffering, even to those who do not deserve his pity.

Exodus 16:12. Speak unto them, saying, At even you, you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you, you shall be filled with bread; and you, you shall know that I am the Lord your God.

"There shall be no mistake about who I am. I will work this miracle in such a Godlike style, and on such a divine scale, that you, you shall know that I am Jehovah your God."

Exodus 16:13-16. And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord has given you, you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord has commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man,

About two pints and a half, I think; according to some calculations, two quarts, or thereabouts. There would be more sustenance in it than in a half-quarter loaf of bread per diem: "An omer for every man."

Exodus 16:16-18. According to the number of your persons; take you, you every man for them which are in his tents. And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. And when they did mete it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.

God meant it to be so; not every man according to his avarice, that he might save any of it; but "every man according to his eating." God took care that neither should feebleness be stinted, nor should greed have any excess.

Exodus 16:19-22. And Moses said, Let no man leave, of it until the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

He had told them that it would be so, but they evidently did not accept the message that he had delivered to them as the very Word of Jehovah their God; so that, when it was fulfilled, it struck them with wonder, and they "came and told Moses."

Exodus 16:23. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord has said. How often could that answer be made to us!

God hears our prayer, and we run and say, "What a wonderful thing! God has heard my prayer." "This is that which the Lord has said." Is it a strange thing that what Jehovah has said is proved to be true, and is it a subject for surprise that he should keep his promise? You, you dishonor God when you, you talk after this fashion.

Exodus 16:23. To morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord:

And yet the Sabbath had not been instituted according to law, which proves that its foundation lay deeper and earlier than the promulgation of the Ten Commandments; it is bound up with the essential arrangement of time since the creation: "This is that which the Lord has said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord."

Exodus 16:23-27. Bake that which you, you will bake to day, and seethe that you, you will seethe; and that which remains over lay up for you, you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up until the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that today; for today is a Sabbath unto the Lord: to day you, you shall not find it in the field. Six days you, you shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.

They might have expected it to be so; but they would not believe, and as they would not believe, they must needs put the Word of God to the test. But it endures the trial; it is always true. Oh, that men would, in a believing spirit, test the Word of God, instead of doing it after this skeptical fashion!

Exodus 16:28-31. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse you, you to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the Lord has given you, you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you, you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide you, you every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day. And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna:

Or, "What is it?" It was something too wonderful to be understood and they kept the expression of their wonderment as the name of their bread from Heaven. When they first saw it, they exclaimed, "Man-hu?" "Man-hu?" "What is it?" "What is it?" Thus it received its Hebrew name, Manna; but God called it, "Bread from Heaven."

Exodus 16:31-33. And it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commands, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread where with I have fed you, you in the wilderness, when I brought you, you forth from the land of Egypt. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.

This production, which would not keep a single day under ordinary circumstances, would keep for two days to supply the needs of the Sabbath, and it would keep for generations as a memorial of God’s goodness to his chosen people during their forty years’ wanderings through the wilderness. We may be quite sure that Aaron would not have kept a stinking thing laid up before the Lord.

Exodus 16:34-36. As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

Now I want you, you to read in the Book of Numbers. Further on in the history of the children of Israel, when the people had been long in the wilderness, the same kind of thing happened again.

This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 16:1-5; Exodus 16:11-36; and Numbers 11:1-10.

 

Chapter 17

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 18

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 19

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 20

 

Verses 1-17

 

Exodus 20:1-3. And God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God, which have brought you, you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You, you shall have no other gods before me.

God is the only God, and no other object of worship is to be tolerated for a moment.

Exodus 20:4-6. You, you shall not make unto you, you any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: You, you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

Here we are forbidden to worship God under any similitude whatever. The first command forbids the worship of another God: the second strictly forbids us to worship anything which our eyes can see, under the pretense that we are worshiping God thereby. This is another offense, and much more common than the first; and it is often pleaded — "Oh, we do not worship these things: we worship God whom these represent." But here it is strictly forbidden to represent God under any form or substance whatever and to make that an object of worship.

Exodus 20:7. You, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord shall not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.

A reverence for the very name of God is demanded and all things that are connected with his worship are to be kept sacred.

Exodus 20:8-11. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you, you labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: in it you, you shall not do any work, you, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within the gates: for in six days the Lord made Heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

It is good for us that we make the Sabbath a day of rest — a day of holy worship — a day of drawing near unto God. Thus far, we have the first table, containing the duties towards God. The rest inscribed on the second table are our duties towards man.

Exodus 20:12-14. Honor your father and your mother: that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you, you. You, you shall not kill. You, you shall not commit adultery.

These commandments take a far wider sweep than the mere words. "You, you shall not kill" includes the doing of anything by which life may be shortened as well as taken away. It includes anger — every evil wish and every malicious passion. And "You, you shall not commit adultery" includes every form of unchastity and impurity.

Exodus 20:15-17. You, you shall not steal. You, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You, you shaft not covet your neighbor’s house, you, you shall not covet neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

It was the tenth commandment that convicted the apostle Paul, for he says, "I had not known sin except the law had said "You, you shall not covet." When men break the other commandments they often break this one first.

This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 20:1-17; and 2 Kings 17:23-41.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 22

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 23

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 24

 

Verses 1-10

 

Exodus 24:1-2. And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the Lord, you, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship you, you afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord: but they shall not come near; neither shall the people go up with him.

Nearer to God than the people were allowed to come, but still at a distance from him. It was a covenant of distance, — bounds were set about the mount lest the people should come too near. Yet they were near unto God as compared with the heathen, but far off as compared with those who now, by the teaching of the Spirit of God, have been brought near to God through the precious blood of Jesus. Moses alone could come near to Jehovah on mount Sinai, the people could not go up with him, — nor even with the man who was their mediator with God, for such Moses was; but you, you and I, beloved, can go up with him who is far greater than Moses, —with him who is the one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ at Jesus, for God "has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

Exodus 24:3-8. And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord has said will we do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord has said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you, you concerning all these words.

There is a double power about the blood; — towards God an atonement, that is the blood sprinkled on the altar, — and towards ourselves a sense of reconciliation, thus must the blood be sprinkled upon us that we may prove its cleansing power.

Exodus 24:9-10. Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: and they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of Heaven in his clearness.

This exposition consisted of readings from Hebrews 9, and Exodus 24:1-10.

 

Chapter 25

 

Verses 10-22

 

Exodus 25:10-11. And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And you, you shall overlay it with pure gold, within and without shall you, you overlay it, and shall make upon it a crown of gold round about.

The ark of the covenant was the most sacred object in the tabernacle in the wilderness. It stood at the extreme end of the holy of holies. It was the place over which the bright shining light, called the Shekinah, which was the token of the presence of God, shone forth. The ark was, doubtless, typical of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was a sacred chest made to contain the law. Blessed are they who know the law in Christ. Out of Christ, the law condemns. In Christ, it becomes a blessed guide to us. This ark was made of wood, perhaps to typify the human nature of our blessed Lord; but it was of unrotting wood, acacia, which resists the worm; and, truly, in him there was no corruption in life by way of sin, and no corruption sullied him in death when he slept for a while in the grave. Wood is a thing that grows out of the earth, even as Jesus sprang up like a root out of a dry ground.

But the ark must be made of the best kind of wood, — unrotting and untainted. Yet the ark, though made of wood, did not appear to be so, for it was completely overlaid with pure gold, so, everywhere, the Deity, or, if you, you will, the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ could be seen. The ark was of shittim wood, yet it was an ark of gold; and he, who was truly man was just as truly God, blessed be his holy name. Round about the top of this ark there was a crown of gold. How glorious is Christ, in his mediation, as covering the law, and preserving it within himself! He is King, glorious in holiness, and honored in the midst of his people.

Exodus 25:12-14. And you, you shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it, and you, you shall make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And you, you shall put the staves into the ring by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.

The rings were, of course, for the staves to pass through, and the staves were for the priests to carry the ark as it moved from place to place. It went with the children of Israel in all their journeys; and our Lord Jesus is always with us. He goes with us wherever we go, and tarries with us wherever we abide. Though his glorified person is in Heaven, yet his presence is not restricted to any one place, as he said to his disciples, "Lo, I am with you, you away, even unto the end of the world."

Exodus 25:15. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.

So that it was always ready to be moved.

Exodus 25:16. And you, you shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you, you.

That is to say, the two tables of stone were to be put into the ark of the covenant.

Exodus 25:17. And you, you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.

It exactly fitted upon the top of the ark, and so completely covered whatever was put within. It was of pure gold. This, perhaps, was the most important part of this very important article of the tabernacle furniture. It was the mercy-seat, the cover that hid the law, the place where God promised to meet with his people.

Exodus 25:18-20. And you, you shall make two cherubim of gold, of beaten work shall you, you make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall you, you make the cherubim on the two ends thereof, and the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.

They were part and parcel of the mercy-seat; they were made of the same precious metal, and all formed one piece. They may represent the angels, who stand desiring to look into the mysteries of God, and they may also represent the Church, which is all of a piece with Christ, forever one with him.

Exodus 25:21-22. And you, you shall put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark you, you shall put the testimony that I shall give you, you. And there I will meet with you, you, and I will commune with you, you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give you, you in commandment unto the children of Israel.

It was the meeting place of God and men, where the law was covered with a solid plate of gold, so is Jesus the meeting place between God and sinners, where the law is covered with his perfect righteousness.

This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 25:10-22; and Psalms 32.

 

Chapter 26

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 27

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 28

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 29

 

Verses 38-46

 

Exodus 29:38. Now this is that which you, you shall offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually.

Remember, as long as there was a Jewish state, the morning and the evening were to open and to close with the sacrifice of a lamb.

Exodus 29:39-42. The one lamb you, you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb you, you shall offer at even: And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering. And the other lamb you, you shall offer at even, and shall do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savor an offering made by fire unto the Lord. This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord: where I will meet you, you, to speak there unto you, you.

See, the lamb is the place of meeting; God comes to his people as his people come to him, with the morning and with the evening lamb.

Exodus 29:43. And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory.

God’s glory is in the lamb: it is there he is pleased to manifest himself in the glory of his infinite grace to his people.

Exodus 29:44-45. And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.

Not without the lamb, you, you see; that morning and evening sacrifice must be the token and the way of God’s dealing with his people.

Exodus 29:46. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the Lord their God.

Now concerning this same lamb, we will read in: —

This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 29:38-46; Isaiah 53.

 

Chapter 30

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 31

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 32

 

Verses 1-29

 

Exodus 32:1. And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us, for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.

They wanted something to look at, — something visible that they could adore. It was not that they meant to cease to worship Jehovah, but they intended to worship him under some tangible symbol. That is the great fault of Ritualists and Romanists, they aim at worshiping God, but they must do so through some sign, some symbol, some cross, some crucifix, or something or other that they can see.

Exodus 32:2-3. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

People are often very generous in their support of a false religion; and, to make idol gods, they will sacrifice their most precious treasures, as these idolaters willingly gave their golden earrings.

Exodus 32:4. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a engraving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be your gods, O Israel, which brought you, you up out of the land of Egypt.

No doubt they copied the Egyptian God, which was in the form of a bull, which the Holy Spirit, by the pen of Moses, here calls a calf. The psalmist probably also alludes to it when he speaks of "an ox or a bullock that has horns and hoofs." It seems strange that these people should have thought of worshiping the living God under such a symbol as that.

Exodus 32:5. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.

"To Jehovah." They intended to worship Jehovah under the form of a bull — the image of strength. Other idolaters go further, and worship Baal and various false gods, but, between the worship of a golden calf and the worship of false gods, there is very little choice; and, between the idolatry of the heathen and Popery, there is about as much difference as there is between six and half a dozen.

Exodus 32:6. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

It was usual to worship false gods with music and dancing and with orgies of drunkenness and obscene rites, and the Israelites fell into the same evils as they had seen among their neighbors.

Exodus 32:7. And the Lord said unto Moses,

Just in the midst of his hallowed communion, the Lord said to him: —

Exodus 32:7. Go, get you, you down; for your people, which you, you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

God would not own them as his people. He called them Moses’ people: "your people, which you, you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves."

Exodus 32:8-10. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, these are your gods, O Israel, which have brought you, you up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people: now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of you, you a great nation.

For Moses began at once to pray for the people, — to interpose between God and the execution of his righteous wrath; and, therefore, the Lord said to him, "Let me alone,... that I may consume them."

Exodus 32:11. And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why does your wrath wax hot against your people, —

See how he dares even to say to God, "They are your people, though they have acted so wickedly. ‘Why does your wrath wax hot against your people,’" —

Exodus 32:11-13. Which you, you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you, you swore by your own self, and said unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of Heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.

Moses pleaded the covenant which the Lord had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and there is no plea like that. Although it might have been to his own personal interest that the people should be destroyed, Moses would not have it so; and he pleaded with God, for the sake of his own honor, his faithfulness, and his truth, not to run back from the word which he had spoken.

Exodus 32:14-15. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. And Moses turned, and went down from the mount,

Does it not seem sad for Moses to have to go down from the immediate presence of God, and to stand among the idolatrous and rebellious people in the camp? Yet that is often the lot of those whom God employs as his servants. They have, as it were, to come down from Heaven to fight with Hell upon earth.

Exodus 32:15-17. And the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides, on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

For Joshua was a younger man than Moses, and also a soldier, so his ear was quicker to hear what he took to be "a noise of war in the camp."

Exodus 32:18. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

Moses knew that it was not a battle cry either of the victors or the vanquished; but the song of idolatrous worshipers.

Exodus 32:19. And it came to pass, as soon as he came near unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

In righteous indignation, preserving those sacred tablets from the profane touch of the polluted people, by dashing them to fragments in his holy anger

Exodus 32:20. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

Think of the courage of this one man, to go single handed right into the middle of the idolaters’ camp, and deal thus with their precious God!

Exodus 32:21-24. And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto you, you, that you, you have brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: you, you know the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whoever has any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

Which was a lie. Aaron was a poor weak-minded creature, easily persuaded to do wrong; and when his stronger-minded and more gracious brother was absent, he became the willing tool of the idolatrous people; and yet Aaron is called, by the psalmist, "the saint of the Lord," and so he was, taking him as a whole. One black spot, on the face of a fair man, does not prove him to be a negro; and so, one sin, in the life of a man who is usually holy, does not put him among the ungodly.

Exodus 32:25-28. And when Moses saw that the people were naked, (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies) then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses:

The rebellious, the idolatrous, the men who had defied the authority of God, were to be summarily executed on the spot.

Exodus 32:28-29. And there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you, you a blessing this day.

Such a colossal crime as that must be expiated before the Lord could again bless the chosen race.

Verses 1-35

 

Exodus 32:1. And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.

What a terrible speech to be made by the people whom God had chosen to be his own! "Make us gods. Make our Creator." How could that be?

Exodus 32:2. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

Poor Aaron! He never had the backbone of his brother Moses. He was a better speaker; but oh, the poverty of his heart! He yields to the will of these idolatrous people, and bows to their wicked behests at once.

Exodus 32:3. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

Idolaters spare no expense; there is many a worshiper of a God of wood or mud who gives more to that idol than professing Christians give to the cause of the one living and true God. It is sad that it should be so.

Exodus 32:4. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be your gods, O Israel, which brought you, you up out of the land of Egypt.

This was an Egyptian idolatry, the worship of God under the fashion of an ox, the emblem of strength; but God is not to be worshiped under emblems at all. What a poor representation of God any emblem must be!

Exodus 32:5. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the Lord.

They were going to worship Jehovah under the emblem of an ox. This is what you, you will hear idolaters say; they do not worship the image, they say, but the true God under that image. Yet that is expressly forbidden under the second commandment.

Exodus 32:6. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

Lascivious games were sure to accompany idolatrous worship, for idolatry always leads to filthiness in some form or other, as if it were inevitable.

Exodus 32:7. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get you, you down; for your people, which you, you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

How startled Moses must have been when Jehovah said this to him!

Exodus 32:8-9. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be your gods, O Israel, which have brought you, you up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people.

Moses perhaps begins to lift his voice in prayer, and God says:-

Exodus 32:10. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of you, you a great nation.

"I will keep my promise to Abraham by destroying these rebels, and taking you, you, his true descendant, and fulfilling the covenant in you, you."

Exodus 32:11-13. And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why does your wrath wax hot against your people, which you, you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you, you swore by your own self, and said unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of Heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.

What a brave prayer this was! Here is a wrestling Moses, true son of wrestling Israel; and he brings his arguments to bear upon Jehovah when he is angry, and he succeeds in turning aside the Lord’s wrath.

Exodus 32:14-15. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. And Moses turned, and went down from the mount,

An unhappy, broken-hearted man, going from the closest communion with God, down into the midst of a wicked people.

Exodus 32:15-17. And the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

Joshua had probably waited lower down, and he met Moses in his descent. He heard with the quick ears of a soldier, and his thoughts went that way.

Exodus 32:18-19. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. And it came to pass, as soon as he came near unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

This is he who had been praying to God, and saying, "Why does your wrath wax hot against your people?" Now he is in deep sympathy with God, and he is himself angry with the idolaters. He cannot help it when he begins to see their sin. Before, he had only thought of the people; but now he looks at their sin. When you, you see sin, if you, you are a man of God, your wrath waxes hot, and you, you get into sympathy with that holy God who cannot be otherwise than indignant at iniquity wherever it may be.

Exodus 32:20. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

See the power of this one man who has God at his back, and God in him. While the people are dancing around their idol, he tears it down, grinds it to powder, and says, "You, you shall drink it every one of you, you." Why, there are millions to one; but what cares he about their millions? God is with him, and he is God’s servant; and, therefore, they all tremble before him.

Exodus 32:21-24. And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto you, you, that you, you have brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot: you, you know the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whoever has any gold, let them break it off so they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

That was a lie, for he had made the calf, and shaped it himself. Aaron had not any backbone, nor any principle, he could not he stout-hearted for God. What a poor little man he seems by the side of his great brother! How he shrivels up under the rebuke of Moses!

Exodus 32:25. And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)

Moses does not spare Aaron, he lays at his door the guilt of the great sin he had committed: "Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies.

Exodus 32:26-27. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.

This is the man who pleaded for them on the top of the mount. See how he acts in the sight of their sin; by divine authority, he smites them right and left. Possibly, those who were slain were the men who refused to drink the water on which the powder had been sprinkled, or those who continued in rebellion against the Lord.

Exodus 32:28-30. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you, you a blessing this day. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, You, you have sinned a great sin; and now I will go up unto the Lord perhaps I shall make an atonement for your sin.

I will be bound to say that this was said after a sleepless night. The people’s sin is now so vividly before him that he begins to feel that God will be just if he punishes them, and does not grant them any forgiveness, so he goes once more up that steep climb to the top of Sinai with a trembling heart, and with only a "perhaps" on his lip.

Exodus 32:31-32. And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if you, you will forgive their sin-,

There he broke down, he could not finish that sentence.

Exodus 32:32. And if not, blot me, I pray you, you, out of your book which you, you have written.

"Let me die in their stead!" But God could not accept one man in the stead of another; there is a great Substitute, ordained of old, but he is more than man, and therefore he can stand in the sinner’s stead.

Exodus 32:33-35. And the Lord said unto Moses, Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto you, you: behold, mine Angel shall go before you, you: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

Moses had only half success in pleading for the people; they were not to die as yet, but God declared that he would visit their sin upon them.

Verses 7-14

 

Exodus 32:7. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go get you, you down; for your people, which you, you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

See how Jehovah will not own these idolaters as his people. He says to Moses, "Your people which you, you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves."

Exodus 32:8-10. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be your gods, O Israel, which have brought you, you up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people: now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of you, you a great nation.

What a great future was thus opened up before Moses! He might become another Abraham, and in him should all the nations of the earth be blessed. But Moses loves the people, even the people who have vexed and provoked him so many years. He still loves them so much that, even before he begins to pray for them, God says, "Let me alone," as if he felt the force of Moses’ coming prayer, and would not have him offer it. O wondrous power of intercession, that by it even God’s right hand is held back when it is lifted up to smite!

Exodus 32:11. And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why does your wrath wax hot against your people, which you, you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

Moses will not have it that they are his people, nor that he brought them out of the land of Egypt; but he declares that they are God’s people, and that He brought them forth "with great power, and with a mighty hand."

Exodus 32:12-14. Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you, you swore by your own self, and said unto them, I will multiply your seed so the stars of Heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

So a second time the mighty power of prayer was proven, and the Lord hearkened to the voice of a man. In the seventh chapter of the Gospel according to Mark, beginning at the twenty-fourth verse, is another story which you, you know well, which tells how the Lord Jesus was overcome by a woman’s mighty faith.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 32:22-30; Exodus 32:7-14; and Mark 7:24-30.

 

Chapter 33

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 34

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 35

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 36

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 37

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 38

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 39

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 40

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

LEVITICUS

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 13

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 14

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 15

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 16

 

Verses 1-31

 

Leviticus 16:1-2. And the Lord spoke unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord, and died; and the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron your brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.

The way into the heavenly places was not yet made manifest; the inner shrine, called the holy of holies, was specially guarded from human access. No one could have said in those days, "Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace," for only the high priest could approach the mercy seat at all, and he must go within the veil strictly in accordance with the instructions given to Moses by the Lord. Nadab and Abihu appear to have entered into the presence of God wrongfully. They had probably been drinking, for there was a command afterwards given that no priest should drink wine or strong drink when he went into the house of the Lord. God in his righteous anger slew these young men at once, and now, lest any others should intrude into the secret place of communion, a law was given to tell when and how man might approach his God.

Leviticus 16:3. Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.

There is no access to God except by sacrifice; there never was, and there never can be, any way to God for sinful man except by sacrifice.

Leviticus 16:4. He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen belt, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.

Our great High Priest offered himself without spot to God, and he is himself without sin; but the Jewish high priest must make himself typically pure by putting on the snow white garments of holy service, and before doing so he must wash himself with water, that he might come before God acceptably. None might approach the Holy God with impurities upon them.

Leviticus 16:5-6. And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.

These priests were sinful, and therefore they must first themselves be purged from guilt before they could come near to God; but the true High Priest of God, our Lord Jesus, needed to offer no sacrifice for himself, for he was pure and without blemish or stain of sin.

Leviticus 16:7. And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

These two goats were not for himself, but for the people. You, you must regard them as if they were but one offering, for it needed both of them to set forth the divine plan by which sin is put away; one was to die, and the other was typically to bear away the sin of the people.

Leviticus 16:8. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

One goat was to show how sin is put away in reference to God by sacrifice, and the other goat was to show how it is put away in reference to us, God’s people, by being carried into oblivion.

Leviticus 16:9-14. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself: and he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil: and he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: and he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.

This was his first entrance within the veil, with holy incense to denote the acceptance which Christ has with God, though he is always well-beloved, and dear, and precious to his Father. This incense sent up a cloud that veiled the glory of the Shekinah which shone between the two wings of the cherubim, and so the high priest was better able to bear the wondrous brilliance by which God revealed his presence. When Aaron had thus filled the place with the sweetly perfumed smoke, he took the blood of the bullock of the sin offering, and carefully sprinkled it seven times on the mercy seat, and on the ground around the mercy seat. What a mercy it is for you, you and me that the spot where we meet with God is a place where the blood of the great sacrifice has been sprinkled, ay, and that the ground of our meeting with God, the place on which the mercy seat rests, has also the blood mark upon it!

Leviticus 16:15. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:

Twice, you, you see, is the holy place thus besprinkled, first with the blood of the bullock, and then with that of the goat.

Leviticus 16:16. And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the impurity of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remains among them in the midst of their impurity.

If God is to dwell in the midst of sinful men, it can only be through the blood of the atonement. Twice seven times were the holy place and the tabernacle to be sprinkled with blood, as though to indicate a double perfectness of efficacy of the preparation for God’s dwelling among sinful men.

Leviticus 16:17-19 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goes in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the impurity of the children of Israel.

Even this altar, to which we bring our prayers and our thank offerings, has sin upon it. There is some defilement even in the saltwater of our penitent tears; there is some unbelief even in our most acceptable faith; there is some want of holiness about our holiest things. We are unclean by nature, and by practice, too, what could we do without the sprinkling of the blood? See how the Lord insisted upon it in the case of his ancient people, yet there are some in these modern times who deride it. God forgive their blasphemy!

Leviticus 16:20-21. And when he has made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:

Notice the "all" in this twenty-first verse: "Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness." This was the second part of the atonement showing, not sacrifice, but the effect of sacrifice, and explaining what becomes of sin after the sacrifice has been accepted, and the blood has been presented within the veil.

Leviticus 16:22-25. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there: and he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people. And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.

Only the fat of it, the best of it, was burnt upon the altar, for sin offerings were not acceptable to God. They were regarded as being filled with impurity by reason of the sin which they brought to mind; for this reason the bullock and the goat of the sin offering had to be burnt without the camp: "Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate," as our sin offering. Yet, inasmuch as the fat was accepted upon the altar, so is Christ, even as our sin offering, acceptable before God.

Leviticus 16:26-27. And he who let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp. And the bullock for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.

All must be burnt; and the last is mentioned because it more strikingly sets forth the impurity of the sin connected with the sin offering. All must be burnt right up; there must not be a particle of the sin offering left unconsumed.

Leviticus 16:28. And he who burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

Everything that has to do with God’s service must be clean and purified by fire, and purified by water. An atonement cannot be made by that which is itself defiled; it must be without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing before it can put sin away; this is the virtue of Christ’s atonement, for he was altogether without sin of any kind.

Leviticus 16:29-31 And this shall be a statute forever unto you, you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourns among you, you: for on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, you, to cleanse you, you, that you, you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, you, and you, you shall afflict your souls, by a statute forever.

This shows what sacredness the Lord attached to the great day of atonement, and gives us more than a hint of the preciousness of our Lord’s atoning work for us. Now let us turn to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and see how the apostle spiritualizes the services of the Mosaic dispensation.

This exposition consisted of readings from Leviticus 16:1-31; And Hebrews 9:1-22.

 

Chapter 17

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 18

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 19

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 20

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 22

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 23

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 24

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 25

 

Verses 1-22

 

Leviticus 25:1-2. And the Lord spoke unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When you, you come into the land which I give you, you, then shall the land keep a Sabbath unto the Lord.

The Jews had much rest provided for them. If they had had faith enough to obey God’s commands, they might have been the most favored of people; but they were not a spiritual people, and the Lord often had to lament their disobedience as in the words recorded by Isaiah, "O that you, you had hearkened to my commandments! then had your peace been as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea."

Leviticus 25:3-4. Six years you, you shall sow your field, and six years you, you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; but in the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of rest unto the land, a Sabbath for the Lord:

Think of a Sabbath a year long, in which nothing was to be done but to worship God, and so to rest!

Leviticus 25:4-5. You, you shall neither sow your field, nor prune your vineyard. That which grows of its own accord of your harvest you, you shall not reap, neither gather the grapes of your vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.

A restful period in a restful land; all land to have rest, and yet to have fruitfulness in that rest; the rest of a garden, not the rest of a task. Thus is it oftentimes with God’s people, when they rest most, they work best; and while they are resting, they are bearing fruit unto God.

Leviticus 25:6-7. And the Sabbath of the land shall be meat for you, you; for you, you, and for your servant, and for your maid, and for your hired servant, and for your stranger that sojourns with you, you, and for your cattle, and for the beast that are in your land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

There was to be no private property in the spontaneous produce of that year. It was free to everybody; free even to the cattle, which might go and eat what they would, and where they would.

Leviticus 25:17-21. You, you shall not therefore oppress one another; but you, you shall fear your God: for I am the Lord your God. Wherefore you, you shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and you, you shall dwell in the land in safety. And the land shall yield her fruit, and you, you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. And if you, you shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: then I will command my blessing upon you, you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.

Not merely for the one year of rest, but fruit for three years.

Leviticus 25:22. And you, you shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in you, you shall eat of the old store.

They were to have enough for the year of rest, and for the next year in which the harvest was growing, and still to have something over for the ninth year. They scarcely could want as much as that; but God would give them more than they actually needed, exceeding abundantly above what they asked or even thought. That Sabbatical year had other blessings connected with it. Let us read about them in the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter fifteen.

THIS EXPOSITION CONSISTED OF READINGS FROM Leviticus 25:1-7. Leviticus 25:17-22, and Deuteronomy 15:1-18.

 

Chapter 26

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 27

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

NUMBERS

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Verses 1-33

 

Numbers 4:1-2. And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,—

There were three families, those of Kohath, Gershon, and Merari, and to each of these families a different service was allotted. First, they were to be numbered. "The Lord knows them that are his," and he takes count of all his people.

Numbers 4:3. From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

They were to take up this work as a warfare; for, though it was a peaceful work, yet it is described as being a warfare: and he who serves the Lord, though that service be perfect peace, will not serve him without finding it to be also a warfare.

Numbers 4:4. This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things:

They were to have to do with the most holy place, to carry it, and to carry the vessels of it, a very honorable position.

Numbers 4:5-6. And when the camp sets forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering veil, and cover the ark of testimony with it: and shall put thereon the covering of badgers’ skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.

These Kohathites might not so take the ark as to handle it, much less might they ever look at it. But the priests, and the sons of Aaron, went in first, and after carefully covering the holy place, they covered up the sacred ark with a cloth of blue. Blue was the token of holiness, — of separation. Hence, every Israelite wore a border of blue upon his garment, but this, which was the symbol of the divine presence, was "all of blue." It is all holiness. We wear, alas! but a border of blue, but this holy thing was "all of blue."

Numbers 4:7. And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon:

When they moved the sacred table, the bread was always there; twelve cakes for the twelve tribes, for the bread of God’s house is never lacking.

Numbers 4:8-10. And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put in the staves thereof. And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuff dishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, with which they minister unto it: and they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers’ skins and shall put it upon a bar.

There were means for handling these vessels without touching them. I mean, the ark had staves, and the vessels were put upon a bar for carrying them.

Numbers 4:11. And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put to the staves thereof:

A type of the holiness veiled in our Lord’s humanity, the badger skin made apparent the simplicity, the poverty, the humility of our Lord, covering evermore that wondrous cloth of blue.

Numbers 4:12-13. And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers’ skins and shall put them on a bar: and they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:

A royal altar is this, always grand and glorious in our eyes, covered with a purple cloth.

Numbers 4:14-20. And they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, with which they minister about it, even the censers, the flesh hooks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers’ skins, and put to the staves of it. And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertains the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof. And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Cut you, you not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites: but thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and anoint them every one to his service and to his burden: but they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.

This is a very awful thing; I mean, something which should produce a great awe and solemnity in our hearts. These men were chosen to carry the vessels of the most holy place, yet they must never see them. They must be covered up by the hands of the priest, and they must never touch them. They must bear them by their staves, or upon the bar upon which they were placed. Oh, how terrible a thing it is to draw near to God. The Lord our God is a jealous God. He will be served with holy reverence; or not at all. Hence he says to Moses and Aaron, "Take care that you, you do not lead these men into any mistake. You, you go in first, and point out to each man what he is to carry. See that all is covered up, for if you, you do not, they may die in their work. Do not be accessories to their act, and bring upon them this terrible judgment." I often wish that God’s people would be careful not to cause sin in any of his servants when they are engaged in the divine ministry. Perhaps in preaching, or otherwise, there may be something done which vexes the Holy Spirit, and causes trouble and sin. And, oh! he who stands in the holy place, and bears the holiest of the vessels, needs to fear and tremble before God; and he needs to ask his brethren to see that they do nothing which might inadvertently cause him to sin.

Numbers 4:21-24. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, throughout the houses of their fathers, by their families, from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shall you, you number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation. This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens:

They were to bear the external coverings of the holy place. The most holy place was in the custody of the Kohathites; but the Gershonites were to carry as follows,

Numbers 4:25-28. And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, his covering, and the covering of the badgers’ skins that is above upon it, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the hangings of the court, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and all that is made for them: so shall they serve. At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in all their service: and you, you shall appoint unto them in charge all their burdens. This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

There was a wise decision of labor. I wish we had the same kind of thing in every church, and that every member occupied himself in that to which God has appointed him. But there are some who want to do what they cannot do, and who do not care to do what they can do.

Numbers 4:29-32. As for the sons of Merari, you, you shall number them after their families, by the house of their fathers; from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shall you, you number them, every one that enters into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation. And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation, the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets thereof, and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name you, you shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden.

They had the heaviest load to carry, but they were the more numerous. They carried the solid columns upon which the covering of the tabernacle rested. And notice that they had also to carry the pins. Sometimes, God’s servants dislike carrying pins. They feel themselves too big, but blessed is that servant who, in his place, can be content to carry "their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments."

Numbers 4:33. This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Verses 5-22

 

Numbers 8:5-6. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.

These men were to be the servants of God; they are the type of God’s elect, — a people set apart unto divine service, to be zealous for good works. "Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them." That is just the way that God the Holy Spirit takes Christians out of the main of mankind, and cleanses them.

Numbers 8:7-8. And thus shall you, you do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. Then let them take a young bullock with his meat of offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shall you, you take for a sin offering.

There are still, typically, these three things in the cleansing of God’s people, — the blood, the water, and the razor. There is blood, the emblem of the putting away of sin by Christ’s atoning sacrifice; the water, typical of the Holy Spirit, by whom the power of sin is overcome; and then that razor, cutting off that which grows of the flesh; that which was their beauty and their glory is all taken away from them. There are some of God’s people who have not felt much of that razor; but if they are to serve God perfectly, it must be used. "Let them shave all their flesh.

Numbers 8:9-12. And you, you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation and you, you shall gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together: and you, you shall bring the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites: and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord. And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and you, you shall offer the one for a sin of offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the Lord, to make an atonement for the Levites.

There is no true way of serving God without the atonement. Leave that out, and you, you have left out the vital part of the whole. What service can we render to the Most High if we begin by disloyalty to him whom God has set forth to be the propitiation for sin, even his dear Son?

Numbers 8:13-14. And you, you shall let the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the Lord. Thus shall you, you separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.

We are to offer up to God our spirit, soul and body, which is our reasonable service; and if we be indeed God’s children, we are to feel that, henceforth, we are not our own, for we are bought with a price. We belong wholly to God; all that we are, and all that we have, is to be his through life, and in death, and throughout eternity.

Numbers 8:15. And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and you, you shall cleanse them, and offer them for an offering.

An offering must be presented for us before we can offer ourselves as an offering unto God.

Numbers 8:16. For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel;

Listen to this, you, you who trust that you, you are made like unto the elder Brother, and the firstborn from among the creatures of God:

Numbers 8:16-18. Instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me. For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself. And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel.

God’s people are the elect; they have escaped from death. In that day when the sword of the Lord was drawn, they were shielded by the blood of the lamb sprinkled on the lintel and on the two side posts; and, henceforth, because they have been thus preserved, they belong unto the Lord.

Numbers 8:19-22. And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come near unto the sanctuary. And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them. And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the Lord, and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them. And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before His sons: as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.

How instructive all this is to us! We are not to begin blunderingly to serve God while we are yet in our sins, — before we have been sprinkled with the blood, — before we have been washed in the water which flowed with the blood, — before we have felt that razor that takes away from us all our own pride and glory. No; but when all that is done, then there is to be no delay: "After that went the Levites in to do their service."

 

Chapter 9

 

Verses 1-23

 

Numbers 9:1-2. And the Lord spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, Let the children of Israel also keep the Passover at his appointed season.

I should almost fear that they had omitted the keeping of the Passover for a year. There was a first celebration of it when they came out of Egypt; but then it was not so much a type as a matter of fact; it was the thing itself, not the remembrance of the coming out of Egypt, but the actual coming out, the exodus. One would gather from this command of the Lord that, on the first anniversary of that memorable season, the children of Israel had omitted its observance, and hence Jehovah said to Moses, "Let the children of Israel also keep the Passover at his appointed season." If this conjecture is correct, it is very significant that a rite which belonged to the law, and was therefore to pass away, was so soon neglected,-and certainly it was afterwards neglected for many, many years; whereas, the great memorial ordinance of the Christian dispensation,-the Lord’s supper,-was not neglected even when Christians were under fierce persecution from the Jews or other nations. When the observance of that rite among the heathen was pretty sure to bring death, yet Christians met together on the first day of the week, and continually broke bread in remembrance of their Lord’s death, even as we do to this day. I suppose that the supper, which is the memorial of Christ our Passover, has never been altogether neglected throughout the world; but has been a matter of constant observation in the Church of Christ, and shall be "until he come."

Numbers 9:3-7. In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, you, you shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall you, you keep it. And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the Passover. And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel. And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the Passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day: and those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Israel?

They were in a great difficulty. They were commanded to come to the Passover, they sinned if they did not come; but they had defiled themselves, either through accident or of necessity and if they came thus to the Passover they would be committing sin, so that either way they were in an ill case. There must be somebody to bury the dead. I suppose that these persons had fulfilled that necessary office, and there had not been time for them to purge themselves from the ceremonial defilement involved in the touching of the dead; so what were they to do?

Numbers 9:8. And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you, you.

Oh, how wisely we should give advice if we would never decide until we had prayed about the matter! Possibly, we think ourselves so experienced, and so well acquainted with the mind of God, that we can answer offhand; or, perhaps, we think that we need not consult the Lord at all, but that our own opinion will be sufficient guide. Moses was greater and wiser than we are, yet he said to these men, "Stand still, and I will hear what Jehovah will command concerning you, you."

Numbers 9:9-12. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you, you or your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover unto the Lord. The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it.

So that, provision was made for the holding of a second Passover, that persons who were defiled at the first observance might have the opportunity to keep the feast a month afterwards.

Numbers 9:13. But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbears to keep the Passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.

What a solemn sentence that is! Let me read it apart from its connection: "Because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin." You, you see, the great offering of the Lord, the atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the only way by which sin can be put away; and if any man will not bring that, in other words, if he will not believe in Jesus, then here is his certain doom, "that man shall bear his sin." No more terrible judgment can be pronounced upon any one of us than this, "that man shall bear his sin." "If you, you believe not that I am he," said Christ, "you, you shall die in your sins."

Numbers 9:14. And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, you, and will keep the Passover unto the Lord according to the ordinance of the Passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: you, you shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.

Now comes another subject: -

Numbers 9:15-16. And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony; and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

This was the sign of the presence of God in the midst of that vast canvas city. I suppose that the great cloud rose up from the most holy place, and probably covered the whole camp of the tribes, so that it shielded them from the fierceness of the sun, while at night the entire region was lit up by this marvelous illumination. The chosen nation had the pillar of cloud by day for a shelter, and the pillar of fire by night for a light. God’s presence acts upon us in much the same way as the cloudy fiery pillar acted upon Israel.

"He has been my joy in woe,

Cheered my heart when it was low,

And, with warnings softly sad,

Calmed my heart when it was glad."

We get shelter from the fierce heat of the world’s day and deliverance also from the darkness of the world’s night through our Lord’s gracious presence.

Numbers 9:17-20. And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed.

Happy people to be thus divinely guided! They could never tell when they would have to be on the move; they had no abiding city. When their tents were pitched, and they were just getting comfortably settled, perhaps that very morning the pillar of cloud moved; and, at other times, when they desired to be marching, it stood still. They could never be certain of staying long in any one place. It is just so with you, you and with me; our Lord intends to keep us with a loose hold on all things here below. We cannot tell what changes may come to any one of us; therefore, reckon on nothing that God has not plainly promised. Be certain of nothing but uncertainty; and always expect the unexpected. You, you cannot tell between here and Heaven where your Guide may take you, you; happy will you, you be if you, you can truly say that you, you desire ever to follow where the Lord leads.

Numbers 9:21-23. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed. At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

So may each one of us ever be divinely guided! "Let the fiery cloudy pillar Lead me all my journey thru."

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Verses 1-10

 

Numbers 11:1. And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord:

Interpreters cannot make out what they had to complain of. The curse of labor had been removed; they did not earn their bread with the sweat of their face, for it fell from Heaven every day. They were at no expense for clothing; and though they journeyed, their feet did not swell. I suppose that they complained of the weather. It was too cold; it was too hot; it was too wet; it was too dry. They complained when they stood still; they were much too long in a place. They complained when they marched; they moved too often. In fact, they were very like ourselves; they often complained most when they had least to complain of. Discontent is chronic to our humanity; and I do not believe that the poorest are the most discontented. It is often the very reverse. When a man is put in a place where be has nothing to complain of, especially if he is an Englishman, he feels quite out of place. He must have something to grumble at, something or other to be a grievance, or else he is not happy. "When the people complained, it displeased the Lord."

Numbers 11:1. And the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

He could hear their first murmurings, as they were new to the wilderness, they were hungry, they were thirsty, and the Lord pitied them. But now, when there was no reason for their complaining, his fire in terrible judgment visited his people, on account of their rebellion and murmuring against the goodness of God.

Numbers 11:2-4. And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched. And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the Lord burnt among them. And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting:

All evil seems to begin there, among "the mixed multitude", as it does among those church members who are unconverted, and among those people who try to hold with the have and run with the hounds, those who want to be Christians and worldlings, too.

Numbers 11:4. And the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

Even the true people of God caught the infection of the scum that was mixed with them, and they fell weeping, and said, —

Numbers 11:5. We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic:

Fine stuff that to recollect! "Why!" say you, you, "you, you have read before something very much like that." I am reading another record; but there is no originality in grumbling; it is always the same old thing over again. You, you might well suppose that I was reading in the Book of Exodus, but I am not; there are many years in between. He who sits down with a discontented hand to paint a picture will paint the same picture that he painted before. There is no originality in the murmuring, although they put in a few new touches. Before, it was the flesh pots that they remembered; now, in addition to the flesh, there are these savory vegetables, "the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic."

Numbers 11:6. But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

Here they pour contempt upon the bread of angels, upon the food of Heaven, upon the benison of God. Oh, what will men not complain of?

Numbers 11:7. And the manna was as coriander seed, and the color thereof as the color of bdellium.

A fine white color, like a pearl.

Numbers 11:8. And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.

At first they thought it was like wafers made with honey. Getting more used to it, they, perhaps, described it quite as accurately, but not quite so sweetly; they said it was like fresh oil, and there is no better taste than that. Oil, by the time it comes to us, has usually a rank and rancid taste; but in the oil countries it is delicious; and he who has bread and a drop or two of oil, will find himself not ill supplied with a dinner. "The taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil."

Numbers 11:9. And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

God took care to preserve his precious gift, encasing each single particle of it within a drop of dew, which gave it freshness. And when truth comes to us encased in the dew of the Spirit, how sweet is its taste! May it be so to us whenever we feed on Christ!

Numbers 11:10. Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.

And no wonder; meek man as he was, they vexed his gracious spirit by their perpetual murmurings. As we read this sad story, let us, as in a glass, see ourselves; and let us deeply repent of our murmuring and complaining, and henceforth sing —

"I will praise you, you every day!

Now your anger’s turned away."

Perhaps our next hymn (Number 697) will help us that way.

This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 16:1-5; Exodus 16:11-36; and Numbers 11:1-10.

 

Chapter 12

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 13

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 14

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 15

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 16

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 17

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 18

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 19

 

Verses 1-22

 

Numbers 19:1. And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, —

This ordinance was not given to Moses on Mount Sinai, but in the wilderness of Paran, after the people had broken their covenant with God, and were condemned to die. You, you know that the 90th Psalm — that dolorous dirge which we read at funerals, — called, "a prayer of Moses the man of God." Well might he write that Psalm, for he lived among a generation of people who were all doomed to die within a short time, and to die in the wilderness. This ordinance was especially appointed to meet the cases of those who were rendered unclean by the frequent deaths which occurred. There was to be a simple and easy way of purification for them; and the teaching of this chapter to us is that, inasmuch as we dwell in a sinful world, there needs to be some simple and ready method of cleansing us, that we may be able to draw near to God.

Numbers 19:2-3. This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring you, you a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke: and you, you shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face:

This was not a usual sacrifice, for the beasts offered were as a rule males; but this was to be a special sacrifice. It was not to be killed by the priest, as other sacrificial offerings were; but the Lord said, "One shall slay her before his face."

Numbers 19:4. And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times:

This makes it a sacrifice; otherwise, it scarcely deserves the name.

Numbers 19:5-6. And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn: and the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

All was to be burnt, and then the ashes, the essence and product of it, were to be preserved to make the water of purification needed to remove those constant defilements which fell upon the people of the camp. So, the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, which are the very essence of him, are perpetually preserved for the removal of our daily pollution. There was also the essence of cedar wood; that is, the emblem of fragrant immortality, for cedar was an unrotting wood. "And hyssop, and scarlet." There must be the humble hyssop used, yet there must be some degree of royalty about the sacrifice, as the scarlet color imported; and all this is mixed with the blood and the flesh and the skin of the creature, to make the ashes of purification.

Numbers 19:7. Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.

What a strange sacrifice was this, for even when it was offered it seemed to make unclean all those who had anything to do with it!

Numbers 19:8-9. And he who burns her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even. And a man that is clean-

Now we come to the merit of Christ, for who is clean except Christ?

Numbers 19:9. Shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.

This ceremonial does not represent the putting away of sin, that typified in the slaying of the victims; but it represents that daily cleansing which the children of God need, the perpetual efficacy of the merit of Christ; for this red heifer was probably killed only once in the wilderness. According to Jewish tradition, there never have been more than six killed. I cannot tell whether that is true or not; but certainly the ashes of one single beast would last for a long time if they were only to be mixed with water, and then the water to be sprinkled upon the unclean. So this ordinance is meant to represent the standing merit, the perpetual purifying of believers by the sacrifice of Christ enabling them to come to the worship of God, and to mingle with holy men, and even with holy angels, without defiling them. In the fullest sense, it may be said of our Lord’s atoning sacrifice, "It is a purification for sin."

Numbers 19:10. And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourns among them, for a statute forever.

That was the remedy ordained by the Lord for purifying the defiled; now notice what made this remedy so necessary.

Numbers 19:11-12. He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.

I wonder whether that is a revelation of our being justified through the resurrection of Christ, which took place on the third day after his death, and then our being brought into perfect rest, which represents the seventh day, through the wondrous purifying of our great Sacrifice, the Lamb of God.

Numbers 19:13-14. Whoever touches the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifies not himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his impurity is yet upon him. This is the law, when a man dies in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.

Think, dear friends, what a solemn and yet what an irksome ordinance this must have been! Why, according to this regulation, Joseph could not have gone to see his father Jacob, and to be present at his death, without being defiled. You, you could not have watched over your consumptive child, or have nursed your dying mother, without becoming defiled, if you, you had been subject to this law; and everything that was in the tent, or in the house, became defiled, too.

Numbers 19:15-16. And every open vessel, which has no covering bound upon it, is unclean. And whoever touches one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

This law was indeed a yoke of bondage which our fathers were not able to bear. It was meant to teach us how easily we can be defiled. Anywhere they went, these people might touch a bone or touch a grave, and then they were defiled, and you, you and I, watch as carefully as we may, will find ourselves touching some of the dead works of sin, and becoming defiled. It is a happy circumstance for us that there is the means of purification always at hand; we may ever go to the precious blood of Jesus, and may once again be washed clean, and be made fit to go up to the house of the Lord.

Numbers 19:17-22. And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel and a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave: and the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself and wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even. But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord: the water of separation has not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean. And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he who sprinkled the water of separation shall wash his clothes and he who touches the water of separation shall be unclean until even. And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul that touches it shall be unclean until even.

This ordinance was partly sanitary. The Egyptians were accustomed to keep their dead in their houses, preserved as mummies. No Jew could do that, for he would be defiled. Other nations were accustomed to bury their dead, as we once did, within the city walls, or round their own places of worship, as if to bring death as near as they could to themselves. No Jew could do this, for he was defiled if he even passed over a grave; so they were driven to what God intended they should have, — that is, extramural interments, and to keep the graveyard as far as they could away from the abodes of the living. The spiritual meaning of this regulation is that we must watch with great care against every occasion for sin; and, inasmuch as there will be these occasions and we shall be defiled, we must constantly go to the Lord with a prayer like that of David in the 51st Psalm, which we will now read.

This exposition consisted of readings from Numbers 19.; and Psalms 51.

 

Chapter 20

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 21

 

Verses 1-9

 

Numbers 21:1-4. And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners. And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If you, you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah. And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

They were not allowed to go through the land of Edom, they had therefore to turn round, and go right away from the land where they one day hoped to dwell, and the road was a particularly trying one, over hot and burning sand, "and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way." Sometimes, God’s own people, when they find that they are not so far advanced in the divine life as they thought they were, when they find old sins reviving, and when troubles multiply upon them, get "discouraged because of the way." If this is our experience, let us not fall into the sin into which these Israelites fell, but even in our discouragement let us turn to our God.

Numbers 21:5. And the people spoke against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have you, you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loathes this light bread.

One gets tired, in reading of the wanderings of Israel in the wilderness, of this parrot cry, "Wherefore have you, you brought us up out of Egypt?" For nearly forty years, this was their cry whenever they met with any sort of difficulty. How weary God must have been of their cry, and how weary of them too! And now it was raised because they had been fed with "angels’ food" which they called "light bread." It was easy of digestion, healthful, and the very best kind of food for them in the wilderness; but they wanted something more substantial, something that had a coarser flavor about it, more of earth and less of Heaven. There is no satisfying an unregenerate heart. If we had all the blessings of this life, we should still be vying for more.

Numbers 21:6-7 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against you, you; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

Like a true mediator, he was always ready — even when they had most insulted him, and grieved his meek and quiet spirit, — still to bow the knee, and intercede with the Lord on their behalf. The people implored him to ask that the serpents might be taken away from them; but, apparently, they still continued to trouble them. However, if God does not answer prayer in one way, he does in another. The fervent prayer of a righteous man may not prevail in the particular direction in which it is offered, but it "avails much" in some direction or other. Just as when the mists ascend they may not fall upon the very spot from which they rose, but they fall somewhere, and true prayer is never lost, it comes back in blessing, if not according to our mind, yet according to another mind that is kinder and wiser than our own.

Numbers 21:8-9. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make you, you a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

This exposition consisted of readings from Numbers 21:1-9; and John 3:1-15.

 

Chapter 22

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 23

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 24

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 25

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 26

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 27

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 28

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 29

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 30

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 31

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 32

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 33

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 34

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 35

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 36

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

DEUTERONOMY

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Verses 1-23

 

Deuteronomy 6:1-2. Now these are the commandments, the statues, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, you, that you, you might do them in the land where you, you go to possess it: That you, you might fear the Lord your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, you, you, you, and your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged.

Obedience to God should arise from the fear of him, or from a holy awe of God felt in the heart, for all true religion must be heart work. It is not the bare action alone at which God looks, but at the motive — at the spirit which dictates it. Hence it is always put, "That you, you might fear the Lord your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments." Neither are we to be content with keeping commands ourselves. It is the duty of parents to seek the good of their children — to seek that the son and the son’s son should walk in the ways of God all their lives. May God grant us never to be partakers of the spirit of those who think that they have no need to look after the religion of their children — who seem as if they left it to a blind fate. May we care for them with this care that our son and our son’s son should walk before the Lord all the days of their life.

Deuteronomy 6:3. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may will be with you, you, and that you, you may increase mightily, as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you, you, in the land that flows with milk and honey.

It seems, according to the old covenant, that temporal prosperity was appended as a blessing to the keeping of God’s commandments. It has been sometimes said that while prosperity was the blessing of the old covenant, adversity is the blessing of the new, and there is some truth in that statement, for whom the Lord loves he chastens, and yet is it true that the best thing for a meal is that he should walk in the commands of God. There is a sense in which we do make the best of both worlds when we seek the love of God. When we seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, other things are added be us; so that it is not without meaning to us that the Lord here promises temporal blessings to his people.

Deuteronomy 6:4. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:

This is the great doctrine that we learn, both from the Old and the New Testament there is one Lord. And this great truth has been burnt into the Jews by their long chastisement, and, whatever other mistakes they make, you, you never find them making a mistake about this. The Lord your God is one Lord. May we be kept always from all idolatry — from all worship of anything else, except the living God. The sacred unity of the Divine Trinity may we hold fast evermore.

Deuteronomy 6:5. And you, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

It is not a little love that God deserves, nor is it a little love that he will accept. He blesses us with all his heart and all his might, and after that fashion are we to love him.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7. And these words, which I command you, you this day, shall be in your heart: And you, you shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you, you sit in your house, and when you, you walk by the way, and when you, you lie down, and when you, you rise up.

The Word of God if not for some particular place called a church or a meeting house. It is for all places, all times, and all occupations. I wish that we had more of this talking over of God’s Word when we sit by the way, or when we walk.

Deuteronomy 6:8. And you, you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

With you, you in all your actions — with you, you in all your thoughts —conspicuously with you, you — not out of ostentation, but through your obedience to become apparent unto all men.

Deuteronomy 6:9-12 And you, you shall write them upon the posts of your house, and on your gates. And it shall be, when the Lord your God shall have brought you, you into the land which he swore unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, you great and goodly cities, which you, you build not,

And the houses full of all good things, which you, you filled not, and wells dug which though dug not, vineyards and olive trees, which you, you planted not when you, you shall have eaten and be full; Then beware lest you, you forget the Lord, which brought you, you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Pride in the peculiar sin of prosperity, and pride stands side by side with forgetfulness of God. Instead of remembering whence our mercies came, we begin to thank ourselves for these blessings, and God is forgotten. I remember one of whom it was said that he was a self-made man, and he adored his Creator, and I may say that there are a great many persons who do just that. They believe that they have made themselves, and so they worship themselves. Be it ours to remember that it is God who gives us strength to get wealth or to get position, and, therefore, unto him be all the honor of it, and never let him be forgotten.

Deuteronomy 6:13-15. You, you shall fear the Lord your God, and serve him, and shall swear by his name. You, you shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you, you: (For the Lord your God is a jealous God among you, you)

He will have the heart all to himself. Two Gods he cannot endure. Of false gods, there may be many: of the true God there can be but one, and he is a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 6:15-19. Lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, you, and destroy you, you from off the face of the earth. You, you shall not tempt the Lord your God, as you, you tempted him in Massah. You, you shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you, you. And you, you shall do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well with you, you, and that you, you may go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore unto your fathers, To cast out all your enemies from before you, you, as the Lord has spoken.

Now, this covenant of works they break, as we also have long ago broken ours. Blessed be God, our salvation now hangs on another covenant which cannot fail nor break down — the covenant of grace. Yet, still, now that we become the Lord’s children, we are put under the discipline of the Lord’s house, and these words might not unfitly set forth what is the discipline of the Lord’s house towards his own children, namely, that he does bless us when we walk in his ways, and that he will walk contrary to us if we walk contrary to him. He keeps a rod in his house, and in love he uses that upon his best beloved ones. "You, you only have I known of all the nations of the earth; therefore, I will punish you, you for your iniquities." He will not kill his children, nor treat them as a judge treats a criminal, for they are not under the law, but under grace; but he will chasten them and treat them as a father chastens his child — out of love. Oh! that we might have grace to walk before him with a holy, childlike fear, that so we may walk always in the light of his countenance.

Deuteronomy 6:20-23. And when your son asks you, you in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statues, and the judgments, which the Lord our God has commanded you, you? then you, you shall say unto your son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: And the Lord showed signs and wonders great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: and he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore unto our fathers.

And cannot we tell our children what God has done for us — how he brought us out of our spiritual captivity, and how in his almighty love, he has brought us into his Church and will surely bring us into the glory above? May God grant us grace to speak about these things without diffidence, With great confidence to tell our children of what he has done.

Verses 1-25

 

Deuteronomy 6:1. Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, you, that you, you might do them in the land where you, you go to possess it:

God’s commandments are to be taught, but they are also to be practiced: "which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, you, that you, you might do them." And it is this doing of them that is the hard part of the work. It is not easy always to teach them; a man needs the Spirit of God if he is to teach them aright, but practice is harder than preaching. May God grant us grace, whenever we hear his Word, to do it!

Deuteronomy 6:2. That you, you might fear the Lord your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, you, you, you, and your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged.

The fear of God must always be a practical power in our lives: "that you, you might fear the Lord your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments." And that practical fear should lead us into obedience in detail; we ought so to study God’s Word that we endeavor "to keep all his statutes and his commandments." A slipshod obedience is disobedience. We must be careful and watchful to know the divine will, and in all respects to carry it out. You, you who are his children, dwelling in such a household, and with such a Father, it well becomes you, you to be obedient children. Nay, it is not only for us to obey the command of the Lord our God, but we should pray until the rest of the verse also comes true: "you, you, and your son, and your sows son," our children and our children’s children. I am sure that, if we love God, we shall long that our children and our children’s children may love him, too. If your trade has supported you, you, and brought you, you in a competence, you, you will naturally wish to bring your son up to it. But, on a far higher platform, if God has been a good God to you, you, your deepest desire will be that your son and your son’s son should serve the same Divine Master through all the days of their life. "That your days may be prolonged." God does not give long life to all his people; yet in obedience to God is the most probable way of securing long life. There are also many of God’s saints who are spared in times of pestilence, or who are delivered by an act of faith out of great dangers. That ancient declaration of God often comes true in these later times, "As the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." At any rate, you, you who love the Lord shall live out your days, whereas the wicked shall not live out half their days. You, you shall complete the circle of life, whether it be a great circle or a little one; with long life will God satisfy you, you, and show you, you his salvation. The passage which now follows is held in very great esteem by the Jewish people even down to this day. They repeat it frequently, for it forms part of their morning and evening services.

Deuteronomy 6:3-4. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with you, you, and that you, you may increase mightily, as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you, you, in the land that flows with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:

There is but one God. This is the very basis of our faith; we know nothing of "gods many and lords many." Yet it is the Triune God whom we worship; we are not less Unitarians in the highest meaning of that word because we are Trinitarians. We are not less believers in the one living and true God because we worship Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Deuteronomy 6:5. And you, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

Does not this show what is the very nature of God? God is love, for he commands us to love him. There was never an earthly prince or king whom I have heard of in whose statute book it was written, "You, you shall love the king." No; it is only in the statute book of him who is the Lord of life and love that we read such a command as this. To my mind it seems a very blessed privilege for us to be permitted to love One so great as God is. Here it is we find our Heaven. It is a command, but we regard it rather as a loving, tender invitation to the highest bliss: "You, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart," — that is, intensely; "and with all your soul," —that is, most sincerely, most lovingly, "and with all your might" with all your energy, with every faculty, with every possibility of your nature.

Deuteronomy 6:6. And these words, which I command you, you this day, shall be in your heart:

Oh, how blessed to have them written on the heart by the Holy Spirit. We can never get them there except he who made the heart anew shall engrave upon these fleshy tablets the divine precepts.

Deuteronomy 6:7. And you, you shall teach them diligently unto your children,

Christian parent, have you, you done this? "You, you shall" not only teach them, but "teach them diligently unto your children."

Deuteronomy 6:7. And shall talk of them when you, you sit in your house, and when you, you walk by the way, and when you, you lie down, and when you, you rise up.

Our common talk should be much more spiritual than it often is. There is no fear of degrading sacred subjects by the frequent use of them; the fear lies much the other way, lest by a disuse of them we come to forget them. This blessed Book, the Holy Word of God, is a fit companion for your leisure as well as for your labor, for the time of your sleeping and the time of your waking. It will bless you, you in your private meditations, and equally cheer the social hearth, and comfort you, you when in mutual friendship you, you speak the one with the other. Those who truly love God greatly love his holy Word.

Deuteronomy 6:8. And you, you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand,

They shall be your practical guide, at your fingers’ ends, as it were.

Deuteronomy 6:8. And they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

You, you shall see by them, you, you shall see with them, you, you shall see through them.

Deuteronomy 6:9. And you, you shall write them upon the posts of your house, and on your gates.

I could almost wish that this were literally fulfilled much more often than it is. I was charmed, in many a Swiss village, to see a text of Scripture carved on the door post. A text hung up in your houses may often speak when you, you are silent. We cannot do anything that shall be superfluous in the way of making known the Word of God.

Deuteronomy 6:10-12. And it shall be, when the Lord your God shall have brought you, you into the land which he swore unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, you great and goodly cities, which you, you build not, and houses full of all good things, which you, you filled not, and wells dug, which you, you dug not, vineyards and olive trees, which you, you planted not; when you, you shall have eaten and be full; then beware lest you, you forget the Lord, which brought you, you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Bread eaten is soon forgotten. How often we act like clogs that will take the bones from our hand, and then forget the hand that gave them! It should not be so with us. All our spiritual, mercies, and many of our temporal ones, are very much like the inheritance of Israel in the land of Canaan, wells that they did not dig, and vineyards which they did not plant. Our blessings come from sources that are beyond our own industry and skill; they are the fruits of the holy inventiveness of God, and the splendor and fullness of his thoughtfulness towards his poor children. Let us not forget him, since evidently he never forgets us.

Deuteronomy 6:13-15. You, you shall fear the Lord your God, and serve him, and shall swear by his name. You, you shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you, you; (for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you, you) lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, you, and destroy you, you from off the face of the earth.

Our God is a jealous God. One said to a Puritan, "Why be so precise?" and he replied, "Because I serve a precise God." God has done so much for us, in order to win our hearts, that he ought to have them altogether for himself. When he has them all, it is all too little; but to divide our heart is to grieve his Spirit, and sorely to vex him.

Deuteronomy 6:16-24. You, you shall not tempt the Lord your God, as you, you tempted him in Massah. You, you shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you, you. And you, you shall do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well with you, you, and that you, you may go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore unto your fathers, to cast out all your enemies from before you, you, as the Land has spoken. And when your son asks you, you in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God has commanded you, you? Then you, you shall say unto your son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: and the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: and he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore unto our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.

Oh, friends, it will be well when our boys and girls ask us questions like this, and when we can give such answers! The great lack of the age in which we live is obedience to God. "Modern thought" has flung off obedience to Divine Revelation; and even in matters relating to social morality, many men reject all idea of anything being commanded of God; they only judge by what appears to them to be either pleasurable or profitable. What is most needed just now is that we ourselves, and those about us, become really conscious of the greatness and sovereignty of God, and yield ourselves to him to do as he bids us, when he bids us, where he bids us, and in all things to seek to follow his commandments that he may "preserve us alive, as it is at this day."

Deuteronomy 6:25. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.

That would have been Israel’s righteousness if the people had observed to do all these commandments before the Lord; but it was marred and spoilt by disobedience. We rejoice to know that we who believe in Jesus have a righteousness unto which Israel did not attain, for the Lord Jesus Christ himself is our righteousness.

 

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Verses 1-20

 

Deuteronomy 8:1. All the commandments which I command you, you this day shall you, you observe to do, that you, you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers.

Observe, dear friends, that the Lord demands of his people universal obedience to his commands: "All the commandments which I command you, you this day shall you, you observe to do." Christians, although they are not under the law, are under the sweet constraints of love; and that love incites them to complete obedience, so that they desire to leave undone nothing which the Lord commands. And this obedience is to be careful as well as complete: "All the commandments which I command you, you this day shall you, you observe to do;" not only do them, but do them with care. When the commandment applies to a certain duty, obey it in full, both in the letter and in the spirit, for there are numerous and weighty blessings attached to obedience, — not of merit, but of grace. If we walk carefully in the fear of God, we shall find that in keeping his commandments there is great reward.

Deuteronomy 8:2. And you, you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God led you, you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, you, and to prove you, you, to know what was in your heart, whether you, you would keep his commandments, or no.

It is well to have a good memory, and that is the best memory which remembers what is best worth remembering. There are many things which we would gladly forget, yet we find it hard to forget them; they often rise up at most inappropriate times, and we loathe ourselves to think that we should ever recollect them at all. But, whatever we forget, we ought always to remember what God has done for us. This should excite our gratitude, create deep humility, and foster our faith both for the present and the future: "You, you shall remember all the way which Jehovah your God led you, you these forty years in the wilderness" If forty years of the Lord’s leading should make some of us bless his holy name, what ought you, you to do, my brethren, who, perhaps, are getting near the fourscore years? What praise and gratitude should be rendered by you, you to him who has led you, you all your life long! See what God intends to accomplish by our wilderness experience. It is, first, to "humble" us. Has it had that effect? Then it is to "prove" us. Ah, I am afraid it has had that result, and has proved what poor wretched creatures we are! That has been proved in our experience again and again. It is, also that it may be known what is in our heart, whether we will keep God’s commandments, or not.

Deuteronomy 8:3. And he humbled you, you, and suffered you, you to hunger, and fed you, you with manna, which you, you knew not, —

What a wonderful sequence there is in these short sentences! "He humbled you, you, and suffered you, you to hunger," and one would think that the next sentence would be, "and allowed you, you to starve." No; it is, "and fed you, you with manna." They had the better appetite for the manna, and were the more ready to see the hand of God in sending the manna, because of that humbling and hunger which God had previously suffered them to endure. "Fed you, you with manna, which you, you knew not." The very name by which they called it was, "Manna," or, "What is this?" "for they knew not what it was." "And fed you, you with manna, which you, you knew not."

Deuteronomy 8:3. Neither did your fathers know; that he might make you, you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord does man live.

God can make us live on bread, if it be sanctified by the Word of God and prayer; he does make our souls to live upon his Word. He could, if so it pleased him, make our bodies live by that Word without any outward sustenance whatever.

Deuteronomy 8:4. Your clothing waxed not old upon you, you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years.

What a wonderful experience the Israelites had in the wilderness! They were always fed, though in a waste howling wilderness, dry and barren. They always had water following them from that stream which flowed out of the flinty rock, from Which you, you might sooner have expected to strike fire than to obtain water. And as for their garments, they did not wear out. They had no shops to go to, and they were unable to make new clothes in the wilderness, on account of their frequent moving to and fro; yet were they always clad; and, though they were a host of weary pilgrims, marching backwards and forwards for forty years, yet their feet did not swell. Oh, what a mercy that was! "He keeps the feet of his saints." Has it not been so with you, you also, dear friends? You, you have said, "What shall I do if I live so long, and if I have to bear so many troubles, and make so many marches through the very valley of the shadow of death?" What will you, you do? Why, you, you will do as you, you have done! Trust in God, and go on. You, you shall be fed, and you, you shall be upheld even unto the end.

Deuteronomy 8:5. You, you shall also consider in your heart, —

Note that we are not only to remember God’s dealings with us, but we are to consider them, to ponder them, to weigh them. "Consider in your heart," —

Deuteronomy 8:5. That, as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you, you.

Do I speak to anyone who is just now under the rod? "Consider in your heart" then, that God is dealing with you, you as a father deals with his sons, "for what son is he whom the father chastens not?" How would you, you like to be dealt with? Would you, you rather be without the rod? Then remember that "if you, you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are you, you bastards, and not sons." Do you, you wish to be treated so? I am sure you, you do not; you, you wish to have the children’s portion; so you, you say, "Deal with me, Lord, as you, you are accustomed to do with those that fear your name. We are willing to have the rod of the covenant for the sake of the covenant to which it belongs.

Deuteronomy 8:6-8. Therefore you, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. For the Lord your God brings you, you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;

This also is the experience of the child of God; in one sense, in Heaven; but in another, and perhaps a truer sense, even here below. "We which have believed do enter into rest." By faith, we take possession of the promised land; and when a Christian gets out of the wilderness experience of doubting and fearing, and comes into the Canaan experience of a simple faith and a fully assured trust, then he comes "into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;" for God gives to his people not only all they need, but something more. He gives them, not only necessities, but also luxuries, delights, and joys.

Deuteronomy 8:9. A land wherein you, you shall eat bread without scarceness, you, you shall not lack anything in it;

When you, you live in communion with God, and he brings you, you into the full enjoyment of the covenant blessings, then there is no scarceness with you, you, there is no lack of anything.

Deuteronomy 8:9. A land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you, you may dig brass.

Or, copper. Silver and gold they had none; but then the princes of Sheba and Seba were to offer them gifts, and bring them their gold and their silver. But if they had nothing for show, they had plenty for use, for iron is a great deal more useful metal than gold; and the copper, which they hardened into brass, was of much more service to them than silver would have been. God will furnish you, you, dear brother, with all the weapons you, you need for the Holy War; there may be no gold and silver ornaments for your pride, but there shall be iron instruments to help you, you in your conflict with your adversaries.

Deuteronomy 8:10. When you, you have eaten and are full, then you, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which he has given you, you.

God permits his people to eat, and to be full; but, when they are so, they must take care that they do not become proud, and that they do not begin to ascribe their profiting to themselves.

Deuteronomy 8:11. Beware that you, you forget not the Lord your God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command you, you this day:

Whenever we see the word "Beware" in the Bible, we may be sure that there is something to beware of. The point here to note is, that our times of prosperity are times of danger. I remember that Mr. Whitefield once asked the prayers of the congregation "for a young gentleman in very dangerous circumstances," for he had just come into a fortune of 5,000. Then is the time when prayer is needed even more than in seasons of depression and of loss.

Deuteronomy 8:12-16. Lest when you, you have eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you, you have is multiplied; then your heart be lifted up, and you, you forget the Lord your God, which brought you, you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you, you through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought you, you forth water out of the rock of flint; who fed you, you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers knew not, that he might humble you, you, and that he might prove you, you, to do you, you good at your latter end;

Why do we get these passages repeated? Surely it is because we have such slippery memories, and the Lord has to tell his children the same thing over and over again: "precept upon precept: line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little;" because we so soon forget.

Deuteronomy 8:17-20. And you, you say in your heart, My power and the might of mine hand has gotten me this wealth. But you, you shall remember the Lord your God: for it is he who gives you, you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore unto your fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if you, you do at all forget the Lord your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you, you this day that you, you shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroys before your face, so shall you, you perish;

"If you, you sin as they do, you, you shall fare as they do."

Deuteronomy 8:20. Because you, you would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 13

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 14

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 15

 

Verses 1-18

 

Deuteronomy 15:1-2. At the end of every seven years you, you shall make a release. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lends anything unto his neighbor shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord’S release.

What a wonderful title for it, "the Lord’S release"!

Deuteronomy 15:3. Of a foreigner you, you may exact it again: but that which is your with your brother your hand shall release;

How was a man to pay when he did not sow or reap during the Sabbatical year? The foreigner did not observe the year of rest; consequently he was bound to pay, and it was only fair that he should do so; but for the Israelite, who carried out the divine law, there was provision made if he was in debt.

Deuteronomy 15:4. Save when there shall be no poor among you, you;

If there were no poor, then there would be no need for this law.

Deuteronomy 15:4-6. For the Lord shall greatly bless you, you in the land which the Lord your God gives you, you for an inheritance to possess it: only if you, you carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command you, you this day. For the Lord your God blesses you, you, as he promised you, you:

That little clause, "as he promised you, you," is worth noticing. This is the rule of God; he deals with us" according to promise."

Deuteronomy 15:6. And you, you shall lend unto many nations, but you, you shall not borrow; and you, you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you, you.

If God’s people had done his will, they would have been like their language; it is observed of the Hebrew by some, that it borrows nothing from other tongues, but lends many words to various languages.

Deuteronomy 15:7-9. If there be among you, you a poor man of one of your brethren within any of your gates in your land which the Lord your God gives you, you, you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother: but you, you shall open your hand wide unto him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he lacks. Beware that there be not a thought in your wicked heart, saying, the seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you, you give him nothing; and he cry unto the Lord against you, you, and it be sin unto you, you.

Moses, moved by the Spirit of God, anticipates what would very naturally occur to many: "Then I shall not lend anywhere near the seventh year; if I do, I shall lose it, for I must release my debtor then." The hardhearted would be sure to make this their evil excuse for lending nothing. But here the Hebrew is warned against such wicked thoughts, lest, refusing to lend to his poor brother for this cause, the needy one should cry to God, and it should be accounted sin on the part of the merciless refuser.

Deuteronomy 15:10-11. You, you shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you, you give unto him: because that for this thing the Lord your God shall bless you, you in all your works, and in all that you, you put your hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land:

They would have done so, they might have done so, if the rule of God had been kept; but inasmuch as he foresaw that it never would be kept, he also declared, "the poor shall never cease out of the land."

Deuteronomy 15:11. Therefore I command you, you, saying, You, you shall open your hand wide unto your brother, to your poor, and to your needy, in your land.

See how God calls them, not "the poor," but "your poor" and "your needy." The Church of God should feel a peculiar property in the poor and needy, as if they were handed over, in the love of Christ to his people, that they might care for them.

Deuteronomy 15:12. And if your brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto you, you, and serve you, you six years; then in the seventh year you, you shall let him go free from you, you.

He might be under an apprenticeship of servitude for six years; but the seventh year was to be a year of rest to him, as it was a year of release to debtors, and of rest to the land.

Deuteronomy 15:13. And when you, you send him out free from you, you, you, you shall not let him go away empty:

To begin life again with nothing at all in his pocket.

Deuteronomy 15:14. You, you shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, and out of your floor, and out of your winepress: of that with which the Lord your God has blessed you, you, you, you shall give unto him.

Who would think of finding such a law as that on the statute book? Where is there such a law under any governor but God? The Theocracy would have made a grand government for Israel if Israel had but been able to walk before God in faith and obedience.

Deuteronomy 15:15. And you, you shall remember that you, you were a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you, you: therefore I command you, you this thing to day.

The remembrance of their own deliverance out of Egyptian bondage was to make them merciful and kind to their own bond-servants.

Deuteronomy 15:16-18. And it shall be, if he say unto you, you, I will not go away from you, you; because he loves you, you and your house, because he is well with you, you; then you, you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be your servant forever. And also unto your maidservant you, you shall do likewise. It shall not seem hard unto you, you, when you, you send him away free from you, you; for he has been worth a double hired servant to you, you, in serving you, you six years:

He has had no pay; he has been always at his work; he has been worth two ordinary hired laborers; let him go, therefore, and let him not go away empty.

Deuteronomy 15:18. And the Lord your God shall bless you, you in all that you, you do.

This exposition consisted of readings from Leviticus 25:1-7; Leviticus 25:17-22, and Deuteronomy 15:1-18.

 

Chapter 16

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 17

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 18

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 19

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 20

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 22

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 23

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 24

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 25

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 26

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 27

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 28

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 29

 

Verses 1-21

 

Deuteronomy 29:1. These are the words of the covenant, which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.

That is the preamble, just as in legal documents there is usually some statement of the purpose and intent of the indenture before the matter is proceeded with. These covenants with God are solemn things, and therefore are they given in a formal manner to strike attention, and command our serious thoughts.

Deuteronomy 29:2-4. And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, You, you have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; the great temptations which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles: yet the Lord has not given you, you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

You, you saw all that, and yet did not see it; you, you saw the external work, but the internal lesson you, you did not perceive. A very mournful statement to make; but God’s servants are not sent to flatter man but to speak the truth, however painful the speaking of it may be.

Deuteronomy 29:5-6. And I have led you, you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, you, and your shoe is not waxen old upon your foot. You, you have not eaten bread, neither have you, you drunk wine or strong drink: that you, you might know that I am the Lord your God.

Either there had been means of frequent renewal of their garments, or else by a miracle these garments had never worn out; and the very shoes that they put upon their feet on the Passover night were on their feet still; if not the same yet still they were shod, though they trod the weary wilderness which well might have worn them until they were bare. "You, you have not eaten bread, neither have you, you drunk wine or strong drink:" — a nation of total abstainers for forty years. There was no bread in the wilderness for them, and there was no wine. It may have been obtained as a great luxury, as it probably was, for we have reason to believe that Nadab and Abihu were slain by fire before the Lord because they were drunken when they offered strange fire; but taking the whole people around, anything like wine had not crossed their lips for forty years, yet there they were, strong and healthy. "That you, you may know that I am Jehovah your God."

Deuteronomy 29:7. And when you, you came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:

People not used to war either, and feeble folk, yet they smote the great kings and slew mighty kings, for the Lord was with them.

Deuteronomy 29:8-9. And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh. Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that you, you may prosper in all that you, you do.

This, then, was the covenant made with the nation, that God should be their God and he would prosper them: as he had done, so would he do: he would be their protector, defender, strength, and crown and joy.

Deuteronomy 29:10-11. You, you stand this day all of you, you before the Lord your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and your stranger that is in your camp, from the hewer of your wood unto the drawer of your water:

This national covenant embraced all the great men, the captains, the wise men, all that were in authority, "your elders, and your officers." It took in all their children, for it was a covenant according to the flesh, and their children according to the flesh are included. "Your wives," too, for in this matter their was no gender. "The stranger also." Here we poor Gentiles get a glimpse of comfort, even though from that old covenant we seem to be shut out. "Your stranger that is in your camp" is included. And the poorest, and those that performed the most menial service, were all to be made partakers of this covenant, "from the hewer of your wood unto the drawer of your water."

Deuteronomy 29:12-15. That you, you should enter into covenant with the Lord your God, and into his oath, which the Lord your God makes with you, you this day: that he may establish you, you today for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto you, you a God, as he has said unto you, you, and as he has sworn unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Neither with you, you only do I make this covenant and this oath; but with him that stands here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:

With the sick that were at home, with the generations that were not yet born, for this was intended to be a national covenant in perpetuity to their children and their children’s children to the end of time. Had they kept it so would it have stood.

Deuteronomy 29:16-17. (For you, you know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which you, you passed by; and you, you have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)

Now you, you have seen how they worshiped idols; you, you have seen that you, you may avoid; you, you have beheld their folly that you, you may escape from it.

Deuteronomy 29:18. Lest there should be among you, you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you, you a root that bears gall and wormwood;

For the worship of false gods is the cause of untold mischief and evil: wherever it is found it is a root that bears gall and wormwood, and God would not have it in a single individual, man nor woman, nay, not in a single family or tribe.

Deuteronomy 29:19. And it come to pass, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:

For there were some who so hardened themselves against God that they said, "We shall have peace: let us do what we like: let us worship these idol gods more and more and more: let us add drunkenness and idolatry to our thirst."

Deuteronomy 29:20. The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him,

Not light upon him, but lie upon him, rest there and stop there.

Deuteronomy 29:20-21. And the Lord shall blot out his name from under Heaven. And the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel,

As a huntsman separates a stag from the herd that he may hunt it all the day, so shall God with any idolater that should come among his people with whom he made a covenant that day. Oh, how God hates that anything should be worshiped by us but himself: how indignant is he if anywhere anything takes the supreme place in the human heart which ought to be occupied by God alone.

 

Chapter 30

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 31

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 32

 

Verses 1-39

 

A very marvelous chapter it is — a song and a prophecy, in which the poet-seer seems to behold the whole future spread before him as in a map, and it is so vivid to him that he describes it rather as a matter present or past, than as a thing which is yet to be. It is the story of God’s dealing his chosen and peculiar people, Israel, from the beginning to the end. The commencement is exceedingly noble.

Deuteronomy 32:1-3. Give ear, O you, you heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass" Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe you, you greatness unto our God.

All through, the song is for the glorification of God; not a syllable, indeed, in which man is held up to honor, but the Lord alone is exalted in his dealings with his people. He is the rock. All other things are the mere cloud that hovers on the mountain’s brow; but —

Deuteronomy 32:4. He is the rock,

Immutable, eternal.

Deuteronomy 32:4. His work is perfect:

Sometimes very terrible and very mysterious, but his work is perfect.

Deuteronomy 32:4. For all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

But as for his people, what a contrast between them and their God!

Deuteronomy 32:5. They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.

What a stoop from the God of truth, without iniquity, to a people full of iniquity — a perverse and crooked generation. We never know so much of our own vileness as when we get a clear view of the excellency of God. What said Job? "I have heard of you, you by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye sees you, you, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes."

Deuteronomy 32:6. Do you, you thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not he your father that has bought you, you? has he not made you, you, and established you, you?

Who made the Jews to be a people? Who set Israel apart to be a nation? Who, but God, who bought them with a price when they came out of Egypt, and, in his fatherly care, led them through the wilderness?

Deuteronomy 32:7-8. Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask your father, and he will show you, you; your elders, and they will tell you, you. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

God’s first point in the government of the world was his own people. Everything else was mapped out after he had set apart a place for them — a place sufficient, large, fruitful, and in an admirable position, that there they might multiply and enjoy all the good things which he so freely gave them; and to this day dynasties rise and fall, kings reign or are scattered by defeat, only with this one point in God’s eye, and purpose in his mind —the upholding of the Church in the world — the spread of his glorious truth.

Deuteronomy 32:9-12. For the Lord’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, spreads abroad her wings, takes them, bears them on her wings: So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with him.

This is the history of the tutoring of Israel in the wilderness. When they came out of Egypt they were a mere mob of slaves, degenerate by the debasing influence of long bondage. They had to be trained before they were lit to be a nation. Now in all this, let us try to see ourselves. What has God wrought for those of us who are his people in bringing us out from the bondage of sin? and how graciously does he this day preserve us as a man guards the apple of his eye! No sooner does anything come near the eye than up goes the hand instinctively to shield the eye. And let anything happen to the people of God, and the power of God is ready at once for their defense. An eagle has to teach her young eaglets to fly. She will take them on her wings, so they say; cast them off, and let them flutter, and then dash down and come reader them and bear them up again until she has taught them to use their wings. And the Lord has been doing this with many here — apparently casting them off, only that, when they fall, underneath them may be the everlasting arms. We have to be trained to faith. It is a difficult exercise for such poor creatures as we are. We are being trained for it at this day. After they had been thus tutored, they were brought into the promised land, which Moses never entered, but yet in his vision of prophecy he sees it all.

Deuteronomy 32:13-14. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and you, you did drink the pure blood of the grape.

It was a very fruitful land, abounding not merely in necessities, but in luxuries. Palestine bear to its inhabitants all that heart could wish, and for a long time, while they were faithful to God, they lived in the midst of plenty.

Deuteronomy 32:15. But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked:

"The little holy nation" — for I suppose that is the meaning of "Jeshurun." It is a diminutive word — "the little religious nation waxed fat. It abounded in prosperity. It grew stout and kicked."

Deuteronomy 32:15. You, you are waxen fat, you, you are grown thick, you, you are covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Alas! alas! alas! they set up calves in Bethel. They turned aside to Ashtareth, and worshiped the queen of Heaven.

Deuteronomy 32:16-17. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils,

Demons — not to God.

Deuteronomy 32:17. Not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

There is nothing new in religion that is true. The truth is always old. But only imagine a new God! And truly we have had lately some new fashions brought up — some new styles of worship. I think they call them mediaeval. They certainly are no older then that — "new gods that newly came up, whom your fathers feared not."

Deuteronomy 32:18. Of the Rock that begat you, you, you, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God that formed you, you.

Israel was nothing apart from God — a little tribe of people — nothing to be compared with the great nations of the earth. Its only reason for existence was its God. He was its center, its light, its glory, its power. They had got away from him that formed them.

Deuteronomy 32:19-20. And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

There is the mischief — want of faith. Want of faith leads to all manner of sin. Oh! that we had a strong elastic faith to realize the unseen God, and keep to purely spiritual worship, not wanting symbols, signs, and outward tokens, all of which are abominable in his sight, but worshiping the unseen in spirit and in truth. But the Lord said: —

Deuteronomy 32:21. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

And so the idolatrous nations came and conquered Judea. One after another, they trampled down the holy city, and let them see that God could use the nations that they despised to be a scourge upon them.

Deuteronomy 32:22-25. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest Hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them. They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.

Now read the story of the destruction of Israel and Judea the overthrow of these two kingdoms — and you, you will see how, word for word, all this came tame.

Deuteronomy 32:26-27. I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men: Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord has not done all this.

God always looks out for some reason for mercy when he is dealing with his people, and he found it here — that the heathen nations would not admit that God had thus been chastening his erring people, but would begin to ascribe their victories to their own demon gods; therefore, he said he would scatter them.

Deuteronomy 32:28-30. For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?

That little people would have been victorious over all their enemies if God had still been with them, but they were defeated and scattered because they had grieved the Lord. Oh! what strength believers might have if they would but believe! If we could but cast ourselves upon God in simple, childlike faith, we might play the Samson over again and smite our thousands. But we, too, have little faith in God, even those who have most of it; and when the time of trial comes, we also are a stiff-necked and unbelieving generation, as our fathers were.

Deuteronomy 32:31-34. For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter: Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?

What an awful text! God lays man’s sins by — seals them up among their treasures, that they should not be forgotten, and he will bring them to account.

Deuteronomy 32:35-36. To me belongs vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. For the Lord shall judge his people,

He will not always let his enemies triumph over them. He will come back to his people whom he seemed to cast away. "The Lord shall judge his people."

Deuteronomy 32:36. And repent himself for his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.

He seemed very angry, but how soon he comes back in love and tries his people over again.

Deuteronomy 32:37-39. And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, you, and be your protection. See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no God with me; I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

 

Verses 1-43

 

Deuteronomy 32:1. Give ear, O you, you heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

Because men are so slow of hearing, Moses calls on the heavens and the earth to bear witness against them; and because of the sublimity of his subject, he calls upon the heavens and the earth to pay attention to it.

Deuteronomy 32:2. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

It is good preaching, and good hearing too, when the gospel comes like a gentle shower which saturates and soaks into the soil, and refreshes and makes it fruitful; may God the Holy Spirit make it to be so whenever we gather together for worship! The Word of the Lord may be as a driving hail, breaking everything upon which it falls, and so becoming the savor of death unto death. But may God make it to us as the dew and the small rain from Heaven, that it may be a savor of life unto life!

Deuteronomy 32:3-5. Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe you, you greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. They have corrupted themselves,

What a contrast there is between the incorruptible and immutable God and corruptible man! "They have corrupted themselves,"—

Deuteronomy 32:5. Their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.

God’s children have spots,—the spot caused, by sin, which are recognized, mourned over, and struggled against by them; the ungodly have the same sort of spots but they have no repentance concerning the sin which causes them.

Deuteronomy 32:6. Do you, you thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not he your father that has bought you, you? has he not made you, you, and established you, you?

Sin is the basest form of ingratitude. We owe everything to God, and we ought therefore to treat him as our Creator and Father should be treated. On the contrary, how often have we requited him evil for good, and acted as if we regarded him as our enemy rather than as our best Friend!

Deuteronomy 32:7-8. Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask your father, and he will show you, you; your elders, and they will tell you, you. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

His first thought was concerning his own people. He provided Canaan for them; it was just the very land for them, with space enough, and yet with not too much room, so that they might cultivate it all, and prove it to be a land flowing with milk and honey. Yet these special thoughts of God, with regard to his own chosen people, did not exclude kind thoughts towards the rest of mankind, for "he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people," that is, the people belonging to other nations; but, still, his deepest and his highest thoughts were concerning the children of Israel.

Deuteronomy 32:9-10. For the Lord’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

And is not this also a true description of God’s love and kindness to you, you and to me, beloved in the Lord? Did he not find us in the wilderness? Has he not led us about, trod by our experience instructed us, and has he not guarded us with as much watchful care as a man bestows upon the apple of his eye? Oh, blessed be his holy name, we owe everything to him! He gives us everything that we have.

Deuteronomy 32:11-14. As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, spreads abroad her wings, takes them, bears them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and you, you did drink the pure blood of the grape.

God fed his ancient people with the best of the best, and gave it to them with no stinted hand; and, oh! when I think of the spiritual food which God has prepared or his people, surely "butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs," and all such carnal things are but poor in comparison with the provisions of his grace. In a spiritual sense, the Lord has indeed given to us "a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of mallow, of wines on the lees well refined." But now look again at the contrast between the Lord and his ancient people. God’s great goodness makes man’s sin appear all the blacker:—

Deuteronomy 32:15. But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: you, you are waxen fat, you, you are grown thick, you, you are covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Many can endure the trials of adversity who cannot escape the perils of prosperity. Solomon truly said, "As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise;" and many a man has failed in that time of testing. When you, you come to be wealthy, to be admired, to receive honor among men, then is the time of your severest trial.

Deuteronomy 32:16-17. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

Moses multiples expressions to show the folly of Israel’s idolatry. Only think of "new gods that came newly up," as if that which is new could be a God! The same thing may be said of the "new truth" of which we hear so much nowadays. That which is new cannot be true. Certainly, there is nothing new in theology but that which is utterly false. The idols, which the Israelites worshiped, were not only new gods, but they were strange gods, which their fathers feared not. Worse than that, they were demons: "they sacrificed unto devils not to God." How low had even the chosen people sunk!

Deuteronomy 32:18-27. Of the Rock that begat you, you, you, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God that formed you, you. And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest Hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap mischiefs upon them, I will spend mine arrows upon them. They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. The sword without and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. I said, I would scatter them into corners? I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men: were it not—

Here is a sweet word of grace amid the just judgments of Jehovah: "Were it not"—

Deuteronomy 32:27. That I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord has not done all this.

So he spared them for his own name’s sake; and, to this day, when God can find no other reason for showing mercy to the guilty, he does it for his name’s sake; and this is a blessed plea, to be urged by a man who can see no reason why God should have mercy upon him. He may say, "Lord, do it for your name’s sake, to make your grace and your mercy illustrious, in the salvation of such a poor, hopeless wretch as I am."

Deuteronomy 32:28-32. For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up? For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For their vine—

That is, the vine of God’s enemies,-

Deuteronomy 32:32-34. Is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter: their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?

What a striking and startling question that is, as though God laid up the memory of man’s sin, sealed it up, and kept it in a secret place against the day when he shall call sinners to account, and visit them for their iniquities! What an awful thing it is to have the sins of one’s youth laid up, sealed up, and put away in God’s treasury; and the sins of middle life, and perhaps the sins of old age, too, to be brought out, by-and-by, and laid to our charge! Who shall be able to stand in that great day? Only those who are washed in the blood: and robed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus our Lord.

Deuteronomy 32:35-38. To me belongs vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. For the Lord shall judge his people and repent himself for his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left. And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, you, and be your protection.

To you, you who trust in anything except God, the day will come when you, you will hear such terrible words as these—"Now let your riches save you, you, let your pleasures and your vices cheer you, you; go you, you now in your own wicked ways, and see if you, you can find any comfort in them!" What holy sarcasm there is in these words, which will cut to the quick the conscience when it is once fairly aroused!

Deuteronomy 32:39-43. See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no God with me: I kill, and make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to Heaven, and say, I live forever. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy. Rejoice, O you, you nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.

It is only in mercy, you, you see, that the Lord deals with his people; they cannot stand before him on the ground of justice, but in his mercy is their place of refuge. May we all find that mercy by fleeing for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us in Christ Jesus and his glorious gospel! Amen.

 

Chapter 33

 

Verses 1-29

 

Deuteronomy 33:1. And this is the blessing, with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.

A very beautiful thought, that he should conclude his life with a blessing. Though they had greatly grieved and provoked his spirit, he was always meek and tender, but he had very much to bear from them, and this is the end of it all, that he will dismiss them with his blessing.

Deuteronomy 33:2-3. And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. Yes, he loved the people; all his saints are in your hand: and they sat down at your feet; every one shall receive of your words.

"Yes, he loved the people." God’s appearance on Sinai was a token of his love to them, even though it amazed them and distressed many of them. Yet still it was a great thing that God should come so near to these people, and should reveal his will to them. Dear friends, if God should come to you, you with his fiery law; if he should humble you, you, and make you, you "exceeding fear and quake," it would be a token of love. The ungodly are left to go in their sin, but as for you, you, if you, you are one whom he loves, he will rebuke you, you, and he will bring his law to do its work upon your heart and conscience. It seems strange to you, you, but so it is. "From his right hand went a fiery law for them. Yes, he loved the people." Oh! it is so, because he loves them he reveals to them his fiery law. "All his saints are in your hand." A place of safety, a place of privilege, where they learn how precious they are to him, for he holds them so dear that he keeps them always in his hand. "All his saints are in your hand, and they sat down at your feet." Another place for saints; they are always learning; they are disciples; they sit with meek humility at their Master’s feet, and drink in his words, "Everyone shall receive of your words." Those who know not God’s love, trifle with God’s words and reject them; those whom he loves receive his words and feed upon them.

Deuteronomy 33:4-6. Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together. Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.

Here is his blessing, "Let Reuben live." Reuben’s great sin had lost him his birthright, yet Moses gives him as much of his blessing as he can. If we are not allowed to draw the largest blessing, let us go as far as we can.

Deuteronomy 33:7-9. And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be you, you an help to him from his enemies. And of Levi he said, Let your Thummim and your Urim be with your holy one, whom you, you did prove at Massah, and with whom you, you did strive at the waters of Meribah; Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.

Judah was the royal tribe — had to do much with warfare. Lord give him power in prayer! This is the peculiar blessing of those who have to lead the way in the battles of God. In the service of God, Levi was impartial; he did not wink at sin in his dearest relatives. You, you remember how they took the sword, and went through the camp, and slew their own brothers when they found them guilty of idolatry, and because of this faithfulness we read, "They shall teach Jacob your judgments, and Israel your law." Above all things, a teacher of the truth of God must be fearless and impartial in the delivery of God’s Word; then God will bless him, and it shall be said of such, "They shall teach Jacob," etc.

Deuteronomy 33:10. They shall teach Jacob your judgments, and Israel your law: they shall put incense before you, you, and whole burnt sacrifice upon your altar.

True hearts alone can be God’s priests; he will not accept sacrifices from those who will dally with his truth, and trifle with his Word.

Deuteronomy 33:11-12. Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again. And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

They that have God near them are safe indeed. There is no protection in such a world as this like constant communion with God. We have to go out into a world full of all manner of evil. Go not out into the world without your God. Let him dwell with you, you and cover you, you all the day long, and so shall you, you be safe.

Deuteronomy 33:13. And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of Heaven,

Oh! in a spiritual sense, what a rich blessing this is! and remember it came upon that tribe whose father was the most afflicted of all Jacob’s sons. If you, you are, an afflicted Joseph rejoice, for one of these days you, you shall have the capacity for receiving great blessings.

Deuteronomy 33:13. For the dew,

The Lord send us that dew tonight to rest upon our branch.

Deuteronomy 33:13. And for the deep that couches beneath,

These deep eternal springs out of which we drink the divine water springs.

Deuteronomy 33:14. And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,

They shall have blessings both ways, in the day and in the night. Those whom God blesses, the sun does not smite by day, nor the moon by night, but, on the contrary, they are blessed both in the one and in the other.

Deuteronomy 33:15-16. And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, And for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush:

Oh! that we may enjoy ever the good will of God, who wills good to us, who in all his dealings with us has a good will towards us. Oh! that we may have the good will of him that dwelt in the bush!

Deuteronomy 33:16-18. Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh. And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out; and, Issachar, in your tents.

You, you that go much abroad in the world, God give you, you to rejoice in your opportunities of doing good. You, you that never go abroad, but live at home in the kitchen and the parlor, learn to rejoice in your tents, for there, too, you, you have a sphere of holy service.

Deuteronomy 33:19-22. They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand. And of Gad he said, Blessed be he who enlarges Gad: he dwells as a lion, and tears the arm with the crown of the head. And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the Lord, and his judgments with Israel. And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.

"And of Gad, he said, Blessed be he who enlarges Gad." God knows how to enlarge his people, give them more grace, more gifts, more opportunities of usefulness. Which he did. His tribes enlarged their boundaries by a sudden leap. God gives his people sometimes their leaping times; they leap from Bashan: some great purpose is accomplished, some great feat is done.

Deuteronomy 33:23. And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the Lord: possess you, you the west and the south.

What a condition of heart to be in! "Satisfied with favor; full of the blessing of the Lord." Beloved, may you, you enjoy that tonight!

Deuteronomy 33:24. And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.

Then will he leave a mark wherever he goes of holy unction. He possesses it himself, and he will impart it to others.

Deuteronomy 33:25. Your shoes shall be iron and brass; and as your days, so shall your strength be.

Will not some believer grip that promise tonight and find it true?

Deuteronomy 33:26-28. There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rides upon the Heaven in your help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before you, you; and shall say, Destroy them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.

"Israel then shall dwell in safety alone." There is no place for God’s people like a separated place; they must get without the camp; they must not be numbered among the people. Notice, there is none like unto the God of Israel, and there is none like to Israel.

Deuteronomy 33:29. Happy are you, you, O Israel: who is like unto you, you, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help, and who is the sword of your excellency! and your enemies shall be found liars unto you, you; and you, you shall tread upon their high places.

As God is by himself, so all his people are favored beyond all others.

 

Chapter 34

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

JUDGES

 

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

Verses 19-25

 

Judges 7:19-21. So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.

This was at the dead of night, when the hosts of Midian were fast asleep. They were startled from their slumbers by the blast of three hundred trumpets, and the flaming of three hundred torches. They gathered that these were only the bugles and the lamps at the head of vast regiments of Israelites, and they hardly dared to calculate how great the whole host must be. Filled with fear, astonished at the sound of the trumpets, and the shouting of Gideon’s band all round their camp, they took to their heels: "all the host ran, and cried, and fled."

Judges 7:22. And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host:

They were a motley company, every man afraid of his fellow. They had gathered together to share the spoil, and now, when fear demoralized them, the hordes of wild warriors began to destroy one another.

Judges 7:22-23. And the host fled to Beth-shittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath. And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.

If some have the courage to strike the enemy, there are others who will come out of their hiding places to hunt the beaten foe. When you, you really want help, often you, you cannot get it; but when you, you can afford to do without assistance, you, you will sometimes be embarrassed by it.

Judges 7:24. And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters —

"Secure the fords in the streams which flow into the Jordan from the mountainous region of Ephraim, so that the refugees cannot get away."

Judges 7:24-25. Unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.

So that, though they had been very backward at the first, yet, when they were once aroused, these men of Ephraim did their part in ridding the land of the common foe, and among the trophies of war, the heads of two of the princes of the Midianites fell into their hands.

This exposition consisted of readings from Judges 7:19-25; Judges 8:1-27.

 

Chapter 8

 

Verses 1-27

 

Judges 8:1. And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why have you, you served us thus, that you, you called us not, when you, you went to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply.

We have some friends, like these men of Ephraim, who do not like being left out of the battle for the Lord. They say, "Why are we not asked for our help? Why are we not allowed to take our share?" These are very good people; but we have known some of them who have made these inquiries rather late in the day. These Ephraimites knew all about the war, and they might have volunteered to help Gideon, and we should have been glad of the earlier help of some who tarried until the victory was won.

Judges 8:2. And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you, you?

Gideon answered them very kindly and very wisely. He flattered them he attached great importance to what they had done, and took little credit to himself for his valiant service. In this he showed his self-command and his discretion. When persons chide sharply, it is a pity to chide back again; the best way of dealing with them is with a soft answer to turn away their wrath.

Judges 8:2-5. Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you, you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that. And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them. And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.

This was a very natural and a very reasonable request. Gideon did not ask the men of Succoth to come with him, nor even to give a lodging to his soldiers. The fear of Midian was upon Israel, and the people were afraid to do anything against their oppressor, but surely they might have relieved the hunger of their fellow countrymen. Instead of doing so, they answered Gideon with arrogant and cruel words.

Judges 8:6. And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread unto your army?

As much as to say, "What have you, you done, after all? There are fifteen thousand men with Zebah and Zalmunna, and there are only three hundred of you, you. You, you have not even captured the leaders yet." They forgot that Gideon’s band had slain a hundred and twenty thousand already; they underrated and mocked him, and would not give him the help he asked.

Judges 8:7. And Gideon said, Therefore when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.

Some have said that this showed resentment and harshness, but when a man is at war, he is not in the habit of sprinkling his adversaries with rose-water. War is in itself so great an evil that there are many other evils necessarily connected with it. It seems to me that if, when Gideon was trying to deliver his own countrymen, they scoffed at him, and refused him bread for his soldiers in the day of their hunger, they deserved to be punished with great severity.

Judges 8:8-9. And he went up thence to Penuel, and spoke unto them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him. And he spoke also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.

They took liberty to speak rudely because theirs was a fortified city, guarded by a strong tower, and Gideon, nothing doubting that he would come back that way, God having given him the victory, said, "When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower."

Judges 8:10-11. Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east: for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword. And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host: for the host was secure.

He went by an unusual route, and took them at night again unawares when they felt perfectly safe, and were sound asleep: "for the host was secure." As I read these words, I think, what a pity it is ever to fancy ourselves secure while we are really in peril! Carnal security is a great danger. To be "safe in the arms of Jesus," is a most blessed condition; but to be secure in self-confidence, is a thing that has a curse upon it.

Judges 8:12. And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host.

There was an end of the tyranny of the Midianites. Gideon slew great numbers of them, and drove away such as yet remained alive.

Judges 8:13-17. And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up, and caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof even threescore and seventeen men. And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom you, you did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread unto your men that are weary? And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.

He probably slew the most public revilers, the leading men of Penuel, even as he had chastised the princes and elders of Succoth with thorns and briers. I have often observed that you, you and I have been taught a great many things "with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers." If we refuse to help God’s weary and tried people, it is highly probable that, one of these days, we may have to learn a great deal from the thorns of the wilderness and from the briers. Do we ever learn much apart from the thorns of the wilderness? Surely, trials and troubles have been our great instructors from the first day even until now.

Judges 8:18-19. Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom you, you slew at Tabor? And they answered, As you, you are, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. And he said, they were my brethren, even the sons of my mother:

In the East, there is much greater affection between those who are the sons of one mother than between those who are only sons of one father.

Judges 8:19. As the Lord lives, if you, you had saved them alive, I would not slay you, you.

But now it devolved upon him to be an avenger of blood according to Oriental law, and to put to death those who had slain his brothers.

Judges 8:20-22. And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise you, you, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels’ necks. Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule you, you over us, both you, you, and your son, and your son’s son also: for you, you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.

There was always an itching among the Israelites to have a king, an earthly monarch to rule over them; but God did not so design it. It was want of loyalty and love to God that led them to make this request.

Judges 8:23-27. And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, you, neither shall my son rule over you, you: the Lord shall rule over you, you. And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, you, that you, you would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey. And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels’ necks. And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.

He did not set up an idol, but he made an ephod, an imitation of that wonderful vestment worn by the high priest. Perhaps he made it of solid gold, not to be worn, but to he looked at, simply to remind the people of the worship of God, and not to be itself worshiped. But ah, dear friends, you, you see here that, if we go half an inch beyond what God’s Word warrants we always get into mischief! You, you hear people say, "We have such and such symbols, not to worship, but to help us in worship." Ah, yes; but the tendency of the symbol is to act as a dam to the stream of devotion, and to make it end there! God forbid that we should ever violate the rules that Christ has laid down for us! The slightest deviation from the simplicity of the gospel may lead us away into sheer apostasy? Whence have come all the errors of Rome but from little accretions and alterations? A little ornament here, a little symbol there, and a little variation of truth yonder and the gigantic system of Romanism has thus been created. Gideon probably meant well, and we may do wrong even though we mean well. May the Lord preserve us from the smallest departure from the way that he has marked out for us in his Holy Word! Amen.

This exposition consisted of readings from Judges 7:19-25; Judges 8:1-27.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 13

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 14

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 15

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 16

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 17

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 18

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 19

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 20

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

RUTH

 

Chapter 1

 

Verses 1-22

 

Ruth 1:1. Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

That was a bad move on their part; Better poverty with the people of God, than plenty outside of the covenanted land.

Ruth 1:2. And the name of the man was Elimelech,—

"Elimelech? means, "my God is King." A man with such a name as that ought not to have left the kingdom where his God was King; but some people are not worthy of the names they bear.

Ruth 1:2. And the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-Judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.

That is generally what happens; those who go into the country of Moab continue there. If Christians go away from their separated life, they are very apt to continue in that condition. It may be easy to say, "I will step aside from the Christian path for just a little while;" but it is not so easy to return to it. Usually something or other hampers; the birdlime catches the birds of Paradise, and holds them fast.

Ruth 1:3-4. And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.

Which was about ten years too long. Probably they did not intend to remain so long when they went there, they only meant to be in Moab for a little while, just as Christian people, when they fall into worldly conformity, only purpose to do it once, "just for the sake of the girls, to bring them out a little." But it happens to them as it is written here: "and they dwelled there about ten years."

Ruth 1:5. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

That seemed to be her great grief—that she was left. She would have been content to go with them, but she was left to mourn their loss.

Ruth 1:6. Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab:

It is often the case that, when our idols are broken, we turn back to our God. It is frequently the case that the loss of earthly good leads us to return to our first Husband, for we feel that then it was better with us than it is now. Naomi had also another inducement to return:—

Ruth 1:6. For she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread.

Have any of you, you professors gone a long way off from God? I wish you, you knew what plenty there is in the Great Father’s house, and what a blessed feast there is for these who live with him. There is no famine in that land; there is plenty of gladness, plenty of comfort, plenty of everything that is joyful, to be found there. You, you need not go to Moab, and to her false goes, to find pleasure and satisfaction.

Ruth 1:7-9. Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the Lord deal kindly with you, you, as you, you have dealt with the dead, and with me. The Lord grant you, you that you, you may find rest, each of you, you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.

Separation was painful to them, for they loved their mother-in-law, a most unselfish person who, even though it was a comfort to her to enjoy their company, thought it would be for their good, in a temporal sense, that they should abide in their own country.

Ruth 1:10-14. And they said unto her, Surely we will return with you, you unto your people. And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will you, you go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also tonight, and should also bear sons; Would you, you tarry for them until they were grown? would you, you stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieves me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me. And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law; but Ruth cleave unto her.

What a difference there often is between two persons who are under religious impressions at the same time! The one would like to follow Jesus, but the price is too much to pay; so there is a kiss somewhat like that of Judas, and Orpah goes back to her people, and to her idols. But how different was the other case! Ruth was, as it were, glued to Naomi; she "cleave unto her," Stuck to her, and could not be made to go back with her sister.

Ruth 1:15-17. And she said, Behold, your sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return you, you after your sister in law. And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave you, you, or to return from following after you, you: for where you, you go, I will go; and where you, you lodge, I will lodge: your people shall be my people, and your God my God: where you, you die, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death part you, you and me.

That was bravely spoken, and she meant it, too.

Ruth 1:18. When she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.

That is a striking expression, "When she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her." O you, you dear young friends who want to be Christians, how glad we are when we see that you, you are steadfastly minded to go with the people of God! There are so many who are quickly hot and quickly cold,—soon excited towards good things, and almost as speedily their ardor cools, and they go back into the world. Do ask the Lord to make you, you steadfastly minded. This is one of the best frames of mind for any of us to be in.

Ruth 1:19. So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?

They seemed all to turn out of doors to have a look at these two strangers, and especially at Naomi, for she was so different from what she had been when she went away. "And they said, Is this Naomi? Some said, "Is this Naomi?" questioning. Others said it with surprise as a thing incredible, "This Naomi! How can she be the same woman?" It was very rude of them to turn out, just like people, without sympathy, do on Ramsgate pier, to see the sick passengers land. Nobody seems to have said, "Come into our house to lodge," but all questioned, "Is this Naomi?"

Ruth 1:20. And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi,—

"Call me not pleasant."

Ruth 1:20. Call me Mara:

That is, "bitter."

Ruth 1:20. For the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

It was a pity for Naomi to say that; yet I fear that many of us have done the same; We have not borne such sweet testimony to the Lord as we might have done, but have sorrowfully moaned, as this poor woman did:—

Ruth 1:21. I went out full,—

Why, then, did you, you go out?

Ruth 1:21. And the Lord has brought me home again empty:

Ah! but he has brought you, you home again. Oh, if she would but have noticed the mercy there was in it all, she might still have spoken like Naomi; but now she speaks like Mara,—bitterness. Her husband and her two boys—all her heart’s delight—were with her when she went out; and now that they are gone, she says:—

Ruth 1:21. Why then call you, you me Naomi, seeing the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?

Yet it is a sweet thing to be able to trace the hand of God in our affliction, for nothing can come from that hand towards one of his children but that which is good and right. If you, you will think of those hands of which the Lord says, "I have graven you, you upon the palms of my hands," you, you may rest assured that nothing can come from those hands but what infinite wisdom directs, and infinite love has ordained.

Ruth 1:22. So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

That is, at the time of the Passover; let us hope that they received a blessing in observing the ordinances of that time, and that they were thus helped to get back to the only right and happy state of heart.

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

1 SAMUEL

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Verses 1-10

 

We shall read two portions of Holy Scripture, and may God the Holy Spirit bless us in the reading of his own Words. We shall first read, in the first Book of Samuel, the second chapter, the song of Hannah. You, you remember that Hannah was a woman of a sorrowful spirit. A womanly sorrow preyed upon her heart, and brought her very low; not so low, however, as to prevent her from constantly praying to God. Her prayers were heard, and when she came up to the Lord’s house, the joyful mother of son, he took care to remember her former supplication, and to offer unto God thanksgiving. Hannah was a woman of great ability, perhaps the chief poetess of either the Old or the New Testament. I expect that Mary borrowed not of her Magnificat from the song of Hannah, at least, the recollection of that song must have been strong upon her when she sang what we shall presently read.

2:1. And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoices in the Lord mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in your salvation.

Her deliverance seemed to her to be a type and symbol of the way in which God delivers all his people, so she rejoiced in that great salvation which he works out for his people as a whole.

1 Samuel 2:2-7. There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside you, you: neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren has born seven; and she that has many children is waxed feeble. The Lord kills, and makes alive: he brings down to the grave, and brings up. The Lord makes poor, and makes rich: he brings low, and lifts up.

With what jubilation she sings of the way in which God deals with men, putting down the mighty, and lifting up the lowly!

1 Samuel 2:8. He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’S, and he has set the world upon them.

Whatever solid thing it is that bears up the frame of this natural world, it is God’s power that does support it. He has made all things that are, and he upholds them with the world of his power.

1 Samuel 2:9. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness;

What an awful picture that is of the doom of the wicked, "Silent in darkness." We read of the one, in the parable of our Lord, who had not on the wedding garment, that he was speechless; and, at the last the wicked will have nothing to say, nothing with which to excuse themselves, nothing with which to comfort themselves, and all around them will be-" Darkness, death, and long despair." Vanquished in their fight with God, conquered for ever, " the wicked shall be silent in darkness." I hardly know of a more dreadful picture than that of a spirit sitting amidst the clammy damps of the thick darkness of desolation, forever silent.

1 Samuel 2:9-10. For by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of Heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

That is the song of this happy woman; and if we read the last three verses of Psalms 113, we shall see that the writer seems to have studied Hannah’s song, and to have molded his Psalm upon it: "He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the dunghill, that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. He makes the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise you, you the Lord." Now let us read Mary’s song in the first chapter of the Gospel according to Luke. You, you remember, dear friends, how the Lord Jesus said, "I thank you, you, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because you, you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in your sight." The Savior’s heart found a sacred satisfaction in the execution of his Father’s sovereign will in revealing to babes what he had hid from the wise and prudent; and it is remarkable that both Hannah and Mary sang upon that very theme which made the heart of the Savior leap for joy. We might have expected to find an abundance of affection in a woman’s song rather than a depth of doctrine, but both Hannah and Mary make the sovereignty of God the strain of their songs.

This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Samuel 2:1-10; and Luke 1:46-55.

Verses 1-36

 

1 Samuel 2:1-3. And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoices in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside you, you: neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

This is a very suggestive and forcible expression. God does not judge our actions by their appearance, but puts them into the scales of the sanctuary, and weighs them as carefully as bankers weigh gold.

1 Samuel 2:4-8. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren has born seven; and she that has many children is waxed feeble. The Lord kills, and makes alive: he brings down to the grave, and brings up. The Lord makes poor, and makes rich: he brings low, and lifts up. He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’S, and he has set the world upon them.

What a clear view Hannah had of the sovereignty of God, and how plainly she perceived that God overrules all mortal things, and does as he wills! How she seemed to glory in the power of that almighty hand whose working unbelievers cannot discern, but which, to this gracious woman’s opened eye, was so conspicuous everywhere!

1 Samuel 2:9-12. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of Heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest. Now the sons of Eli were one of Belial; they knew not the Lord.

Yet they were priests, and when a man stands up to minister in holy things, and by virtue of his office is supposed to know the Lord, yet really does not, he stands, not only in a position of the utmost guilt, but also in a position in which he is never likely to get a blessing. He seems to be beyond the reach of the ordinary agencies of mercy, because he has assumed a position to which he has no right.

1 Samuel 2:13-14. And the priests’ custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand; and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.

There was no such rule or regulation given by God; but these sons of Eli had made rules for themselves. It is always wrong to alter the regulations of the Lord’s house. Even the least of them should be obeyed exactly as it stands.

1 Samuel 2:15-16. Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of you, you, but raw. And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as your soul desires; then he would answer him, Nay; but you, you shall give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.

There were sacrifices in which God had his portion in the burning of the fat upon the altar, and the priest had a portion allotted to him; and the offerer himself had a portion upon which he fed, in token of his communion and fellowship with God. The priest ought to have been content with what was an ample portion for him; but the greed of these young men prostituted holy things, and defiled the house of the Lord.

1 Samuel 2:17. Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.

They not only grieved God, but they also grieved his people so much that they ceased to come where their consciences were wounded, and where their tenderest sensibilities were perpetually shocked.

1 Samuel 2:18. But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.

What a contrast there was between little Samuel and the sons of Eli! He was not led astray by the evil example of those who were older than himself, and to whom he would naturally look up because of their high office. This dear child escaped contamination because God’s grace preserved him and also because his mother’s prayers, like a wall of fire, were round about him.

1 Samuel 2:19-21. Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The Lord give you, you seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the Lord. And they went unto their own home. And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord.

She lent one child to the Lord, and she had five others given to her. God always pays good interest on all his loans. "He who has pity upon the poor lends unto the Lord." It would be well if more would see how much per cent they could get from such a loan as that.

1 Samuel 2:22-25. Now Eli was very old, and heard as his sons did unto all Israel and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he said unto them, Why do you, you such things? for I hear of your evil doings by all this people, Nay my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: you, you make the Lord’S people to transgress. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?

That is the way Eli rebuked his sons. "And very gently he did it, dear old man," says someone. Yes, but don’t you, you imitate him; for, if you, you do, you, you may also inherit the curse that came upon his house. There are other virtues in this world besides gentleness. There is sometimes needed the power to speak sternly, — to rebuke with firmness and severity; and Eli had not this. He was an easy-going old soul. Ah! but when the honor of God is at stake, such action as his is out of place. It is all very well to have everybody saying, "Mr. So-and-so is such an amiable man; there is no sectarianism and no bigotry about him; he never says a word to offend anybody." Just so, but Martin Luther was not at all that kind of man, and where should we have been without such protests as his?

1 Samuel 2:25. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.

They had gone so far in their sin that the Lord permitted them to go further still, and to bring punishment upon themselves for their evil deeds.

1 Samuel 2:26. And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord, and also with men.

How vividly the Holy Spirit brings out the contrast between Samuel and these two wicked young men! They grew on in sin, but the child Samuel grew on in favor both with God and with men. The Lord loves to watch his lilies growing among the sharp thorns, and to see how brightly his stars are shining in the blackest night.

1 Samuel 2:27-28. And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus says the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the house of your father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? And did I choose him —

That is, Aaron, —

1 Samuel 2:28-30. Out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of your father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? Wherefore kick you, you at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honor your sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chief of all the offerings of Israel my people? Wherefore the Lord God of Israel says, I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before me forever:

There was a condition attached to that promise, — a condition implied, if not expressly stated.

1 Samuel 2:30-31. But now the Lord says, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come, that I will cut off your arm, —

That is, "the strength of your family shall be taken away," —

1 Samuel 2:31-33. And the arm of your father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in your house. And you, you shall see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. And the man of your, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume your eyes, and to grieve your heart: and all the increase of your house shall die in the flower of their age.

God does not think little of sin in his ministers, and in his sanctuary. There is a difference between sin and sin. The place where it is committed may make a difference, and the office of the man who commits it may make a difference. Sin makes its culmination when the sinner is highly favored, and brought into close relationship with God by office.

1 Samuel 2:34-35. And this shall be a sign unto you, you, that shall come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them. And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed forever.

No doubt first referring to Zadok, who succeeded afterwards to the priests office; but looking further forward still to our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the ever-faithful High Priest who always does according to that which is in the mind and heart of the Father.

1 Samuel 2:36. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in your house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray you, you, into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.

Or, rather, as the margin has it, "Put me, I pray you, you, into somewhat about the priesthood." "Put me into something that has to do with the priesthood." So the house of Eli passed from it honorable elevation into degradation and poverty. However highly favored any of us may have been, let us never presume upon that, and turn aside to sin. If we do not know the Lord, and do not honor him in all the acts that we perform in his name, it may be that a like degradation to that of Eli’s house may come upon us because we have despised the will and the words of the Most High.

Verses 12-36

 

1 Samuel 2:12. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord.

What a very dreadful thing it was that these sons of a man of God, the sons of God’s high priest, were not themselves sons of God, but sons of Belial, foul-hearted, foul-mouthed, foul-living men, who knew not the very God at whose altar they served, and in whose house they lived!

1 Samuel 2:13-14 And the priests’ custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand; and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.

God had appointed a proper portion for his priests so that they who ministered at the altar might live of the altar. But these wicked men were not content with the divine allowance, so they must needs rob the altars of God, and show such greed as to make the appointed sacrifices to be obnoxious to the people.

1 Samuel 2:15-16. Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of you, you, but raw. And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as your soul desires; then he would answer him, Nay; but you, you shall give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.

It is a terrible thing when God’s servants are domineering and oppressive towards the people of God. They who should be the gentlest of all, and the most self-denying of all must not talk as this priest’s servant did, and he no doubt talked as the young men whom he served bade him talk.

1 Samuel 2:17. Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.

It is horrible when those who should make God great among men cause his service to be despised and abhorred. When those who should be the friends and servants of God act like his enemies, it is indeed terrible.

1 Samuel 2:18-24. But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The Lord give you, you seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the Lord. And they went unto their own home. And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord. Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he said unto them, Why do you, you such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: you, you make the Lord’S people to transgress.

That is all that the godly old man said to his wicked sons. He was far too gentle in his way of reproving them. He was evidently afraid of his own sons, not the only man who has been in the same predicament.

1 Samuel 2:25. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.

They had gone so far in vice and gin that the Lord did not mean to forgive them. They had transgressed so foully that he would permit them to go on in sin until they perished in it.

1 Samuel 2:26-30. And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord, and also with men. And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus says the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the house of your father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of your father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? Wherefore kick you, you at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honor your sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chief of all the offerings of Israel my people? Wherefore the Lord God of Israel says, I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before me forever:

"But I said it conditionally upon your good behavior. I installed you, you into the priest’s office for life, and your sons might have continued in it after you, you if they had kept my commandment."

1 Samuel 2:30-36. But now the Lord says, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come, that I will cut off your arm, and the arm of your father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in your house. And you, you shall see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. And the man of your, whom I shall not cut of from mine altar, shall be to consume your eyes, and to grieve your heart: and all the increase of your house shall die in the flower of their age. And this shall be a sign unto you, you, that shall come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them. And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed forever. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in your house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray you, you, into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.

The same sad prophecy that the Lord communicated to old Eli was also revealed in a very special manner to young Samuel.

This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Samuel 2:12-36; and 1 Samuel 3:1-13.

 

Chapter 3

 

Verses 1-13

 

1 Samuel 3:1-13. And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; and before the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; that the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I for you, you called me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I for you, you did call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I for you, you did call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call you, you, that you, you shall say, Speak, Lord for your servant hears. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for your servant hears. And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that hears it shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.

Take warning, fathers and mothers, by this experience of old Eli.

This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Samuel 2:12-36; and 1 Samuel 3:1-13.

Verses 1-21

 

1 Samuel 3:1. And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli.

Samuel was but a child, yet he was a faithful servant of God up to the light he had received. The grown-up sons of Eli were rebelling against God, but "the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord." It is a great aggravation of sin for ungodly men to persist in it when even little children rebuke them by their careful walk and conversation; it made the sin of Eli’s sons all the worse because "the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before ELI"

1 Samuel 3:1. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.

God spoke with very few, and his speech to them was private: "There was no open vision." What was spoken was very rich and rare, but there was little of it. The Lord, in anger at the sin of Eli’s sons, took away the spirit of prophecy from the land.

1 Samuel 3:2. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;

He was a good old man, but he was almost worn out, and he had been unfaithful to God in not keeping his family right. He must have found some comfort in having such a sweet and dear companion and servant as little Samuel was.

1 Samuel 3:3-5. And before the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; that the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I for you, you called me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.

Servants and children are to be attentive and obedient to the calls they hear, but masters must also be gentle, and kind, and considerate to them. Eli did not call the child a fool, or speak harshly to him; he knew that Samuel had a good intention, and even if he had been mistaken, and no one had called him, yet it was a good thing on the part of the child to act as if he had been spoken to; and Eli quietly and gently said, "I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down."

1 Samuel 3:6. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I for you, you did call me.

He felt sure of it, confident that he had not been mistaken.

1 Samuel 3:6-7. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord.

There was the Beginning of the work of grace in his heart, he was well-intentioned; but as yet God had not revealed himself to him: "Samuel did not yet know the Lord," —

1 Samuel 3:7-8. Neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time.

We do not blame Samuel, for he was but a child, and spiritual understanding had not yet fully come to him; but what shall I say of some to whom God has spoken for years until their hair is gray, and yet they have not understood the voice of the Lord even to this hour? I pray God that he may call them yet again The Lord did not disdain to call Samuel four times, for when he means effectually to call, if one call is not sufficient, he will call again and again and again: "The Lord called Samuel again the third time."

1 Samuel 3:8-9. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I for you, you did call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call you, you, that you, you shall say, Speak, Lord for your servant hears. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

It was a chastisement to Eli that God did not speak directly to him, but sent him a message by another; and it must have been very humiliating to the aged man of God that God should select a little child to be his messenger to him. Yet, as Eli had not been faithful, it was great mercy on God’s part to speak to him at all; and no doubt the old man did not resent the fact that God, instead of speaking to one of his sons, or to himself, spoke by this little child. Eli loved Samuel, and finding that the Lord intended to use this child, he did not grow jealous and angry, and begin to damp the child’s spirit; but he gave him wise directions how to act in case God should speak to him again.

1 Samuel 3:10. And the Lord came, and stood,-

From which we learn that there was some kind of appearance to Samuel such as that which was manifested to others. Some spiritual being was before him, though he could not make out the form thereof: "Jehovah came, and stood," —

1 Samuel 3:10. And called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel.

This time the child’s name was spoken twice, as though God would say to him, "I have called you, you by your name; you, you are mine? It was no doubt to make a deeper impression upon the child’s mind that his name was twice called by the Lord.

1 Samuel 3:10. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for your servant hears.

You, you observe that he did not say, "Lord;" perhaps he hardly dared to take that sacred name upon his lips. He was impressed with such solemn awe at the name of God, that he said, "Speak; for your servant hears." I wish that some Christian men of my acquaintance would leave out the Lord’s name a little in their prayers, for we may take the name of the Lord in vain even in our supplications. When the heathen are addressing their gods, they are accustomed to repeat their names over and over again. "O Baal, hear us! O Baal, hear us!" or, as the Hindus do when they cry, "Ram! Ram! Ram! Ram! "repeating the name of their God; but as for us, when we think of the infinitely-glorious One, we dare not needlessly repeat his name.

1 Samuel 3:11-13. And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that hears it shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows;-

What a striking expression, " the iniquity which he knows." There is a good deal of iniquity about us which we do not know; that is a sin of ignorance. But deep down in his heart Eli knew that he had been afraid to speak to his sons about their sins, and that, when he had spoken, it had been in such lenient terms that they made light of them. Possibly, he had never chastened them when they were young, and he had not spoken to them sharply when they were older. Remember that he was a judge, and he ought not to have allowed his sons to remain priests if they were behaving themselves filthily at the door of the tabernacle. He ought to have dealt with them as he would have dealt with anybody else; he did not, so God said, "I have told him, that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows;"-

1 Samuel 3:13. Because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.

A man said to me, one day, "I never laid my hand upon my children;" and I answered, "Then I think it is very likely that God will lay his hand upon you, you." "Oh!" he said, "I have not even spoken sharply to them." "Then," I replied, "it is highly probable that God will speak very sharply to you, you; for it is not God’s will that parents should leave their children unrestrained in their sin."

1 Samuel 3:14-15. And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever. And Samuel lay until the morning, —

I wonder whether he went to sleep; I should think not. After such visitation and revelation, it is a marvel that the child could lie still. One wonders that he did not go at once to Eli, but then the message was so heavy that he could not be in a hurry to deliver it: "And Samuel lay until the morning," —

1 Samuel 3:15. And opened the doors of the house of the Lord.

Dear child! There are some of us who, if God had spoken to us as he had spoken to Samuel, would feel a deal too big to go and open doors any more. If God were to come, and speak to some who are poor, they would run away from their trade. If God were to speak to some who are young, they would give themselves mighty sirs. But Samuel meekly accepted the high honor God had conferred upon him; and when he rose in the morning, he went about his usual duties: "He opened the doors of the house of the Lord."

1 Samuel 3:15. And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision.

The old man must have felt that it was nothing very pleasant; still, he wanted to know the Lord’s messages. I hope he was in such a frame of mind that he could say, "Lord, show me the worst of my case! Let me know all your mind about it, and let me not go on with my eyes bandaged, in ignorance of your will concerning me."

1 Samuel 3:16-18. Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. And he said, What is the thing that the Lord has said unto you, you? I pray you, you hide it not from me: God do so to you, you, and more also, if you, you hide anything from me of all the things that he said unto you, you. And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him.

Samuel was obeying the divine command which had not then been given: "He who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully."

1 Samuel 3:18. And he said, It is the Lord: let him do what seems him good.

This was a grand speech of old Eli. Terrible as it might be, he bowed his head to the divine sentence, and owned that it was just.

1 Samuel 3:19-21. And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Verses 1-27

 

1 Samuel 9:1-2. Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

Here we have the pedigree of the great king of Israel, Saul, the son of Kish. He was descended from a noble tribe, though not a very large one, and he appears to have been endowed with a very notable personal appearance: "There was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people;" and to the Israelites of that day, who had got away from looking up to God, and to the more valuable accomplishments of the mind and the heart, the striking personal appearance of Saul would be a great attraction and recommendation.

1 Samuel 9:3-4. And the donkeys of Kish Saul’s father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with you, you, and arise, go seek the donkeys. And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not.

He was diligent in his father’s service, even though that service meant a fruitless journey in search of some straying donkeys. As he was then faithfully discharging the duties of his station in life; he was the man who was likely to rise to some higher position. He was the son of "a mighty man of power" or substance, and yet, so simple were the manners of the time that he was sent, with one of the servants, to look for the lost donkeys, and he appears to have started at once to carry out the commission which had been entrusted to him. Learn from Saul’s obedience, dear young people, never to despise any duty which falls to your lot in the ordinary avocations of daily life; you, you will be preparing yourselves for some higher position by doing well what you, you are called to do now.

1 Samuel 9:5. And when they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return; lest my father leave caring for the donkeys, and take thought for us.

There was evidently in Saul, at that time, a great considerateness of spirit; he wished to save his father from having any painful anxiety concerning his son and his servant, for Saul put both together when he said "us." It is most desirable that young men, in the present day, should have a tender regard for those to whom they owe their being, and who have done so much for them in the years of their tender infancy; and that all young people should be careful never needlessly to give their parents one anxious thought on their account.

1 Samuel 9:6. And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man; all that he says comes surely to pass: now let us go thither; perhaps he can show us our way that we should go.

In this case, as in so many others, the servant seems to have had more grace than his young master had, for the name of Samuel the prophet was not unknown to him, and he knew where the "man of God" lived, and told Saul a good deal about him, and gave him some good advice as to what they should do. In any case where the servant, and not the master, knows the Lord, it is well, when occasion offers, and it can be done prudently and discreetly, for the servant to speak up, and give a good word for the cause of God and truth.

1 Samuel 9:7. Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we?

He says nothing about any money that he may have had in his own pocket, and again his servant has to lead the way.

1 Samuel 9:8-9. And the servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God to tell us our way. (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he spoke, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he who is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)

He was a man who looked further ahead than others could; for, under divine inspiration, he could see into futurity.

1 Samuel 9:10. Then said Saul to his servant, Well said; come, let us go.

Saul was willing to be liberal at his servant’s expense, and to let him give "the fourth part of a shekel of silver" to the prophet for him, and we have known some other folk who have been very generous in giving away the money of other people rather than their own.

1 Samuel 9:10-12. So they went unto the city where the man of God was. And as they went up the hill to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the seer here? And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, he is before you, you: make haste now, for he came today to the city; for there is a sacrifice of the people today in the high place:

These young maidens were evidently well informed, they knew where the man of God was, they knew what he was going to do, and they knew the time of the sacrifice or feast. Let us hope that they not only knew all this, but that they entered into the true spirit of it.

1 Samuel 9:13-19. As soon as you, you be come into the city, you, you shall immediately find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he does bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you, you up; for about this time you, you shall find him. And they went up into the city: and when they were come into the city, behold, Samuel came out against them, for to go up to the high place. Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying, Tomorrow about this time I will send you, you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you, you shall anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me. And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, Behold the man whom I spoke to you, you of! this same shall reign over my people. Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray you, you, where the seer’s house is. And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer:

Saul evidently did not know Samuel, and it appears from this fact that he was not a gracious, religious man. He had the charm of a fine outward appearances, and he probably had many of the domestic virtues, but he was not one who lived in the fear of God.

1 Samuel 9:19-21. Go up before me unto the high place; for you, you shall eat with me today, and tomorrow I will let you, you go, and will tell you, you all that is in your heart. And as for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, set not your mind on them; for they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on you, you, and on all your father’s house? And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speak you, you so to me?

There was a very becoming modesty about him, he was really surprised and startled that such an honor should be in store for him; he had many natural virtues; but, alas the grace of God was not upon him.

1 Samuel 9:22-24. And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the parlor, and made them sit in the chief place among them that were bidden, which were about thirty persons. And Samuel said unto the cook, Bring the portion which I gave you, you, of which I said unto you, you, Set it by you, you. And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul.

The right shoulder of the animal that was offered in sacrifice was part of the priest’s portion, and this shoulder Samuel now ordered the cook to set before Saul as he sat in the place of honor.

1 Samuel 9:24-25. And Samuel said, Behold that which is left! set it before you, you: and eat; for unto this time has it been kept for you, you since I said, I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day. And when they were come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house.

For quietness and seclusion, Samuel took the young man upstairs to the flat roof of the house, and they walked to and fro, in the cool of the evening, talking about the high destiny to which Saul was, called, and Samuel doubtless giving him valuable instructions concerning his new and important duties.

1 Samuel 9:26-27. 1 Samuel 10:1-2. And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send you, you away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad. And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand you, you still a while, that I may show you, you the word of God.

This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Samuel 9, and 1 Samuel 10:1-8.

 

Chapter 10

 

Verses 1-8

 

1 Samuel 10:1-2. Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, is it not because the Lord has anointed you, you to be captain over his inheritance? When you, you are departed from me to day, —

He gave Saul some signs by which he could confirm the truth of all that he had spoken to him: "When you, you are departed from me today," —

1 Samuel 10:2. Then you, you shall find two men by Rachel’s sepulcher in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah;

It was well for Samuel to send Saul, with brilliant prospects opening before him, to the sepulcher of the mother of his tribe. Oh, that we were all wise enough to think often of our last hours! Communion with the grave might even help us to communion with Heaven. Samuel said to Saul, "You, you shall find two men by Rachel’s sepulcher," —

1 Samuel 10:2-3. And they will say unto you, you, The donkeys which you, you went to seek are found: and, lo, your father has left the care of the donkeys, and sorrows for you, you, saying, What shall I do for my son? Then shall you, you go on forward from thence, and you, you shall come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet you, you three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:

Going to offer to God a meat offering and a thank offering. How could Samuel have known all this if God had not anointed his eyes, and made him a seer who could see what others saw not?

1 Samuel 10:4. And they will salute you, you, and give you, you two loaves of bread; which you, you shall receive of their hand.

"You, you shall take from them your first tribute as a king. They shall give you, you two loaves of bread, to teach you, you to avoid all luxury, and not to be a king who delights in delicate and dainty fare. You, you shall fare as the people do."

1 Samuel 10:5-6. After that you, you shall come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when you, you are come thither to the city, that you, you shall meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them, and they shall prophesy: and the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, you, and you, you shall prophesy with them,

"You, you shall speak with enthusiasm about God; moved with a holy passion, you, you shall speak like a man inspired."

1 Samuel 10:6. And shall be turned into another man.

Note that Samuel did not say to Saul, "You, you shall be turned into a new man," for that is what he never was. He become, for awhile, another man, a different man from what he had been before, but he never became a gracious man.

1 Samuel 10:7-8. And let it be, when these signs are come unto you, you, that you, you do as occasion serve you, you; for God is with you, you. And you, you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto you, you, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shall you, you tarry, until I come to you, you, and show you, you what you, you shall do.

This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Samuel 9, and 1 Samuel 10:1-8.

 

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Verses 1-25

 

In Samuel’s old age, the people desired to have a king; and though it went much against the grain, yet, by the Lord’s advice, Samuel consented to it.

Here he makes his last protest.

1 Samuel 12:1. And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that you, you said unto me, and have made a king over you, you.

"I have not stood in your way. I have not sought mine own honor. I have at once frankly resigned my office among you, you."

1 Samuel 12:2. And now, behold, the king walks before you, you: and I am old and gray-headed; and behold, my sons are with you, you and I have walked before you, you from my childhood unto this day.

"My sons come here today, not as my successors, but as fellow-subjects with you, you of your newly-chosen king; they are not in opposition to him any more than I am." Like an old servant who is about to be dismissed, Samuel asks them to bear witness to his character; and this he does, partly as a lesson to the king who had taken his place, and partly as a clearance of himself in rendering up his charge.

1 Samuel 12:3. Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose donkey have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you, you.

It is so usual a thing, among Oriental judges and rulers, to expect bribes, that you, you cannot, in those countries, take a single step in a court of law without bribery. It was therefore a very unusual circumstance that Samuel should be able to challenge anybody to say that he had ever wrongfully taken so much as a single farthing. And the great rulers, in those countries, are accustomed to enrich themselves by levying heavy taxes upon the people. But Samuel affirmed that his services had been perfectly gratuitous, so that all he had done for the people had cost them nothing. If they had any fault to find with his government, it could only be because it had been so just and also so cheap; his yoke had indeed been easy to their necks. What a fine sight it is to see an old man able thus to challenge all who had known him, throughout a long life, to testify that he had not led a selfish life, or studied his own interests even in the least degree!

1 Samuel 12:4-5. And they said, You, you have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you, you taken ought of any man’s hand. And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you, you have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.

In the most solemn way, they cleared him; when he rendered to them the account of his stewardship, they all bore witness that everything had been done, not merely according to strict rectitude, but in the most generous spirit of self-consecration. May all of us be enabled so to live that, when our sun goes down, it shall be as cloudless a sunset as was that of Samuel!

1 Samuel 12:6-8. And Samuel said unto the people, It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your Fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you, you before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you, you and to your fathers. When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.

A remembrance of past mercies is very profitable to us. National mercies ought not to be forgotten, and personal favors should always be fresh in our memory. Alas! the old proverb is only too true, "Bread that is eaten is soon forgotten." So is it even with the bread which God gives us; we eat it, yet soon forget the hand that fed us. Let it not be so with us.

1 Samuel 12:9-11. And when they forgot the Lord their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. And they cried unto the Lord, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Ashtareth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you, you. And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephtah, and Samuel, and delivered you, you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you, you dwelled safe.

They oft transgressed, and were as often afflicted; but whenever they returned to the Lord with their confession of sin, and again sought his mercy, he was always quick to deliver them. Let us profit by their experience. Have we brought ourselves into trouble through sin? Have we wandered and backslidden, and are our hearts therefore heavy? Let us return unto the Lord, and confess our sin, for he has not cast us away, He will not turn against the voice of our cry; he will forgive us, and graciously receive us unto himself again.

1 Samuel 12:12-13. And when you, you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you, you, you said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the Lord your God was your king. Now therefore behold the king whom you, you have chosen, and whom you, you have desired! and, behold, the Lord has set a king over you, you.

"He has consented to your request, though it was a foolish one." Remember, brethren, it is not every answer to prayer that is a token of God’s favor. If our prayers are very foolish, and even if there is sin in them, God may sometimes give us what we ask in order to show us our folly, and make us smart for having offered such a prayer. Though, under God’s government, they had been most highly privileged, they must needs have a king, like the nations which were not so favored. "So now," says Samuel, "God has given you, you this king, so do your best with him." Samuel had a hopeful spirit; and he hoped that, though the circumstances were not as he would have wished them to be, yet that the people might do well after all.

1 Samuel 12:14-17. If you, you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall both you, you and also the king that reigns over you, you continue following the Lord your God: But if you, you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, you, as it was against your fathers. Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; that you, you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you, you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you, you a king.

This was to be a token to them that Samuel was God’s prophet. On a previous occasion, in answer to his prayer, God had thundered against the Philistines but, this time, his thunder was his voice against Israel. In reading the Bible, we must always remember that it was not written in England but in Palestine. Wheat harvest there takes place about the month of May, when the weather is usually settled, and such things as thunder and rain are almost unknown. It was extraordinary, therefore, as we speak of "a bolt out of the blue."

1 Samuel 12:18-19. So Samuel called unto the Lord and the Lord sent thunder a and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for your servants unto the Lord your God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.

That thunderstorm was a powerful preacher to them, and the rain drops,

that fell so copiously, brought the tear drops into their eyes. The phenomena of nature frequently impress men with a sense of God’s power,

and prostrate them before him.

1 Samuel 12:20-22. And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: you, you have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart; And turn you, you not aside: for then should you, you go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it has pleased the Lord to make you, you his people.

How gently the old prophet speaks! What a change from the pealing thunder to this gracious voice! It seems like the clear shining after rain.

1 Samuel 12:23-25. Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you, you: but I will teach you, you the good and the right way: Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he has done for you, you. But if you, you shall still do wickedly, you, you shall be consumed both you, you and your king.

 

Chapter 13

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 14

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 15

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 16

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 17

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 18

 

Verses 1-16

 

1 Samuel 18:1. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

Jonathan, the brave young soldier who had himself done great exploits, naturally admired the youthful warrior who had slain the Philistine giant, and also admired the modesty of his speech when he returned with the head of Goliath in his hand: "The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul."

1 Samuel 18:2-4. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him,

No doubt, one suitable to his rank as the heir apparent to the throne of Israel.

1 Samuel 18:4-5. And gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his belt. And David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war,

Probably, Jonathan had previously occupied that position; but now that David is called to supplant him, Jonathan is not jealous of him, but he loves him as he loves his own soul.

1 Samuel 18:5-7. And he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. And the women answered one another as they played, and said,-

Singing in chorus, with answering refrains,-

1 Samuel 18:7-9. Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

This shows how envy will destroy a man’s own peace of mind, as well as make him plot against the one of whom he is envious. Instead of being thankful to God for sending him such a valiant champion as David to deliver both himself and his people, Saul is full of malice towards the young hero simply because he receives his due need of praise for his victory over the giant. "Saul eyed David" with an evil and envious eye; looked askance upon him, and determined to do him mischief whenever he could.

1 Samuel 18:10. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house:

Probably, talking wildly and foolishly,-

1 Samuel 18:10. And David played with his hand, as at other times:

That is, as he had, at other times, played upon the harp to chase away the evil spirit.

1 Samuel 18:10-12. And there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. And Saul was afraid of David,-

David was not afraid of Saul, although Saul was the man with the javelin, and with the murderous, malicious spirit, which prompted him to hurl it at the young harpist. David, guileless, brave, honest, trustful, was not afraid of Saul, but "Saul was afraid of David,"-

1 Samuel 18:12-14. Because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul. Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him.

And, young man, you, you also will be wise if God is with you, you, and you, you will be able to behave yourself wisely, discreetly, prosperously, as the word seems to mean. Even when malicious eyes are fixed upon you, you, they will not be able to find any fault in you, you if the Lord is with you, you. You, you will win favor where you, you least expect it, if you, you do but so live that God can be with you, you, if you, you keep the vessel of your nature so pure that the Master can use it. May it be your portion and mine to have it said of each of us, "The Lord was with him"!

1 Samuel 18:15-16. Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

This love of the people only caused Saul’s hatred of David to be carried to a still greater excess; but Jonathan still loved David, and promised to cleave to him whatever might happen. In the 20th chapter, we can read still more concerning this faithful friendship.

This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Samuel 18:1-16; 1 Samuel 20:1-17.

 

Chapter 19

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 20

 

Verses 1-17

 

1 Samuel 20:1-2. And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?

And he said unto him, God forbid; you, you shall not die: He could not think that his father really intended to take the life of his friend.

1 Samuel 20:2-3. Behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will show it me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so. And David swore moreover, and said, Your father certainly knows that I have found grace in your eyes: and he says, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.

He had so often escaped, as it were by the skin of his teeth, from his cruel persecutor, that he knew himself to be in a position of extreme peril.

1 Samuel 20:4. Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatever your soul desires, I will even do it for you, you.

Such was his love for David that he would make no exception; whatever there was that David wished him to do, he would do it for him.

1 Samuel 20:5-10. And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. If your father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. If he say thus, It is well; your servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him. Therefore you, you shall deal kindly with your servant; for you, you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you, you: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me yourself; for why should you, you bring me to your father? And Jonathan said, Far be it from you, you: for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon you, you, then would not I tell it you, you Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if your father answer you, you roughly!

What am I to do in such a case as that? If your father should turn against you, you as well as against me, what is to be done then?

1 Samuel 20:11. And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.

To get quite alone, that they might express to one another the feelings of their inmost hearts, and also might consult together without any risk of being overheard.

1 Samuel 20:12-17. And Jonathan said unto David, O Lord God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto you, you, and show it you, you; the Lord do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do you, you evil, then I will show it you, you, and send you, you away, that you, you may go in peace: and the Lord be with you, you, as he has been with my father. And you, you shall not only while yet I live show me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not: but also you, you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever: no, not when the Lord has cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the Lord even require it at the hand of David’s enemies. And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

Thus were these two men bound together by ties of mutual love; may we be thus bound to Jesus! Oh, that there may be such love between us and our Lord as shall even excel the love of Jonathan and David!

This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Samuel 18:1-16; 1 Samuel 20:1-17.

Verses 1-42

 

1 Samuel 20:1. And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?

David had an enemy upon the throne; and God gave him a friend in the heir to the throne. If you, you have an enemy, you, you have also a friend; God sets the one over against the other in his providence, do you, you set the one over against the other in your thoughts, and be you, you comforted thereby. David might have been very heavy at heart about Saul, and so he was; but Jonathan came in to be the makeweight on the other side, and turn the scale in favor of the son of Jesse. Of him David inquired, "What is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?"

1 Samuel 20:2. And he said unto him, God forbid; you, you shall not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will show it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.

One admires Jonathan for defending Saul; he will not believe anything bad of his father. Children should never believe anything evil of their parents unless it is forced upon them; this rule is a part of the command, "Honor your father and your mother."

1 Samuel 20:3. And David swore moreover, and said, Your father certainly knows that I have found grace in your eyes; and he says, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.

He wanted Jonathan to believe the truth, namely, that Saul was seeking to kill him, and that he was in great danger from the wrath of the king; therefore he took a double oath that it was even so. It is not for Christians to imitate David in this respect, for our Lord’s command to his disciples is, "Swear not at all; but let your communication be, Yes, yes; Nay, nay: for whatever is more than these comes of evil."

1 Samuel 20:4. Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatever your soul desires, I will even do it for you, you.

Love promises large things. One is reminded here of the love of Christ, and of how he says, "Ask what you, you will, and it shall be done unto you, you."

1 Samuel 20:5-6. And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. If your father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.

The family of David was a godly household, and they had a meeting, not for pleasure-making, but for sacrifice; a special family gathering for worship, and David must needs be there. He spoke no untruth; he did desire to go to Bethlehem.

1 Samuel 20:7-8. If he say thus, It is well; your servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him. Therefore you, you shall deal kindly with your servant; for you, you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you, you: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me yourself; for why should you, you bring me to your father?

These two men had entered into a solemn covenant before God that they would be friends for life, so David pleaded with Jonathan. He was innocent, he knew that he had done no ill, and therefore he put it to Jonathan, "If I am what your father thinks me to be, slay me yourself."

1 Samuel 20:9-11. And Jonathan said, Far be it from you, you: for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon you, you, then would not I tell it you, you? Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if your father answer you, you roughly? And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.

Quite alone, away from their troops, where they could talk together without being overheard. These two good men sought private fellowship; and do you, you not think that, if we love Christ, we shall want to get alone with him? Shall we not say to him, "Let us go out into the field"? Where there is no private devotion, there is no devotion at all. If we never get alone with Christ, we are altogether strangers both to himself and also to his love.

1 Samuel 20:12-15. And Jonathan said unto David, O Lord God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not into you, you, and show it you, you; the Lord do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do you, you evil, then I will show it you, you, and send you, you away, that you, you may go in peace: and the Lord be with you, you, as he has been with my father. And you, you, shall not only while yet I live show me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not: But also you, you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever: no, not when the Lord has cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth.

In Jonathan’s great love, he wished not only to be David’s friend himself, but that all his children should be in love with the same valiant hero. Brethren, our love to Christ makes us long to see our children love him, too. I will not believe that you, you have any love to Christ unless you, you pray that your boys and your girls may also love him. Dear children of godly parents, our heart’s desire and prayer to God for you, you is, that you, you may love your mother’s God, and trust your father’s Savior.

1 Samuel 20:16-18. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the Lord even require it at the hand of David’s enemies. And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul. Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and you, you shall be missed, because your seat will be empty.

David was not a nobody; if he was away, be was missed. I wish that all attendants at the house of prayer would remember that, when they are away, they are missed. Perhaps some of you, you have come tonight from some little chapel where you, you will be greatly missed; I am not going to thank you, you for coming here, because I am possibly unconsciously causing pain to your pastor, and I do not want to rob him of one of his sheep. David’s seat is empty tonight, and he will be missed.

1 Samuel 20:19-23. And when you, you have stayed three days, then you, you shall go down quickly, and come to the place where you, you did hide yourself when the business was in hand, and shall remain by the stone Ezekiel. And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark. And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of you, you, take them; then come you, you: for there is peace to you, you, and no hurt; as the Lord lives. But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond you, you; go your way: for the Lord has sent you, you away. And as touching the matter which you, you and I have spoken of, behold, the Lord be between you, you and me forever.

Thus be arranged how to let David know in case he was in danger. Love is thoughtful, love would keep its object out of harm’s way; therefore, as we love any, let us try to preserve them from sin, let us endeavor to warn them when temptation is near, that they may not fall by the hand of the enemy.

1 Samuel 20:24-27. So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place was empty. Nevertheless Saul spoke not anything that day: for he thought, Something has befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean. And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore comes not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day?

David was the son of Jesse, but he was Saul’s own son-in-law; yet, out of contempt, the angry king calls him "the son of Jesse."

1 Samuel 20:28-30. And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Beth-lehem: and he said, Let me go, I pray you, you; for our family has a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he has commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away, I pray you, you, and see my brethren. Therefore he comes not unto the king’s table.

Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, You, you son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that you, you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own confusion, and unto the confusion of your mother’s nakedness? He was in such a passion that he began to abuse his own wife, the mother of his own son. In the East, if you, you want to sting a man most severely, give ill names to his mother; and surely, in the West as well, if anyone has anything to say against a man’s mother, it cuts her son to his heart if he is what he ought to be.

1 Samuel 20:31. For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon the ground, you, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.

Saul knew that David, and not Jonathan, was to succeed him on the throne.

He gives Jonathan warning of that fact, yet seeks his rival’s life.

1 Samuel 20:32. And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what has he done?

Very reasonable questions, very properly put.

1 Samuel 20:33-42. And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David. So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame. And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond you, you? And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. But the lad knew not anything: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city. And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord be between me and you, you, and between my seed and your seed forever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

Behold the love of Jonathan and David! Here was a brother born for adversity, who clung to his friend in the day of danger, and even jeopardized his own life that he might defend David. Let us see here a faint emblem of what our great Friend, the Lord Jesus, has done for us.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 22

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 23

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 24

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 25

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 26

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 27

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 28

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 29

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 40

 

Verses 1-13

 

1 Samuel 30:1-2. And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

What a singular providence! There was a blood-feud between Amalek and Israel since Israel endeavored to exterminate the Amalekites, and it is written, "The Lord shall have war with Amalek forever and ever"; yet God holds in these tigers, and will not let the lions devour their prey.

1 Samuel 30:3-4. So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, And their daughters, were taken captives. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

They were tired and weary after a long march with Achish, and then another long march home. Oh! how they longed for their couches! How they desired to sit down and converse with their wives and their little ones! Tears did not seem a sufficient expression for their sorrow, and yet when a strong man weeps — a burly warrior like Joab, a rough, coarse man like Abishai, or a strong young man like Asahel — there must be deep grief. They wept until they had no more power to weep.

1 Samuel 30:5-6. And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

He had not only his own personal sorrow, but that of all his people; and then, instead of comforting him, every friend had turned into a foe; his house was a heap of ashes; he might have said, "Ahinoam is not, and Abigail is not, and my children have you, you taken away; all these things are against me!" But he had more faith than Job, and so he encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

1 Samuel 30:7. And David said to Abiathar, the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray you, you, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.

Ah! that’s the thing! Bring hither the old family Bible; let us go to prayer about it; down on our knees and tell the Lord the case.

1 Samuel 30:8. And David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for you, you shall surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

But it is easier said than done. Where are they? How shall they find these fleet Amalekites Who fly away so rapidly?

1 Samuel 30:9-10. So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him. and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

Worse and worse you, you see! But the case is in God’s hands, and no matter what the circumstances may be. All’s well that ends well, and God always has the enemy in his hands.

1 Samuel 30:11-13. And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water; And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights. And David said unto him, To whom belong you, you? and whence are you, you? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.

Shame on his master, I say, and yet there are some who stop their men’s wages as soon as they get a little ill! Shame on them, I say. It might be fit for an Amalekite to do this, but certainly not for an Israelite. So this young Egyptian tells David all about what they had done; and David follows them, smites them with the sword, takes away their plunder, and, moreover, gets a great spoil to himself, and so the Lord hears the voice of David. Now Abraham’s servant and David were men in like difficulties with us, but they asked guidance of God and received it; let us be sure in every time of difficulty to do the same.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 24:1-16; 1 Samuel 30:1-13; 1 John 1:1-3.

Verses 1-25

 

David had joined the army of the Philistines; but, as the Philistine lords suspected him, he was obliged to leave, so he went back to the little city of Ziklag, which King Achish had given him.

1 Samuel 30:1-2. And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire, and had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

They were roving bands of marauders, and no doubt preserved the women alive to sell them for slaves, the main object of those robbers being gain.

1 Samuel 30:3-4. So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

Weary with their marching, they had hoped to rest at home; but now that everything was gone, the strong men, who were not often moved to weeping, wept until they could weep no longer; the very sources of tears were dried up by the exceeding heat of their grief.

1 Samuel 30:5-6. And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him,

These rough men, who had not all joined him from the best of motives, now turned against him for having left the city defenseless.

1 Samuel 30:6. Because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

Blessed faith, that finds a secure shelter even amidst the ashes of his burned home, and when even his own followers have turned against him!

1 Samuel 30:7-8. And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray you, you, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. And David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for you, you shall surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

The Hebrew runs, "Pursue, for overtaking you, you shall overtake, and recovering you, you shall recover;" that is to say, the work shall be done perfectly, and so it was.

1 Samuel 30:9-17. So David went, he and the his hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor. And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water; and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights. And David said unto him, To whom belong you, you? and whence are you, you? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick. We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongs to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire. And David said to him, Can you, you bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God that you, you will neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you, you down to this company. And when he had brought him down, behold they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.

It is noteworthy that the four hundred who escaped were equal in number to the whole of David’s attacking force; so that, manifestly, God was with these valiant men, or else they would have been completely outnumbered.

1 Samuel 30:18-20. And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken to them: David recovered all. And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other cattle, and said, This is David’s spoil.

That which was over and above what had been taken from Ziklag was very properly appropriated by David. I thought, as I read that "David recovered all," how truly it can be said that the greater Son of David has recovered all. All that was lost by sin, our glorious and victorious Captain has recovered. What then shall be his spoil? It was foretold that "He shall divide the spoil with the strong." Let your hearts and mine, and all we are, and all we have, be yielded up to him, and let us say of it all, "This is Jesus’ spoil, and to him be glory evermore!"

1 Samuel 30:21. And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them.

There are some fainting and sick folk detained at home; I pray our blessed Lord to salute every one of them wherever they are at this moment.

1 Samuel 30:22-23. Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart. Then said David, You, you shall not do so, my brethren,-

They were poor brethren for David to have. They were brethren by race, but not brethren by grace Yet David was wise in speaking to them as he did. It is always well, when you, you are opposing people, to do it courteously. You, you can often prevail with soft words if you, you have strong arguments. David said, "You, you shall not do so, my brethren," —

1 Samuel 30:23-26. With that which the Lord has given us, who has preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. For who will hearken unto you, you in this matter? but as his part is that goes down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarries by the stuff: they shall part alike. And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.

 

Chapter 31

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

2 SAMUEL

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Verses 17-25

 

2 Samuel 5:17. But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David,

To thrust him down, and kill him if they could, and so put an end to his prosperous reign.

2 Samuel 5:17-20. And David heard of it, and went down to the hold. The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? will you, you deliver them into mine hand? And the Lord said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand. And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there, and said, The Lord has broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters.

As a flood breaks forth, and carries all before it.

2 Samuel 5:20-21. Therefore he called the name of that place Baalperazim. And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.

The Philistines brought their gods with them, in the hope of being thereby defended; but "David and his men burned them." That was the very best thing to do with them. What a pity they did not save them for aesthetic purposes! Thus do men with fine old works of are, like pictures of the Virgin Mary. No, no, burn them; for that is the very best thing to do with anything that ever has been worshiped of mortal man. If they have ever been set up in the place of God, they are cursed from that moment, let them be burned, or dashed in pieces, or in some way destroyed. "There they left their images, and David and his men burned them."

2 Samuel 5:22-24. And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, You, you shall not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be, when you, you hear the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then you, you shall bestir yourself:

Or be sharp up, and go at them.

2 Samuel 5:24-25. For then shall the Lord go out before you, you, to smite the host of the Philistines. And David did so, as the Lord had commanded him:

I hope that may be said of you, you and me all our lives long.

2 Samuel 5:25. And smote the Philistines from Geba until you, you come to Gazer.

That is, he utterly overthrew them, and drove them away.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 144, And 2 Samuel 5:17-25.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

Verses 1-22

 

2 Samuel 7:1-2. And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies; that the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains.

He said no more, but his intention was very plain, namely, to build a house that should be a more suitable abode for the ark of the Lord.

2 Samuel 7:3. And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your heart; for the Lord is with you, you.

He spoke too fast. Even prophets, who are inspired of God, must wait upon their Master for their message; and when they utter words which only come out of their own mouths, they say what they will have to unsay before long. It did look very clear that this was the proper thing for Nathan to say to David; but he had not a "Thus says the Lord" for it.

2 Samuel 7:4-5. And it came to pass that night, that the ward of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus says the Lord,—

"You, you have already let him know what Nathan had to say about the matter;

now go and tell him what Jehovah says:"

2 Samuel 7:5. Shall you, you build me an house for me to dwell in?

The conception was altogether too low. He has made all space, time is his creation, and the arch of Heaven stands by his almighty power; shall he himself have a house in which he can dwell?

2 Samuel 7:6. Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.

A structure to be set up, and taken down, and to be moved about wherever the people journeyed. That was sufficient to be a central shrine of worship, and God cared for nothing else.

2 Samuel 7:7. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spoke I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build you, you not me an house of cedar?

Did God ever put to the children of Israel such a question as this? No; and it is very remarkable that, from the time that the temple was built, you, you may date the decay of true religion in Israel; and the same thing has happened many times since; whenever religion is surrounded by elaborate ceremonies, and gorgeous architecture, it is almost certain to suffer loss of power and efficacy. The simplicity of worship may not be the life of it, but it has a very intimate connection with that life.

2 Samuel 7:8-11. Now therefore so shall you, you say unto my servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you, you from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: and I was with you, you wherever you, you went, and have cut off all your enemies, out of your sight, and have made you, you a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, us beforetime, and as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused you, you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord tells you, you that he will make you, you an house.

God has a way of returning men’s generosity in kind. Since David wished to build God’s house, God would build David’s house.

2 Samuel 7:12-15. And when your days be fulfilled, and you, you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, you, which shall proceed out of your affections, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you, you.

Here is our warrant for believing in the final salvation of Solomon. Perhaps that Book of Ecclesiastes, the work of his old age, shows us by what rough and thorny ways God brought the wanderer back. He had tried to satisfy himself with the things of time and sense, but he was constrained at last to utter this verdict, "Vanity of vanities, says the preacher; all is vanity;" and he had to go back to his God, and God his comfort there.

2 Samuel 7:16-18. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you, you: your throne shall be established forever. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. Than went king David in, and sat before the Lord,—

Like one weighted down with a great load of mercy, too heavy for him to stand up under it, and therefore he must needs sit down, and consider, and meditate upon the wonderful words of God to him.

2 Samuel 7:18-19. And he said, Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that you, you have brought me hitherto? And this was yet a small thing in your sight, O Lord GOD but you, you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD?

"All that you, you have done for me, therefore, in overcoming my enemies, and making me king over this people, has seemed to be but a small thing to you, you, for ‘you, you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come.’" That astonished David, and therefore he asked, "Is this the manner of man, O Lord God?" "Man gives stingily after his own grudging fashion; but you, you give in a lordly, kingly, divine way." David’s question may be rendered, "Is this the law of the Man? Am I to be the parent of that Man who shall be my Lord as well as my Son, who shall reign forever and ever, and of whose kingdom there shall be no end?" David was spelling out the inner mystery hidden in the words of the Lord, reading between the lines, and discovering that the covenant which God had made with him was, at least in some respects, a repetition of that greater covenant made with Christ on his behalf.

2 Samuel 7:20. And what can David say more unto you, you?

He had not said much, but he could not say much under such circumstances. He was utterly overwhelmed, just as, when some wondrous kindness has been shown to us, we wish rather to sit still, in grateful silence, than to stand up, and speak acknowledgments, for our heart is too full for utterance.

2 Samuel 7:20-22. For you, you, Lord GOD, know your servant. For your word’s sake, and according to your own heart, have you, you done all these great things, to make your servant know them. Wherefore you, you are great, O Lord GOD: for there is none like you, you, neither is there any God beside you, you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

God had said to David, in the message he sent by Nathan, "I have made you, you a great nation, like unto the name of the great that are in the earth;" and now David brings back the words to God, and says, "You, you are great, O Lord God; for there is none like you, you, neither is there any God beside you, you."

Verses 18-29

 

2 Samuel 7:18. Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord,

This was not the usual Oriental posture of prayer, but David was mingling meditation with his supplication, so that his attitude was not according to ordinary rules.

2 Samuel 7:18. And he said, Who am I, O Lord GOD?

Why, you, you are David, the valiant man who slew Goliath! No, no, no; the man of God is nobody in his own esteem.

2 Samuel 7:18-19. And what is my house that you, you have brought me hitherto? And this was yet a small thing in your sight, O Lord GOD but you, you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD?

No, it is not the manner of man in general, but it is the manner of the Man Christ Jesus.

2 Samuel 7:20-22. And what can David say more unto you, you? for you, you, Lord GOD, know your servant. For your word’s sake, and according to your own heart, have you, you done all these great things, to make your servant know them. Wherefore you, you are great, O Lord God: for there is none like you, you, neither is there any God beside you, you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

There is some sweet doctrine here. The Lord blesses David, not because of David’s virtue, or David’s merit, or David’s prowess, but for his own sake: "For your word’s sake, and according to your own heart, have you, you done all these great things, to make your servant know them." The reason why streams of love flow from God is just this, it is according to his nature. He is a fountain, so the blessing must flow from him. He is a sun, so he must shine. It is not only because we need his love, but because "God is love," that his love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given unto us. Now what is the inference from all this? Does David say, "Wherefore, O Lord, I am great and honorable"? Oh, no! he has nothing to say in praise of himself; but he says, "Wherefore you, you are great, O Lord God: for there is none like you, you, neither is there any God beside you, you, according to all that we have heard with our ears."

2 Samuel 7:23-25. And what one nation in the earth is like your people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you, you great things and terrible, for your land, before your people, which you, you redeem to you, you from Egypt, from the nations and their gods? For you, you have confirmed to yourself your people Israel to be a people unto you, you forever: and you, you, Lord, are become their God. And now, O Lord God, the word that you, you host spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, establish it forever, and do as you, you have said.

What a blessed prayer this is, "Do as you, you have said"! Get hold of a promise of the Lord, take it to the throne of grace, and then urge this plea, "Do as you, you have said." It is a good argument to use with every upright man when we remind him of his promise, and ask him to keep his pledged word; and certainly we may use this plea with the thrice holy God: "Do as you, you have said."

2 Samuel 7:26. And let your name be magnified forever,-

Or, "be greatened"-be made great "forever." Notice the way David returns to God the words that were addressed to himself. The Lord said to him, "I have made you, you a great name, like unto the name of the great that are in the earth;" so David replies, "Let your name be made great forever. You, you, Jehovah of hosts, are God over Israel; if you, you have made me king, and if my throne shall be established, much more shall your."

2 Samuel 7:26-27. Saying, The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of your servant David be established before you, you. For you, you, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel,-

Notice how the name of the Lord seems to grow in this chapter until here it comes to its full force, and dignity, and majesty: "You, you, O Jehovah of hosts, God of Israel,"-

2 Samuel 7:27. Have revealed to your servant, saying, I will build you, you an house: therefore has your servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto you, you.

That is the best place to find a prayer,-in your heart; no prayer comes up before God, with acceptance, but that which comes out of the very heart, which should be like the sacred ark of old, wherein were hidden Israel’s most precious things. God’s words had gone right down into David’s heart, and touched the secret springs of it, and now they welled up in this blessed prayer

2 Samuel 7:28-29. And now, O Lord GOD, you, you are that God, and your words be true, and you, you have promised this goodness unto your servant: Therefore now let it please you, you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you, you: for you, you, O Lord GOD, have spoken it:

There is that grand pleading again: "You, you, O Lord God, have spoken it." If you, you can remind God of his own promise, you, you may have whatever you, you will of him; if he has said anything, his word shall surely be fulfilled.

2 Samuel 7:29. And with your blessing let the house of your servant be blessed forever.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 13

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 14

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 15

 

Verses 12-37

 

2 Samuel 15:12. And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.

Absalom had, by graft, insinuated himself into the hearts of the children of Israel, and led a rebellion against his father David, that he might obtain the crown for himself.

2 Samuel 15:13-14. And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee, for we shall not else escape from Absalom; make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.

It must have been a sore peril which compelled so brave a man as David to say to his servants, "Arise, and let us flee."

2 Samuel 15:15. And the king’s servants said unto the king, Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king shall appoint.

What a loyal spirit they displayed in the time of trial! Oh, that such loyalty could always be found in all the servants of King Jesus! But, alas! many of his servants pick and choose as to which of his commands they will obey. Some of them will not understand the plain letter of Scripture; and others of them know their duty, yet they do it not. There is reason to question whether we are the servants of Christ if we have not the spirit of obedience to him. Brethren, let us search and look, in the book of the King’s ordinances, and see whether we are walking in all of them blamelessly. If we can say that we are, it is well; but I am afraid that there are some of his commandments which we would rather not understand; or if we do understand them, we are not in a hurry to obey them. How easy it is to make excuses for not doing what we have no wish to do! Blessed are those Christians who can say, "Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my Lord the King shall appoint"

2 Samuel 15:16-18. And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house. And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and tarried in a place that was far off. And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath passed on before the king.

The king’s bodyguard of personal friends, who had seen long service with him in the contest with Saul, these kept close to his person.

2 Samuel 15:19-20. Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore go you, you also with us? return to your place, and abide with the king: for you, you are a stranger, and also an exile. Whereas you, you came but yesterday, should I this day make you, you go up and down with us? seeing I go where I may, return you, you, and take back your brethren: mercy and truth be with you, you.

This was the manifestation of a generous spirit on the part of David, and therein he was like the Son of David, who thought more of the safety of his disciples than he did of any way of escape for himself. Let the same mind be in us which was also in David, and in Christ Jesus, great David’s greater Son; and let us look, not only on our own things, but also on the things of others.

2 Samuel 15:21. And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will your servant be.

He was a new-comer, but he was a fine recruit, and when our young converts, who have lately joined the church, have this spirit of loyalty in them, they will make mighty men of valor in the Lord’s army. Whether Christ’s cause be held in honor or in contempt, we will cast in our lot with him, whether he be reigning on the earth or his name be cast out as evil, we will share his fortunes. To whom should we go but to him, and where could we find a better Master than this gracious King under whose banner we have enlisted?

2 Samuel 15:22-26. And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him. And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness. And lo Zadok also, and all the Levites were with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God: and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city. And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his habitation; But if he thus say, I have no delight in you, you; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seems good unto him.

David would run no risks with this sacred treasure, and though it would have been a great comfort to him to have had the ark of the covenant with him, yet he cared too much for it to think of his own comfort alone. How careful ought we to be of the truth of God, and of the things of God, of which this ark was but a type! Lord, let us run what risks we may, but we would not expose your truth, or your good cause to any risk. "Let him do to me as seems good unto him." What a grand spirit there was in David even in his exile! There was a sweet spirit of song in him before his great fall, but that fall broke his voice, and he sang more hoarsely ever afterwards; yet what depth, what volume, what melody and harmony are here; "deep calls unto deep." What submission and subjection to the divine will; and, withal, what a holy confidence! Let the Lord do as he wills, David feels himself to be less than nothing, and submits himself absolutely to the divine purpose. It is not easy to get to that pass, but we must be brought to it, if we are the Lord’s servants, we must lie passive in his hands, and know no will but his. Yet deep waters will have to be passed through before we reach this blessed experience.

2 Samuel 15:27-30. The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Are not you, you a seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until there come word from you, you to certify me. Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem: and they tarried there. And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.

David probably wept partly because of his troubles, but also because of his sin, which the thought of his troubles doubtless brought to his mind, and especially that sin which he has so deeply deplored in the seven penitential Psalms, and most of all in the 51st Psalm. He wore no royal robe on this pilgrimage of sorrow, and "he went barefoot" up the slopes of Olivet.

2 Samuel 15:31. And one told David, saving, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O Lord, I pray you, you, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.

Ahithophel was David’s choicest friend, companion, and counselor, yet he had failed him in his time of need. David could use the weapon of all-prayer when he could use no other, and this is like the flaming sword at Eden’s gate which turned every way. It will slay our foes if they come from Hell, it will drive away Satanic suggestions; it will overcome our adversaries if they come from earth; it will sanctify our afflictions even if they come from Heaven. To know how to pray is to know how to conquer. David checkmated Ahithophel when he said, "O Lord, I pray you, you, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness."

2 Samuel 15:32. And it came to pass, that when David was come to the top of the mount, where he worshiped God, behold Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head:

Here was an immediate answer to David’s prayer, for the very man, who alone could deal effectually with Ahithophel, comes to the king.

2 Samuel 15:33-37. Unto whom David said, If you, you pass on with me, then you, you shall be a burden unto me: But if you, you return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father’s servant hitherto, so will I now also be your servant: then may you, you for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel. And have you, you not there with you, you Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever you, you shall hear out of the king’s house, you, you shall tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok’s son, and Jonathan Abiathar’s son; and by them you, you shall send unto me everything that you, you can hear. So Hushai David’s friend came into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem.

You, you know the rest of the history, how Absalom took the advice of Hushai, and Ahithophel was defeated. God does not always answer prayer quite so rapidly as he did in this case, yet, when his people are in sore straits, they often have prompt replies to their petitions, to encourage their faith, and to keep their hope alive in the time of trial.

Verses 13-23

 

This was one of the greatest trials of David’s life.

2 Samuel 15:13-14. And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. and David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.

There is much to admire in David’s conduct when he fled from Absalom, but yet his courage would seem to have well near forsaken him. In his brighter days before his great sin had weakened him, he would have been master of the situation; but now he trembles in the presence of the great calamity.

2 Samuel 15:15. And the king’s servants said unto the king, Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord, the king shall appoint.

They were attached to him — ready to take his counsel at once. Can we say the same to King Jesus? Will every Christian here now say to his Master, "Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my Lord the King shall appoint"? There are many that pick and choose of Christ’s commands. They do not obey all his will. There are known duties which are neglected — plain precepts which are willfully forgotten. I would to God we could all say from our heart to King Jesus, "Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my Lord the King shall appoint."

2 Samuel 15:16-18. And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house. And the king went forth, and all the people after him and tarried in a place that was far off. And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.

These were his old guard, soldiers which he kept always around his person, deeply attached to him, upon whose loyalty he could rely. But what a come-down from the King of Israel to have an army of only six hundred men — to be fleeing before his own rebellious people, led on by his more rebellious son!

2 Samuel 15:19-23. Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore go you, you also with us? return to your place, and abide with the king: for you, you are a stranger, and also an exile. Whereas you, you came but yesterday, should I this day make you, you go up and down with us? seeing I go where I may, return you, you, and take back your brethren: mercy and truth be with you, you. And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will your servant be. And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him. And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over; the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.

A fit type of that future passage of the Kidron by the great son of David, when on that dark and doleful night, when all the powers of darkness met, the Prince — the King himself — passed over that black and bitter brook into the garden of Gethsemane. There were faithful ones that went with David: there were some faithful ones with Christ. Happy are they who shall be found to be with their Lord and Master in the day of his sorrow, for they shall be with him in the day of his joy.

This exposition consisted of readings from 2 Samuel 15:13-23; Isaiah 61.; Mark 14:22-41.

 

Chapter 16

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 17

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 18

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 19

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 20

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 22

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 23

 

Verses 1-5

 

2 Samuel 23:1-5. Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with God;

He remembered his many sins, and the many tribulations in his family which had come upon him in consequence of those sins, and the dying man felt a sad heart-ache so he thought of the errors of his life, so well he might.

2 Samuel 23:5. Yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.

What blessed words his last words were! His sorrow is turned into joy; his own house grieves him, but God’s promise comforts him. I think we must read this verse again; perhaps there is some father here who is growing old, or some mother upon whom years are multiplying. May these last words of David be such as your last words may be! "Although my house be not so with God; yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire."

This exposition consisted of readings from ISAIAH 44. and 45; and 2 Samuel 23:1-5.

 

Chapter 24

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

 

1 KINGS

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Verses 1-18

 

1 Kings 5:1-5. And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram saying, You, you know how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke unto David my father, saying, Your son, whom I will set upon your throne in your room, he shall build an house unto my name.

When God intends a man to do any special work for him, he will find him all the helpers he needs. Sometimes those helpers may seem to be very unlikely persons; but —"Remember that omnipotence has servants everywhere." See, dear friends, when the Lord had given rest to Solomon, he proceeded with the building of the temple which David had planned. Whenever God blesses you, you, show your gratitude to him by undertaking some special service for him. Now that you, you are out of your recent trouble, bring your sacrifice of thanksgiving, and do all that you, you can for your Lord; your time of rest may not last so long as you, you could wish, therefore use it while you, you have it to God’s glory.

1 Kings 5:6. Now therefore command you, you that they hew me cedar tree out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with your servants: and unto you, you will I give hire for your servants according to all that you, you shall appoint: for you, you know that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.

It is not every man who has every gift. Hiram and his Sidonians could hew timber more skillfully than Solomon and his Israelites. God can always find the right sort of men to do his work. Do not be dispirited because you, you cannot do everything; why should you, you? Should not somebody else have a share, and be also permitted to have the honor of serving his God? It is well that you, you cannot do all that has to be done, and that somebody else can do something better than you, you can.

1 Kings 5:7-8. And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, which has given unto David a wise son over this great people. And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which you, you sent to me for: —

It is always a good thing, before you, you agree to do anything, to consider it, to look at it from all points of view. I wish that, in giving money to the service of God, there was more consideration as to the object for which it is given. Some give simply because others do, some because they are asked; but he gives best who considers the matter, and looks all round, and then says, "Yes, this is a just claim upon me as a servant of God, and therefore I will respond to it." So, "Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which you, you sent to me for:"–

1 Kings 5:8-11. And I will do all your desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that you, you shall appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and you, you shall receive them: and you, you shall accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.

Is it not a very pleasing thought that both Jews and Gentiles built the temple of Solomon put the big stones together, and cut the cedar and fir trees into the proper shape, yet they were Hiram’s fir trees and Hiram’s cedar trees, and he floated them by sea to the place where they were landed, and whence they were dragged to Jerusalem, and God will let his people of every race and nation have a share in the building of his great spiritual house.

1 Kings 5:12-14. And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together. And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men. And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy.

That was a capital rule: "a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home." You, you who work for God must have your month at work, but you, you also need two months at home to attend to your own business. There are some people who keep always at Lebanon, always at work; but there is spiritual work to be done at home as well, getting your heart ready for service, sharpening your tools, looking after your own flocks and herds, and so on There was hard work to be done, and if it was to be done well, the workers needed to have their sinews and muscles in good order, so "a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home." One prayer in the glass and two prayers at home; one hour of teaching the lesson, twice as much time taken in getting it up and preparing it.

1 Kings 5:15. And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;

What were their names? I cannot tell you, you, but probably there was a book in which they were all recorded, and Christ has many humble workers, hewers of wood and bearers of burdens, whose names are not known among men. Well, what is in a name? Let us be content to serve under our greater Solomon, and let the whole glory of building his spiritual temple go to him. Never mind who bears the burdens or who hews the stones, the temple is for God, so let God be glorified, and not man.

1 Kings 5:16. Beside the chief of Solomon’s officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work.

There must be various degrees among the workers in the service of God. He is a Sovereign, and he divides unto every man according as he wills. How this ought to hush all envy and rebellion against the officers in the work of God whom he has called to be overseers of others!

1 Kings 5:17. And the king commanded,

That is at the bottom of all service for our King; let us but get a command from the King, and we obey at once.

1 Kings 5:17-18. And they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house. And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers:

I am glad they are mentioned here, for there are still some brothers and sisters who are not hewers, but they are stonesquarers. Perhaps they do not see many conversions through their efforts, but they do a great deal of the work of instructing the converts. They polish what other people have excavated, they are stonesquarers; and just as the temple at Jerusalem needed the work of the stonesquarers, so does God’s great spiritual temple need those who square as well as those who hew the stones that are to be built into it.

1 Kings 5:18. So they prepared timber and stones to build the house.

Nothing is too good or too costly to be given to God, and let us reckon no labor too hard or too heavy that will bring glory to his holy name.

This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Kings 5, and Psalms 48, 95.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Verses 1-13

 

Let us first read part of the tenth chapter of the first Book of Kings; and, afterwards, a part of the twelfth chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew.

10:1. And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions.

Her visit, you, you see, had a religious aspect. She "heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord." He had wisdom of various kinds, but it was his knowledge of God, and of God’s ways, that seemed chiefly to attract this ruler from a far-distant land.

1 Kings 10:2. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

She came with a price in her hand to get wisdom. Well did Solomon say, "Buy the truth, and sell it not." No price is too dear to pay for it, but any price would be too cheap to sell it at.

1 Kings 10:3. And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not anything hid from the king, which he told her not.

His wisdom came from God, and therefore it was full and complete, and could not be confounded by man. Let us seek after the wisdom which comes from above, and remember that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Indeed, is it not the sum total of wisdom really to fear, in a filial sense, the Lord Most High?

1 Kings 10:4-5. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord there was no more spirit in her.

She was a queen, but she had never seen such royal magnificence as Solomon’s. "The ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord" appears to have been a marvelous viaduct, constructed of the most ponderous stones, by which the king went from his own house up to the temple itself. I have read that an arch of that viaduct is standing at the present day, and it is still a marvel. To this princess, it must have seemed a wonder of wonders.

1 Kings 10:6-12. And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of your acts and of your wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: your wisdom and prosperity exceeds the fame which I heard. Happy are your men, happy are these your servants, which stand continually before you, you, and that hear your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God, which delighted in you, you, to set you, you on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore made he you, you king, to do judgment and justice. And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones. And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king’s house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.

Probably, these "almug trees" were trees of sandal-wood. Whatever they were, they seem to have been the best timber known to the Easterns, and therefore Solomon very properly used them in the house of the Lord. Let the harps of our praises be made of such wood that there shall be no others equal to them in the whole world. Let us give to our Lord our best young blood, our warmest zeal, our highest thoughts, our most careful attention. Let us give him, in fact, the whole of our being, the love of our heart. He should be served with the best of the best, "for he is good, and his mercy endures forever."

1 Kings 10:13. And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

The king first of all bountifully gave her a present which he thought most fitting; and then, afterwards, permitted her to ask whatever she would. How much is this like our King Solomon, who has already given us all our hearts can wish for; and yet, if there be any right desire that is still ungratified, he provides the golden mercy-seat, at the foot of his throne, where we may present our petitions to him, encouraged by his gracious word, "Ask what you, you will; according to your faith, so shall it be unto you, you."

This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Kings 10:1-13; and Matthew 12:38-45.

 

Chapter 11

 

Verses 40-43

 

God threatened Solomon, on account of his setting up other gods, that he would rend away a great part of the kingdom from him, and that he would set up another king in his place.

1 Kings 11:40-43. Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

After great mountains there usually come low hills. After Solomon comes Rehoboam. Grace does not run in the blood, we may be sure, for even human wisdom does not descend from father to son. There is no necessary transmission of gifts and talents, much less of grace, from one generation to another.

This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Kings 11:40-43; 1 Kings 12.

 

Chapter 12

 

Verses 1-33

 

1 Kings 12:1-3. And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. And it came to pass, when Jeroboam. The son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;) that they sent and called him.

It was a sure sign of great discontent when the people sent for a rebel to be their spokesman.

1 Kings 12:3-4. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spoke unto Rehoboam, saying, Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make you, you the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve you, you.

This was a very natural request; these Oriental monarchs took their thrones as by a kind of divine right, and there was a tendency among the people to demand something like a constitution, some regulations by which they should not be so heavily oppressed. I do not know whether they had been oppressed by Solomon or not; certainly, the realm as a whole was greatly enriched under his government; but the wisest ruler must not expect that he will have the uniform love of the people, there will be come discontented ones in every community.

1 Kings 12:5. And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.

One commentator says that it is the only sign of wisdom that there is in Rehoboam, that he took three days to consider the answer to this question.

Perhaps, if he had answered it rightly, it would have been better if answered immediately. Still, it is a good rule, when there is an important question before you, you, to take time to consider it. The mischievous point is that Rehoboam did not wait upon God for guidance in this emergency. Had he been like his grandfather David, those three days would have been spent with God in prayer, and he would have come back, with a greater wisdom than even his father Solomon possessed, to answer the people in this thing.

We often blunder over very ample matters when we speak without asking guidance of God; but in the most intricate circumstances our course will be perfectly clear if we commit our way unto the Lord.

1 Kings 12:6-8. And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do you, you advise that I may answer this people? And they spoke unto him, saying, If you, you will be a servant unto this people this day, and will serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever. But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him:

He was probably a man forty years of age, and therefore no longer young; but he had all the while been playing the part of a young man. He had not been old in wisdom when he was young in years; it would have been well for him if he had been.

1 Kings 12:9-11. And he said unto them, What counsel give you, you that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying Make the yoke which your father did put upon us lighter? And the young men that were grown up with him spoke unto him, saying, Thus shall you, you speak unto this people that spoke unto you, you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but make you, you it lighter unto us; thus shall you, you say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins. And now whereas my father did lade you, you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father has chastised you, you with whips, but I will chastise you, you with scorpions.

Old men are not always wise, and young men are not always wise; he who consults with men only shall yet learn the truth of this verse, "Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord." Among Rehoboam’s counselors, the old men had no real principle to guide them, they said to the king, in effect, "Just butter these people with soft words, delude and deceive them with the idea that you, you are going to yield to them, and then, when you, you once get the reins into your own hands, you, you can govern the nation as you, you like." This was a wicked policy; but the young men said to the king, "No, no, no; do not pretend that you, you will listen to the people. There is nothing like putting a bold face on it, and just letting the people know that you, you will not yield to them. They will be startled by what you, you say; have you, you not the authority and example of your father Solomon? Nobody ever dared speak a word of this kind to him, so do you, you put it down at once, and be bold." There is no principle, you, you see, about the advice in either case; it is all policy, but the latter policy is sure not to succeed. I counsel you, you, brother, — nay, I will give you, you no counsel except that I counsel you, you to take counsel of God. Wait upon him, for he knows what you, you should do in every difficulty that may arise. If Rehoboam had only had wit enough and grace enough to lay this case before his God he would have given him somewhat of the largeness of heart and the wisdom which he gave to his father Solomon.

1 Kings 12:12-15. So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day. And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him; and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you, you with whips, but I will chastise you, you with scorpions. Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the Lord,

The great, deep, mysterious providence of God was quietly working even behind the folly and the domineering pride of this foolish man.

1 Kings 12:15-16. That he might perform his saying, which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the Son of Nebat. So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents O Israel: now see to your own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.

He who speaks roughly must expect to be answered roughly. Let us learn from this incident as one might who sees the warning light of a beacon, and tacks his ship to avoid the rock on which it is placed.

1 Kings 12:17-18. But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute;

Having made trouble, the king tried to make piece. He selected one of the ancient officers of his father Solomon to be his ambassador, but he selected the very worst that he could have found, "Adoram, who was over the tribute." The man who had been a leader in exactions from the people, or who had been thought to be so, was not the one to act as peace-maker.

1 Kings 12:18-20. And all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

See what mischief may be done by one foolish man; and let me add, see what evil may come of the ill conduct of a wise man. Some think that Rehoboam was Solomon’s only son, though he had a multitude of wives. That I cannot tell: but it is a singular thing that so wise a man should have but one son mentioned here, and that he should be such a foolish one. Yet what could be expected to come out of such a family as Solomon’s was? He whose own house is so disorderly as his was, must expect that those who come after him will be no better than they should be. Blessed is that home where the Lord is the Master, where his law is loved, and his word is obeyed.

1 Kings 12:21-24. And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, Thus says the Lord, You, you shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart, according to the word of the Lord.

It is a very striking fact that this one prophet did but speak in God’s name, and that vast host disbanded in obedience to his word. It gives us some hope concerning Rehoboam, yet we cannot be sure that it was he who was thus obedient to the prophet. The people may have been better than their king; at any rate, they did not fight against their brethren, but they went their way. Oh, that God’s servants in these days could speak with anything like such power as Shemaiah possessed!

1 Kings 12:25-27. Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: if this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.

Jeroboam is moved by policy, you, you see. It is very hard, I believe, to be a ruler over men, and yet to be a servant of God. There seems to be connected with politics in every country something that besmears the mind, and defiles the hand that touches it. The king of Judah had but little wit, and this king of Israel has too much cunning; he is a far-seeing man, and perceives that, if the people go up to Jerusalem to worship, they may by-and-by return to their allegiance to the house of David.

1 Kings 12:28. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you, you to go up to Jerusalem: behold your gods, O Israel which brought you, you up out of the land of Egypt.

Truly, history repeats itself, only, if it be bad history, it is apt to grow worse. "Behold your gods O Israel, which brought you, you up out of the land of Egypt." This is almost exactly what they said in Aaron’s days, when he made the ox which Scripture sarcastically calls a calf, the Egyptian image of strength. Jeroboam makes not merely one calf, but two; and he speaks of them in nearly the same language as they used concerning the golden calf in the wilderness: "Behold your gods, O Israel, which brought you, you up out of the land of Egypt."

1 Kings 12:29-30. And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Daniel And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Daniel

I suppose that Jeroboam did not mean to draw them away from worshiping Jehovah; but he would have Jehovah worshiped under some visible image, and not according to the rule which God had laid down. That is just where mischief often begins, both in the church and in the world. Men are willing to worship God if they are allowed to have a ritual and symbols which they have themselves devised; so, instead of the divine simplicity of the New Testament, they have many things added, things to please the taste, aesthetic, beautiful, sensuous; all of which take off the mind from that sublime worship of the invisible God which alone can be acceptable before him. It is not for us to determine how we will worship God; we are to worship him after his own manner, for his commandments are still in force: "You, you shall have no other gods before me. You, you shall not make unto you, you any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth: you, you shall not bow down yourself to them nor serve them." "Well, but the cross," someone says, "surely that is a truly venerable symbol?" Let it be as venerable as you, you please; but we must not use it in divine worship. The ox was supposed to set forth strength; surely it was an admirable emblem of the Almighty, yet God pours contempt upon it when he bids his inspired servants to speak of it as the image of an ox that eats grass, as if that could be any symbol of the Most High! "This thing became a sin."

1 Kings 12:31. And, he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.

For the sons of Levi went over to Judah, and remained faithful to God; and the better sort of people probably dreaded to assume the office to which God had called the sons of Levi, and none would undertake it but the very lowest of the people.

1 Kings 12:32. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah,

He shifted the month, but retained the day, — the fifteenth day of the eighth month instead of the seventh. "That was quite unimportant," say some. I do not agree with them, for nothing is unimportant that has to do with the law of God’s house. Disobedience may be more plainly seen in some of the non-essentials than in an essential thing. At all events, we have no right to alter jot or tittle of the divine command.

1 Kings 12:32-33. And he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places which he had made. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart;

It is a strong condemnation of anything in religion if it be devised by a man’s own heart. We are to do what God bids us, as God bids us, when God bids us, and because God bids us; but that which is merely of our own free will, ordained and manufactured by ourselves, is practically the worship of ourselves, and not the worship of God.

1 Kings 12:33. And ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

Thus Israel was led astray at the very beginning. She came to the turning of the roads, and took the wrong course, and she went from bad to worse. God save all of us from following her evil example, but may we all serve the one living and true God, for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen.

This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Kings 11:40-43; 1 Kings 12.

 

Chapter 13

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 14

 

Verses 21-24

 

1 Kings 14:21. And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah.

After great mountains often come low valleys. Solomon was a wise man; Rehoboam was otherwise.

1 Kings 14:21. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when be began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there.

Rehoboam ought to have been a good king. Jerusalem was the holy city, the chosen city; God put his own name there. It is a sad thing that this king should try to put away God’s name from the chosen city.

1 Kings 14:21. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess.

There was bad blood in him. How often do we find that the good king has a good mother’s name mentioned with his own! Bad kings generally come from some stranger, some heathen princess. It was so with Rehoboam.

1 Kings 14:22. And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.

Their fathers had been great sinners; but, in the days of David, they had not set up false gods. In the days of Solomon, after the temple had been built, they began to go astray. It is a curious thing that a high ritualistic service, even if it be right, is usually attended with a down-coming in spirituality. When the temple service was instituted, it was the beginning of a decline; but in Rehoboam’s day that decline became more apparent, the "down-grade" became more visible.

1 Kings 14:23. For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.

They could not have enough of it. When men go wrong, they generally go wrong very greedily; they cannot have too much of evil.

1 Kings 14:24. And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.

When men once turn aside from the living God to follow inventions of their own, there is no telling where they will go; nothing is too foul, nothing is too filthy for them. Now read the same story as you, you find it in 2 Chronicles 12.

This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Kings 14:21-24 and 2 Chronicles 12.

 

Chapter 15

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 16

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 17

 

Verses 1-24

 

1 Kings 17:1. And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

How abruptly this man breaks in upon the scene! He leaps like a lion from the thicket. There is no previous announcement of his coming; but here he stands, God’s own man ordained to bear witness in evil times, — to stand like a brazen pillar when everything around him seems to be moving from its place. Ahab had not been accustomed to be spoken to in this fashion. Mark how personal is Elijah’s message; he does not begin even by saying, as the prophets usually did, "Thus says the Lord." There is something that at first seems almost audacious about his expression: "There shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." A man may sometimes seem self-assertive when, really, he has so completely lost himself in God that he does not care what people think about him, whether they regard him as an egotist or not. Some men appear to be modest because they are proud, while others seem to be proud because they have sunk themselves, and only speak so boldly because they have their Master’s authority at the back of their words Bravely did Elijah say, "There shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word."

1 Kings 17:2-3. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get you, you hence, and turn you, you eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

Of course, the prophet would have had to share in the general want unless God had provided for him, and therefore the Lord took care that his servant should be hidden away where a brooklet would continue to run after the moisture had departed from other places.

1 Kings 17:4. And it shall be, that you, you shall drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed you, you there.

Perhaps someone says, "Ravens were more likely to rob the prophet than to feed him;" and so they were. Some have objected that these ravens were unclean; what if they were? Things are not made unclean because they are carried by unclean creatures. Did not Abigail bring to David food upon donkeys which were unclean? There is no sense in that objection. "Oh, but!" somebody else asks, "how should ravens bring food?" How should they not, if God commanded them? All creatures are under his control. A God, and a miracle is simple enough. If God does not feed his people by any other means, he will command ravenous beasts and unclean birds to feed them.

1 Kings 17:5. So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

It is the glory of Elijah that he does whatever God bids him, asking no questions. He simply, like a child, goes to the brook just as, like a hero, he had previously stood before the king.

1 Kings 17:6-7. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

Brooks will dry up, even if godly men are being sustained by them. Is there anyone here whose brook is drying up? Has it quite dried up? Still trust you, you in God; for, if the ravens are put out of commission, God will employ some other agency.

1 Kings 17:8-9. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get you, you to Zarephath, which belongs to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain you, you.

It was a time of famine, yet God sent him to a widow woman! She is sure to need sustaining herself; yes, and she shall get it, too, through sustaining the prophet, he who could command the ravens to feed his servant could command a widow woman to do the same thing; and he did so. This woman does not appear to have been originally a worshiper of Jehovah. She lived in a heathen country, and probably was herself a heathen; but she reverenced the servant of Jehovah, and she did his bidding, and doubtless became a true follower of the living God.

1 Kings 17:10. So he arose and went to Zarephath.

There is the same unreasoning faith: "So he arose;" just as, in the 5th verse, it is written: "So he went;" that is, with all alacrity, he did his Lord’s bidding without any question.

1 Kings 17:10. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there-

There she was, the woman who was to sustain him. She had come, no doubt, with a carriage and pair, to take him home, to her mansion. Oh, no! "The widow woman was there" —

1 Kings 17:10. Gathering of sticks:

She was a poor woman to sustain him, but there she was: "gathering of sticks."

1 Kings 17:10. And he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray you, you, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

Water was scarce then; every drop was very precious; it was therefore a large request that Elijah made to her.

1 Kings 17:11. And as she was going to fetch it,-

For she saw, by his garment, and by his majestic bearing, that he was a messenger of God: "As she was going to fetch it," —

1 Kings 17:11-12. He called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray you, you, a morsel of bread in your hand. And she said, As the Lord your God lives, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

It was such a little quantity, that two sticks would be quite enough; yet this is the woman who is to sustain Elijah! Poor creature, she needs someone to sustain her and her son! How often does God use very strange means for the accomplishment of his blessed purposes

1 Kings 17:13. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as you, you have said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for you, you and for your son.

What a trial for her faith! This stranger must have the first portion of her last meal; yet she had faith enough to obey his word.

1 Kings 17:14-15. For thus says the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the Saying of Elijah:

Faith is blessedly contagious. God, by his Spirit can make the faith of one to beget faith in others. This woman learns, from the very boldness of Elijah, to believe in God; and she does as he tells her.

1 Kings 17:15-18. And she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Elijah. And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with you, you, O you, you man of God? are you, you come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

Poor creature, having lost her husband, her heart was wrapped up in her son! Under this sharp trial, she condemned herself; but she also began to have hard thoughts of the man of God. We none of us know what we may say when we are overwhelmed with a great trouble. It is easy to find fault with the utterance of a poor distracted spirit, and to say, "That is improper language." Have you, you never spoken so in the hour of your grief? Blessed is that man from whose lips there has never escaped a wrong word in the time of his anguish. This widow woman was a mother with a dead child in the house; do not find fault with her, but tenderly pity her, and all who are in a like case.

1 Kings 17:19-20. And he said unto her, Give me your son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, have you, you also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son!

The words of the woman had touched his heart, and perhaps he also spoke unadvisedly; but who are we that we should judge? He seemed to feel that, wherever he went, he was bringing trouble upon people. All Israel was afflicted with drought because of his prophecy, and now this poor woman had lost her darling child. Yet even in this desperate case he did not give up hope, and prayer, and effort.

1 Kings 17:21. And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray you, you, let this child’s soul come into him again.

This was splendid faith on the part of the prophet. Nobody had ever prayed before for the restoration of one who was dead; no one had ever attempted to work such a miracle as this; but Elijah’s faith was strung up to a wonderful pitch. Here was faith ready to receive the blessing, so the blessing would surely come. Here was the faith that could move mountains, and stir the very gates of death. Elijah treads an unaccustomed road, and asks for what had never been given before.

1 Kings 17:22-23. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, your son lives.

Elijah was never a man of many words; he was a prophet mighty in deeds; he said little, but what he did spoke loudly.

1 Kings 17:24. And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that you, you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.

Did she not know this before? Yes, or else she would not have given him the first portion of her meal. She must have known it, for she had been living for a long time upon the meal and the oil which he had multiplied. But now she said that she knew it, as if she had never known it before. God has a way of bringing truth home to the heart with such vividness that, though we have been perfectly acquainted with it for years, yet we are compelled to cry, "Now I know it; now I have it as I never had it before; now I grasp it and embrace it with my very soul!" May we all know the truth of God in this grand fashion! Amen.

 

Chapter 18

 

Verses 17-40

 

We shall read at this time the story of Elijah’s challenge to the priests of Baal. Remember that there had been three years without dew or rain. The whole country was dried up until it seemed to be a desert; and all were famished for lack of water.

1 Kings 18:17-18. And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Are you, you he who troubles Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel: but you, you, and your father’s house, in that you, you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and You, you have followed Baalim.

It is the way of men to cast the blame of their trouble not upon their sin and upon themselves, but upon those who have warned them. Mark Elijah’s holy boldness. "I have not troubled Israel, but you, you."

1 Kings 18:19. Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.

He knew how many there were of them. The man’s heart was so engaged in this battle for God against idols, that he had counted all his adversaries.

1 Kings 18:20-21. So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel. And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt you, you between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

So undecided were they — perhaps so cowed by the presence of that brave man who feared none, but only feared God.

1 Kings 18:22-24. Then said Elijah unto the people, I even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves. and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under. And I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: And call you, you on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord and the God that answers by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

And the Baalite priests could not refuse the challenge. For they worshiped the sun-God — the God of fire; and if he could not answer the sun-worshipers, he must be no God at all.

1 Kings 18:25-26. And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you, you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for you, you are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon.

Which was Baal’s own high time, for then the sun would be at its zenith — "from morning, even unto noon."

1 Kings 18:26. Saying, O Baal, hear us.

Repeating their cry again and again. For this is the way of all false worship — to use vain repetitions, as the heathens do, which is forbidden to us.

1 Kings 18:26. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.

Which was their superstition. They were going through the whole performance of the genuflexions of some kind or another. They leaped upon the altar which was made.

1 Kings 18:27; 1 Kings 18:31. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a God; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or perhaps he sleeps, and must be awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, until the blood gushed out upon them. And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broke, down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be your name:

For he meant this day to prove that God was God of the twelve tribes —not of himself and his tribe, but of all the families of Israel.

1 Kings 18:32-37. And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. And he said, Do it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time, And they did it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that. Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you, you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you, you are the Lord God, and you, you have turned their heart back again.

There was the prayer. How different altogether from this repetition of words — this leaping — this cutting with knives. He states his wish; he pleads his cause; he brings forward his arguments; and this is his prayer.

1 Kings 18:38-40. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God. And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

And thus did he prove that he was the prophet of God, and that God was the God of Israel.

 

Chapter 19

 

Verses 1-21

 

1 Kings 19:1. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.

Jezebel was the chief patroness of the idolatrous prophets, and therefore you, you may imagine how her wrath was stirred when her husband told her what Elijah had done to the men who ate at her table.

1 Kings 19:2-3. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not your life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

This is the man who could fearlessly face the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of the groves, and slay them at the brook Kishon, the dauntless prophet of fire, who dared to call King Ahab the troubler of Israel; yet now he trembles before a woman’s threatening, and arises, and flees for his life. Truly, the best of men are but men at the best, and the strongest of men are weak as water when once the power of God is withdrawn from them. The high-strung tension of the top of Carmel was now to be followed by a not unnatural reaction, and the heroic prophet was to sink into the lowest state of despondency. He left his servant at Beersheba;-

1 Kings 19:4. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die;

What inconsistent beings men are! Elijah had fled to save his life, yet "he requested for himself that he might die;" — that he might die because he was afraid of death, die under a juniper tree in the wilderness in order to escape death at the hand of Jezebel.

1 Kings 19:4. And said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

This was the man who never died, yet "he requested for himself that he might die." How gracious it is, on God’s part, not to grant the requests of his people when they are unwise, as this petition of Elijah was! Had he known that he would go up by a whirlwind into Heaven, riding in a chariot of fire drawn by horses of fire, surely he would not have prayed after this fashion, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers."

1 Kings 19:5-6. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baked on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

He was very sad at heart because of the apostasy of Israel; and beside that, he was very weary, utterly exhausted by the tremendous excitement through which he had passed, and by the long journey which he had already taken; so he did the wisest thing possible, "he did eat and drink, and laid him down again."

1 Kings 19:7. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for you, you.

God exercises foresight on behalf of his people which they cannot themselves exercise. He knows when we are to be called either to unusual service or unusual suffering, and he prepares us for it. He not only gives us spiritual meat to eat because we know that we are hungry, but he also gives it to us because of our future needs which, for the present, are quite unknown to us.

1 Kings 19:8-9. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What do you, you here, Elijah?

"You, you, Jehovah’s courageous prophet, why have you, you fled? Why are you, you here when so much is necessary to be done for the apostate people? ‘What do you, you here?’ How come you, you to be here, in a cave, when the nation needs your presence? ‘What do you, you here, Elijah?’"

1 Kings 19:10. And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

He despaired of the good cause, and this was a great pity; for a man such as he was ought never to have given way to such feelings. Was not God with him; and where God is, must there not be victory?

1 Kings 19:11-13. And he said, go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What do you, you here, Elijah?

God will repeat his questions to his people if they have not due effect the first time, for he is very tender, and pitiful, and patient.

1 Kings 19:14. And he said,-

A second time pouring out the bitterness of his soul before his God,-

1 Kings 19:14. I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

It was a good thing that Elijah could thus pour out his complaint into the sympathizing ear of the Most High. Such bitterness of soul as his is very apt to ferment, and to breed all manner of ills, but when we can tell the Lord all that is in our heart, then a time of blessed relief is not far off.

1 Kings 19:15. And the Lord said unto him, go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus:-

"Get back to your work; be not a deserter from the field of battle; return, for you, you are wanted for various duties."

1 Kings 19:15-16. And when you, you come, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria And Jehu the son of Nimshi shall you, you anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shall you, you anoint to be prophet in your room.

Thus there shall be a successor to carry on your work when you, you have really done your part of it.

1 Kings 19:17-18. And it shall come to pass, that him that escapes the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him.

How this gracious assurance must have revived the prophet’s spirit! He knew nothing about those seven thousand faithful Israelites, and he must have been amazed and delighted to hear of them. There was no need for him to say, "I, even I only, am left," for there was a noble band of stalwarts to stand up with him, and defend the name and cause of Jehovah.

1 Kings 19:19. So he departed thence,-

Cheered and comforted, he went back to his work without uttering another word, and we do not read of his spirit flagging again: "So he departed thence," —

1 Kings 19:19-20 And found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, And said, Let me, I pray you, you, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you, you. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to you, you?

The Lord wants no pressed men in his service; his soldiers must all be volunteers; but Elisha was a man of a true heart and a brave spirit, so we read:-

1 Kings 19:21.And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah and ministered unto him.

 

Chapter 20

 

Verses 1-34

 

1 Kings 20:1-4. And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. And he sent messengers to Ahab, king of Israel, into the city, and said unto him, Thus says Benhadad, Your silver and your gold is mine, your wives also and your children, even the goodliest, are mine. And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to your saying, I am your, and all that I have.

This was a king of Israel, meanly crouching before the idolatrous king of Syria. Not after this fashion would David have spoken, or any of those kings who followed the Lord of hosts; but when men forsake God, they soon become cowards. What kingdom or nation shall prosper that casts off the yoke of the Most High?

1 Kings 20:5-6. And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Benhadad, saying, although I have sent unto you, you, saying, You, you shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children; Yet I will end my servants unto you, you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your servants; and it shall be that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away.

That is always the way with such people, give them an inch, and they take a mile. Ahab had agreed to all that the Syrian king claimed, so now Benhadad pushes his advantage. If you, you ever yield to Satan, you, you will find him to be a hard taskmaster. You, you can never yield enough to satisfy him; and if you, you yield to any sin, whatever it may be, you, you will find it to be a cruel tyrant to you, you. If you, you allow it once to have power over your soul, it will push its advantage further and further, and make your yoke to be exceedingly heavy.

1 Kings 20:7-9. Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, you, and see how this man seeks mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I denied him not. And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent. Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord, the king. All that you, you did send for to your servant at the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again.

Driven to extremity, Ahab showed that he had a little courage left, and when he was supported by his people, and, possibly, urged on by them, he put his foot down, and would not altogether submit to Benhadad. Oh, that men had the moral courage to revolt against sin! Would that, when they felt its cruel bondage, they would resist it! God grant them grace to do so, and strengthen them in their resistance!

1 Kings 20:10. And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.

As much as to say, "I will bring so many against you, you that all the dust of the city would not be enough to furnish a handful each."

1 Kings 20:11. And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girds on his harness boast himself as he that puts it off.

That was a sharp shrewd check to the boasting of the Syrian king.

1 Kings 20:12-15. And it came to pass, when Benhadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city. And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus says the Lord, Have you, you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand this day; and you, you shall know that I am the Lord. And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus says the Lord, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, You, you. Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.

All the volunteers that were ready for the war; they were only seven thousand.

1 Kings 20:16-18. And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him. And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria. And he said, —

In his drunken fury," he said," —

1 Kings 20:18. Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.

They were not to be so easily taken as Benhadad imagined.

1 Kings 20:19-21. So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the King of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen. And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.

God has ways and means of delivering his people at his own time. I wish all the young men of our churches had the high ambition to be serviceable to the Lord of hosts. These young princes were a very small band of soldiers, but they led the way, and smote the drunken monarch and his troops —and if our young men, full of holy zeal and ardor, had confidence in God, and went forth every one to slay his man, by which I mean, each one to win a soul to Christ, what glorious victories would be won for the truth as it is in Jesus!

1 Kings 20:22. And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you, you do: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you, you.

Another year would bring another war, so they must be prepared.

1 Kings 20:23. And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are God of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

It was a current heathenish idea, that there was one God for a mountain,

another for a stream, another for a plain; and these men imagined that the glorious Jehovah was a local deity like their images were supposed to be.

1 Kings 20:24. And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms:

"Do not let the kings, who have their own armies, govern them, for that creates divisions in the camp; but appoint captains in their place."

1 Kings 20:25-27. And number you, you an army, like the army that you, you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so. And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, —

That is a grand record. It shows the kind of men they were. I wish that all our church-members were present at all our prayer-meetings, and on all occasions when work is to be done for Christ. What a healthy condition the church would be in if it could be said, "The children of Israel were numbered, and were all present," —

1 Kings 20:27. And went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids;

A herd of goats was seldom very large, and the whole of the Israelites put together seemed only "like two little flocks of kids;" —

1 Kings 20:27-28. But the Syrians filled the country. And there came a man of God, and spoke unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus says the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you, you shall know that I am the Lord.

See how good came to Israel through the blasphemy of the Syrians! Whenever there is a rather worse book than usual brought out against the religion of Jesus Christ, or a more than ordinary villainous blasphemy is invented against the grace of God, you, you may almost clap your hands, and say, "Now will God bestir himself for his truth and for righteousness’ sake. These men will provoke him so that he will arise, and defend his own cause."

1 Kings 20:29-32. And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day. But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber. And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray you, you, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will save your life. So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Your servant Benhadad —

There is a wonderful difference between this language and the way in which he had previously spoken. "Your servant Benhadad" —

1 Kings 20:32. Says, I pray you, you, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.

When a man leaves his God, he cannot distinguish between his foes and his friends; so that, oftentimes, those who would do him the direst mischief he reckons to be his brothers.

1 Kings 20:33-34. Now the men did diligently observe whether anything would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Your brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go you, you, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. And Benhadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from your father, I will restore; and you, you shall make streets for you, you in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send you, you away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.

Ahab actually made a treaty of peace with him, and let him live to plot incalculable mischief against the nation.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 22

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

2 KINGS

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Verses 1-7

 

2 Kings 4:1. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophet unto Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead; and you, you know that your servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.

It is sad for anyone to be in debt, and yet there may be circumstances under which even a man who fears the Lord may die in debt, and leave no provision for his wife and children except a large portion of sorrow. In the case of this poor widow, it was not long before she cried to Elisha, "The creditor is come." He generally does come pretty quickly, and he had come to her to take away her two sons whom she needed to support her, to make them bondmen,-slaves, to serve him for a certain number of years until their father’s debt was worked out, and this hurt the poor woman’s heart, so she came to see what the Lord’s servant could do for her. She could not bear to see her sons taken away to serve as bondmen to a stranger, through no fault of their own; and, possibly, through no fault on their father’s part.

2 Kings 4:2. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for you, you?

Elisha was probably about as poor as she was, so what could he do for her?

2 Kings 4:2. Tell me, what have you, you in the house?

"Whatever there is in the house must go towards this debt, so ‘tell me what have you, you in the house?’"

2 Kings 4:2. And she said, Your handmaid has not anything in the house, save a pot of oil.

Her husband had been a God-fearing man, a true servant of Jehovah, yet he had died in such dire poverty that his widow had to say to Elisha "Your handmaid has not anything in the house, save a pot of oil." Those were indeed bad times for the sons of the prophets; for, in those days, men cared more for false prophets and for the priests of Baal than for the servants of the Most High God.

2 Kings 4:3. Then he said, Go, borrow you, you vessels abroad of all your neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.

"Get as many empty oil jars as ever you, you can, it does not matter how great nor how many they are, but they must be empty."

2 Kings 4:4-6. And when you, you are come in, you, you shall shut the door upon you, you and upon your sons, and shall pour out into all those vessels, and you, you shall set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.

There was no reason why "the oil stayed" except that there was "not a vessel more" to receive the flowing stream.

2 Kings 4:7. Then she came and told the man of God.

She must have understood that the oil was to be used for the payment of her debt; but she was a woman of delicate sensitiveness, with a tender conscience, as honest people usually are, so she wanted full permission from Elisha before she would dispose of the oil. She regarded it, in some sense, as his oil: as it was through using the means that he had directed that her little store of oil had been so miraculously multiplied; so "she came and told the man of God."

2 Kings 4:7. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt, and live you, you and your children of the rest.

What a merciful deliverance that was for the poor widow and her sons! And there have been many other deliverances, in the experiences of God’s people, which, if they have not been quite so miraculous as this one, have nevertheless been very remarkable, although God has appeared to work them the common way in which he is constantly working. Yet they have been uncommon mercies all the while. Now let us read Paul’s letter to the Christians at Philippi who had been the means of supplying his necessities, though not in the miraculous manner in which the prophet Elisha had supplied the needs of that poor widow.

This exposition consisted of readings from 2 Kings 4:1-7; and Philippians 4.

Verses 1-37

 

2 Kings 4:1. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead; and you, you know that your servant did fear the Lord and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.

According to the very cruel custom of those times, if a man were in debt, and had no means of payment, his children were sold for slaves. Here was a poor widow, whose husband had been one of the sons of the prophets, but he had died in debt. He was evidently one who was known to Elisha as a faithful, God-fearing man, and perhaps that partly accounted for his poverty. The false priests were fed at Jezebel’s table; but because this man worshiped Jehovah, the one living and true God, he had probably been persecuted and hunted down until he had lost what little he formerly had, and, therefore, when he died, he could leave his wife no other legacy than that of debt; and, in consequence, the creditor came to seize her two sons to be bondmen.

2 Kings 4:2. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for you, you? tell me, what have you, you in the house? And she said, Your handmaid has not anything in the house, save a pot of oil.

They used oil extensively in the preparation of their food as well as for lighting their dwellings. This woman was so poor that she had no meal in the house, but she had a little oil. When our Lord was about to feed the five thousand, he asked his disciples, "How many loaves have you, you?" So here the prophet asked the poor woman, "What have you, you in the house?" and she told him she had only "a pot of oil."

2 Kings 4:3. Then he said, Go, borrow you, you vessels abroad of all your neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.

Evidently the poor woman’s credit was good though her debts were heavy; her neighbors knew she would have paid her creditor if she could, so they were willing to grant her request though they probably wondered why she wanted so many empty vessels.

2 Kings 4:4-7. And when you, you are come in, you, you shall shut the door upon you, you and upon your sons, and shall pour out into all those vessels, and you, you shall set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God.

As it was through obeying his directions she had miraculously obtained this large supply of oil, she would not make use of it without further counsel from the man of God, who had already given her such good advice.

2 Kings 4:7. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt, —

"That is your first duty; ‘pay your debt,’" —

2 Kings 4:7-8. And live you, you and your children of the rest. And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

The prophet had helped a poor woman; now a rich woman helps him. God sometimes pays his servants in kind very speedily for anything they have done for those who belong to him; at other times, he puts it to the credit of their account.

2 Kings 4:9-13. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, which passes by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray you, you, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in thither. And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, you, you have been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for you, you? would you, you be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host?

God’s servants must not be ungrateful for any kindness that is shown to them. If they receive hospitality, they must be ready to give a return of such things as they have. Elisha was willing to do anything in his power for this hospitable Shunammite, so he said to her, "Would you, you be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host?"

2 Kings 4:13. And she answered, I dwell among mine own people.

She had no desire for earthly greatness, and she was very wise, for, usually, happiness is to be found in that middle state which Agur desired when he said, "Give me neither poverty nor riches." This Shunammite had no wish to be removed to the trying and perilous atmosphere of the court or the army, so she answered, "I dwell among mine own people."

2 Kings 4:14-19. And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Truly she has no child, and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, you, you shall embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, you, you man of God, do not lie unto your handmaid. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her according to the time of life. And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head.

The sun had been too hot for the child; sunstroke had seized him.

2 Kings 4:19-20. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon, and then died.

How transient are all our earthly treasures! The child was well, and ill and dead in the course of a few hours. Hold with a loose hand all things earthly. Make not your gourds into gods, for they will soon wither and die. Very often, we destroy our own comforts by thinking too much of them. As soon as we make anything that we have into an idol, it will be broken in pieces, or taken from us, or in some way turned into a curse to us. See how this good woman acted when she had suffered this great sorrow.

2 Kings 4:21-22. And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray you, you, one of the young men, and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.

She did not tell him her errand; she wished to keep the trouble to herself for a while.

2 Kings 4:23. And he said, Wherefore will you, you go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor Sabbath.

"It is not the ordinary time for going to the prophet."

2 Kings 4:23. And she said, (Salem, that is, Peace; or as we read it,) It shall be well.

She must have been a woman of great faith. She checked her natural emotions, and believed in God that all would be for the best. "It shall be well."

2 Kings 4:24-26. Then she saddled an donkey, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not your riding for me, except I bid you, you. So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite: Run now, I pray you, you, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with you, you? is it well with your husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.

It is heroic faith when we can feel that, if the child shall die, it is well; if this husband shall die, it is well: and if we ourselves shall die, all is well, for he who has the arranging of all that concerns us cannot arrange otherwise than well. Alas that, often, our rebellious spirit says, with poor old Jacob, "All these things are against me," but true faith sits humbly down at the feet of the great Disposer of all events, and says, "He has done all things well."

2 Kings 4:27. And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet:

As if she feared lest he should go away before she had poured into his ears the story of her grief.

2 Kings 4:27. But Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the Lord has hid it from me, and has not told me.

Those ancient prophets of God had only limited knowledge. The Spirit of God taught them some things, but not all things so Elisha was made to feel that he was but man, even though the Spirit of God often spoke through him.

2 Kings 4:28. Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?

Then he learned what her trouble was, and understood that the child was dead. Before she had said as much as that, he read the news in the tones of her voice.

2 Kings 4:29-30. Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go your way; if you, you meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute you, you, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child. And the mother of the child said, As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you, you.

She did not believe in Gehazi, nor yet in the staff, and herein she was a wise woman God would not bless the prophet’s staff to the child’s restoration, lest relic worship should spring up among the Israelites, or lest they should begin to attach some value to outward signs.

2 Kings 4:30-34. And he arose, and followed her. And Gehazi passed on before them and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked. And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.

See the power of prayer; the very gates of death are made to open when Elisha, a man of like passions with ourselves, bows before the Lord in prayer. Learn a lesson also from Elisha’s attitude toward the dead child; for, often, God is pleased to give spiritual life through the power of human sympathy. When we put ourselves into the condition of the sinner, hope for him, pray for him, agonize for him in broken-hearted sympathy on his account, putting ourselves as far as we can into his place, God often makes us the instruments by which his Spirit quickens the dead in sin.

2 Kings 4:35-37. Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up your son. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.

Her heart was too full for speech just then, so she took up her son, and went out.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Verses 1-23

 

2 Kings 6:1. And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with you, you is too strait for us.

It seems to have been a habit of the prophets to gather about them companies of young men whom they instructed in the holy Scripture and in the truths of revelation. Many of these young men became prophets themselves and were the instructors of the people. Elisha, then, was the President of a College for young men who were being trained for the sacred ministry of God. They had grown so numerous that they were cramped in their lodging and they said, "The place is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray you, you, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us fit place there, where we may dwell." They were ready to work to build their own lodging; they do not appear to have gone into debt for it, and to have saddled themselves and the institution for many years afterwards, but they put their own shoulders to the wheel as good men should do when there is any work to be done for the cause of God.

2 Kings 6:2-3. Let us go, we pray you, you, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go you, you. And one said, Be content, I pray you, you, and go with your servants. And he answered, I will go.

His presence would be an encouragement to them; his holy conversation would make their work more pleasant, they would feel also as if they were more truly working for God when they had the presence and the patronage of God’s servant. He, on the other hand, was quite ready to go. God’s ministers, if they are what they should be are quite ready to help in any kind of work. We find Paul the Apostle picking up sticks to make a fire, and we find Elisha going with his dear friends to the forest when they would cut down timber to make a house. We sometimes regret that spiritual work should so often have to come into contact with common-place things, and yet so it is. Young prophets must have a house, and when we gather a congregation we must build them a meeting-house. In this country we cannot meet every day in the open air, and we often regret this, yet I believe it is meant by God to be a discipline for His Church. If the Church cannot come into contact with common life without its spirituality being endangered, so much the worse for its spirituality. It must be flimsy stuff if it cannot bear the wear and tear of common life.

2 Kings 6:4-5. So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.

These young men were too poor to buy tools of their own, and they therefore asked for a kindly loan of an axe-head that they might use it in the Lord’s service. It was very natural, therefore, that this young man should regret that the axe which he had borrowed should fall off into the water. This made him say,- "Alas!" Be very careful about loans, be sure to repay them in due time, and be very particular that nothing happens so that you, you cannot. He said, "Alas, master! for it was borrowed."

2 Kings 6:6. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.

God can do all things, he can make iron swim-we cannot-and yet you, you see the prophet did it, and he did it by the use of a stick. He cut down a stick. Was there any connection between the stick and the iron? I can’t see any, and yet God does use means, and he would have us use means. "He cut down a stick and cast it in thither, and the iron did swim." If you’re in great trouble tonight, have confidence in that God who can make the iron swim. If you, you have some worry, and you, you do not know how to meet it, some work, and you, you do not know how to do it, look to him who made the iron swim and he can do the same for you, you. Trust him, rest upon him and see if he does not do it.

2 Kings 6:7-8. Therefore said he, Take it up to you, you. And he put out his hand, and took it. Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.

Of course, he wanted to keep it secret, and pounce upon Israel here and there without notice and so win an easy victory.

2 Kings 6:9-11. And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that you, you pass not such a place for thither the Syrians are come down. And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice. Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing;

He could not understand how all his well-laid plans were baffled.

2 Kings 6:11-12. And he called his servants and said unto them, Will you, you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O King.

There is no traitor here, there is no one who blabs out the royal secrets, not anyone,

2 Kings 6:12. But ‘Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, tells the King of Israel the words that you, you speak in your bedchamber.’"

For the Lord knows what we say in the bedchamber when no ears can hear; if we speak to ourselves he hears it, and if we whisper in all quietness into the ear of one who will never repeat, it is written in the book of the divine record "Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you, you speak in your bedchamber."

2 Kings 6:13. And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him.

Not a very wise project, for if Elisha knew all about the words of the king it was not very likely that he would catch him.

2 Kings 6:13-15. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, beheld, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?

That is a question we have often asked, "How shall we do." We shall do nothing at all. How shall we do? If that were the question we might sit down in despair. The proper question is, "How will God do? How will God deliver us? But it is only the man of faith who thinks about God at all. How many there are of you, you who are in trouble and you, you are wondering how you, you shall get out of it. Poor things! Poor things! Oh, if we had but faith to look to that Omnipotent arm that is moving among us, and to that great and wise heart that is thinking of us, and then trust our case with him.

2 Kings 6:16-17. And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray you, you, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

More of these horses of fire than there were horses of flesh, more of these chariots of flame than there were chariots of iron.

2 Kings 6:18-19. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord and said, Smite this people, I pray you, you, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you, you to the man whom you, you seek. But he led them to Samaria.

In all which-though I grant you, you it seems a stratagem Elisha spoke neither more nor less than the truth; Dothan was not his city, Samaria was the city where the man of God dwelt. He was then outside Dothan, and he said, I will bring you, you to the man whom you, you seek, He did lead them to him, took them to his own home, to the very place where he lived. I think I see him leading all these blind men; they had come to catch him, and he had caught them, and he led them to Samaria.

2 Kings 6:20. And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

In the central square of the city. They opened their eyes and found themselves caught like rats in a trap. What cannot God do!

2 Kings 6:21. And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?

His hand was on his sword, he would call his men to come forward with their lances. "My father shall I smite them?" See the fine spirit of the prophet, the magnanimity of the man of God!

2 Kings 6:22. And he answered, You, you shall not smite them: would you, you smite those whom you, you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow?

For if you, you had conquered them in fair fight you, you would not think of killing them; I have captured them by God’s power, I have taken them prisoners and they had not be put to death.

2 Kings 6:22. Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.

This is the way of carrying on war, the best way in all the world; to conquer by grace, to conquer by kindness.

2 Kings 6:23. And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master.

Now mark the consequences.

2 Kings 6:23. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

No, they could not come any more to vex a people who had treated them so generously, and thus the man of God was master of the situation, his noble spirit was put to the front, and God was glorified.

 

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 13

 

Verses 1-25

 

2 Kings 13:1-2. In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son, of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.

"Seventeen years" — that is a long time in which to do mischief. Seventeen years of reigning over a people, influencing them all for mischief, turning them aside from God, and doing his utmost to erase the name of Jehovah from the hearts of the people. Remember, this Jehoahaz was the son of John, who had been called to the front because of the sins of the house of Ahab. Though Jehu was brought forward to be a reformer, yet he and his race were as bad as those who were cast out. What a sad thing this is, when those who are planted where the cumber-ground tree used to be become just as barren as the one that has been out down, or are only fruitful in sour fruit! See here the force of evil example. It was many years since Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had set up the calves at Bethel and Dan; yet here is another king walking in his footsteps. You, you cannot tell, if you, you leave a bad example behind, how your children, and your grandchildren to distant generations, may follow your evil footsteps. Bad examples are very vital; they live on age after age; and influence others long after the first transgressor is dead. The thought that we may be ruining those who are yet unborn, should keep us back from sin. Notice also, at the end of the second verse, "He departed not therefrom." There is a final perseverance in sin; some men seem to prove it: "He departed not therefrom." He was warned against it; he was chastened for it; but "he departed not therefrom," If men hold on in sin, how much more ought the people of God to hold on in righteousness! Whatever happens to you, you when you, you are once in the good old way, may it be said of you, you, "He departed not therefrom." If all other men should turn aside, yet let that be said of you, you, "He departed not therefrom." But, if you, you are in the wrong road, may the Lord cause you, you to turn from it, and to turn to himself at once! If you, you depart not from evil, you, you must depart from God.

2 Kings 13:3. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael, all their days.

God’s people cannot sin without coming under chastisement. Remember this word of the Lord, "You, you only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you, you for all your iniquities." If you, you become church-members, and yet live unholy lives, you, you come under a special discipline, a discipline which I plainly see to be going on in the Church of God even to this day. "For this cause," said Paul of the church in Corinth, "many are weak and sickly among you, you, and many sleep." No doubt God does send many rods to his rebellious family. He is not one of those fathers who "spare the rod, and spoil the child." Hazael and Benhadad were both wicked men; yet God used them as rods to chastise his sinning people.

2 Kings 13:4. And Jehoahaz besought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened unto him

Bad as he was, he knew the hand that smote him, and he besought Jehovah. What a wonder it is that God does hear the prayers of even wicked men! I have heard it said, sometimes, that "the prayer of the wicked is an abomination unto God." There is no such passage as that in the Scripture. It is "the sacrifice of the wicked" that is "abomination to the Lord." Even when a wicked man cries unto God, and even if his prayer be not a spiritual and acceptable prayer, yet God may hear it in a measure, as he did in this case. Sometimes that hearing of prayer leads men to repentance; and they then pray better prayers, and receive greater blessings.

2 Kings 13:4. For he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.

God cannot bear to see the sorrows of his own people. Even when he himself is laying on the rod, if his child cries, it goes to his heart. Remember what he did to Pharaoh when he heard the sighing and crying of his people in Egypt. There is nothing more powerful with a father’s heart than the tears of his child; and God heard the prayers of this bad man because "He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them."

2 Kings 13:5. (And the Lord gave Israel a Savior, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime.

The Lord gave them deliverance from the cruel fetters of the Syrians. They had been so tormented, so plundered, so oppressed in every way, that God had pity upon them, and gave them peace.

2 Kings 13:6. Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.)

Israel’s repentance was only half-hearted; they repented because they suffered. They repented because of the suffering rather than because of the sin. They went back to the sin after they escaped from the sorrow. Oh, be not so, my hearer! If God has chastened you, you on account of sin, let your be a thorough repentance. Go to God with hatred of your sin; for until you, you do get rid of sin, your being rid of sorrow will be a small blessing.

2 Kings 13:7. Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing.

God helped them and delivered them; but they were brought very, very low. If God’s people sin, their deliverance will cost them dearly. Israel was once a great and powerful nation; their armies went forth in vast hosts; but now they have only the remnant of an army.

2 Kings 13:8. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

They were not worth writing in the Scriptures. We have very slender records concerning Jehoahaz; but quite enough for such a wicked man.

2 Kings 13:9-11. And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead. In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. And he did that which was evil in, the sight of the Lord

One sinner was followed by another. This young man must have seen the mischief that his father’s idolatry brought on the people; but he went on in the same evil way. Oh, you, you sons of godly parents, you, you ought to follow your fathers’ footsteps, for these wicked sons of wicked men followed their fathers’ evil example! Oh, that there were an inclination in all the children of the godly to be like their parents, for there is evidently a tendency in the heart of the children of the ungodly to be like their sires!

2 Kings 13:11. He departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked therein.

I repeat what I said before, what a mischievous thing is one evil example! When a man makes another sin, the other who sins is guilty, and the man who makes him sin is a sharer in his guilt. Here is Jeroboam, dead for years, and yet, he keeps on sinning. I may say of him, "He, being dead, yet sins." His sin goes on burning like a fire; and surely the punishment continues if the sin continues. As long as souls exist, sin will exist; you, you cannot stop it. Sin will repeat itself again and again, and multiply in its repetition spreading among thousands perhaps yet unborn. Oh, what an evil thing is sin! Prove to me that sin ever ceases to operate, and you, you might give me some thought that the punishment will cease; but that can never be; and, as long as sin continues to poison, God will continue to punish.

2 Kings 13:12-13. And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Joash slept with, his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash, was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Now, here is a story about this Joash which is preserved to us.

2 Kings 13:14. Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died.

An old man, probably in his ninetieth year; he had served his generation well. We read nothing of him for five and forty years; he seems to have been in comparative seclusion; perhaps in his old age he had been neglected and forgotten, as many a man of God has been who once stood in the front rank. Elisha has fallen mortally sick at last, and he is about to go home.

2 Kings 13:14. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him,

This is one good thing that Joash did. He remembered that it was through Elijah and Elisha that the men of his house, the house of Jehu, had been put upon the throne; and when he heard that Elisha was dying, something like compunction crossed his heart, and he "came down unto him."

2 Kings 13:14. And wept over his face,

As Bishop Hall says, he gave him some drops of warm water; and if a cup of cold water, given to a prophet, shall not be without its reward, so neither shall those tender tears be without their reward.

2 Kings 13:14. And said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.

Elisha must have opened his eyes when he heard those words, for he recollected that those were nearly the last words that he said to Elijah when his master was taken up to Heaven. Perhaps the king had heard that; and, with a kind of delicate thoughtfulness, he applied the words to this grand old man, who was now about to die. He was to Israel chariot and horsemen, for it was by his means that Israel had been delivered.

2 Kings 13:15-16. And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, Put your hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it; and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands.

Not because he could lend much strength, for he was an old man; but because this signified that God would be with the king, that the power which dwelt in the prophet’s God would come through the prophet’s hands to help the king.

2 Kings 13:17. And he said, Open the window eastward.

They had no glass windows in those days, you, you know; but they threw back the iron bars that made the shutter, and opened the window eastward.

2 Kings 13:17. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord’S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for you, you shall smite the Syrians in Aphek, until you, you have consumed them.

It was usual, in the East, when war was proclaimed, to do it by shooting an arrow towards the enemy’s country; and this brave old man, soon about to breathe out his life, had strengthened the king in the great weakness of the Israelitish state to proclaim war once more against Syria.

2 Kings 13:18. And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them.

I suppose, a quiver full.

2 Kings 13:18. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground.

"Shoot the arrows out of the window, and let them strike into the ground, and stick there."

2 Kings 13:18-19. And he smote thrice, and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him,

Elisha was angry, but he did not sin. He loved the people, and he was grieved to think that the king was so slack and slothful.

2 Kings 13:19-20. And said, You, you should have smitten five or six times; then had you, you smitten Syria until you, you had consumed it: whereas now you, you shall smite Syria but thrice. And Elisha died, and they buried him.

God has different ways of taking his people home. Some go on a sudden, whirled away, as Elijah was. This prophet died gently, worn out with age; but there is something very beautiful about his death. A king weeps over his aged face. He has the pleasure, though it was mingled with pain, of helping to deliver his people; and, after his death, God bore full witness to him.

2 Kings 13:20-21. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulcher of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

Thus God gave Elisha power, even after death, and certainly set the divine seal upon his message. It was as great a glory to him to give life to the dead as it was to Elijah to pass to Heaven without dying at all.

2 Kings 13:22-23. But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. And the Lord was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant

Ah, that is what always lies at the bottom of God’s mercy, "his covenant." Oh, that grand word "covenant"! Some think very little of it, few preach much about it; but this is the very foundation of mercy. This is "the deep that lies under", out of which all the wells of grace spring up.

2 Kings 13:23. With Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.

He would not do it until he was fully driven to it, until provocation upon provocation should wear out his patience,

2 Kings 13:24-25. So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in, his stead. And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

He shot three arrows, and now it came to pass that three times did Joash beat Benhadad, and recover the cities of Israel. Oh, that he had beaten the king of Syria six times, and set Israel completely free from its enemy!

 

Chapter 14

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 15

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 16

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 17

 

Verses 23-41

 

2 Kings 17:23-24. So was Israel carried away out of their own hand to Assyria this day. And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

It was a part of the tactics of the Assyrian empire to take people away from their original location and colonize them in other places — to shift them to another land; so that while the Israelites were taken to Babylon, numbers of those who had lived round about Babylon were brought to live in the Samaritan province, in order that nationalities might thus be broken down and patriotism might expire, thus making it easier for the Assyrian tyrant to govern the land.

2 Kings 17:25-27. And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them. Wherefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which you, you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he has sent lions among them, and, behold they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land. Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying Carry thither one of the priests whom you, you brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach in the manner of the God of the land.

He did not care one single farthing himself what religion they were of: but if they did not happen to have a religion to suit the country, "Well, then, send one of the priests who used to live there who can teach them what it is." According to his notions, they could take it up just when they liked.

2 Kings 17:28-31. Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.

It would answer no practical purpose if I were to explain the meaning of the names of these various gods. They were some of them of brute forms. Their worship was generally attended with the most lascivious rites, and especially the worship of Molech or Moloch, who is mentioned under two different forms here. He was a God whose worship was consummated with the most dreadful cruelties, for children were passed through the fires and burnt in his honor.

2 Kings 17:32-38. So they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the Lord, and served their own gods after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; with whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, You, you shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them nor sacrifice to them; but the Lord, who brought you, you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall you, you fear, and him shall you, you worship, and to him shall you, you do sacrifice. And the statues, and the ordinances, and the laws and the commandment, which he wrote for you, you, you, you shall observe to do for evermore; and you, you shall not fear other gods. And the covenant that I have made with you, you, you, you shall not forget; neither shall you, you fear other gods.

How this warning comes over and over and over again!" Hear, O Israel. The Lord your God is one God." The worship of anything else under any pretext whatever, besides the one ever-blessed trinity in unity is forever forbidden to us.

2 Kings 17:39-41. But the Lord your God you, you shall fear; and he shall deliver you, you out of the hand of all your enemies. Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did their former manner. So these nations feared the Lord and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.

Trying, as far us ever they could, to link the old idolatries with the worship of the true God, which thing is the most loathsome in the sight of Most High.

This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 20:1-17; and 2 Kings 17:23-41.

 

Chapter 18

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 19

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 20

 

Verses 1-7

 

2 Kings 20:1. In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus says the Lord, Set your house in order; for you, you shall die, and not live.

That is to say, in the common course of providence, without a miracle, Hezekiah must have died. God did by no means change when afterwards he permitted him to live. This time he spoke after the order of nature; the next time he spoke according to the extraordinary work of his marvelous power.

2 Kings 20:2. Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying,

What did he do that for? Well, as he could not rise from his bed through weakness he gets the greatest privacy he can, and the God who accepted Carmel as Elijah’s prayer-shrine, would accept Hezekiah’s prayer when he turned his face to the wall.

2 Kings 20:3. I beseech you, you, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before you, you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

I do not think this was intended to be a self-righteous prayer, though it reads like one, or else the Lord would not have heard it. He meant to say, "Lord, you, you have been good enough to make me what I am, be pleased to spare me." In fact, the probability is that at this time Sennacherib had not been routed, and Hezekiah could not bear to die while the nation was in danger. Certainly there was no son born to Hezekiah at this time, for Manasseh was only twelve years old when he began to reign at his father’s death, and Hezekiah thought it would be a sad thing to leave a troubled kingdom without a prince to be his successor. It may be, too, that seeing he had just commenced the reformation, and the casting down of the false gods, he trembled for the cause of God, and could not bear to be so soon taken away. "Hezekiah wept sore." Ah! these are the things that prevail with God, these tears of his people.

"Prayer is the burden of a sigh, .

The falling of a tear,

The upward glancing of an eye,

When none but God is near."

2 Kings 20:4-7. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying. Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears: behold, I will heal you, you: on the third day you, you shall go up unto the house of the Lord. And I will add unto your days fifteen years, and I will deliver you, you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake. And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

This, of course, was not a sufficient means to cure the boil, but God made the means efficacious. Why were the means used? Why, to teach us that we are to expect God’s blessing, not in neglecting means, but in using them. See how simple was the remedy — just a thick poultice of figs laid on the wound! Perhaps the physicians had tried expensive medicines without avail. What a mercy it is for us that the good medicine of the gospel is as cheap as it is good, that it is to be had for nothing. While some ransack the world for expensive ceremonies and for gaudy shows, we have Christ, like the lump of figs, ready to heal the wound and make us strong again. Again I say Hezekiah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed earnestly that his life might be spared, and God delivered him from the jaws of death. Let us, therefore, not be afraid to pray.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 22

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 23

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 24

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 25

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

1 CHRONICLES

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 13

 

Verses 1-14

 

1 Chronicles 13:1-3. And David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader. And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, If it seem good unto you, you, and that it be of the Lord our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren everywhere, that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priests and Levites which are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us: and let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we inquired not at it in the days of Saul.

It had lain neglected at Kirjathjearim, "in the fields of the wood," as David writes in the 132nd Psalm.

1 Chronicles 13:4-5. And all the congregation said that they would do so: for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjathjearim. And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kirjathjearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up thence the ark of God the Lord, that dwells between the cherubim, whose name is called on it. And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart. And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.

A stately array of all the leaders of the tribes, with all sorts of music, to do honor to the ark of God.

1 Chronicles 13:9-10. And when they came unto the threshing-floor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.

I suppose that Uzza, through the ark having been so long in his father’s house, had grown unduly familiar with it, and therefore touched it. Yet it was an express law that even the Levites should not lay a hand upon the ark. They carried it with staves; the priests alone might touch it for necessary purposes. It was for this profanation that Uzza "died before God."

1 Chronicles 13:11-12. And David was displeased, because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzza; wherefore that place is called Perezuzza to this day. And. David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God home to me?

He was afraid lest he also might die.

1 Chronicles 13:13. So David brought not the ark home to himself to the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obed Edom the Gittite.

He must have been a brave, believing man, to be willing to receive the terrible ark into his house; but he probably knew that, so long as he behaved reverentially to it, he would have a blessing, and not a curse, through taking it under his charge.

1 Chronicles 13:14. And the ark of God remained with the family of Obed Edom in his house three months. And the Lord blessed the house of Obed Edom, and all that he had.

(This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Chronicles 13, and 1 Chronicles 15:1-4; 1 Chronicles 15:11-16; 1 Chronicles 15:25-29.)

 

Chapter 14

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 15

 

Verses 1-29

 

1; 2. And David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent. Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them has the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God; and to minister unto him forever.

It should not be carried upon a new cart, dragged by unwilling oxen but it should be borne upon the cheerful shoulders of the God-appointed bearers, the Levites.

1 Chronicles 15:3-4. And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord unto his place, which he had prepared for it. And David assembled the children of Aaron, and the Levites:

Then follows the list of them, which we need not now read.

1 Chronicles 15:11-13. And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab, and said unto them, You, you are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both you, you and your brethren, that you, you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it. For because you, you did it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.

They had sought him, but they had not done it "after the due order." They had been in too great a hurry; and they had followed their own notions, instead of looking to the written law wherein everything was prescribed for them.

1 Chronicles 15:14-16. So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the Lord. And David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.

Before, there had been a great medley of musical instruments, but little singing, and there had not been a proper choice as to the persons who were to sing; but, now, this service was put into the right hands. Then follows a list of the singers and the players upon the various kinds of instruments that went forth to bear the ark. Let us pass on to the 25th verse.

1 Chronicles 15:25-26. So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obed Edom with joy. And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites. —

For, though the ark was by no means a great load, yet they must have felt some measure of alarm at the very idea of going near to it; but when God strengthened them, they took up their burden with delight: "When God helped the Levites" —

1 Chronicles 15:26. That bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams.

There is no mention of any sacrifice on the precious occasion. If there had been a proper offering of beasts unto the Lord, there might not have been the death of Uzza; but, now, they do everything in the right order, and the sacrificial blood is sprinkled; without that, there is no acceptance before God.

1 Chronicles 15:27-28. And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers: David also had upon him an ephod of linen. Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the cornet and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps.

David himself, while playing on his harp, leaping and dancing through the intensity of joy which filled his soul.

1 Chronicles 15:29. And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart.

So have I known it, when a rich person has been converted, and has been found, in the first hush of his Christian joy, mixing with the poorest of the brethren full of delight, and somebody of his own rank has sneered at him. Yet Michal was less honorable than David, though she thought so much of herself. God forbid that we should ever blush to manifest enthusiasm even with the poorest of God's saints while we are glorifying the Lord! Let Michal sneer, if she will, it matters little what she does. We will only reply as David did, "I will yet be more vile than thus."

 

Chapter 16

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 17

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 18

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 19

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 20

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 21

 

Verses 1-8

 

1 Chronicles 21:1. And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

Israel had greatly offended and grieved God, and it was to be punished. God punished one sin by another: the sin of David works for the chastisement of a sinful people.

1 Chronicles 21:2. And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.

He had got proud, he had begun to depend upon the number of his people. In truth, it was a large population under his sway, five millions or more, and he, that had been a shepherd lad, that in his early youth had trusted in his God, now thinking himself a great man, somewhat in the spirit of Nebuchadnezzar, begins to say, "Behold, this great kingdom that I have gathered and founded."

1 Chronicles 21:3. And Joab answered, The Lord make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord, the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why then does my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?

It adds greatly to a wrong action if we are checked in it, and especially if we are checked in it by a man who has not any conscience to spare, but yet, notwithstanding his roughness, such as Joab had, nevertheless expostulates with you, you, "why do this?" The people generally understood that, when they were numbered, it was with a view to taxing them, it was with a view of showing David’s sovereignty over them. Now David was not their sovereign, the Lord God was their King; David was but the Viceroy, and when he began to count them as though they were his own, it was a source of great indignation to the most High. I am afraid when you, you and I begin to count up as we have done, begin to reckon upon how much we have given, or how much we have effected for God, we begin to appropriate a measure of glory to ourselves. We had better leave that alone, for although pride may not seem a great sin in the eye of men, it is assuredly that which brings the utmost wrath from the most High. He cannot endure pride, especially in those whom He has lifted up. He took David from the sheepfold, and if David has now become great, David must be brought down again.

1 Chronicles 21:4-6. Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword; and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king’s word was abominable to Joab.

So he did no more of it than he could possibly help.

1 Chronicles 21:7-8. And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel. And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now I beseech you, you, do away the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.

We read that David’s heart smote him. Although he had gone wrong, he was nevertheless a good man, and when an ambitious man sins it is a great sin, but it is not long that he continues in it: his conscience is awakened; the Spirit of God is in him. David’s heart smote him. That is a terrible blow when your own heart smites you, you; if you, you never feel any other person smiting you, you, you, you will feel that.

Verses 1-30

 

May the Lord instruct us while we read. Perhaps We shall understand it better if we begin in the 21st chapter at the 26th verse.

1 Chronicles 21:26-27. And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord and he answered him from Heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

"And David built there" — that is upon the threshing-floor of Ornan. The place of sacrifice was the place of salvation. The angel was smiting Jerusalem, but as soon as the sacrifice was offered the angel sheathed his sword.

1 Chronicles 21:28. At that time when David saw that the Lord had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.

Then came a sacrifice of thanksgiving, as there always should be after prayer is answered. Remember how the Psalmist puts it, "Then shall they offer bullocks upon your altar" — after the sin is pardoned and the transgression is put away.

1 Chronicles 21:29-30 and 1 Chronicles 22:1. For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord. Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.

The place where God had answered him, where the angel had appeared to him, where the fire had come down from Heaven, he felt to be holiest, and that the Lord had directed him to it as the spot where his temple was to be built. It is very significant that it should be upon a threshing-floor, for surely the Church of God is God’s threshing-floor, where he gathers his sheaves together, and separates between the wheat and the chaff. "I will winnow," says he, "my threshing-floor." Oh! that we might ever recognize that Christ is the temple of God, and Christ is the sacrifice; Christ is the appearance of God that is better to us than the appearance of angels, and Christ is God’s answer to us by fire, and where Christ is, there is the burnt-offering.

1 Chronicles 21:2. And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God.

It is very observable, not the Israelites, but the foreigners, the aliens, the strangers, the remaining Canaanites that were in the land, were set to hew the stones for the house of the Lord. I have heard very good people indeed object to the ungodly giving any money whatever to God’s cause. This is all against it; here are the aliens employed to hew the stones for the house of God, and why should not they? It will do them good, at least, to do some good thing or other in their lives. Let them have an opportunity so to do. But I see here an indication of the calling of the Gentiles, for whenever the Jews said the Gentiles had nothing to do with God, why the very stones of their temple spoke against them. Were not the timbers brought from Tyro by the Tyrians along in floats? Were not the stones quarried by aliens and foreigners? Oh! the Lord would have his people follow a large, and liberal, and prophetic policy in their dealing with mankind. God forbid that we should shut anybody out from anything that looks like good. Oh! let us not repel them; it may be that in repelling their offerings we may be hardening their hearts. David was a wiser man than that.

1 Chronicles 21:3-4. And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings; and brass in abundance without weight; Also cedar trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.

Here, again, was a kind of prophecy of what would happen in better days, when the poor Gentiles should be permitted to have a share in the building of the house of God. These Tyrians and Zidonians were among the worst of idolaters, and yet they were used in their due place and subservience to hew the trees and float them to the temple, as near as they could get by sea to Joppa.

1 Chronicles 21:5. And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it.

There is no way of helping young people to serve God like setting them a good example. Let the father feel, with regard to his son, that he is young and tender; he may not be able to begin, but if I begin, I shall get him in the mode of doing such things, and maybe he may carry out my design when I am sleeping in the grave. It was well, it was wise, it was splendid of David thus to make all preparations that Solomon might afterwards go on with the good work.

1 Chronicles 21:5. So David prepared abundantly before his death.

If you, you cannot do everything yourself — and who can? — is it not well to prepare abundantly before our death for somebody else to go on with the work? Thus shall we live after we are dead — live in our sons, if God be so good to us, live in our grandchildren, who knows? — live in someone we were the means of bringing to the Savior’s feet by our ministry. Then he called to Solomon, his son. He had prepared everything, and now he speaks to him, and he charged him to build a house for Jehovah, the God of Israel.

1 Chronicles 21:6-8. Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the Lord God of Israel. And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God: But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, You, you have shed blood abundantly, and have made great wars: you, you shall not build an house unto my name, because you, you have shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.

It was not an allusion to Uriah’s blood, as some have thought, for God said this to David long before David’s great sin. The wars in which David was engaged were honest wars for the defense and deliverance of the country, in which God had helped him, and yet even the best wax is bad in God’s esteem. When blood is shed, God delights not in it; and he sets his servant on one side without blaming him, and says, "No: a bloody hand is not fit for the building of my temple. You, you have been called in the order of Providence to be a warrior and a conqueror; you, you must be content with that; you, you can not build the temple to the God of Peace."

1 Chronicles 21:9. Behold a son shall be born to you, you, who shall be a man of rest.

That is a very sweet name for Solomon, "A man of rest." I pray that many a believer here may be a man of that kind. Some believers have to be men of war. There they are, in a world of struggles, disputes, contentions, of their own ambitions — but happy is that man who is of a gentle and a tender spirit, a spirit of holy wisdom, and whom God gives the great privilege to be a man of peace.

1 Chronicles 22:9-10. And I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall build an house for my name and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will established the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.

What a sweet blessing from an aged man’s mouth.

1 Chronicles 21:11-13. Now, my son, the Lord be with you, you; and prosper you, you, and build the house of the Lord your God, as he has said of you, you. Only the Lord give you, you wisdom and understanding, and give you, you charge concerning Israel, that you, you may keep the law of the Lord your God. Then shall you, you prosper, if you, you take heed to fulfill the statutes and judgments which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

This was addressed to a young man and tender by an old man who had displayed much courage. They who have been courageous themselves can safely encourage others to be so. God make us all in every good cause to be free from fear. Like Bernard, the knight, may we be "without fear, and without reproach," ever contending for God and his truth.

1 Chronicles 21:14. Now behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold,

Whatever sum that may have been, it could hardly have been a Babylonian talent, because that would have made him to have laid up one thousand millions sterling.

1 Chronicles 21:14. And a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and you, you may add thereto.

A capital text for a collection, whenever there has been a good sum given already, "You, you may add thereto." Next Sunday week we collect for the hospitals. You, you may add to the gold if you, you can; you, you may add to the silver if you, you can; you, you may add to the copper if you, you can not add to the silver or the gold.

1 Chronicles 21:15. Moreover there are workmen with you, you in abundance,

David had foreseen all that was wanted, and had got a list of the men of skill and are throughout all his land.

1 Chronicles 21:15. Hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work.

You, you remember that text, "The Lord showed me four carpenters," and so when the Lord wants carpenters there will be carpenters. Whatever kind of men he requires for his service, that kind of men shall be forthcoming in the day of need — "All manner of cunning men for every manner of work."

1 Chronicles 21:16. Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise, therefore and be doing, and the Lord be with you, you.

That is his word to Solomon.

1 Chronicles 21:17. David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,

What a grand thing it is when a man has true-hearted helpers, men who are ready to stint themselves, annihilate themselves, as it were, to help some other man to do the work of the Lord, quite satisfied to be themselves unknown, so long as the house of the Lord is built, and God’s name is glorified!

1 Chronicles 21:18. Is not the Lord your God with you, you? and has he not given you, you rest on every side? for he has given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people.

So then they had not to fight, but to work. If Jesus Christ has conquered all our foes, and routed all our sins; if sin, and death, and Hell lie prostrate at his feet, what can we do but devote our rest and peace to his service?

1 Chronicles 21:19. Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God; arise therefore, and build you, you the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord.

 

Verses 7-30

 

1 Chronicles 21:7. And God was displeased with this thing;

This numbering of Israel, which David had carried out in spite of Joab’s protest: "God was displeased with this thing:" —

1 Chronicles 21:7-15. Therefore he smote Israel. And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech you, you, do away the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly. And the Lord spoke unto Gad, David’s seer, saying, GO and tell David, saying, Thus says the Lord, I offer you, you three things: choose you, you one of them, that I may do it unto you, you. So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus says the Lord, Choose you, you either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before your foes, while that the sword of your enemies overtakes you, you; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise yourself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man. So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now your hand.

See the power of the mercy of God; even when the angel has drawn his sword, and is already executing the Lord’s just judgments, God’s mercy interposes, and holds back the blade of death. Should we not love the Lord for his great longsuffering toward us? "He has not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities."

1 Chronicles 21:15-16. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the Heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

This was the very best clothing and the very best posture for men who were under the chastising hand of God; they had put on sackcloth, and they had fallen upon their faces. O guilty sinner, if God’s sword of vengeance is drawn against you, you, you, you cannot do better than put sackcloth upon your soul, if not upon your body, and prostrate yourself before the Most High.

1 Chronicles 21:17. And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed, but as for those sheep, what have they done? let your hand, I pray you, you, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on your people, that they should be plagued.

Here we see David at his best; and what a true patriot he is! He interposes himself, willing rather that he should be destroyed than that the people should die. This was the spirit of Moses when he said to the Lord, "If you, you will forgive their sin — — ; and if not, blot me, I pray you, you, out of your book which you, you have written." And this was the spirit of Paul, when he wrote, "I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." There are times when our great love for others will overflow all bounds of moderation, when we shall say, and say from our hearts, what we should not have dared to utter in cooler moments.

1 Chronicles 21:18-27. Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up as altar unto the Lord in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spoke in the name of the Lord. And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build as altar therein unto the Lord: you, you shall grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people. And Ornan said unto David, Take it to you, you, and let my lord the king do that which is good is his eyes: lo, I give you, you the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all. And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will truly buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is your for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost. So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight. And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord, and he answered him from Heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

See what was done by David’s intercession and sacrifice; and remember that there is a greater David who, with a richer sacrifice and mightier intercession, sheathes the sword of God, so that his people are spared.

1 Chronicles 21:28-30. At that time when David saw that the Lord had answered him in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

(This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Chronicles 21:7-30: And 22.)

Verses 9-30

 

1 Chronicles 21:9-11. And the Lord spoke unto Gad, David’s seer, saying, Go and tell David, saying, Thus says the Lord, I offer you, you three things: choose you, you one of them, that I may do it unto you, you. So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus says the Lord, Choose you, you—

One of them, that I may do it unto you, you. David was to choose where there was no choice, for everything proposed to him seemed to be equally bitter.

1 Chronicles 21:12-13. Either three years famine, or three months to be destroyed before your foes, while that the sword of your enemies overtakes you, you, or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise yourself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand the Lord for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.

It shows how he was broken down. David’s proud heart was humbled, he was entirely submissive to the will of God, he wished to fall into the hands of the Lord.

1 Chronicles 21:14-15. So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the Lord beheld,--

It is a very beautiful word,-the Lord looked steadfastly on what was being done.

1 Chronicles 21:15. And he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now your hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

One of the old inhabitants of the land, who had escaped destruction, and had his possession on the top of Mount Morah.

1 Chronicles 21:16-17. And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the Heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? Even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? Let your hand, I pray you, you, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on your people, that they should be plagued.

Here the great heart of the man who had sinned comes out again: he is no tyrant after all, he is a worthy man to be the Viceroy of the Most High. He has the same spirit that Moses had, when he cried, "If not, blot my name out of the Book of Life." He offers himself, not the innocent for the guilty, but, indeed, the guilty for the guilty; as far as he can, he will bear the consequences of his sin.

1 Chronicles 21:18-20. Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spoke in the name of the Lord. And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel;

He was busy at his threshing, and he saw the angel standing by his own threshing floor.

1 Chronicles 21:20. And his four sons with him hid themselves.

There are great caverns hard by the spot, and, no doubt, they ran into one of them.

1 Chronicles 21:20-23. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar therein unto the Lord: you, you shall grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people. And Ornan said unto David, Take it to you, you, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: Lo, I give you, you the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.

And as we are told in the other narrative, as a king gives to a king, so did Araunah unto David. Probably he had been a king, and David had dispossessed him in his conquest of Jebus, but now he proves that he had a royal heart, and he offers to give all to King David.

1 Chronicles 21:24-25. And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will truly buy it for the full price: for I will no take that which is your for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost. So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.

Not paid there and then, for he did not carry that amount with him, but fifty shekels of silver were paid that moment to bind their bargain, according to the narrative in the 2nd Book of Samuel.

1 Chronicles 21:26-27. And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord and he answered him from Heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

That God had already done in his own intent and purpose, now he does it actually, just as before Jesus Christ, our great sacrifice, was offered. God, in the eternal purpose, had stayed the sword of vengeance from his redeemed people, and then actually did it when Christ their sacrifice was presented.

1 Chronicles 21:28-30. At that time when David saw that the Lord had answered him in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

 

Verses 25-30

 

David was commanded to go to Ornan, or Araunah, the Jebusite, to rear an altar unto the Lord in his threshing floor. There had been a terrible plague in Jerusalem, in consequence of David’s great sin in numbering the people; and they were falling in thousands by the sword of the angel of vengeance David went up to the threshing floor or Ornan on Mount Moriah. Ornan was willing to give it to him, but he determined to buy it. We read in the twenty-fifth verse; —

1 Chronicles 21:25-28. So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight. And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord and he answered him from Heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof. At that time when David saw that the Lord has answered him in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.

There was the place for the temple, where the angel sheathed his sword. Christ Jesus, in his great atonement, is the corner-stone of the temple where divine justice sheathes its sword. There let the house of God be built. Every true Church of God is founded on the glorious doctrine of the atoning sacrifice. It was a threshing floor, too; and God has built his Church on a threshing floor. Depend upon it, the flail will always be going in every true Church, to fetch out the wheat from the chaff. We must have tribulation if we are in the Church of God. The threshing floor will always be needed until we are taken up to the heavenly garner above.

1 Chronicles 21:29-30. For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place of Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God; for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

(This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Chronicles 21:25-30; 1 Chronicles 22.)

 

Chapter 22

 

Verses 1-19

 

1 Chronicles 22:1. Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.

From that moment, this place was set apart as the site of the future temple, and the center of the hopes of the people of God, and, dear friend, what better site could have been selected than the spot where the angel sheathed his sword, where prayer was heard, and where sacrifice was accepted? And now, today, you, you and I have only one temple, and that temple is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Well-beloved, for in him the sword is sheathed, in him the sacrifice is accepted, and in him intercession still prevails.

1 Chronicles 22:2-4. And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God. And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings and brass in abundance without weight; also cedar trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.

See, a great deliverance brings a great offering. Because God has bidden the angel sheath his sword, there is to be a temple commenced, and David is busy preparing for it. O you, you who have been saved from death and Hell, what can you, you render unto God for all his benefits toward you, you?

1 Chronicles 22:5. And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.

If he might not build the temple, he would at least gather the materials for it. So, let us try to do all we can in the cause of God. There is said to have been a king, who felt so grateful to God for some special favor, that he determined to build a great temple, and pay for it all himself; no one was to help at all in it. One night, in his dreams, he was told that the honor of building that temple would not belong to him as he desired, and be thought within himself, "To whom then can it be, for I have not allowed any person to work for me without full wage, and I have done it all?" At last, he discovered that there was a poor woman in his kingdom, who also loved his God, and not daring to help in the temple building, she had brought little handfuls of hay to give to the horse that had dragged the stones, so hers was to be the greater honor. If you, you may not do all you, you would, do all you, you can; for God will accept it of you, you if it be rendered by a willing mind and a loving heart.

1 Chronicles 22:6-9. Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the Lord GOD of Israel. And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God; but the word of the Lord came to me, saying, You, you have shed blood abundantly, and have made great wars: you, you shall not build an house unto my name, because you, you have shed much blood upon the earth in my sight. Behold, a son shall be born to you, you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, —

That is, peaceful, or peaceable, —

1 Chronicles 22:9-14. And I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his Kingdom over Israel forever. Now, my son, the Lord be with you, you; and prosper you, you, and build the house of the Lord your God, as he have said of you, you. Only the Lord give you, you wisdom, and understanding, and give you, you charge concerning Israel, that you, you may keep the law of the Lord your God. Then shall you, you prosper, if you, you take heed to fulfill the statutes and judgments which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed. Now, behold in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver, and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and you, you may add thereto.

At the very lowest calculation, David had laid up eighteen millions of money for the building of this house for the Lord. It was an enormous sum, and he must have been long in saving it, yet he gives Solomon leave to increase it: "You, you may add thereto." I like that way of putting the matter; and when some of you, you see good help rendered to the cause of God by others who are able to do more than you, you can, do not therefore say, "I need not give anything," but remember what David said to Solomon, "You, you may add thereto." There is room in the treasury of God for your mite as well as David’s millions.

1 Chronicles 22:15. Moreover there are workmen with you, you in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work.

God will always find the right man in time for his own work, in his Church there are "all manner of cunning men for every manner of work."

1 Chronicles 22:16-19. Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and the Lord be with you, you. David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, Is not the Lord your God with you, you? and has he not given you, you rest on every side? for he has given the inhabitants of the land into mine land, and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people. Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God, arise therefore, and build you, you the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord.

(This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Chronicles 21:7-30 and 1 Chronicles 22.)

 

Chapter 23

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 24

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 25

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 26

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 27

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 28

 

Verses 1-21

 

1 Chronicles 28:1. And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards ever all the substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem.

David, in his old age, and soon to die, summoned a great representative assembly of the notables of his kingdom.

1 Chronicles 28:2. Then David the king stood up upon his feet,

He was ill, and obliged to keep his bed; but; he left his couch for this solemn occasion. He did not even remain seated, although extremely weak; but he stood up upon his feet.

1 Chronicles 28:2. And said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people:

Those who read carefully will notice the sweetness of David’s style now that he is about to die. It was after the great sin of his life, and after he and his subjects had suffered because of his numbering the people, that he calls the men before him "my brethren." He had sometimes spoken of them as his servants; but now he adopts a very humble style, and putting himself on a level with them, he says to them, "Hear me, my brethren, and my people."

1 Chronicles 28:2-3. As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building: but God said unto me, You, you shall not build an house for my name, because you, you have been a man of war, and have shed blood.

Admire the frankness of David in telling the people what God had said to him. There is no other biography in the world like the Bible, for it tells the faults and follies of those whose history it records. David was a man after God’s own heart; yet, as he had been used as a sword, for the defense of God’s people, and the destruction of their enemies, he could not be permitted to build the temple. He frankly tells the people all that God had said; it would not reflect any honor upon himself, but it was true, and therefore he kept nothing back. One falls in love with David for the frankness of his utterance. When a king, and an aged man, and just about to die, he tells the people all this story.

1 Chronicles 28:4. Howbeit the Lord God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever: for he has chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel:

He delights to dwell upon the election of God. It was not by the right of primogeniture that he was chosen king; it was by the will and good pleasure of God. Judah was one of the younger tribes, and yet it was made the royal tribe. In Judah, the house of Jesse was of no great importance; yet God chose it as the royal family; and in the household of Jesse, David was the youngest, yet the Lord "liked" him, and chose him to be king over all Israel.

1 Chronicles 28:5. And of all my sons, (for the Lord has given me many sons,) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.

David seems to harp upon this sweet string of the divine choice. I wonder that so many good people are afraid of this blessed doctrine. They fight shy of it; they seem to run away at the very sound of the word "election." Yet is it the very joy of saints. God has chosen them, and ordained them to be his servants.

1 Chronicles 28:6-8. And he said unto me, Solomon your son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chose him to be my son, and I will be his father. Moreover I will establish his kingdom forever, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments, as at this day. Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the Lord, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the Lord your God: that you, you may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you, you forever.

Thus he talked with the great number of the nobility and chief men of his kingdom who were gathered round him.

1 Chronicles 28:9. And you, you, Solomon my son, know you, you the God of your father,

God is very dear to us; but perhaps under no aspect is he more tenderly near us than as the God of our father: "My son, know you, you the God of your father."

1 Chronicles 28:9. And serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if you, you seek him, he will be found of you, you; but if you, you forsake him, he will cast you, you off forever.

What a covenant this was under which Solomon stood! Alas! he was not as true to God as he should have been; and though we hope he was not east away forever, yet under his rule Israel began to decay, and he pierced himself through with many sorrows in his latter days.

1 Chronicles 28:10. Take heed now; for the Lord has chosen you, you to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it.

It is fine to hear this old man, in his weakness, stirring up the young man. We generally expect to see the youths full of zeal, and the old men somewhat slow; but grace can turn the tables against nature. Here the old man, feeble as to his body, is vigorous as to his spirit.

1 Chronicles 28:11. Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlors thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat,

He had it all ready in his mind; and before he died, he passed over the plans of that wonderful piece of architecture to his son Solomon.

1 Chronicles 28:12-13. And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things: also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the Lord.

Everything was laid down, catalogued, and arranged so that Solomon had only to follow the plans given to him by his father, and all would be right. Think of the love of David to his God. Though he might not build the temple, he would draw the plans for it; and though he might not live to see it completed, yet he would, in his own mind, arrange all the courses of the priests and the Levites, and every detail, even to the placing of the vessels of service in the courts of the Lord’s house.

1 Chronicles 28:14-15. He gave of gold by weight for things of gold, for all instruments of all manner of service; silver also for all instruments of silver by weight, for all instruments of every kind of service: even the weight for the candlestick of gold,

Or, the candelabra.

1 Chronicles 28:15. And for their lamps of gold, by weight for every candlestick, and for the lamps thereof: and for the candlesticks of silver by weight, both for the candlestick, and also for the lamps thereof, according to the use of every candlestick.

They were not for the burning of candles, but for oil lamps. There was a Lamp-stand, with seven lamps upon the stand; and there were ten of these in the temple. There was only one in the tabernacle; but there were ten in the temple. David arranged everything.

Those seven-branched golden candlesticks stood like pastors of the church; and the little silver candlesticks were carried about like evangelists, who go from place to place that the whole house of God may be served with light. Everything was by weight. God knows what he would have in his house, and he measures out to each one according to his need.

1 Chronicles 28:16-17. And by weight he gave gold for the tables of showbread, for every table; and likewise silver for the tables of silver: also pure gold for the flesh-hooks, and the bowls, and the cups: and for the golden basins he gave gold by weight for every basin; and likewise silver by weight for every basin of silver:

I like to think of David planning all these little things, first receiving instruction from God, then waiting upon God for further direction, and thinking not only about the great golden candelabra, but about the silver candlesticks, and the flesh-hooks, and the howls, and the cups, and the basins. They who love God love everything that has to do with him; they have a holy concern even for the smaller matters pertaining to the house of the Lord.

1 Chronicles 28:18-20. And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubim, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern. And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it:

Do not talk about it; do not sit down, and dream over the plans, and think how admirable they are, and then roll them up; but, "Be strong and of good courage, and do it."

1 Chronicles 28:20. Fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with you, you;

What a pretty touch that is! "The Lord God, even my God, will be with you, you."

1 Chronicles 28:20. He will not fail you, you, nor forsake you, you, until you, you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.

Therefore, be of good courage, you, you that are working for God, for he will not fail you, you, nor forsake you, you, until you, you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.

1 Chronicles 28:21. And, behold, the courses of the priests and the Levites, even they shall be with you, you for all the service of the house of God: and there shall be with you, you for all manner of workmanship every willing skillful man, for any manner of service!

God always finds men for his work. We sometimes see a lot of cowards run away, and we say to ourselves, "What will happen now?" Why, God will find better men than they are! And when there seems to be a paucity of really valiant men in Israel, God has them in training; and that awkward squad out there will yet become a band of brave men for the service of the house of God.

1 Chronicles 28:21. Also the princes and all the people will be wholly at your commandment.

Thus the grand old man finished up his life by starting another to carry on the work which he was obliged to leave.

 

Chapter 29

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

2 CHRONICLES

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Verses 1-17

 

Let us read, for our instruction, part of the story of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.

2 Chronicles 11:1-4. And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam. But the word of the Lord came to Sheniuiah the man of God, saying, Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, Thus says the Lord, You, you shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me. And they obeyed the words of the Lord, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

So far, so good. There was some degree of the fear of God in the minds of men when, at the bidding of a single prophet, a king would disband his troops, and cease from war.

2 Chronicles 11:5-15. And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah. He built even Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa, and Bethzur, and Shoco, and Adullam, and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph, and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah, and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin fenced cities. And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and store of victual, and of oil and wine. And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side. And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts. For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest’s once unto the Lord and he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.

No wonder, therefore, that Rehoboam’s kingdom was strengthened by the advent of these men, who were, doubtless, the best men in the whole country, men who feared the Lord,-men who knew the law, and who knew how to teach the people what they should do.

2 Chronicles 11:16. And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers.

"Birds of a feather flock together," so those in Israel who feared the Lord went where their ministers had gone; this movement would bring about an emigration of some of the best of the population, to reside near to the sacred shrine where Jehovah was worshiped; and it must have tended still further to the strengthening of Rehoboam’s little kingdom.

2 Chronicles 11:17. So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three year: for three year they walked in the way of David and Solomon.

That was well while it lasted; but, alas! it did not continue long.

This exposition consisted of readings from 2 Chronicles 11:1-17; 2 Chronicles 12.

 

Chapter 12

 

Verses 1-16

 

2 Chronicles 12:1. And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.

He was not able to endure the perils of prosperity. He forgot the Lord who had caused him to prosper; and, in the pride of his heart, he turned aside to idols.

2 Chronicles 12:2. And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord,

That was not Shishak’s reason for coming up against Jerusalem. He had heard of the riches of Solomon; and doubtless, he came for the sake of the spoil which the palace and the temple would yield to him. But God often overrules, for the accomplishment of his own purposes, the lower motives of men. "I girded you, you," said he of Cyrus, "though you, you have not known me." So did he gird Shishak for the chastisement of Israel, though Shishak knew him not.

2 Chronicles 12:3-4. With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.

How vain is man when he boasts in the strength of his fortifications! These fenced cities fell at once, like houses built of cards, before the power of the mighty king of Egypt, and the vast hordes that accompanied him. Rehoboam had spent his strength in making these defenses, but how soon they were proved to be worthless. "Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is;" but "cursed is the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord."

2 Chronicles 12:5-6. Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus says the Lord, You, you have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you, you in the hand of Shishak. Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The Lord is righteous.

Now, that is the very essence of true humility, the acknowledgment that God is righteous in whatever punishment he brings upon us on account of our sin. It is a very short sentence, but there is a great fullness of meaning in it: "Jehovah is righteous."

2 Chronicles 12:7-8. And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.

That is a very instructive expression. I believe that, when God’s people go astray from him, he sometimes allows them to fall into great bondage, in order that they may realize the difference between his happy service and the servitude in which they may be held by any other lord. All masters, to whom we surrender our minds and hearts, will turn out to be tyrants, except the blessed Prince of peace. His yoke is easy, and his burden is light; but all other yokes gall the shoulders sooner or later; and God has sometimes made his wandering people feel this so bitterly that they have longed to get back again to the service of their God.

2 Chronicles 12:9. So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

He did not plunder the people; he was contented with the loot of the temple and the palace. These were comparatively easy terms for the conquered nation, and one wonders how such a powerful king as Shishak should have been thus satisfied in those days; but God has the hearts of all men under his control, and even when he lets a powerful foe go forth against his people, he still restrains him when he pleases. What a mercy it is for us that, when God chastens us, there is an end to it! It is always in measure, he does not let loose the fullness and the fierceness of his wrath, as he will upon the castaways in eternity; but when he lays his rod upon us, he counts every stripe. Forty stripes save one was all that an Israelite might have to endure; and, surely, God often stops far short of that number when he deals with us. However, Shishak humiliated the king and his people by taking away the treasures of the temple and the palace; and, among the rest of his plunder, "he carried away the shields of gold, which Solomon had made."

2 Chronicles 12:10-12. Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king’s house. And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, the guard came and fetched them, and brought them again into the guard chamber. And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went well.

Or, rather, "things in Judah even went well." There was comparative prosperity; they were not altogether prosperous, for they were not altogether right with God; but there was a sufficient proportion of godly men, the Puritanic party, the Evangelical party, was strong enough in the land, for God still to look upon it with favor, yet not unmixed with disapprobation; for the party that worshiped idols, the party composed of the superstitious, the party belonging to the world was still very strong.

2 Chronicles 12:13-15. So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mothers name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies?

Where are those books now? It is of no consequence whatever where they are. There are a great many other books that have perished because they were not inspired. They were books of genealogies, valuable in their day; but if they had been of any use to us spiritually, they would have been preserved. Now, as other ancient books have evidently been lost, let us devoutly bless God that the inspired Books have been preserved to us. By what a continuous miracle of Providence, every inspired letter has been continued in existence, it would be hard to tell; but we ought constantly to praise the Lord that, out of the Book of this prophecy, not a line has been removed.

2 Chronicles 12:15-16. And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.

This exposition consisted of readings from 2 Chronicles 11:1-17; 2 Chronicles 12.

 

Chapter 13

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 14

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 15

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 16

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 17

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 18

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 19

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 20

 

Verses 1-30

 

2 Chronicles 20:1-3. It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There comes a great multitude against you, you from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi. And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

An angry God is to be sought. Even though he smite us, we must turn to him. It is from the hand that wields the rod that we are to expect deliverance, if it ever come at all.

2 Chronicles 20:4. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

The host of enemies were so enormous that they threatened to eat up all the land. The men of Judah could not keep them out. They would soak and storm and burn and destroy right and left. You, you see the great peril. What a heavy chastisement it must have been to the king to see his land thus in danger of being destroyed. But they had begun to pray.

2 Chronicles 20:5-12. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, and said, O Lord God of our fathers, are not you, you God in Heaven? and rule not you, you over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in your hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand you, you? Are not you, you our God who did drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and gave it to the seed of Abraham your friend forever? And they dwelt therein, and have built you, you a sanctuary therein for your name, saying, If, when evil comes upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in your presence, (for your name is in this house,) and cry unto you, you in our affliction, then you, you will hear and help. And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom they would not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of your possession, which you, you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you, you not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon you, you.

What a prayer it is! How argumentative! How it pleads his case as an advocate in a court of law, appealing to the mercy of God as logically as if it were to be argued out of the divine heart. Oh, how good it would be if we learned to pray like this, — in this earnest, importunate fashion! Say the Lord teach us to pray as he taught his disciples!

2 Chronicles 20:13. And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

It must have been a wonderful eight — the vast crowd — the pleading king — his voice heard afar, and the men and the women; but, to my mind, the most touching thing of all is the little children standing there, making their silent appeal to God that he would not let the babes be destroyed — that he would not suffer the young children to be slain by the cruel hosts that now threatened the land. Young children’s prayers are powerful. Little ones, may God teach you, you how to pray.

2 Chronicles 20:14. Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation;

Perhaps he had never delivered a prophecy before. This is his first sermon; but the Spirit of God was with him, and he could not hold his tongue.

2 Chronicles 20:15-17. And he said, Hearken you, you, all Judah, and you, you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, you king Jehoshaphat, Thus says the Lord unto you, you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. To morrow go you, you down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and you, you shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. You, you shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand you, you still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you, you.

Oh, how those words must have fallen on the weary ears of those who were in such trouble! And how glad those ears must have been to hear such a message of wondrous mercy, and so near at hand, too! "To morrow." Imminent danger brings eminent mercy, and when the lion is about to leap upon his prey, then comes the lionslayer and breaks his teeth, and delivers his lamb even from between his jaws. Glory be to God for such promises as he gives to his people in times of trouble, even such promises as he gave here.

2 Chronicles 20:18. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.

What a sight! That is the kind of ritualism one likes — when the posture is suggested by the feelings — when the man feels that there is nothing else to do but to bow before the Lord. The king could not speak, he was too full of gratitude — too joyous at the thought that God had so appeared for him. And he felt that the only thing he could do was in silence to bow his head, and prostrate himself before God. Have not you, you sometimes felt so full of gratitude that you, you could not express yourself? "A sacred silence checks our songs and praise sits silent on our tongues." Now, while they were worshiping, and just as they had finished that silent adoration, the joy-strains were heard. They had taken breath.

2 Chronicles 20:19. And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

Here, again, we seem to be carried by great waves of excitement and devotion. One moment we are sinking down in adoration, now all rising up to listen to the loud voice of God’s priests and Levites. But they have to wait for the morrow.

2 Chronicles 20:20-21. And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you, you inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall you, you be established; believe his prophets, so shall you, you prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord for his mercy endures forever.

So you, you can see them marching out of the city gate with the king at their head, and, as they go out, the army is marching with banners and with songs and hosannas. This is their style of going out to meet the foe.

2 Chronicles 20:22-23. And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and where they had made an end of the inhabitants of mount Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

There were three or four nations, and some jealousy or mistrust must have manifested itself, or some mistake had been made, and the motley host divided itself into self-destroying bands. The Israelites had nothing to do but to sing. Perhaps their very singing was the cause of that disruption among the bands. They could not make it out. They had seen the people rush to battle with discordant cries; but these were marching along as if they were coming to a wedding-feast, singing hymns and chants. That was a new style of fighting. So the Moabites and the Ammonites thought that there must be something wrong. "Surely there must be some confederates in the camp," they would say. They suspected each other, as bad men very soon do, and so they fell foul of one another and spared the Israelites all the trouble of killing them.

2 Chronicles 20:24-26. And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much. And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the Lord: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.

This is the Valley of Blessing: surely an appropriate name worthy of long remembrance.

2 Chronicles 20:27. Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy;

Another march of hosannas. What a wonderful sight it must have been! We have read of the Battle of the Spurs; but here is the Battle of the Song — the battle of praise. How wondrously it was won! Jehoshaphat is now in the forefront of those who go back singing. He feels he must sing the loudest who has had such signal mercy after his sin.

2 Chronicles 20:27-30. For the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord. And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.

Now, it is a long piece we have read, but I think it would not be complete if I did not read you, you the song which they sang. In all probability it was the 47th Psalm. You, you can almost hear them singing it as they march back.

This exposition consisted of readings from 2 Chronicles 20:1-30; and Psalms 47.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 22

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 23

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 24

 

Verses 1-25

 

This chapter gives us the story of the reign of Joash. He was the only one of the royal seed who was preserved alive when Athaliah sought to destroy all the family of Ahaziah. He was hidden away for some six years in the temple by his aunt Jehoshabeath, the wife of Jehoiada the high priest, who arranged matters so well that, when the child was seven years old, Jehoiada caused him to be crowned king, and he put to death the cruel she-wolf Athaliah, who had destroyed the royal family. You, you see, therefore, how much this young king owed to his uncle the high-priest. Now let us read the story of his reign.

2 Chronicles 24:1. Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem.

He might have reigned much longer had he not erred and turned aside from the right way, and so brought judgment upon himself.

2 Chronicles 24:1-2. His mother’s name also was Zibiah of Beersheba. And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

As long as his uncle lived, that truly devout statesman as well as priest of the Lord, "Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord."

2 Chronicles 24:3-4. And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters. And it came to pass after this,

Probably, some three and twenty years after, —

2 Chronicles 24:4. That Joash was minded to repair the house of the Lord.

Jehoiada had with him broken in pieces the images of Baal, and battered down the temples of the idols; and now the young king is "minded to repair the house of Jehovah."

2 Chronicles 24:5. And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you, you hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened it not.

It is a great pity when those who live in the house of God have not enough interest in it to see to its repair. The fact was, the offerings presented at the temple, like the tithes in modern times, were intended not only for the ministers, but for the maintaining of the fabric, too. But these priests and Levites would not allow anything to be deducted from their own income even for the repair of the house in which they served. So Joash ordained that special collections should be made for the purpose.

2 Chronicles 24:6-9. And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why have you, you not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses the servant of the Lord, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witnesses? For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the honor of God: and also all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord did they bestow upon Baalim. And at the king’s commandment they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of the Lord. And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the Lord the collection that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness.

Everyone must give his half shekel by way of redemption money, and this had not been brought in.

2 Chronicles 24:10-14. And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end. Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought unto the king’s office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king’s scribe and the high priest’s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to his place again. This they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance. And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the Lord, and, also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the Lord. So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it. And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the Lord, even vessels to minister, and to offer withal, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the day of Jehoiada.

See the influence of one man. One man can sway a state. One man can check sin. One man can be the head of a host who shall serve God, and honor his name.

2 Chronicles 24:15. But Jehoiada waxed old,

It happened to him as it must happen to us all; for the best of men must grow old, and pass away. Let us value them while we have them. Too often we give them stones while they are alive, in anticipation of giving them bigger stones to keep them in memory when they die. "Jehoiada waxed old," —

2 Chronicles 24:15. And was full of day when he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.

An unusual age for that time; short enough as compared with the years of the antediluvian patriarchs, but still a great age for those days.

2 Chronicles 24:16. And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.

That is the best kind of good which begins with doing good toward God, and then goes on to doing good towards God’s house. The Church is to be served, but even it must be second to God’s glory. God first, and then the very best must come next.

2 Chronicles 24:17. Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.

These flatterers came with all their daintiest manners, and made obeisance to the king, and "the king hearkened unto them." All the days of Jehoiada, these princes had been afraid to set up the fashionable worship the worship of Baalim, that had been introduced by the Sidonian queen Jezebel, that wicked woman of strong and masterful spirit. This worldly and false religion had been put down by the strong hand of Jehoiada; but when its adherents thought they had a chance to get to the front again, they came and flattered the king, and "the king hearkened unto them."

2 Chronicles 24:18. And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served groves and idols:

Or, "Asherah and idols." The word is mistakenly translated "groves." These were certain horrible and disgusting emblems of the heathen goddess Ashtareth, or Astarte: "They served Asherah and idols."

2 Chronicles 24:18-19. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass. Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the Lord and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.

"These old Puritans have come back again," said they. "We will not listen to them." The common people were still mostly worshipers of Jehovah; but the great ones of the earth had gone over to the idols, and they could not endure that one and another of the prophets, often very humble and unlearned men, should come and bear testimony for Jehovah.

2 Chronicles 24:20. And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus says God, Why transgress you, you the commandments of the Lord, that you, you cannot prosper? because you, you have forsaken the Lord, he has also forsaken you, you.

He spoke very temperately and affectionately. The warning was faithful; but it was delivered in the very best and kindest spirit. But now see what the wicked men did.

2 Chronicles 24:21. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord.

This is probably the prophet to whom Christ alludes when he speaks of Zechariah, "whom you, you slew between the temple and the altar." It was a crime most foul to murder the son of Jehoiada, one of those who had helped to put the crown upon the head of the king. To do this evil deed in the court of God’s house, when the prophet was engaged in his Master’s business, and delivering a divine message, was to heap sin upon sin.

2 Chronicles 24:22-23. Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The Lord look upon it, and require it. And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.

God delayed not long the punishment of the evil-doers. When his servants are persecuted, he will speedily avenge his own elect. "They destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people." Was not that remarkable? These were the authors of the sin; and they had chiefly to endure the penalty. It is not always that invaders lay hold upon the princes alone, and slay them; but these Syrians did so.

2 Chronicles 24:24-25. For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the Lord delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash. And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchers of the kings.

When one set of executioners had gone, his own servants conspired against him and slew him. Here ends our reading. May it be profitable to us!

 

Chapter 25

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 26

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 27

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 28

 

Verses 1-16

 

2 Chronicles 28:1-3. Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father: for he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

God had driven out the Canaanites because of these abominations; therefore, for his own people to practice them, was peculiarly provoking to him.

2 Chronicles 28:4. He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

He could not do enough of it; so many trees, so many altars. There are some men who use every opportunity for sin, with a diligence which should bring the blush into the face of Christians, who are not as diligent in obeying as these men are in sinning.

2 Chronicles 28:5. Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.

It did not look as if the captives would ever return; yet the prophet’s son was named Shear-jashub, "The remnant shall return." Ahaz might have said to Isaiah, "Your child’s name is a lie." We shall see.

2 Chronicles 28:6-11. For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah, the king’s son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king. And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the Lord God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he has delivered them into your hand, and, you, you have slain them in a rage that reaches up unto Heaven. And now you, you purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you, you: but are there not with you, you, even with you, you, sins against the Lord your God? Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which you, you have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you, you.

It was very wonderful that these wild fellows should listen to this prophet with all those captives round about them. It was a brave act on the part of the prophet Oded to go out, and utter his protest.

2 Chronicles 28:12-15. Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war, and said unto them, You, you shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the Lord already, you, you intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel. So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation. And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.

What a wonderful thing that was! Ahaz ought to have said to Isaiah, "Your child’s name is right, after all; for the remnant has returned." Did it not seem as if Ahaz must now trust God? But notice what the next verse says.

2 Chronicles 28:16. At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him.

When men are determined to be unbelievers and disobedient, they will send anywhere for help but to the Lord. Israel and Syria were very little kingdoms; but Assyria was a great empire, the mighty nation of the period. Yet no help came to Ahaz from that quarter, for we read in the twentieth verse, "And Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not." The twenty-first verse tells us that Ahaz bribed the king of Assyria; "but he helped him not." That is always the dirge at the end of all efforts to secure human instead of divine aid.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 7:1-16, and 2 Chronicles 28:1-16.

Verses 1-27

 

2 Chronicles 28:1. Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem:

So that he died before he reached the prime of life; he was cut off by God in the very midst of his sin.

2 Chronicles 28:1-2. But he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father: for he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, —

They had set up the worship of God under emblems, there were the calves of Bethel, the representation of strength: it was the worship of God by imagery, and Ahaz imitated it, and went even further in sin, —

2 Chronicles 28:2. And made also molten images for Baalim.

If we worship the true God under some symbol, the next step is to worship a false God.

2 Chronicles 28:3. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

The worship of Moloch was one of the most horrible that can be imagined. A brazen image was made terribly hot, and then children were thrust into its burning arms to be consumed; and this king went to such a length that he gave his own children to death in that cruel fashion in the place commonly called by the Jews Topheth, or, the place of spitting, since it was so loathsome to them to think of this false God.

2 Chronicles 28:4. He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

According to the command of God, there was to be but one altar, and that one was to be at Jerusalem; but these people multiplied their altars; there could not be a high place but they must have an idol shrine set up upon it.

2 Chronicles 28:5. Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.

He received blow upon blow; God would not let him rest in his sin. Now turn to verse 16.

2 Chronicles 28:16. At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him.

The king of Assyria was the greatest potentate in that region, and all the little kings were afraid of him, and therefore sent to him for help when they were in trouble. Ahaz made no appeal to God, for the assistance he required, but he turned to the arm of flesh.

2 Chronicles 28:17. For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives.

The Edomites had been under subjection to Judah; but now that God had left her, Judah could not hold her position.

2 Chronicles 28:18. The Philistines also —

A people that one might have thought had become extinct, so weak were they that we scarcely hear of them; yet "the Philistines also" —

2 Chronicles 28:18-20. Had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnab with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there. For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord. And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.

How vain it is to seek relief apart from God!

2 Chronicles 28:21-22. For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the Lord, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not. And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord: this is that king Ahaz.

A black mark is put against his name, to show how greatly guilty he was. Those who rebel against divine checks, and will not be held in by the providence of God, are to be written down in capital letters as great sinners. They sin with emphasis who sin against the chastising rod.

2 Chronicles 28:23-25. For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers.

He set up little shrines, so that every passer-by might worship which idol he pleased, and each man might present a little incense; thus the whole city was filled with idolatry.

2 Chronicles 28:26-27. Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchers of the kings of Israel:

There was a holy and reverent feeling among the remnant of God’s people that a man who had lived as Ahaz had done should not lie with the good kings of Israel.

2 Chronicles 28:27. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

Now turn to Isaiah, the second chapter, and the sixth verse.

 

Chapter 29

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 30

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 31

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 32

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 33

 

Verses 1-19

 

2 Chronicles 33:1-2. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: but did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,

Yet who could have had a better father than Manasseh had? He was given to Hezekiah during those fifteen years which God graciously added to that good king’s life. Manasseh was, therefore, doubtless carefully trained, and looked upon as being one who would maintain God’s worship, and the honor of his father’s name. But grace does not run in the blood; and the best of parents may have the worst of children. Thus Manasseh, though he was the son of Hezekiah, "did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord," —

2 Chronicles 33:2. Like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

It often happens that, when the sons of good men become bad, they are among the worst of men. They who pervert a good example generally run headlong to destruction.

2 Chronicles 33:3. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshiped all the host of Heaven, and served them.

One form of idolatry was not enough for him; he must have all forms of it, even rearing altars to Baal, and making the stars also to be his gods.

2 Chronicles 33:4. Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.

Manasseh was worse than an ordinary idolater, for he polluted the very place which was dedicated to the service of the only living and true God.

2 Chronicles 33:5-6. And he built altars for all the host of Heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom:

Perhaps he gave some of them actually to be burned in honor of his false gods; or if not some of his children were made to pass through the fire and were thus dedicated to the idol deities.

2 Chronicles 33:6. Also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

You, you cannot imagine, I think, a worse character than this Manasseh was. He seems to have raked the foulest kennels of superstition to find all manner of abominations. Like false-hearted Saul, he had dealings with a familiar spirit, he had entered into a covenant with Satan himself, and made a league with Hell, and yet, marvel of grace! this very Manasseh was saved, and is now singing the new song before the throne of God in glory.

2 Chronicles 33:7-9. And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever: neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses. So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.

You, you see, dear friends, that he was not only a monster in iniquity himself, but he led a whole nation astray. Some people who, under the gracious rule of his father Hezekiah, had kept the Passover in so joyous a manner, now, under this false son of so good a father, turned aside.

2 Chronicles 33:10. And the Lord spoke to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.

This was all that was necessary to fill up the measure of his guilt. He and his people were warned of God, but they would not hearken.

2 Chronicles 33:11. Wherefore-

Since words were not sufficient, and God intended to save him, he came to blows: "Wherefore" —

2 Chronicles 33:11. The Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

They very likely chastened him with thorns, for the kings of Babylon were very cruel; and it may be that, when his back was lacerated by thorny scourges, he was put in prison with heavy fetters upon him.

2 Chronicles 33:12-13. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him: and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.

There surely can be no person in this assembly who can say that he has sinned worse than Manasseh did. He seems to have gone as far as any human being could go; and yet, you, you see, when he humbled himself before the Lord, and lifted up his heart in supplication, God forgave his sin, and restored him to his former position in Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 33:14. Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.

This is not of very much importance, but what else did he do?

2 Chronicles 33:16. And he took away the strange gods,-

When grace comes into any man’s heart, there is sure to be a change in his action. Manasseh "took away the strange gods," —

2 Chronicles 33:16. And the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.

Sins which were before so pleasing to him are now abominations in his sight, and he flings them over the city wall like unclean things. In the very valley of the son of Hinnom where he had dedicated his sons to idols he now consumes his idol gods as foul and offensive things, to be cast away with all the refuse of the city.

2 Chronicles 33:16. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.

It was not possible for him to undo all the evil which he had wrought, as he soon found out.

2 Chronicles 33:17. Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only.

The work of reformation is slow; you, you can lead men to sin as rapidly as you, you like, that is down-hill work; but to get them to toil with you, you up-hill toward the right is not so easy.

2 Chronicles 33:18-19. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled; behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.

So we must remember that all the deeds that we have done, both good and evil, are written in God’s Book of Remembrance.

Verses 1-20

 

2 Chronicles 33:1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign,

He was, therefore, born after the time when Hezekiah was raised up from the bed of sickness. That prolongation of life was not all mercy: I am not sure that we should be so eager for such an extension of earthly existence either for ourselves or for others. Had Hezekiah been able to foresee what would be the abominations of the first part of Manasseh’s reign, should he come to the throne of Judah, methinks that the godly king might have been content to die at once rather than live any longer to become the father of such a sinner, and one who would prove to be such an enemy of the true faith. "Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign." It was too early for a youth to reign over any nation. It is a great temptation, and a serious peril, when an individual has too much power before he reaches his manhood. It would have been far better for Manasseh if his accession to the throne had been postponed for a good while. You, you who are very young, and are entrusted with wealth and position, may God keep you, you from going wrong! It will need great grace to preserve you, you in the right path.

2 Chronicles 33:1. And he reigned fifty and five years, in Jerusalem:

Manasseh’s was a long reign, a varied reign, and at first a wicked reign of the very worst kind. Sometimes men are spared notwithstanding their sin. Manasseh’s was one of the longest reigns on record: "He reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem."

2 Chronicles 33:2. But did that which was evil in the light of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord, had cast out before the children of Israel.

The Lord drove out the Canaanites for the very sins that Manasseh committed. If we follow in the sins of others, we must not wonder if we share in their doom. It is a sad thing, however, when the child of such a father as Hezekiah does evil in the sight of the Lord, "like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom Jehovah had cast out before the children of Israel."

2 Chronicles 33:3. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down,

These high places were at first built for the worship of God, the true God; but then the law of Jehovah was that there should be only one altar, namely, that at Jerusalem. This was not Popery, but Ritualism; it was adding something to the simple worship of God, and therefore it was wrong. He who goes a little way in sin will soon go a long way. It is always a mercy to stop where you, you ought to stop, and not begin going down. Hezekiah had broken down the high places, and his son Manasseh rebuilt them.

2 Chronicles 33:3. And he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshiped all the host of Heaven, and served them.

He not only worshiped them, but he served them; he threw his whole strength into the propagation of this form of idolatry. They who build altars to God, contrary to the Lord’s law, will soon have false gods. First, men set up images to remind them of the true God; and then they go off to the worship of the idols, or false gods. Oh, that we may have grace to make no similitude of the Lord, and to set up nothing contrary to the simple teaching of the Word of God!

2 Chronicles 33:4-5. Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be forever. And he built altars for all the host of Heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.

There was plenty of room elsewhere for them if Manasseh wanted them; but; nothing would do for him but that in the house of God itself must be built altars for the worship of the sun and all the host of stars.

2 Chronicles 33:6. And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards:

All which is imitated, nowadays, by certain persons who try to break through the veil which parts us from the spiritual world. Manasseh did this on a large scale.

2 Chronicles 33:6-11. He wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever: neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses. So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. And the Lord spoke to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

If you, you will not learn anywhere else, you, you will have to be taught among thorns, and in chains, and in exile. There are some men who will never go to Heaven except through a sea of affliction and trial. Oh, for wisdom to yield to almighty grace at once!

2 Chronicles 33:12-13. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him: and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.

He had set up Baal and Ashtareth; but now he knows who is the true God, and he bows before Jehovah.

2 Chronicles 33:14-17. Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah. And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places,

They do the same today, and we cannot get them away from them. Even some who love the gospel yet cling to the old Romish rites and ceremonies. Ah, men do love to multiply outward performances instead of spiritual worship! The one altar of Calvary is not enough for them; they must have many altars: "Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places."

2 Chronicles 33:17. Yet unto the Lord their God only.

So far, it was well; but it would have been better if they had given up all those altars.

2 Chronicles 33:18-20. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel, His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers. So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

The short passage, which I am going to read from the first chapter of Isaiah, seems to get a fine illustration in this story of Manasseh.

This exposition consisted of readings from 2 Chronicles 33:1-20; And Isaiah 1:2-19.

 

Chapter 34

 

Verses 14-33

 

2 Chronicles 34:14-15. And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord, And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.

This was a very remarkable find. Of all the discoveries that they might have made, they could have discovered nothing that would work so much good to all the people as this "book of the law of the Lord given by Moses."

2 Chronicles 34:16-19. And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to your servant, they do it. And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen. Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

Such was his horror upon discovering how they had all sinned, and how many terrible judgments were to be inflicted upon them because of all that long time of sin, that he rent his clothes.

2 Chronicles 34:20-21. And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king’s, saying, Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found:

Oh, that all who read God’s Book now would do as young Josiah did I If there be any difficulty in a book, the short way to get to understand it is to inquire of the author; and, surely, never is there greater wisdom than having read any of the deep mysteries or solemn threatenings in this Volume and feeling ourselves staggered by them, we inquire of the Lord concerning them. I believe that there is many a puzzling passage in the Bible on purpose that we may be driven to inquire of the Lord about it. If the Book were all so easy of understanding that, at the first reading of it, we could comprehend all its meaning, we might, perhaps, keep away from God; but he has purposely given us many dark sentences, and made the sense to be somewhat obscure in order that we may wait upon his enlightening Spirit and so obtain instruction, for the Spirit of God is more useful to us even than the Word itself is. Great as the blessing of the Book is, the blessing of the living Spirit is greater still, and anything is good that drives us to him. That which had influenced the mind of Josiah was the terror of the Book.

2 Chronicles 34:21-28. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book. And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spoke to her to that effect. And she answered them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Tell you, you the man that sent you, you to me, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah: because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched. And as for the king of Judah, who sent you, you to inquire of the Lord, so shall you, you say unto him, Thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the words which you, you have heard; because your heart was tender, and you, you did humble yourself before God, when you, you heard his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst yourself before me, and did rend your clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard you, you also, says the Lord. Behold, I will gather you, you to your fathers, and you, you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, neither shall your eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.

When God selects an instrument for his own service, how well he tunes it for the use to which it is to be put! Here is a woman, a married woman, and she is selected to be the Lord’s prophetess to the king; but never has any man spoken more bravely than she did. Her opening words show a holy courage which is lifted above all fear of men: "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Tell you, you the man that sent you, you to me," for before God kings are only men; and though Huldah was only a subject of Josiah, see with what real dignity God’s ordination had invested her. Josiah was not to succeed in the reformation of Israel. He was true and sincere, but the people were steeped in hypocrisy, and formality, and idolatry, and they did not go with the king in all his root and branch reforms. They still clung in their hearts to their idols, and therefore they must be destroyed, and the nation must be carried away captive. It was, however, a very singular promise that God gave to Josiah "I will gather you, you to your fathers, and you, you shall be gathered to your grave in peace." Yet he was mortally wounded in battle, so how could that promise be fulfilled ? You, you know how it could be. However we may die, — if sword or plague or fire consume the saints among the rest of mankind, their very deaths and graves are blessed. There was no fighting about Josiah’s grave; he was buried in peace. Pharaoh-Necho had smitten him, but he did not destroy the land; and Josiah was allowed to be buried amid the great lamentations of a people who only began fully to appreciate him when he was taken away from them.

2 Chronicles 34:29-30. Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord.

That was a grand Bible-reading, with a king for reader, and all his princes and all his people gathered to Listen to the Word of God. What could he have said better, had he been the greatest of orators ? To read out of this blessed Book must surely be to the edification of the hearers.

2 Chronicles 34:31-33. And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their father.

 

Chapter 35

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 36

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

NEHEMIAH

 

Chapter 1

 

Verses 1-11

 

Nehemiah 1:1-2. The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month, Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

Nehemiah was in a high office in Shushan the palace of King Artaxerxes, but his heart was at Jerusalem. He therefore remembered the very date, "in the month Chisleu," when some of his brethren came from Judah to visit him, for he was more interested in their coming than in any transaction of the court in which he was for a while employed. Observe the subject of this good man’s conversation: "I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem." Whenever Christian people meet together, they ought to make the subject of their mutual discourse an inquiry as to the progress of the Kingdom of God in the place where they respectively dwell. If you, you have come up from the country, we want you, you to tell us about the work of God in your village, or in the town to which you, you belong; are there many conversions there? We also will tell you, you about the work in London. Thus should Christian brethren commune with one another, and ask concerning Christ’s kingdom among men, and the progress that his gospel is making.

Nehemiah 1:3. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in, great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

They gave a correct description of the real state of affairs in Jerusalem; they did not color it, but they stated the actual facts. It is well, sometimes, to tell our Christian brethren about the low estate of Zion; where things are not prospering as they should, it is best to say so, and not to try to smother up the truth, and give a false report.

Nehemiah 1:4. And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of Heaven,

This good man was greatly affected by the sad news which he heard. He was not indifferent to, the condition of his countrymen; he did not say, "We are getting on very well here; I am a Jew, and I am in the palace of Artaxerxes, but I cannot do anything to help my brethren. You, you, who are away there at Jerusalem, must do the best you, you can." No; Nehemiah said no such thing; he looked upon himself as being part and parcel of the whole Jewish race, just as every true believer should regard all Christians as being near akin to himself. We are not twenty churches, brethren, nor two hundred; our Lord Jesus Christ is the head, and we are members of that one body which is his Church. We ought to sympathize with all who are in Christ; and, especially, if the cause of God is not prospering in any place, we. should do as Nehemiah did, he wept, and mourned, and fasted, and prayed before the God of Heaven. He tells us what he said in his prayer; these are, as it were, the shorthand notes of his supplication.

Nehemiah 1:5-6. And said, I beseech you, you, O Lord God of Heaven, the great and terrible God, that keeps covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: Let your ear now be attentive, and your eyes open, that you, you may hear the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you, you now, day and night, for the children of Israel your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against you, you: both I and my father’s house have sinned.

This is quite a model prayer. How earnest it is, and how truthful! Nehemiah recognizes the terrible side of God’s character as well as his mercifulness. He evidently had right views of God. Some people try to explain away all the passages of Scripture which represent God as a terrible God; whether they know it or not, they will find this course of action to be a great source of weakness to them in dealing with the ungodly. Nehemiah calls Jehovah "the great and terrible God;" but he adds, "that keeps covenant and mercy for them that love him." He tells us that he prayed before the Lord day and night. Of course, he had to attend to his daily duties, so that he could not always be upon his knees; but his heart was praying even while he was engaged with other matters; and as often as he could, he retired to his room, so that he might cry out unto God. Please to observe that he makes a confession of "the sins of the children of Israel." It is our duty as Christians, as it were, to take the great lead of the sins of the nation upon ourselves, and to make confession of them before God; if the guilty ones will not repent, we must repent for them; if they will not, confess their sins, we must confess their sins as though we stood in their stead. Nehemiah very pathetically says, "and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against you, you:" and then coming still more closely home, he adds, "both I and my father’s house have sinned."

Nehemiah 1:7-9. We have dealt very corruptly against you, you, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which you, you command your servant Moses. Remember, I beseech you, you, the word that you, you command your servant Moses, saying, If you, you transgress, I will scatter you, you abroad among the nations: But if you, you turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you, you cast out unto the uttermost part of the Heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

He quotes the covenant, and he pleads the promise of Jehovah. Now, there is no means of getting a man to do us a favor so powerful as this, to quote his own promise," You, you said you, you would do it." So, here, Nehemiah says, "Remember, I beseech you, you, the word that you, you command your servant Moses."

Nehemiah 1:10-11. Now these are your servants and your people, whom you, you have redeemed by your great power, and by your strong hand. O Lord, I beseech you, you, let now your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants, who desire to fear your name: and prosper, I pray you, you, your servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.

That is, in the sight of King Artaxerxes to whom he was about to speak.

Nehemiah 1:11. For I was the king’s cupbearer.

He counts this as a high privilege, that he would be able to speak for his people to the great king who would give him the opportunity to go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

 

Chapter 2

 

Verses 1-8

 

Nehemiah 2:1. And it came to pass in the month Nisan,

Three or four months after he began to pray.

Nehemiah 2:1. In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king.

We have in some of the old slabs and carvings some singular pictures of the dainty way in which the kings of Persia and Media were served by their cupbearers. They always spilled a little wine upon their left hand and drank first, for fear the king should be poisoned. So the greatest men of the different provinces of the empire were called by turns to act this part before the king. It was a piece of state ceremonial.

Nehemiah 2:1. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.

And there was a law—one of those stupid Median laws—that no man was to come before the king with a sad countenance. It was supposed that the king must be so serenely happy himself that none might come there unless they were happy, too. Nehemiah had been able to observe this rule, but on this occasion he did not, because he could not.

Nehemiah 2:2-6. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is your countenance sad, seeing you, you are not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, And said unto the king, Let the king live forever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchers, lies waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what do you, you make request? So I prayed to the God of Heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if your servant have found favor in your sight, that you, you would send me unto Judah, unto the city of my father’s sepulchers, that I may build it. And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,)

Who was, probably, queen Esther, and therefore abundantly agreeable that such a work should be done for her own nation. "The king said unto me."

Nehemiah 2:6. For how long shall your journey be? and when will you, you return? So it pleased the king to send me: and I set him a time.

He was a valued servant. They did not wish to part with him, and if he would go for a time to do this business, yet they take security that he should return. There are some servants that I know of, who, if they were to go away, their masters would not be particularly anxious that they should come back again. It is well when a man is so in favor with God that his piety acts upon his ordinary life, and he becomes in favor with men also. That is a poor, miserable religion that does not make its possessor a good servant. Yes, in whatever station of life we may be placed, we ought to be far more valuable to those round about us on account of our fearing God. May we always be of such a character that, if we were gone, we should be missed. "I set him a time."

This exposition consisted of readings from Nehemiah 1:1 to Nehemiah 2:8.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Verses 1-23

 

Nehemiah 4:1. But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we built the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.

It was needful to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, which had been lying in ruins. They went on pretty briskly, for everyone had a mind to work. There never was a good work yet but what there were some to oppose it, and there never will be until the Lord comes. Sanballat heard what the Jews were doing, and he was very angry. "He was wroth, and took great indignation." He was all on fire with anger that God’s work was being continued.

Nehemiah 4:2. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews?

The enemies of God’s people generally take to sneering. It is a very easy way of showing opposition. Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? No doubt these questions were thought to be very witty and very sarcastic. The enemies of Christ are generally good hands at this kind of thing. Well, if it amuses them, I do not know that it need hurt us much; for, after all, it is their way of paying homage to God’s power.

Nehemiah 4:3. Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.

Such a man as Sanballat never lacks friends. If there is a bad man anywhere, there is sure to be another close at hand. The devil does not make a fire with one stick. When he has set the first one alight, he can generally find a fagot to put near it. Tobiah the Ammonite, who was tarred with the same brush as Sanballat the Horonite, was by him.

Nehemiah 4:4-5. Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity; and cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before you, you: for they have provoked you, you to anger before the builders.

This was righteous indignation; but Nehemiah is not a perfect model for us. He was not only stern, but he mingled with his severity a measure of bitterness in his prayer that we must not imitate. Sometimes, when we have seen men plotting against God, seeking to ruin the souls of others, and trying to stop us in our endeavor to build up the church of God, we have felt such language as this trembling on our lips. It were better, however, for us to bow the knee, in humble imitation of our Lord upon the cross, and cry, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Nehemiah 4:6. So built we the wall.

You, you half expected to read, "So we stopped building the wall, and answered Sanballat and Tobiah." Not a bit of it. They kept to their work and let these two men scoff as they pleased.

Nehemiah 4:6. And all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.

They built the wall as high as they meant it to be ultimately; but they carried it all round, and joined it well together. If we cannot do all we would like to do, let us do what we can; and let us endeavor, as far as possible, to finish off the part that we do, waiting for better times to carry the walls higher.

Nehemiah 4:7. But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth

They were "wroth" before; now they were "very wroth." If a work has no opposition from Satan, we may be half afraid it is good for nothing. If you, you cannot make the devil roar, you, you have not done him much harm; but the more he roars, the more cause is there for the angels singing the praises of God before the throne.

Nehemiah 4:8. And conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.

It is wonderful how unanimous bad men can be. It has always struck me as a very startling thing, that you, you have never heard of any division among the devils in Hell. There are no sects among the devils; they seem to work together with an awful unanimity of purpose in their wicked design. In this one thing they seem to excel the family of God. Oh, that we were as hearty and united in the service of God as wicked men are in the service of Satan!

Nehemiah 4:9-10. Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. And Judah said, —

Judah, you, you know, was the lion tribe. Christ is "the Lion of the tribe of Judah." But Judah, instead of being lion-hearted, made a noise more like a mouse than a lion, for Judah said, —

Nehemiah 4:10. The strength of the bearers of burden is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.

Poor Judah! He ought to have been bolder and braver; but he was not. It is the same today; some who seem to be pillars, prove very weak in the hour of trial, and by their cowardice discourage the rest.

Nehemiah 4:11. And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, until we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.

While some were discouraging the people within the city, their enemies, without the walls, were plotting to take them by surprise, and slay them.

Nehemiah 4:12. And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence you, you shall return unto us they will be upon you, you.

These Jews ought to have been helping to build the wall; but they did not come to the help of the Lord’s people. Still, they were sufficiently friendly to tell Nehemiah of the plot that was being hatched by his enemies. God knows how, when his enemies are sinking a mine, to undermine them. If secrecy is necessary to the success of evil, somebody speaks out, and tells the story, so that the plot is discovered.

Nehemiah 4:13. Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

When Nehemiah knew the danger to which the people were exposed, he took measures to guard against it. I like the common-sense of Nehemiah. He kept families together. "I set the people after their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows." Beloved friends, I have no greater joy than such as I had last Tuesday, when I received five children of one family, all brought to Christ. May the Lord make our families to be the guards of the church!

Nehemiah 4:14. And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not afraid of them.

Fear may waken us, but it must never be allowed to weaken us. We should put on the armor, and take the sword and spear and bow when there is cause for fear; we should never dream of running away.

Nehemiah 4:14-15. Remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses. And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nothing, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.

There was no fighting after all. As soon as the enemy knew that their plot was found out, they did not make any assault. One commentator says: — "Some men, if they had been delivered from danger, would have returned every one to the ale-house; but these men returned every one to his work." They went back to their building, and continued still in the service of the city.

Nehemiah 4:16. And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. They which built on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.

They which built on the wall, and they that bore burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. The sword and the trowel both guarded the city and built the wall.

Nehemiah 4:18. For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so built. And he who sounded the trumpet was by me.

What the trumpet was for, we are told directly.

Nehemiah 4:19-20. And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. In what places, therefore you, you hear the sound of the trumpet, resort you, you thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.

That is a grand sentence. The moment you, you hear the trumpet, you, you are to leave your place on the wall, and come to the point where the enemy is attacking us. But Nehemiah does not say, "You, you shall fight for us," he puts it much better, "Our God shall fight for us." So he will still.

Nehemiah 4:21. So we labored in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared.

They made long days. Christian people do not want merely eight hours a day for Christ. We can sometimes do eighteen hours’ work for him in a day; and we wish that we could do twenty-four.

Nehemiah 4:22-23. Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labor on the day. So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes.

Nehemiah was a good leader. He did not say, "Go," he said, "Come"; and he bore the brunt of the service. Like Alexander, who went with the Macedonians into the rough places, and did the hard work, so did Nehemiah. He and those with him did not put off their clothes, even for sleeping.

Nehemiah 4:23. Saving that every one put them off for washing.

WHICH WAS NECESSARY FOR CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS. THE Lord SENDS US MORE NEHEMIAHS, and PLENTY OF PEOPLE TO WORK WITH THEM, WHO CAN ENDURE HARDNESS AS GOOD SOLDIERS OF JESUS CHRIST, and WHO WILL ALSO BE GOOD BUILDERS OF THE CHURCH OF GOD!

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 13

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

 

JOB

 

Chapter 1

 

Verses 1-5

 

Job 1:1. There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

That was Job’s character before the trial which made him famous; perhaps, if it had not been for that trial, we should never have heard of him; now, as the apostle James wrote, "You, you have heard of the patience of Job." God, by great; afflictions, gave to his servant that usefulness for which he had possibly prayed, without knowing how it would come to him. A long-continued life, of prosperity may not so truly glorify God as a life that is chequered by adversity; and God, who intended to put honor upon his servant, did as kings do when they confer the honor of knighthood, they strike with the, back or flat of the sword, so God smote the patriarch Job that he might raise him above his fellow men. The Lord intended to make him Job the patient, but to that end He must make him Job the sufferer. From this Book I learn what gospel perfection is. We are told that Job was perfect and upright, yet I am sure that he was not free from tendencies to evil, he was not absolutely perfect. As old Master Trapp says, "God’s people may be perfect, but they are not perfectly perfect;" and so it certainly was with Job. There were imperfections deep down in his character which his trials developed, and which the grace of God no doubt afterwards removed; but after the manner of speech that is used in Holy Scripture, Job was a "perfect" man; he was sincere, thorough-hearted, consecrated; and he was also "upright." He leaned neither this way nor that way, he had no twist in him, he had no selfish ends to serve. He was "one that feared God." Everybody could see that; and, consequently, he hated evil with all his heart.

Job 1:2. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

It was a great privilege to have such a family as this, but it brought to Job great responsibilities and many anxieties.

Job 1:3. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

A man may be a good man and a rich man, but it is not usually the case. I am afraid that what Mr. Bunyan says is all too true,-" Gold and the gospel seldom do agree; Religion always sides with poverty." Yet it should not be so, for God can give a man grace enough to use all his substance to his Lord’s glory. I wish that it were oftener the case that we could see a holy Job as well as a godly Lazarus, a company of men who would prove their consecration to God by never allowing their wealth to become their master, but being master of all their substance, and realizing constantly that it is all the Lord’s. This, after all, is the noblest heritage a man has with the exception of his God. Job, in adversity, could possess his soul in patience because, in his prosperity, he had not let his riches possess him, but he had possessed them.

Job 1:4. And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

This showed that it was not drunken riotousness, or they would not have wanted their sisters; the sweet, gentle, delicate influence of their sisters would tend to keep their feasting what it should be. Besides, they were the sons of a man of God, and so they would know how to keep their feasting within due bounds. Yet we are all mortal and fallible, and feasting times are dangerous times. The Puritans used to call fasting, soul-fattening fasting; but feasting, they might call soul-weakening feasting. Solomon truly said, "It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting." There is always a risk about feasting, and Job was therefore a little afraid about how his sons might have behaved.

Job 1:5. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts, Thus did Job continually.

They might have spoken unadvisedly with their lips, they might have even taken God’s name in vain, there ,night have been something about their conduct which was not altogether proper; so their father desired to put the sin of it; away. Observe Job’s resort to burnt offerings. He lived before the Jewish law was given, yet he felt the instinct concerning the need of a sacrifice which every believing heart feels when it approaches the holy God. I pray you, you, never give up that idea of coming to God by means of a sacrifice, for there is no other way of access. We may think as we will, but there is nothing else that will ever quiet the conscience, and bring us near to God, but the divinely-appointed sacrifice. And Job knew this; he did not think that his sons could be cleansed by his prayers alone, but he must offer burnt sacrifices according to the number of them all, that they might, every one have a share in, the blessings which those sacrifices typified.

Verses 1-22

 

Job 1:1. There was a man in the land of Uz,

Job was a man indeed; a true man, a man of the highest type, for he was a man of God.

Job 1:1. Whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright,--

Job was thoroughly true and sincere, and in this sense he "was perfect and upright,"-

Job 1:1. And one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

He had both sides of a godly character, a love of God and a hatred of sin.

Job 1:2. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

Job was highly favored in having such a family of sons and daughters.

Job 1:3. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

Job was not a poor man, yet he was a man of God;-one of those "camels" that manage to go through "the eye of a needle."

Job 1:4. And his sons went and feasted in their houses every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters-

Who were very modest and retiring, and would not have gone to the feast if they had not been sent for, but their brothers were kind and thoughtful, as all good brothers will be.

Job 1:4-5. To eat and to drink with them. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them,

Job did not go to the feast, perhaps he felt too old, his character was too stayed for such a gathering, and he had higher joys, that were nearer his heart than any earthly feast could be.

Job 1:5. And rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their heart. Thus did Job continually.

He thought, "Perhaps, in their rejoicing, unholy thoughts may have intruded; they may have been unguarded and lax in their conduct. They may not have fallen into my cross sin; but, in their feasting, they may have sinned against God, therefore I will offer sacrifices for them." "Thus did Job continually." Not only occasionally, but every day, he sacrificed upon his altar unto God, and so sought to keep his household right before Jehovah.

Job 1:6. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.

Into Heaven? Oh, no! The presence of God is very widespread, and there was no need to admit the evil spirit again into Heaven in order that he might be present before God.

Job 1:7. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence come you, you?

God is Satan’s Master, so he asks him where he has been. I wonder whether, if the Lord were to put that question to everybody here, "Whence come you, you?" each of us could give a satisfactory answer to it.

Job 1:7. Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

Uneasy, restless, ever active, like a roaring lion "seeking whom he may devour." Ah! we little know how near Satan is to us now; and even in our hours of prayer, when we are nearest to God, he may come and assail us.

Job 1:8. And the Lord said unto Satan, Have you, you considered my servant Job,-

"He is an example to you, you, he may well chide you, you, he is so obedient, and you, you are so rebellious: ‘Have you, you considered my servant Job,’"-

Job 1:8-9. That there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said,-

We may be certain that, if there had been anything bad in Job, Satan would have found it out, and brought it against him. However excellent a man is, though there are none like him on earth, you, you can find fault with him if you, you want to do so. Satan found fault with Job because he had prospered, and his friends afterwards found fault with him because he did not prosper; so you, you can make anything into a blot on the character of men if you, you have a mind to do so. "Satan answered the Lord, and said,"-

Job 1:9-10. Does Job fear God for nothing? Have not you, you made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every side?

The black dog of Hell had been prowling around to see where he could get in, so he knew that there was a hedge right round Job, and round his house and all that he had. Notice how the devil insinuates that Job feared God for what he could get out of him. "His love is cupboard love," says Satan; "he is well paid by providence for his reverence to God."

Job 1:10. You, you have blessed the work of his hands,-

Even the devil dared not deny that Job was a working man, or say that he had come by his estate by oppression or plunder. No; he said to God, "You, you have blessed the work of his hands,"-

Job 1:10-11. And his substance is increased in the land. But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you, you to your face.

Oh, what mischief Satan can imagine against the righteous! The mercy is that, although he is mighty, he is not almighty; he is very malicious, but there is One who is far wiser and stronger than he is, who can always circumvent and overpower him.

Job 1:12-15. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself put not forth your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: and there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them: And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yes, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell you, you.

Job had not wronged these Sabeans, they were plunderers on the lookout for spoil; and when Satan moved them, they came and stole the patriarch’s oxen and donkeys, and slew his servants.

Job 1:16. While he was yet speaking,-

As if to give Job no time to rally his faith and encourage his heart,-

Job 1:16. There came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from Heaven, and has burned up the sheep, and the servants and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell you, you.

This calamity must have distressed Job all the more because "the fire of God" had burnt up the sheep that he was accustomed to offer in sacrifice to Jehovah, and the blow had seemed to come directly from God himself, as it was lightning that had destroyed both sheep and shepherds too. Poor Job had not time to recover from that shock before the next blow fell upon him;-

Job 1:17. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels and have carried them away, yes, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell you, you.

He had not time to think before the heaviest stroke of all came:-

Job 1:18-19. While he was yet speaking there came also another, and said, Your Sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and, they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell you, you.

Satan had arranged to bring on the patriarch’s troubles so quickly one after another as to utterly overwhelm the good man; at least, so the devil hoped it would prove; yet it did not.

Job 1:20. Then Job arose,-

With all his burden on him, he arose,-

Job 1:20. And rent his mantle, and shaved his head,-

He did not pull his hair out as a Pagan, or a maniac, or a person delirious through trouble might have done; but he deliberately "rent his mantle, and shaved his head,"-

Job 1:20. And fell down upon the ground, and worshiped,-

Grand old man, how bravely does he play the man here! He "fell down upon the ground, and worshiped,"-

Job 1:21. And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither:

That is, to the womb of Mother Earth.

Job 1:21. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

I think these are the grandest words in the whole record of human speech. Considering the circumstances of the man at the time, that he should thus speak was, I think, a miracle of grace.

Job 1:22. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

 

Verses 6-22

 

Job 1:6. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.

Angels and all kinds of intelligent spirits had, as it were, a special, solemn, general assembly, — a great field-day, or levee. Perhaps, in stars far remote, in various parts of the universe, there was celebrated that day a high festival of honor unto Jehovah, but since sin has come into the world, since even among the twelve apostles there was a Judas, so in every assembly, even though it be an assembly of the sons of God, there is sure to be a devil: "Satan came also among them." If he is not anywhere else, he is sure to be where the sons of God are gathered together. Yet what impudence this is on his part, that he dares to come even into the assemblies of the saints! And what hardness of heart he must have, for he comes in as a devil, and he goes out as a devil! The sons of God offer their spiritual prayers inspired by the Holy Spirit, but the devil offers diabolical petitions suggested by his own malice.

Job 1:7. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence come you, you?

He is obliged to give an account of himself, he cannot go a yard from his door without divine permission.

Job 1:7. Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

Satan is always busy, never quiet; he cannot be still.

Job 1:8. And the Lord said unto Satan, Have you, you considered my servant Job, —

You, you see, Job is a man whom God calls his servant even in speaking to the devil, "Have you, you considered my servant Job?"

Job 1:8. That there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil?

God himself gives Job that high character. He is a non-such, he stands alone among mankind: "There is none like him in the earth." "Have you, you reckoned him up? Have you, you taken his measure, O you, you accuser of the brethren?"

Job 1:9. Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Does Job fear God for nothing?

Even the devil could not bring a charge against Job’s conduct; so he insinuated that his motives were not pure.

Job 1:10. Have not you, you made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every side?

"He finds that it pays, it answers his purpose to be devout."

Job 1:10-11. You, you have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you, you to your face.

See, the devil measures Job’s cow in his own bushel; but, happily, it was the measurement of a liar, so he measured amiss. There are still some who say, "Yes, it is a fine thing to be good when you, you are rich; it is a very easy thing to behave yourself aright when all goes smoothly with you, you. Would the man, who is such a devout servant of God now, be like that if he were in poverty, or if he were cruelly slandered, or if he were tested with contempt? Would the grace of God carry him over those rough bridges? His religion is a fine thing, no doubt; but if he were tried and tested we should see what he would do." Now, the Lord delights in proving the graces of his people, for it brings great glory to his name when experiments are made upon them, to test them and try them, and to let even their greatest adversary know how true they are, and what a divine work it is which God has wrought upon them.

Job 1:12. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself put not forth your hand.

Satan could go so far, but no farther, there is an "only" in the permission granted to him: "Only upon himself put not forth your hand."

Job 1:12-13. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house:

That was a bad day for trouble to come. Satan selected that day because it was a joyful day, and therefore it would make the trials of Job the more startling. Moreover if Job could have had his choice, he would have preferred that his trouble should come when his sons and his daughters were praying, not when they were feasting.

Job 1:14-15. And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them: And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yes, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell you, you.

The bad news comes to him all of a sudden, just when he is thinking of something very different. There is only one servant left to tell the tale, he was spared that Job might know that the news was true. If that one other servant had been killed, the tidings could only have reached Job as a rumor, that might or might not be true, but now, one of his own servants tells him the sad story, so there is no mistake about it. Ah! the devil knows how and where to strike when he does strike; yet this was only the first blow for poor Job, and there were heavier ones to follow.

Job 1:16. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from Heaven, and has burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell you, you.

Now, if that lightning had fallen on the Sabeans while they were robbing and plundering, one might not have wondered; but to fall on the flocks of a man of God who had clothed the naked with the fleeces of his sheep, and had presented many of the fat of the flock unto God in sacrifice, — that did seem strange. This trial, too, comes right upon the back of the other, and this one would appear to be more severe than the former one because it seemed to come distinctly from God. "The fire of God" — the lightning, "is fallen from Heaven, and has burned up the sheep."

Job 1:17. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yes, and slain the servants with the edge of the word; and I only am escaped alone to tell you, you.

Three such heavy blows will surely be enough to test the patriarch, but a fourth messenger came with the direst news of all.

Job 1:18-19. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell you, you.

Did any other man ever have to endure such a complication of trouble, such agonies piled one upon another with no respite? Job must have felt well-near stunned and choked by these consecutive griefs.

Job 1:20-22. Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshiped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

Oh, the triumphs of almighty grace! May God grant us such patience, if he sends us such trials, and unto him shall be the glory evermore!

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

Verses 1-21

 

Job was sorely troubled by the cruel speeches of his friends, and he answered them out of the bitterness of his soul. What we are first about to read is a part of his language under those circumstances.

Job 7:1. Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?

Is there not a certain time for each one of us to live? Is there not an end to all the trouble and sorrow of this mortal state? "Woe is me," says Job, "will this sad condition of things never come to a close? Must it always be thus with me?"

Job 7:2. As a servant earnestly desires the shadow, —

When the day shall close, and he can go to his home, —

Job 7:2-3. And as an hireling looks for the reward of his work: So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.

If that is the case with any of you, you, dear friends, you, you ought to be comforted by the thought that a better man than you, you are underwent just what you, you are enduring, and underwent it so as to glorify God by it. Remember what the apostle James wrote, "Behold, we count them happy which endure. You, you have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." But if our case is not so bad as Job’s was, if we are in good health, and surrounded by God’s mercy, let us be very grateful. Every morning that you, you wake after a refreshing night’s rest, praise God for it, for it might have been far otherwise, for you, you might have had wearisome nights through pain and suffering,

Job 7:4-5. When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day. My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.

Such was the dreadful disease under which this man of God labored, for the worst of pain may happen to the best of men. Sometimes, God ploughs his best fields most; and why should he not do so? Do not men try to do most with that which will yield most? And so God may most chasten those who will best repay the strokes of his hand. It is no token of displeasure when God smites us with disease; it may be an evidence that we are branches of the vine that bring forth fruit, or else he would not have taken the trouble to prune us.

Job 7:6. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.

His spirits are sunk so low that he had not any hope at all left; — at least, there was none apparent just then. O you, you poor tried children of God, I beseech you, you once again to see that you, you are only walking where others have gone before you, you! Mark their footprints, and take heart again.

Job 7:7-8. O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good. The eye of him that has seen me shall see me no more: your eyes are upon me, and I am not.

As if God only looked at him, and the very look withered him; or as if there was only time for God just to look at him, and then he disappeared as though, he had been but a dream, an unsubstantial thing. It is good, my brethren, sometimes to know what vanities we are; and if we complain that things around us are vanity, what are we ourselves but the shadows of a shade?

Job 7:9-12. As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away: so he that goes down to the grave shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more. Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I a sea, or a whale, that you, you set a watch over me?

Am I such a big thing, such a dangerous thing, that I ought to be watched like this, and perpetually hampered, and tethered, and kept within bounds? Ah, no! Job, you, you are neither a sea nor a whale, but something worse than either of them. So are we all, — more false than the treacherous sea, harder to be tamed than the wildest of God’s creatures. God does set a watch over us, and well he may. But hear Job’s complaint: —

Job 7:13-15. When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint; Then you, you scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions: So that my soul chooses strangling, and death rather than my life.

Were you, you ever in this terrible place, dear friend? Some of us have been there, and we have used the very language of Job; and yet, for all that, we have been brought up again out of the utmost depths of despondency into the topmost heights of joy. Therefore, be comforted, you, you poor prisoners. Through the bars and grating of your soul-dungeon, we would sing unto you, you this song, — the Lord, that has brought us forth, can bring you, you forth also, for "the Lord loosens the prisoners." The God of Job is yet alive, strong as ever for the deliverance of such as put their trust in him.

Job 7:16-17. I loathe it; I would not live always: let me alone; for my days are vanity. What is man, that you, you should magnify him? and that you, you should set your heart upon him?

Job seems to say, "I am too little for God to notice me; why does he make so much of me as to chasten me so sorely?"

Job 7:18-19. And their you, you should visit him every ,morning, and try him every moment? How long will you, you not depart from me, nor let me alone until I swallow down my spittle?

Blow followed blow in quick succession. Pain came fast upon the heels of pain until Job seems to have had no rest from his anguish. This is the mournful moaning of a man on a sick-bed, worn out with long-continued grief. Do not judge it harshly. You, you may have to use such words yourself, one day; and if you, you ever do, then judge not yourself hardly, but say, "I am only now where that eminent servant of God, the patriarch Job, once was, and the Lord who delivered him will also deliver me."

Job 7:20. I have sinned; what shall I do unto you, you, O you, you preserver of men?

We did not expect him to call God by that name; yet sorrow has a quick memory to recall anything by which it may be cheered. "You, you Preserver of men," says Job, "I have sinned: what shall I do?"

Job 7:20. Why have you, you set me as a mark against you, you,

"Drawing your bow, and directing all your arrows against my poor heart. Have you, you no butts that you, you must needs make me your target, and test your holy archery upon me?"

Job 7:20. So that I am a burden to myself?

Oh, what heavy words, "a burden to myself!"

Job 7:21. And why do you, you not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust;and you, you shall seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

Speaking after the manner of man, he seems to think that, if God does not pardon him soon, the pardon will come too late; for if God comes in mercy by-and-by, he will be dead and gone, and God may seek him, but he shall not be found. This is how men talk when they get a little off their head through the very extremity of grief. We, too, may perhaps talk in the same fashion, one day, so let us not condemn poor Job. Now let us read a few Verses in the 3rd chapter of the Gospel according to John, that we may be comforted. If any of you, you are laboring under a sense of sin, I would take you, you straight away to sin’s only cure.

This exposition consisted of readings from Job 7, and John 3:14-17.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Verses 1-20

 

The words we are about to read were spoken by one of Job’s three friends, — or what if I call them his three tormentors? These men did not speak wisely, and their argument was not altogether sound; but, for all that, in the instance before us, Zophar the Naamathite spoke that which was truthful. Although he made a great mistake in turning it against Job, yet what he said was in the main correct, and we may learn from it as we read it. Remember, dear friends, that whenever you, you read the words of these three men, you, you must take them with a good many grains of salt. They are not to be accepted as if they were God’s Word, because they are not. Those three men were mistaken in many points, yet very much of what they said was weighty and valuable, and is still worthy of our careful consideration.

Job 11:1-3. Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified? Should your lies make men hold their peace? and when you, you mockest, shall no man make you, you ashamed?

This was a very bitter and cruel speech, and Zophar was not using the language of friendship, or even of common courtesy. First, he charged Job with being a great talker, "a man full of talk." No doubt Job did speak well and eloquently; but to retort upon him that he was a man abundant in words, was a very cruel thing, especially when he was in such a condition of distress and suffering. Yet, dear friends, it is an evil thing to be men of tongue, and not of hand; it is a dreadful thing to be men — or, for the matter of that, women either — who are "full of talk," and therefore have no room for anything else. There are some people who seem to think that, simply by their volubility, they can carry all before them I In such a case, we may say with Zophar, "Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?" But he went beyond these questions, and charged Job with downright lying because he had pleaded his own innocence: "Should your lies make men hold their peace?" Zophar also insinuated that Job fumed and frothed, as it were, and spoke folly, which he certainly did not do, for he spoke in solemn, sober earnest if ever a man did.

Job 11:4. For you, you have said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in your eyes.

Job did not say that; at least, he did not say it in so many words. He did endeavor to prove his own innocence of the false charges that were brought against him; but he never said that he was clean in God’s eyes.

Job 11:5-6. But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against you, you; And that he would show you, you the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is!

Oh, that God would enable you, you, dear friends, to see your sin, and make you, you perceive that there is a double meaning in his law, — a deep, underlying, spiritual meaning, as well as that which is apparent on the surface, so that a man may be guilty of transgression even when he thinks it is not so! Oh, that God would unveil the secrets of his wisdom so as to make you, you see that he is wiser than all his works, that his hidden wisdom is double that which you, you have been able to perceive in nature, or in providence, and infinitely greater than he has ever made to appear before men’s eyes.

Job 11:6. Know therefore that God exacts of you, you less than your iniquity deserves.

That was a hard thing for Zophar to say to Job; but, still, it was true, and it is true in the case of all of us: "He has not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities." Even when a man sits down among the ashes, robbed of all his property, and bereaved of all his children, and when he has to scrape himself with a potsherd because of his many sore boils, even then it may be truly said to him, "God exacts of you, you less than your iniquity deserves."

Job 11:7. Can you, you by searching find out God? can you, you find out the Almighty unto perfection!

What wonderful questions these are! How they ought to convict those who glibly talk of God as if they could measure him with a foot rule, and understood exactly what he ought to do and ought to be. We are constantly meeting with statements that such-and-such a thing, which is revealed in Scripture, cannot be true, because it is inconsistent with the modern idea of the benevolence of God. Our only answer to the cavillet is, "Can you, you by searching find out God? can you, you find out the Almighty unto perfection?"

Job 11:8-9. It is as high as Heaven; what can you, you do? deeper than Hell; what can you, you know! The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

God is incomprehensible by any finite mind; and he is omnipotent, too.

Job 11:10. If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him!

If he sees fit to destroy men, or for a while to make them prisoners; or if he pleases to gather them together, and multiply them like the hosts of Heaven, who can hinder him?

Job 11:11. For he knows vain men he sees wickedness also; will he not then consider it?

Wickedness hidden under the veil of night, God sees as clearly as in the blaze of noon. Wickedness which never comes out of the heart, but tarries there, and does not lead into overt action, God sees it: "Will he not then consider it?" Of course he will.

Job 11:12. For vain man —

That is just what man is by nature; the best of men are vanity — emptiness:

"For vain man" —

Job 11:12. Would be wise,-

He pretends to wisdom; he wishes to be thought wise; he likes to wear a wise man’s title: "Vain man would be wise," —

Job 11:12. Though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.

As untamed, as ignorant, as willful as a wild ass’s colt, are we by nature. Zophar seems to think that he has sufficiently rebuked Job for pretending to be wise, and for complaining that God was dealing unjustly with him; so now he begins to admonish him to repent: —

Job 11:13-18. If you, you prepare your heart, and stretch out your hands toward him; If iniquity be in your hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in your tabernacles. For then shall you, you lift up your face without spot; yes, you, you shall be steadfast, and shall not fear: Because you, you shall forget your misery, and remember it as waters that pass away: And your age shall be clearer than the noonday; you, you shall shine forth, you, you shall be as the morning. And you, you shall be secure, because there is hope; yes, you, you shall dig about you, you, and you, you shall take your rest in safety.

It is a great mercy when God enables men to pursue their daily callings, and to take their nightly rest in safety; and it is a still greater mercy when they feel secure, whether they live or die, because they have a good hope concerning the hereafter. It is an unspeakable blessing when sin is washed away, and a man can lift up his face to God without spot, and walk in the light of Jehovah’s countenance all the day long.

Job 11:19-20. Also you, you shall lie down, and none shall make you, you afraid; yes, many shall make suit unto you, you. But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, —

Carefully notice this very solemn prophecy, — the eyes that have looked upon sin with pleasure, — the eyes that have flashed with lascivious desire, — the eyes that have dared to look towards God with defiance or derision, — "the eyes of the wicked shall fail," —

Job 11:20. And they shall not escape, —

To what place could they escape from God, when he is everywhere? During the days when the Roman empire extended all over the world, people said that the whole earth was one great prison for Caesar’s enemies; and the universe itself is a vast prison for those who are condemned of God. Where shall they go to avoid arrest? Where shall they fly to get beyond God’s reach? They cannot escape anywhere. There is neither hole nor corner, even in the affections of the mountains, or in the flinty hearts of the rocks, where a sinner can hide himself from the hand of God: "They shall not escape," —

Job 11:20. And their hope —

The last thing that ever dies, "their hope" —

Job 11:20. Shall be as the giving up of the Spirit.

Like death itself, their hope shall be. Then, if "their hope shall be as the giving up of the Spirit," what hope is there for them? Let us not have our portion with them, else we shall be as hopeless as they are.

 

Chapter 12

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 13

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 14

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 15

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 16

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 17

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 18

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 19

 

Verses 1-29

 

Job 19:1-2. Then, Job answered and said, How long will you, you vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?

They struck at him with their hard words, as if they were breaking stones on the roadside. We ought to be very careful what we say to those who are suffering affliction and trial, for a word, though it seems to be a very little thing, will often cut far more deeply and wound far more terribly than a razor would. So Job says, "How long will you, you vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?"

Job 19:3. These ten times have you, you reproached me: you, you are not ashamed that you, you make yourselves strange to me.

He means that they had reproached him several times over, and hints that they ought to have been ashamed to act so strangely, so coldly, so untenderly, towards him.

Job 19:4. And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remains with myself.

"I have done you, you no harm. The error, if error there be, is within my own bosom, for you, you cannot find anything in my life to lay to my charge." Happy is the man who can say as much as that.

Job 19:5-6. If indeed you, you will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach: Know now that God has overthrown me, and has compassed me with his net.

Job seems to say, "I did not bring this trouble upon myself; it is God who has laid it upon me. Take heed lest, in reproaching me because of my trouble, you, you should reproach God also. "I suppose that we cannot, all of us, see into the inner meaning of these words, but if we are in very sore trouble, and those who ought to comfort us are bringing cruel accusations against us, we shall read the language of Job with no small sympathy and satisfaction.

Job 19:7. Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.

Poor Job! When our prayer is not heard, or we think it is not, then the clouds above us are dark indeed. You, you who are passing through a season of unanswered prayer, do not imagine that you, you are the first to traverse that dreary way! You, you can see the footprints of others on that desolate sandy shore. Job knew what that experience meant, so did David, and so did our blessed Lord. Read the 2nd verse of the 22nd Psalm, and hear Jesus say, "O my God, I cry in the day-time, but you, you hear not; and in the night season, and am not silent."

Job 19:8. He has fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness in my paths.

God had done this, and done it to Job, whom he called "a perfect and an upright man." Then, how can you, you and I expect to escape trial and difficulty when such a man as the patriarch of Uz found his road blocked up, and darkness all around him?

Job 19:9-10. He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head. He has destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope has he removed like a tree.

That is, torn up by the roots, and carried down the stream, to be forgotten by the people who once knew it, and rejoiced in its welcome shade.

Job 19:11. He has also kindled his wrath against me, and he counts me unto him as one of his enemies.

Does God ever act like that towards his own children? Yes; there are times when, without any anger in his heart, but with designs of love toward them, he treats his children, outwardly, as if he were an enemy to them. See the gardener going up to that beautiful tree. He takes out a sharp knife, feels its edge to be sure that it is keen, and then he begins pruning it here, gashing it there, and making it to bleed in another place, as if he were going to cut it all to pieces. Yet all that is not because he has any anger against the tree, but, on the contrary, because he greatly values it, and wishes it to bring forth more fruit than it has ever done. Do not think that God’s sharpest knife means death to his loved ones; it means more life, and richer, fuller life.

Job 19:12. His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.

Troops of trouble, troops of Chaldeans and Sabeans, troops in which Job counted the stormy winds as terrible allies of the Most High, — all these had come up against Job, and he seemed to be like a country that is beaten down and devoured by powerful invaders.

Job 19:13. He has put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are truly estranged from me.

He looks on those so-called "friends" of his, and, remembering the bitter things they had said, he tells them that they are estranged from him.

Job 19:14-15. My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me. They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.

What a long way a child of God may be permitted to go in trouble! Ah, brethren! we do not know how those, who are most dear to God’s heart, may suffer all the more for that very reason: "for whom the Lord loves he chastens."

Job 19:16-17. I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I entreated him with my mouth. My breath is strange to my wife, though I entreated for the children’s sake of mine own body.

He mentioned to his wife those whom death had taken away, and asked her to speak kindly to him; but even she had hard words to throw in his teeth.

Job 19:18-20. Yes, young children despised me; I arose, and they spoke against me. All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me. My bone cleaves to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.

There is no skin upon the teeth, or scarcely any, and, therefore, Job means that there was next to nothing of him left, like the skin of his teeth.

Job 19:21. Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O you, you my friends; for the hand of God has touched me.

How pitiful it is that he has thus to beg for sympathy! This strong man —this most patient man — this perfect and upright man before God has to ask for sympathy. Do you, you wonder that it was so? HE, who was far greater than Job, ran back thrice to his sleeping disciples as if he needed some help from them, yet he found it not, for he had to say to them, "What, could you, you not watch with me one hour? "Let this be a lesson to us to try and possess affections of compassion towards those who are in sorrow and distress.

Job 19:22. Why do you, you persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

"If God smites me, why do you, you, who are round about me, do the same? Is it not enough that God seems to be turned against me? Why should you, you also be my enemies?"

Job 19:23-24. Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever!

Inscriptions have been found, graven in the rocks, that may have been done in the time of Job, and it was common, in ancient days, to write on tablets of lead or brass; so Job desired that what he was saying might be recorded for future reference, for he was persuaded that he was being hardly dealt with, and unjustly judged.

Job 19:25. For I know that my redeemer lives, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

"For I know," What a splendid burst of confidence this is, right out of the depth of his sorrow, like some wondrous star that suddenly blazes upon the brow of the blackest night, or like the sudden rising of the morning sun!

Job 19:26-28. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. But you, you should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?

Job seems to say, speaking about himself, though in the third person, "He is a devout man, can you, you not see that? He has faith in God, my friends, can you, you not perceive that? Wherefore, then, do you, you persecute him so?"

Job 19:29. Be you, you afraid of the sword: for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that you, you may know there is a judgment.

Now Job carries the war into the enemy’s camp; and he says, "You, you charge me with all sorts of sin, und yet you, you cannot deny that the root of the matter is in me. Would it not be much wiser for you, you to be yourselves afraid lest God should cut you, you off for falsely accusing me, and slandering me, in the time of my sorrow? "There we may confidently leave Job for the man who can truly say what he has said about his Redeemer, will come out all right at the last.

 

Chapter 20

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 22

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 23

 

Verses 1-17

 

Job is in great physical pain through the sore boils that cover him from head to foot; he is still smarting under all the bereavements and losses he has sustained; and he is somewhat irritated by the hard speeches of his friends. We read, in the second chapter of this book, that "they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him." "Job’s comforters," even to this day, are regarded as those whose room is preferred to their company. As the result of all the trials through which Job was called to pass, there is, in this chapter, somewhat of bitterness. We need not wonder at it; the wonder is that there is not more. You, you ought, in estimating a man’s actions or words, to judge of his circumstances at the time. Do not take Job’s words by themselves; but consider in what condition he was; think what you, you would have done if you, you had been in his place, and you, you will not censure him, as you, you might otherwise have done.

Job 23:1-2. Then Job answered and said, Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

He could not express all his pain. He felt that he did not complain too much. His stroke was heavier than his groaning. His words had bitterness in them; but he thought that they were justified by his affliction.

Job 23:3. Oh that I knew where I might find him!

Job longed to find his God; he wanted to come to him. He had been slandered by men; so he turns from the court of injustice below to the divine Court of King’s Bench above, where he is sure of a righteous verdict: "Oh that I knew where I might find him!"

Job 23:3. That I might come even to his seat!

To his mercy-seat, and even to his judgment-seat. Job was willing to appear even there.

Job 23:4. I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

He felt that he dared plead before God. He was not guilty of the things laid to his charge; so he would be bold to speak even before God’s judgment-seat. If Job had known a little more of God, as he did before his life ended, he might not have talked so glibly about ordering his cause before him, and filling his mouth with arguments. We remember how he afterwards spoke to the Lord, "I have heard of you, you by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye sees you, you. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Who among us would desire to come and argue our case with God without our heavenly Advocate?

Job 23:5. I would know the words, which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.

He was willing to hear God’s side of the argument, patient and anxious to understand the mind of God with whom he desired to plead. So far so good. There are some who do not wish to know what God would say unto them; so long as they may express their own passionate desires, they have no ear and heart waiting to hear the voice of God. Very beautiful is the next verse:

Job 23:6. Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.

He has confidence in the Lord that, if he could have an audience with him, God would not use his power against him; but, on the contrary, would strengthen him in order that he might state his case. Do I speak to a troubled heart here? Come to God with your burden. He will not use his power against you, you; but he will help you, you to plead with him. Trembler, come and bow at his feet! He will not spurn you, you, he wil1 lift you, you up. Despairing one, look to the Lord! He will not turn his wrath upon you, you; but he will help you, you to plead with him. "Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me."

Job 23:7-9. There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered forever from my judge. Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, where he does work, but I cannot behold him: he hides himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him.

Job had done his best to find his God. Forward, backward, to the right, and to the left, he had gone in all directions after him; but he could not find him. I know there are persons here tonight who are in that condition; and you, you will never rest, I hope, until you, you do find the Lord. He is not far from you, you. I trust that with many of you, you, tonight is the happy hour in which your long searching shall end in a delightful finding.

Job 23:10. But he knows the way that I take:

If I do not know his way, he knows mine. If I cannot find him, he can find me. Here is my comfort: "He knows the way that I take."

Job 23:10. When he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Here the true Job comes to the front. You, you get the gracious man once more on his feet. He staggered a little; but he stands firm now: "When he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold." So will you, you, my tried sister, my afflicted brother. The trial of your faith is but for a time; there will come an end to this furnace-work; and when God has tried you, you, tested you, you, and taken away your dross, he will bring you, you forth, and you, you will be pure gold, meet for the Master’s use.

"In the furnace God may prove you, you,

Thence to bring you, you forth more bright;

But can never cease to love you, you:

You, you are precious in his sight:

God is with you, you,

God your everlasting light."

Job 23:11. My foot has held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

Happy Job, to be able to say that, and to speak the truth; but there is a touch of self about it which we cannot quite commend. Be holy; but do not claim to be holy. Be you, you steadfast before God, firm in your obedience to him; but do not mention it; for your hope lies somewhere else. Yet we cannot condemn Job for declaring that he had kept God’s way. His friends were pleading against him, so he felt that he must defend himself.

Job 23:12. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Job was a happy man to be able to say that. I hope that many of you, you could say the same. If you, you were tried with great bodily pain and depression of spirit, you, you could say, through divine grace, "I have not turned away from God." These are days when we want men of principle; men who can put their foot down, and keep it down, men who cannot be turned aside. They call this firmness, "bigotry." It is, however, only another name for Christian manliness. If you, you dare to do right, and face a frowning world, you, you shall have God’s commendation, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Job 23:13. But he is in one mind, and who can turn him?

God has one mind, and he will carry out what he wills. It is vain for any man to think of turning him from his eternal purpose.

Job 23:13-14. And what his soul desires, even that he does. For he performs the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

You, you will find that men who are much tried fall back upon the granite foundation of the divine decree. God has ordained it, so they yield to it; they acquiesce in it because it is according to the eternal purpose of the Most High. Though we say little about it now, there may come a time when some of you, you will have to say, as Job does, "For he performs the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him."

Job 23:1. Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.

It is a bad sign when a man of God becomes afraid of God. Yet is there a holy awe which may degenerate into a servile fear which has bondage; but even this may be the foundation of a holy confidence which will keep us in obedience to the Lord.

Job 23:16. For God makes my heart soft, and the Almighty troubles me:

Are you, you saying that tonight? If so, I am glad you, you are here. I have, for many years, been compassed about with a large number of persons who come from the ends of England and Scotland, and from longer distances, too, in despair of soul, and seeking comfort; but I think that never in my life have I had more than I have had this week, persons unknown to me before, who are under conviction of sin, and feeling the hand of God heavy upon them. Hard tugs have I had to bring them out of Giant Despair’s Castle. The Holy Spirit alone can do this work; but he sometimes makes use of a sympathetic brotherly word to give light to those who are in the dark. I am praying that he may do so tonight; for there may be some here who say with Job, "God makes my heart soft, and the Almighty troubles me."

Job 23:17. Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither has he covered the darkness from my face.

He wished he had died before he came to such trouble, or that by some means such trouble had been turned away from him. May the Lord, if he sends you, you Job’s trouble, send you, you Job’s consolation! May he glorify himself by your patient endurance, if he lays upon you, you his heavy hand!

 

Chapter 24

 

Verses 1-25

 

Job 24:1. Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?

"Why do they live so long? Why do they appear to have such prosperity?"

Job 24:2-4. Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof. They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge. They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

"They are hard-hearted enough to rob even poor widows and orphan children."

Job 24:5. Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, go they forth to their work; —

Like wild donkeys, their work consists in going forth to do mischief.

Job 24:5. Rising early for a prey: the wilderness yields food for them and for their children.

For there are some so hard that they would skin a flint, and out of the wilderness would manage to get food. Yet such hard oppressors of others sometimes seem to prosper for awhile.

Job 24:6-12. They reap everyone his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked. They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold. They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter. They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor. They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry; Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst. Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries out: yet God lays not folly to them.

He lets them alone, leaves them to do as they please. So it seems; but this is not the day of judgment, and this is not the place of final retribution. Now and then, God flashes forth his anger against some gross sinner or some national crime; but as for the most of men’s sins, he bears with them until that tremendous day shall come, which draws on apace, when he shall hang the heavens in sackcloth, and hold the last assize, and every man shall receive according to his works.

Job 24:13-17. They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. The murderer rising with the light kills the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguises his face. In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light. For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

These are the men who plunder secretly, who rob, yet cannot bear to be known as thieves.

Job 24:18. He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth:

There was no curse upon Job, and no curse can come near the true child of God; his scanty portion is still blessed. But the large portion of the ungodly is cursed even while he is in the earth.

Job 24:18-20. He beholds not the way of the vineyards. Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so does the grave those which have sinned. The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him;

What a sarcastic utterance! This man, who lorded it over others, — how glad the worm shall be to get at him! This fat worldling shall be a rich feast for the worms.

Job 24:20. He shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.

It shall snap off, and be brought to an ignominious end.

Job 24:21-24. He evil entreats the barren that bears not: and does not good to the widow. He draws also the mighty with his power: he rises up, and no man is sure of life. Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he rests; yet his eyes are upon their ways. They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

In the East, they generally reap their harvest by just taking off the tops of the ears of corn, and leaving the straw. Thus will the wicked be cut off.

Job 24:25. And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

Job challenges all men to contradict what he affirms, — that the righteous may be greater sufferers, and the wicked may for awhile prosper, but that God will, in the end, overthrow the ungodly, and establish the righteous.

This exposition consisted of readings from Job 23, 24.

 

Chapter 25

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 26

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 27

 

Verses 1-23

 

Remember that Job’s friends had accused him of having committed some great sin; which would account for his great sorrows. The good man is naturally very indignant, and he uses the strongest possible language to cast away front himself with horror the charges which they brought against him in the day of his grief.

Job 27:1-4. Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, As God lives, who has taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who has vexed my soul; all the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my tips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.

He felt that; it would be wicked for him to confess to what he had never done; it would be deceit for him to acknowledge crimes which he had never committed. Therefore he most solemnly asseverates, by the living God, that he never will permit the falsehood to pass his lips. He had not transgressed against God in the way his friends insinuated, and he would not own that he had.

Job 27:5. God forbid that I should you, you: until I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.

We are bound to keep to the truth. No man is permitted, with mock humility, to make himself out to be what he is not. Job was right, so far, in standing up, for the integrity of his character, for he was a man of such uprightness that even the devil could not find fault with him. He was such a holy man that God could say to Satan, "Have you, you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one, that fears God and eschews evil?" And all that the devil could do was to insinuate that he had a selfish motive for his goodness. "Have not you, you made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every side? You, you have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth your hand now, and touch all that; he has, and he will curse you, you to your face." Job was upright, yet we are never so right but what there is a mixture of wrong with our right. A man may very easily become self-righteous when he is defending his own character; there may be a 1ack of admissions of faults unperceived; there may be a blindness to faults that ought to have been perceived; and something of that imperfection, doubtless, was in the patriarch.

Job 27:6. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.

There he went too far, for he had not yet seen God as he afterwards saw him. Before man, there was nothing with which he needed to reproach himself; but how he changed his tone when God drew near to him! Then he said, "I have heard of you, you by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye sees you, you. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." IF we knew more of God, we should think less of ourselves. If those who consider themselves perfect had any idea of what perfection is, their loveliness would be turned in them to corruption.

Job 27:7-8. Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he who rises up against me as the unrighteous. For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained, when God takes away his so.

That is a very solemn, searching question; if a man does try to play fast and loose with God, if he be a hypocrite, and if he should gain by his hypocrisy all that he tries to gain, namely, repute among men, "what is his hope when God takes away his soul?" Then, his hope is turned to horror, for he has to stand before him who cannot be deceived, but who reads him through and through, and casts him away because he has dared to insult his Maker by attempting to deceive omniscience. Oh, may you, you and I never play the hypocrite’s part! There cannot be a more foolish thing; and there cannot be a more wicked thing.

Job 27:9. Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him?

That is one of the tests of the hypocrite: "Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him?" Will the hypocrite cry to God at all? Will he not give up even his profession of religion when he loses his prosperity? And if he does cry, will God hear the double-tongued man?

Job 27:10. Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God?

These questions, while they condemn those who are hypocrites, are comforting to many a sincere heart. Dear friend, do you, you delight yourself in God? Do you, you really admire him, love him, and seek to glorify him? Then you, you are no hypocrite, for no hypocrite ever found delight in religion, and especially no hypocrite ever found delight in God himself. "Will he always call upon God?" No, there are certain times when he will cease to pray. Pleasure enchants him, and he will not pray; or perhaps he is so discouraged and despairing that he cannot pray. There are times when the hypocrite gives up praying, but the Christian cannot give it up; it is his vital breath, he must pray. No sorrow is so deep as to take him off it; no joy is so fascinating as to seduce him from prayer; but as for the hypocrite, "Will he always call upon God?" No, you, you may rest assured that he will not.

Job 27:11. I will teach you, you by the hand of God:

Or, better, as the margin runs, "I will teach you, you being in the hand of God." Being himself chastened, and experiencing the teaching of God, Job says to his friends, "I will teach you, you."

Job 27:11-14. That which is with the Almighty will I not conceal. Behold, all you, you yourselves have seen it; why then are you, you thus altogether vain? This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty. If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

If God does not visit the hypocrite with punishment in his own person, it will certainly fall upon the next generation.

Job 27:15-18. Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep. Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay; he may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver. He builds his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper makes.

"He builds his house as a moth," which makes its home in the cloth, but the servant’s brush knocks it all out, and destroys the moth’s children, too. "And as a booth that the keeper makes." The hypocrite’s house is no better than that little shanty which the keeper of a vineyard puts up with a few boughs or mats, to sit under it from the heat of the sun. God saved us from being such poor builders as this! May we build a house that is founded on the rock!

Job 27:19. The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he opens his eyes, and he is not.

He has grown rich by oppression, he has become great in the land by his hypocrisy; but he speedily goes down to the grave. God looks at him, and he is gone.

Job 27:20. Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest steals him away in the night.

This is a parallel passage to that word of our Lord, "But he who hears, and does not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great."

Job 27:21. The east wind carries him away, and he departs: and as a storm hurls him out of his place.

These are your great ones, your proud ones, your strong men that fear nothing, and would insure their own lives to a certainty for the next twenty years; see how they go. Shadows are not more evanescent, a poor moth is not more easily crushed.

Job 27:22. For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would gladly flee out of his hand.

The man would escape from God if he could. It was Job’s glory, as we read just now, that he was in God’s hand; but the hypocrite would gladly flee out of God’s hand, yet that is altogether impossible.

Job 27:23. Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

Such ignominy shall be poured upon the hypocrite at last that all mankind shall endorse the sentence of God which condemns him; and shame and everlasting contempt shall be his portion. The Lord save all of us from such an awful doom, for Christ’s sake! Amen.

 

Chapter 28

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 29

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 30

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 31

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 32

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 33

 

Verses 1-33

 

This is a speech of young Elihu, who had sat quietly listening to the taunting words of the three "candid friends" of Job, and to the somewhat exasperated replies of the patriarch. At last, the young man breaks the silence, and with some dignity, and quite sufficient of self-content, he thus addresses himself to Job: —

Job 33:1. Wherefore, Job, I pray you, you, hear my speeches, and hearken to all my words.

"I am but a young man, but I speak because I cannot be quiet. An impulse moves me; I am as a vessel wanting vent. I desire to speak impartially; therefore, hear me, but hear all that I have to say; do not listen merely here and there to a part of my speech, but hearken to all my words." Sometimes, it is very necessary to beg our hearers not to run away with only one sentence, or even with one sentiment. "Hear my speeches, and hearken to all my words," for there is a proportion in truth, and one truth has to be balanced with all the others. A statement may be all the better for being unguarded, more forcible because it stands alone; and yet it may need that another statement should be heard with it, lest it should be misunderstood. Wherefore the preacher also says to his hearer, "I pray you, you, hear my speeches, and hearken to all my words."

Job 33:2. Behold, now I have opened my mouth, my tongue has spoken in my mouth.

That is to say, "I speak with much solemnity, not as one who chatters without sense, or without due consideration, but I have opened my mouth deliberately, as one who has something to say; and I speak with my best powers of speech, as one who wishes to persuade those who hear him."

Job 33:3. My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart: and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly.

What a lesson this is to those of us who preach to others, — that we speak out of the uprightness of our heart, and feel that, however others may judge us, we are sincere before God in what we say! How necessary also is it, especially in these days, that we should speak plainly, so as to be easily understood! Some men never think clearly, and therefore they never speak clearly; and, oftentimes, the darkness of a man’s speech is only the result of the darkness of his mind; he has no clearly-defined notion of what he has to say. Let every young man who has to teach others resolve that this utterance of Elihu shall be his also, "My lips shall utter knowledge clearly."

Job 33:4. The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life.

That is to say, "I am as much the creature of God as these three old gentlemen are, these three wise friends who have spoken so tartly. I am as much endowed with the Spirit of God as you, you are, O Job, and therefore I speak to you, you in his name." Should not this be a lesson to every one of us to try and do all that we can for God? Every Christian may say, "’The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life.’ Therefore let me use my very existence, the life that is breathed into me, for that Almighty Creator who has made me what I am."

Job 33:5. If you, you can answer me, set your words in order before me, stand up.

He who speaks reason is ready to hear reason. It is only the unreasonable talker who will not allow others to have a word to say in reply. "If you, you can answer me," says Elihu to Job, "set your words in order before me, stand up."

Job 33:6. Behold, I am according to your wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay.

Job had wished that someone would stand up and speak for God, someone without the terror that seemed inseparable from the Infinite, someone without the power of Omnipotence, someone who would be more nearly his equal, with whom he could debate the questions which perplexed him, so Elihu says, "I am according to your wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay."

Job 33:7-11. Behold, my terror shall not make you, you afraid, neither shall my hand be heavy upon you, you. Surely you, you have spoken in mine hearing and I have heard the voice of your words, saying, I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me. Behold, he finds occasions against me, he counts me for his enemy, he puts my feet in the stocks, he marks all my paths.

Elihu did not make this excuse for Job, that he had been slandered by his friends, and that his statement of innocence was not so much absolute towards God as it was defensive towards men. Still, there is no doubt that Job had gone too far in this direction. Perhaps, for this very reason, his troubles had come upon him, because he was in a measure self-righteous. In some small degree, at any rate, he may have prided himself upon his personal excellence. Elihu does well, therefore, in all faithfulness, to point out the blot in what Job had said.

Job 33:12-13. Behold, in this you, you are not just: I will answer you, you, that God is greater than man. Why do you, you strive against him? for he gives not account of any of his matters.

This man seems to have the very spirit that rested upon the apostle Paul when he was arguing with an objector against the Lord’s way of working, "Nay but, O man, who are you, you that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you, you made me thus?" The greatness and grandeur of the Eternal should prevent our raising objections against anything that he does. Who are we, the moths of a moment, the creatures of an hour, that we should interrogate the Infinite and question our Maker? What he does must of necessity be right; though we cannot understand how it is so, we must believe it, and meekly bow to the will of the Lord.

Job 33:14-17. For God speaks once, yes twice, yet man perceives it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.

It is ever one great object of the divine dealings to make and keep us humble. It is strange that creatures so insignificant as we are should be perpetually infected with the foul disease of pride; this form of mental scarlet fever continually breaks out in puny man, and therefore God deals with him that he may "hide pride from man."

Job 33:18-19. He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:

Pain of body is usually looked upon as a great evil, and doubtless it is so in some respects; but it wraps up within itself great mercy. There are some who can scarcely be taught at all except through physical pain; and if it were possible to abolish sickness and suffering, where would men go in the wantonness of their strength? Does not this very affliction often chide man, and bid him think, and cause him to return to his Maker, when, otherwise, he would be as thoughtless as the beasts that perish?

Job 33:20-24. So that his life abhors bread, and his soul dainty meat. His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out. Yes, his soul draws near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness: then he is gracious unto him, and says, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.

Happy is the messenger who comes with such a message as that. Such was the prophet Isaiah to Hezekiah when the king was sick unto death, such is the minister of God’s Word when he comes with glad tidings of redemption, and God through him says of the spiritually sick man, "Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom."

Job 33:25-28. His flesh shall be fresher than a child’s: he shall return to the days of his youth: He shall pray unto God, and he will be favorable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness. He looks upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.

See the easy terms of God’s love and mercy. The man does but confess that he has sinned, he owns that he has perverted the right, he confesses that he has gained no profit thereby; and God, seeing him in such a state of heart as this, delivers his soul from going down to the pit, and his life shall see the light. What a gracious God we serve! How cruel to continue to offend him when he is so ready to forgive!

Job 33:29-30. Lo, all these things works God oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.

The chastisement of sickness and the flagellation of pain whip the sinner back to him who alone can save him. These are the black dogs of the Great Shepherd with which he brings back wandering sheep until they come again under his crook, and he leads them into green pastures.

Job 33:31-33. Mark well, O Job, hearken unto me: hold your peace, and I will speak. If you, you have anything to say, answer me: speak, for I desire to justify you, you. If not, hearken unto me: hold your peace, and I shall teach you, you wisdom.

May the Lord graciously apply to all our hearts this instructive portion of Old Testament Scripture! There is a message in it to each of us as well as to the patriarch Job, to whom it was specially addressed.

Verses 6-33

 

This is part of the speech of young Elihu, who had listened with much patience, but also with great indignation, to the harsh speeches of Job’s three friends and to Job’s self-righteous answers.

Job 33:6-7. Behold, I am according to your wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay. Behold, my terror shall not make you, you afraid, neither shall my hand be heavy upon you, you.

Job had wished that he could argue his case with the Lord himself. If God would only withdraw the terror of his presence from him, he would like to come even to his seat, and plead with him. "Oh!" said he, "that there were one who would stand between me and God, that I might plead with him!" "Here am I," answered Elihu, "I am the man you, you want. God has sent me, now come, and plead with me. There is no terror in me to make you, you afraid; neither have I any heavy hand to crush you, you."

Job 33:8-10. Surely you, you have spoken in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of your words, saying I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me. Behold, he finds occasions against me, he counts me for his enemy.

Elihu puts the case very plainly. "There, Job, you, you have said that you, you are perfectly innocent, and yet you, you are made to suffer. You, you have brought a charge against God, that he seeks occasion against you, you, and treats you, you, who have always been his faithful friend, as though you, you were his enemy. You, you said," —

Job 33:11-12. He puts my feet in the stocks, he marks all my paths. Behold, in this you, you are not just: I will answer you, you, that God is greater than man.

Here is the core of the whole matter. Whenever you, you and I begin to impugn the justice of God, we ought to remember who we are, and what he is. There is no comparison between us and the great God over all, blessed forever; and for us to begin to charge him with injustice, or unkindness, is a desperately wicked action, of that we may be quite sure at the very outset.

Job 33:13. Why do you, you strive against him? for he gives not account of any of his matters.

It is not for us to summon God to appear before us, as if he were our servant, and we were his master, or to arraign him before our judgment seat, and to sit there as if the Holy One of Israel were a felon, who must answer for his crimes. It is high treason, and blasphemy against the Most High, for us to think of sitting in judgment upon him. This was Paul’s way of putting the matter when someone raised a question about the divine decree. Paul did not answer the objector, except by saying, "Nay; but, O man, who are you, you that replies against God?" Let the moth contend with the flame, let the wax fight with the fire, let the stubble strive with the whirlwind, but as for us who are less than nothing let us have no disputes with God. The fact is, God’s dealings with us have an object, he treats us sometimes with stern severity for our good. We cannot always see the end from the beginning; but God has an end, and a gracious end, too, in all his dealings with his people.

Job 33:14-22. For God speaks once, yes twice, yet man perceives it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: so that his life abhors bread, and his soul dainty meat. His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen and his bones that were not seen stick out. Yes, his soul draws near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.

Yet in all this, God is dealing with man in love and mercy. Man is a strange creature; he will not go in the right way by being drawn, so full often he must be driven. There is a whip for a horse, and a bridle for an donkey, a rod for a fool’s back, and we are such fools that we must often feel that rod, and sometimes to a very painful extent, until our soul draws near unto the grave, and our life to the destroyers.

Job 33:23-24. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand to show unto man his uprightness: Then he is gracious unto him, and says, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.

Oh, what precious words! There is One with God, One of a thousand, the Chief among ten thousand, the Messenger of the covenant, the Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. When he comes in, and makes man to see God’s wondrous mingling of justice and mercy, then God turns in infinite grace upon the starving, dying sinner, and says, "Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom."

Job 33:25-28. His flesh shall be fresher than a child’s: he shall return to the days of his youth: He shall pray unto God, and he will be favorable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness. He looks upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.

Some Thursday nights ago, there strayed into this place one who had long hated God, and who had openly expressed his hatred of him. He was much prayed for by friends, but he was desperate in his wickedness. He little dreamed, when he left his home, that he would come into this place; but so he did, and here in this house God met with him, and renewed his heart, and made him to rejoice in the God he once despised. Here was a fulfillment of this text, and I pray that it may be fulfilled again tonight.

Job 33:29-33. Lo, all these things works God oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.

Mark well, O Job, hearken unto me: hold your peace, and I will speak. If you, you have anything to say, answer me: speak, for I desire to justify you, you. If not, hearken unto me: hold your peace, and I shall teach you, you wisdom.

 

Chapter 34

 

Verses 1-37

 

Job 34:1-3. Furthermore Elihu answered and said, Hear my words, O you, you wise men; and give ear unto me, you, you that have knowledge. For the ear tries words, as the mouth tastes meat.

I wish that verse was always true, especially concerning those who hear what purports to be the gospel; I only wish they would test and try what they hear, just as, with their mouth, they taste what they eat. But, as there are some persons who will eat anything that is set before them, so there are some who will accept anything that they hear, without exercising any spiritual discernment whatever. "It is cleverly put," they say, and therefore they receive it; yet they would scarcely be foolish enough to eat unhealthy food simply because it was skillfully carved.

Job 34:4-5. Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good. For Job has said, I am righteous: and God has taken away my judgment.

Yes, Job had said something like that, yet not quite that. He had denied the charges of gross sin which his friends brought against him, and he had, in that sense, declared that he was righteous, and so he was. There may have been in Job a little of the spirit which Elihu here denounces; he may, perhaps, have thought that God had not dealt well with him, in letting him fall into so much trouble, seeing that he was a righteous man. This notion, Elihu will not permit to pass unchallenged. Mistaking Job’s meaning, he denounces it, just as I have heard preachers sometimes give a description of Calvinism such as it never was, and then they have proceeded to burn the man of straw which they have themselves made. It is one of the easiest things in the world to misquote or misinterpret your opponent’s statement, and then denounce it, and think you, you have confuted him, whereas you, you have only dissipated the chimera of your own brain. Elihu proceeds to deal with Job in this fashion.

Job 34:6-9. Should I lie against my right ? my wound is incurable without transgression. What man is like Job, who drinks up scorning like water? Which goes in company with the workers of iniquity, and walked with wicked men. For he has said, It profits a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.

He did not mean that Job did really go into the company of the wicked; but that, in his saying that it had been no profit to him that he should delight himself with God,—which Elihu declares that Job said, though I do not remember that he ever did say so,—he was making himself the associate of ungodly men. Any of us would be doing so if we, in our sorrowful moments, should say that we had derived no profit from delighting ourselves with God. It would not be true; it would be a rebellious and wicked speech, and, in some degree, it would be an atheistic speech.

Job 34:10. Therefore hearken unto me, you, you men of understanding : far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.

That was well spoken. Let us never, even for a moment, imagine that God can do anything that is unrighteous or unjust. God is a sovereign, and therefore he may do as he wills with his own grace; but there is never any injustice in any of the acts of his sovereignty. He is infinitely wise, and just, and merciful, in all that he does. He does as he wills, but he never wills to do anything that could possibly be better done. His own will is the best that can be.

Job 34:11-17. For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways. Yes, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. Who has given him a charge over the earth? or who has disposed the whole world? If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust. If now you, you have understanding, hear this: hearken to the voice of my words. Shall even he who hates right govern?

Do you, you suppose that it could be so,—that the Governor of all the earth should hate that which is right? This would be rank blasphemy.

Job 34:17. And will you, you condemn him that is most just?

Will you, you, poor puny mortal, arraign the Most High, and dare to condemn him who is most just?

Job 34:18-19. Is it fit to say to a king, You, you are wicked? and to princes, You, you are ungodly? How much less to him that accepts not the persons of princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.

This is the same kind of argument as Paul used in writing to the Romans: "Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you, you made me thus?" Shall the potter’s clay resist the power of the potter, who assuredly has the right to do what he wills with his own clay? And if we do not speak lightly against princes, much less should we speak against the King of kings and Lord of lords, whose infinite majesty fills all things, What, after all, are princes, and rich men, and great men, in comparison with the great God who made them all? "They all are the work of his hands."

Job 34:20. In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.

An invisible power takes away the strength of which they boasted, and then, what does the prince become, with all his glory, or the warrior, with all his victories? What, but so much corruption that must be buried out of sight?

Job 34:21-22. For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he sees all his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

How gloriously is this great truth put! This Elihu was a man of real eloquence; what a weighty sentence is this! How worthy to be treasured up in the memory! "There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves." Not even in the grave can they be concealed from the eye of God; and if it were possible for them to hide beneath the skirts of death himself, yet would God perceive them, and drag them forth to judgment.

Job 34:23. For he will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God.

For, if man were ill treated, and more were laid upon him than ought to be, he would have cause to enter into judgment with his Maker. But God will never compromise his own eternal holiness after such a fashion as this. He will not lay upon man more than is right. You, you who are greatly afflicted, and in sore distress, ought to believe this; and if the Spirit of God shall give you, you a full conviction of the truth of it, it will afford you, you great comfort. The waves of your distress will come just as far as God wills, but at his bidding they must stay, as stays the sea in the fullness of its pride when Jehovah says to it, "Hitherto shall you, you come, but no further." Therefore, leave your case in his hands, for he will not lay upon you, you more than is right.

Job 34:24-28. He shall break in pieces mighty men without number, and set others in their stead. Therefore he knows their works, and he overturns them in the night, so that they are destroyed. He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others; because they turned back from him, and would not consider any of his ways: so that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he hears the cry of the afflicted.

It is a dreadful thing for princes and great men when the poor begin to cry unto God against them. God will soon take up that quarrel; for, while the cries of mere politicians and partisans are unheeded by him, the cry of the afflicted always commands his attention, and he will, in due time, rectify all that is wrong.

Job 34:29. When he gives quietness, who then can make trouble?

This is a most comforting question; for, if God gives quietness to the spirit, nobody can really trouble you, you. When Christ has once spoken peace to our heart, and given us a holy calm, then are we glad because we be quiet, and who is he who can raise a storm in our soul again? "The peace of God, which passes all understanding," also passes all distraction. It cannot be broken by all the devils in Hell. Oh, how blessed is this assurance!

Job 34:29. And when he hides his face, who then can behold him?

If God will not be seen, who can possibly see him? If he grows wroth with a man, and leaves him, what can that man do? When even his own beloved people no longer see his face, what joy can be theirs? What can make day when the sun is gone? What can make joy when Christ is gone?

Job 34:29-30. Whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only: that the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared.

God has ways of dealing with his children by which he weeds out hypocrites, lays them low, and does not suffer them to have rule over his people.

Job 34:31. Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:

That is the spirit of the true-born child of God: "Father, I know that what I have suffered is a chastisement from your hand, and I accept it as such. ‘I will not offend any more,’ I quit the sin that grieved you, you."

Job 34:32. That which I see not teach you, you me:

"Show me wherefore you, you contend with me. Point out to me the evil which you, you would have me put away."

Job 34:32-35. If I have done iniquity, I will do no more. Should it be according to your mind? he will recompense it, whether you, you refuse, or whether you, you choose; and not I: therefore speak what you, you know. Let men of understanding tell me, and let a wise man hearken unto me. Job has spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom.

This man is getting proud and conceited, I think. He spoke well when he was defending God against all charges and complaints; but now that he turns upon Job, the patriarch is a wiser man and a better man than he is. Elihu is not fit to unloose the latchets of Job’s shoes, yet he begins to accuse him. It sometimes happens that dogs bark at their masters, yet the masters are not to be blamed; and it is not always the best man who reproves others. Sometimes, a very foolish man will be the loudest in his rebukes of those who are wiser and better than himself, and will find fault with those whom he ought to commend. It was so in the case of Elihu and Job.

Job 34:36-37. My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because of his answers for wicked men. For he adds rebellion unto his sin, he claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God.

Well, thank God, we are not going to be judged by Elihu, nor by any other of our fellow-creatures; to our own Master we stand or fall, and if we trust in him, he will make us to stand even in the great day of judgment itself, blessed be his holy name!

 

Chapter 35

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 36

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 37

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 38

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 39

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 40

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 41

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 42

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

PSALMS

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Verses 1-12

 

Psalms 2:1-3. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

The conspiracy was both strong and influential, The kings and the rulers combined against Jehovah and against his Christ. They were very determined; they set themselves with resolute purpose; they took counsel together. They were full of a horrible enthusiasm; they raged; they thought the work as good as done, but they imagined a vain thing. The fight was against Jehovah, and against his Anointed, the Christ, the Messiah. What came of it all? Did they break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from them? Listen: -

Psalms 2:4. He who sits in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

For what can mortals be as compared with the Eternal? The fire can readily enough consume the tow. Shall men set themselves in opposition to omnipotence, and hope to prosper? And when God determines to glorify his anointed Son, shall worms of the dust prevent him from doing so’? What can come of all their opposition? God simply laughs at them, Jehovah has them in derision.

Psalms 2:5. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

He scarcely needs to lift his hand, he has only to speak; and when Jehovah speaks in wrath, his words are thunderbolts. Men’s hearts are indeed troubled when God’s words come hot with anger into their spirits. This is what God said:-

Psalms 2:6. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

"You, you have raged, you, you have deliberated, you, you have resolved; but it is all nothing. There is my Son, the crowned King." And such is the Anointed tonight; the Christ is on the throne, let Isis enemies say what they will, and he must reign, nothing can prevent it. He must be King of kings and Lord of lords, for thus is it written concerning him.

Psalms 2:7. I will declare the decree: the Lord has said unto me, You, you are my Son; this day have I begotten you, you.

This is the seal of the Anointed. He is the Son of the Highest, the only begotten Son of the Father, who says to him, "You, you are my Son; this day have I begotten you, you."

Psalms 2:8. Ask of me, and I shall give you, you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.

Christ is asking of his Father; even he cannot have what he desires without asking for it. Prayer is so essential to the progress of the kingdom of Christ that even Christ himself must ask. But then God has promised to give to Christ the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth to be his possession. This is the great strength of all missionary enterprise. Dear friends, we may be quite sure that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord when we read such a text as this: "I shall give you, you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession." If men will not yield to the Lord when he is made known to them, if they resist the drawings of divine love, what will happen? Listen:-

Psalms 2:9-10. You, you shall break them with a rod of iron; you, you shall dash them in pieces, like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O you, you kings: be instructed, you, you judges of the earth.

"You, you rulers, you, you magistrates, you, you senators, you, you governors of the earth, be wise, be instructed."

Psalms 2:11. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

"If you, you are wise, you, you will obey the superior King; you, you will yield obedience to the great Lord of all."

Psalms 2:12. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you, you perish from the Way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.

The kings and rulers are bidden to do this; let each one of us do the same, let us give the kiss of homage to him whom God has made to be our King, and take him to be our Lord and Ruler for ever and ever.

Psalms 2:12. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

It is so; those of us who have tried it can bear witness that it is so, there is no life like a life of trust in God. The nearest approach to Heaven that we can live in this mortal body is a life of simple confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let us read concerning our Lord’s first coming and appearance among the sons of men. Turn to the Gospel according to Matthew, at the third chapter

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 2, and Matthew 3.

 

Chapter 3

 

Verses 1-8

 

These may be called very properly morning and evening Psalms. The third Psalm is the morning Psalm. A psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. A dark hour that for David, preceded by the shadows of his own sin, and now deepened by the horrible hatred of his own favorite child, who conspired to take his kingdom and his life.

Psalms 2:1. Lord how are they increased that trouble me!

As if he could not measure his troubles. He stands amazed. He makes his appeal to God.

Psalms 2:2-3. Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.

That is the worst of all, when they begin to ridicule his religion. He was a man who had said much of his faith in God; and in former days he had done great marvels by trusting in the living God; and now one and another dared to say openly that God had cast him off.

Psalms 2:3. But you, you, O Lord, are a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

The word in the Hebrew is a bigger word than the word shield. It is a buckler — a kind of guard above, around, beneath, an all-surrounding defense. "You, you, Lord, are a shield for me. They cannot harm me. They cannot kill me. I am still guarded by God; and, what is more, you, you are my glory. Though my glory is taken away, yet I glory in you, you. Whatever else I have not, I have a God, a God that I dare glory in too, for there is no such God as he is. And you, you are the lifter up of my head." My head is still above water. I do not yet sink, and my head shall rise again. Though I bow it down like a bulrush now, I shall one day praise him. I know that I shall, for he is the health of my countenance.

Psalms 2:4. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.

He means that he loved to pray alone, but to use his voice in prayer. I have heard many Christians say that they can pray better when they can hear their own voices; they are better able to collect their thoughts. The voice is not necessary to prayer. It is the mere body of prayer. Still, a right healthy body may help the soul, and sometimes the use of the voice may help the spirit. David says that he cried to God; and then it happened to him, as it always happens to us: "He heard me out of his holy hill."

Psalms 2:5. I laid me down and slept;

Far from the palace, and from the place of worship where he loved to meet with God.

Psalms 2:5. I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.

I was kept through the night watches; through restless anxiety I slept. Now God sustains our hearts, even when we are asleep, for else we should not sleep. We should be restless and wakeful. But God gives us a peace before we fall asleep, which abides with us as a blessed balm of rest, and so we sleep.

Psalms 2:6-7. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord save me, O my God: for you, you have smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; you, you have broken the teeth of the ungodly.

They were like fierce lions threatening to devour him. They had already rent him in malice. God came and smote them on the jaw, so that they lost their strength to injure him.

Psalms 2:8. Salvation belongs unto the Lord: your blessing is upon your people. Selah.

That is a sweet morning hymn. Sound Calvinistic doctrine that. "Salvation belongs unto the Lord." It is he who saves man. It is he who delivers those that are saved. And here is the speciality and peculiarity of his grace.

"Your blessing is upon your people." Oh! to be remembered with them! Then, even if an Absalom should persecute us, the blessing is not withdrawn, for this is entailed upon the children of God.

"Your blessing is upon your people."

Now for the evening hymn.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 3 and Psalms 4:1-6.

 

Chapter 4

 

Verses 1-6

 

Psalms 4:1. Hear me, when I call, O God of my righteousness: you, you have enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

Past experience is a sweet solace in the hour of trouble. "You, you have enlarged me when I was in distress." Think of what God has been to you, you, you, you tried ones, for he will be the same still. And can he have taught you, you to trust in his name, And thus far have brought you, you to put you, you to shame? Is this God’s way — to be gracious to his people, and then to turn against them? God forbid. Pray, then, with the grateful memory of all his loving-kindness. "You, you have enlarged me when I was in distress. Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer."

Psalms 4:2. O you, you sons of men, how, long will you, you turn my glory into shame? how long will you, you love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.

How long will you, you take to lies? How long will you, you abuse a character which deserves not your censure? How long will you, you pour contempt upon God, whom you, you ought to serve? But know He talks to them as if they did not know, while they thought themselves the most knowing people in the world.

Psalms 4:3. That the Lord has set apart him that is godly for himself:

He has marked him out to be his own peculiar treasure. "The Lord’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance." Now if God has marked out his people to be his own, he will defend them. He will guard them against every adversary. They shall not be destroyed.

Psalms 4:3. The Lord will hear when I call unto him.

The sweet assurance that prayer will prevail is one of the best comforts in the cloudy and dark day.

Psalms 4:4. Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

Tremble and sin not. Unhappily, there are many that sin and tremble not. They reverse the text. A trembling saint is often all the more saint because he trembles. Tremble and sin not. If there is not a mixture of prayer with our hope and our confidence, it is like meat without salt in it. It is apt to grow corrupt in prosperous sunny weather. Oh! for the fear of God in our hearts! Stand in awe, and sin not. Commune with your own heart. A man ought to be the best of company to himself. It is one reason why we should be well acquainted with the Word of God — that if ever we are left alone, we may be good companions to ourselves. "Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still." Hush that babel. Let God speak. Get to your bed, away from the noise of the streets and the roll of the traffic. "Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still." Some men cannot bear stillness. The quiet of their own hearts disturbs them. There must be something very rotten in the state of the man’s life who loves not some seasons of solitude. Some of us are less alone when we are alone, and most at home even when others count themselves abroad. "Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still."

Psalms 4:5. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,

Bring your prayers, your praises. Present to God your hearts, your love, your trust.

Psalms 4:5-6. And put your trust in the Lord. There be many that say, Who will show us any good?

Gaping about for some good thing; thirsting — they know not what they are thirsting for. "Who will show us any good?" Come from the east, or the west, or the north, or the south; only bring us something that promises pleasure, and we are your men. There be many that say, "Who will show us any good?" But we say not so. Our saying is another sort.

Psalms 4:6. Lord, lift you, you up the light of your countenance upon us.

Is not that what many of you, you are saying tonight? You, you know what you, you want. You, you know that there is nothing else that will satisfy you, you. "Lord, lift you, you up the light of your countenance upon us." We are not well. Lord, we ask you, you that it may be well between our souls and you, you.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 3 and Psalms 4:1-6.

Verses 1-8

 

Psalms 4:1. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: you, you have enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

Good men want to be heard when they pray, they are not satisfied with merely praying, they must have God’s answers to their supplications. See how David pleads the past mercy received from God: " You, you have enlarged me when I was in distress." Cannot my own heart look back to God’s loving-kindness to me in days gone by .’ Oh, yes! Then, as he is the same God, what he has done in the past is an argument for what he will do in the future. There are some of us here who can adopt the psalmist’s language, and say, "You, you have enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer."

Psalms 4:2. O you, you sons of men, how long will you, you turn my glory into shame?

How long will you, you slander me, how long will you, you slander God, how long will you, you turn the gospel into ridicule, how long will you, you resist the Spirit of God?

Psalms 4:2. How long will you, you love vanity, and seek after leasing?

That is, after falsehood, after lying? Why do men seek after falsehood?

What attraction can it have for them? Why, only this attraction, that it suits a fool’s heart to feed on falsehood.

Psalms 4:3. But know that the Lord has set apart him that is godly for himself:

You, you cannot hurt him, for God has hedged him about. You, you may say what you, you please against him, but God loves him, and will take care of him.

Psalms 4:3. The Lord will hear when I call unto him.

What a sweet assurance! O brethren, the mercy-seat is always open to us! It will be a blessed thing if every one of us can say, with David, "The Lord will hear when I call unto him."

Psalms 4:4. Stand in awe, and sin not:

This is good advice to ungodly men; let them feel aright the awe of God presence, and they must turn from sin. Holy reverence is a great preservative from sin.

Psalms 4:4. Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.

Hold private communion with yourself, in a private place, at a private hour. "Be still." We are far too noisy, most of us talk too much. It would often make men wiser if they were stiller. If a still tongue does not make a wise head, yet it tends that way.

Psalms 4:6. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.

This is a capital rule for the whole of life. Serve God, and trust in him; do what is right, and rest in the God of right.

Psalms 4:6. There be many that say, who will show us any good?

We all want to see anything that is really good, we do not care who shows it to us, even if it be the devil himself. ‘Who will show us any good?" That question may have another meaning, for there are some who have no desire for spiritual good, for such good as God calls good.

Psalms 4:6. Lord, lift you, you up the light of your countenance upon us.

David began the Psalm with a personal petition, "Hear me when I call," but now he begins to glow in spirit, and as his prayer burns more vehemently he prays for others also: "Lord, lift you, you up the light of your countenance upon us." This is our highest joy, this is our greatest good, to walk in the light or God’s countenance. If we have the favor of God, and know that we have it, we need ask for nothing else, for every other blessing is assured to those who have the favor of God.

Psalms 4:7. You, you have put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.

The harvest and the vintage were the two seasons of greatest joy in the East, they shouted "Harvest Home" with gladness that the fruits of the earth had again been ingathered, and they drank the new wine, and danced for joy; but David says to the Lord, " You, you have put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. " When God puts gladness in the heart, it is real gladness, for God is not the Giver of a sham joy; and it is lasting gladness, for God does not give temporary gifts. David says, "You, you have put gladness in my heart," and then he compares it with the gladness of the sons of men, and he says that his joy was greater than theirs when their earthly stores were increased. Boaz went to sleep on the threshing-floor, but he who sleeps upon the bosom of God has a far softer bed than that.

Psalms 4:8. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for you, you, Lord, only make me dwell in safety.

He who has Jehovah as his God is at home even when he is abroad, he is well guarded even when he has none upon earth to protect him, and he can go to sleep in calm confidence when others would be disturbed in mind and too timid to close their eyes.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 4, 5.

 

Chapter 5

 

Verses 1-12

 

Psalms 5:1. Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation.

Sometimes we pray right off, as David did when he cried to the Lord, "Hear me when I call." At other times, we sit down to meditate, and think over what we want to say to the Lord in prayer, as David did when he said, " ‘O Lord, consider my meditation.’ What I have considered do you, you consider." A well-considered prayer is very likely to succeed with God.

Psalms 5:2. Hearken unto the voice of my cry,-

"When I have not confidence or comfort enough to present a well-ordered prayer to you, you; but, like a child in pain, cry unto you, you, ‘Hearken unto the voice of my cry,’"-

Psalms 5:2. My King, and my God:

What! will a king hearken to a cry? Men generally prepare elaborate petitions when they come into the presence of royalty; but, although the Lord is far greater than all earthly sovereigns, he is far more condescending than they are.

Psalms 5:2. For unto the will I pray.

I trust that we all pray; I am sure that all believers do; but let us pray more, let us pray much more than we have done and let us each one truly say to the Lord, " Unto you, you will I pray." He is a King, so serve him with your prayers. He is God, so adore him with your prayers, and if you, you can put both your hands on him, and say, as David did, " My King, and my God," what abundant motives you, you have for abounding in prayer to him

Psalms 5:3. My voice shall you, you hear in the morning, O Lord

"When the dew is on all nature, and on my spirit too, then shall you, you hear my voice in prayer. Before I go out into the world, my first thoughts shall be of you, you." Never see the face of man, beloved, until you, you have seen the face of God.

Psalms 5:3. In the morning will I direct my prayer unto you, you, and will look up.

Adjust your prayer as the archer fits his arrow on the bow, look up as you, you shoot it, and keep on looking up and looking out for an answer to your supplication. You, you cannot expect God to open the windows of Heaven to pour you, you out a blessing if you, you do not open the windows of your expectation to look for it. If you, you look up in asking, God will look down in answering. It is well always to take good aim in prayer; some prayers are like random shots, they cannot be expected to hit the target; but David’s prayer was well aimed, and he expected it to prevail with God: " In the morning will I direct my prayer unto you, you, and will look up."

Psalms 5:4. For you, you are not a God that has pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with you, you.

In both of these Psalms there is a clear line drawn between the righteous and the wicked, this is a line which still needs to be kept very clear, and we must all seek to know on which side of that line we are.

Psalms 5:5-6. The foolish shall not stand in your sight: you, you hate all workers of iniquity. You, you shall destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.

These are strong words, but not too strong, God is not tolerant of evil and those who are most like him in other respects will be like him in this matter also.

Psalms 5:7. But as for me, I will come into your house in the multitude of your mercy:

"I will be like a child who goes in and out of his father’s door as often as he pleases because he is at home. I will not go there on my own merits, but ‘in the multitude of your mercy."’

Psalms 5:7. And in your fear will I worship toward your holy temple.

There was no temple on earth when David wrote this Psalm, but God was his temple; and so the pious Jew opened the window, and looked towards Jerusalem, so do we look towards God upon the throne of grace in Heaven, and seek to worship him in the beauty of holiness.

Psalms 5:8. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of mine enemies; make your way straight before my face.

David does not say, " Make my way straight, " he does not want to have his own way, but he wants to walk in God’s way. Thus sweet submission blends with a desire for perfect obedience: " Make your way straight before my face."

Psalms 5:9. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth;-

You, you cannot expect ungodly men to speak that which is right: " there is no faithfulness in their mouth; "-

Psalms 5:9.Their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulcher;

Pouring out foul, putrid gas. They cannot speak without using filthy or blasphemous expressions, or if they do, there is falsehood lurking behind their words, for deceit and evil of all kinds are in their hearts.

Psalms 5:9. They flatter with their tongue.

Always beware of people who flatter you, you, and especially when they tell you, you that they do not flatter you, you, and that they know you, you cannot endure flattery, for you, you are then being most fulsomely flattered, so be on your guard against the tongue of the flatterer.

Psalms 5:10. Destroy you, you them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against you, you.

" It does not matter what they do against me; but, O Lord, ‘they have rebelled against you, you.’" David speaks here like a judge pronouncing sentence upon the guilty,-not out of malice, but out of loyalty and devotion to God,

Psalms 5:11-12. But let all those that put their trust in you, you rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because you, you defend them: let them also that love your name be joyful in you, you. For you, you, Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor will you, you compass him as with a shield.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 4, 5.

 

Chapter 6

 

Verses 1-10

 

Here the psalmist asks for a visit from God, for he is sick at heart, heavy and depressed. Be very thankful if that is not your case; but if it is, be very grateful that here is a prayer ready-made for you, you. Here you, you are taught how to cry to God, and what to expect from him. If you, you are very sick and sad, you, you are not worse off than David was. Send for David’s Physician; you, you cannot have a better doctor than the royal Physician. He who waited on King David is prepared to wait on you, you.

Psalms 6:1. O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,

"Rebuke me; it will do me good; I need it; but not in anger. Be gentle and tender with me: ‘Rebuke me not in your anger.’"

Psalms 6:1. Neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.

"Chasten me; it may be that the rod will be very curative to me; but let not the chastening be given in your hot displeasure. Be not very angry with your poor sinful servant. If you, you do not turn away your rod, yet turn away your wrath. It is a sweet prayer. Some people cry to God about their sickness; it is much better to cry to God about the cause of it; that is to say, if it be a chastisement for sin, get rid of the sin, and the rod will then be removed.

Psalms 6:2. Have mercy upon me, O Lord for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed.

"Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak." This was a sweet reason for David to urge: "For I am weak." He could not say, "For I am worthy." He would not have dared to say that. He could not say that when he said, "Have mercy," for mercy is for the unworthy. Justice is for the good; mercy is for those who are guilty. "Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed." Plead the greatness of your disease as a reason for the remedy. Do not come with your self-righteousness; that will hinder you, you. Come with your sorrow and your sin, your weakness and your pain, and plead these before God.

Psalms 6:3. My soul is also sore vexed:

That is worse than the bones being vexed. "The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?"

Psalms 6:3. But you, you, O Lord, how long?

There is the pith of the prayer. David is troubled because God is away from him; he has lost communion with his Lord; he has got out of fellowship with his God, and here comes the most necessary cry of all: —

Psalms 6:4. Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for your mercies’ sake.

Will not that prayer suit you, you who are here tonight, you, you who are full of sin, and are heart-broken about it, and dread the wrath to come? I put this prayer into your mouths, and pray the Holy Spirit to put it into your hearts: "Oh save me for your mercies’ sake."

Psalms 6:5. For in death there is no remembrance of you, you: in the grave who shall give you, you thanks?

As much as to say, "If you, you let me die, you, you will lose one singer out of your earthly choir; but if you, you will let me live, I will remember you, you; I will praise you, you; I will give you, you thanks." Do you, you feel like saying tonight, "Lord, if you, you shall destroy me, you, you will gain nothing by it; but if you, you will save me, there will be one who will give you, you thanks forever"? I have told you, you sometimes of that old woman who said, "If the Lord does save me, he shall never hear the last of it." And you, you and I can also say that if he saves us, he shall never hear the last of it; we will praise him throughout eternity for his great salvation.

Psalms 6:6. I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.

David was in a very sorry case when he wrote these words. So great was his pain, so acute his sorrow, that all the sluices of his eyes were pulled up, and he seemed to float his bed in tears, and to be like George Herbert when he wrote: —

"O who will give me tears? Come, all you, you springs,

Dwell in my head and eyes: come, clouds and rain:

My grief has need of all the watery things,

That nature has produced. Let every vein

Suck up a river to supply mine eyes,

My weary, weeping eyes, too dry for me,

Unless they get new conduits, new supplies,

To bear them out, and with my state agree."

Psalms 6:7. Mine eye is consumed because of grief;

He had almost wept his eyes out; they grew red with his weeping, so that he could not see.

Psalms 6:7. It waxes old because of all mine enemies.

His eyesight grew dim, like that of an old man. A cataract of grief had put a cataract of blindness into his eyes.

Psalms 6:8. Depart from me, all you, you workers of iniquity

He wants his God to come to him, so he bids God’s enemies clear out. If we keep company with the wicked, we cannot invite God to our house, and expect him to come. "Depart from me," says David, "all you, you workers of iniquity." "You, you who are singing what you, you call a jolly song, be off with you, you. You, you who are merry with your jokes against religion, begone far from me."

Psalms 6:8. For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.

"And if he has heard my tears, I do not want you, you to be here. I cannot associate with God’s enemies now that he has heard the voice of my weeping." Is not that a beautiful expression, "The voice of my weeping"? Why, there was no sound, was there? Yet there are songs without words, and there are voices without sounds.

Psalms 6:9. The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.

"I thought at first that he would not take my petition; but I see be stretches out his right hand, he receives my prayer; and if he receives my prayer, I shall soon receive his answer."

Psalms 6:10. Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.

Now let us read the eighth Psalm, in which David expresses great wonder that God, whom he had asked to visit him, should deign to do so. I think I see him sitting with his window open. It is night, and he is feeling better; and he bids them throw open the window, and he sits and looks at the stars, glad of the cool, fresh air.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 6:8.

 

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Verses 1-9

 

8:1. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth! who have set your glory above the heavens.

They are very high, but your glory is higher than the heavens.

Psalms 8:2-4. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings have you, you ordained strength because of your enemies, that you, you might still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you, you have ordained; What is man, that you, you are mindful of him? and the son of man, that you, you visit him?

He, whose voice rolls the stars along, who makes those bright worlds to fly like sparks from the anvil of his omnipotence, how can he stoop so low as to regard his fallen creature, man, who is so small, so insignificant?

Psalms 8:5-6. For you, you have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor. You, you made him to have dominion over the works of your hands; you, you have put all things under his feet:

Man is God’s viceroy. He reigns over God’s works in God’s name. Let him not set up to be a king, and try to usurp the honor of his great Lord, the Imperator, the Universal Governor.

Psalms 8:7-8. All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field; the bird of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

What a king man is! Let him not be cruel to the beasts of the field; let him not be a tyrant; God did not make him for that purpose. Let his reign be generous and kind; and if the animals must suffer, yet spare them as much suffering as possible. O man, be you, you a generous viceroy, for you, you are under a most generous King, who is himself the happy God, and who delights in the happiness of all his creatures!

Psalms 8:9. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth!

Thus does the psalmist finish as he began the psalm, by praising the name of the Lord.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 6:8.

 

Chapter 9

 

Verses 1-20

 

This Psalm has a dedication which is very difficult to understand: "To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben. A Psalm of David." Either "Muthlabben" is the tune to which the Psalm was to be sung, or some musical instrument that is now forgotten, or else it alludes to Ben, who was one of the Levitical singers mentioned in 1 Chronicles 15:18. In all probability, however, the true translation of the title is, "A Psalm on the death of the son," or "on the death of the champion," and it is thought by some that it was composed by David after the death of giant Goliath. If it be so, I think you, you will see, as we read the Psalm, that it well proclaims the victory which God had wrought.

Psalms 9:1. I will praise you, you, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all your marvelous works.

It will be well if we also resolve that we will praise the Lord. Most people have something or someone to praise, so let us select the Lord, even Jehovah, as the subject of our song. Let us resolve that we will praise him continually, for it may be difficult sometimes to do it. The heart may be very heavy; it may even be inclined to rebellion and murmuring, but let us make this strong resolution, in the power of God’s grace: "I will show forth all your marvelous works." Here is room for great variety of praise, and here are abundant topics for praise, for there is no work of God which is not marvelous, and worthy of being praised with our whole heart. So, Lord I will not be dumb. You, you have given me a tongue, I am not like the brute beasts that cannot speak; my tongue is the glory of my frame, so with it I will show forth all your marvelous works.

Psalms 9:2. I will be glad and rejoice in you, you: I will sing praise to your name, O you, you most High.

Get you, you up, then, my soul, out of the dark places of your despondency. Rise, my drooping spirit, to something higher and better. If you, you can not be glad in anything else, be glad in your God, — be glad that you, you have a God, and such a God, and that he is your God still. Whatever else you, you may have lost, you, you have not lost him. "I will be glad and rejoice." The reduplication of the words indicates a double joy, — a double gladness, as the apostle says, "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice." Be glad twice over, for you, you have double cause for rejoicing in the Lord.

Psalms 9:3. When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at your presence.

As much as to say, "The presence of God is quite enough to make my adversaries flee, — yes, and utterly to cut them off." As John Wesley said, "The best of all is, God is with us;" and if God be with us, it matters little to us who are against us.

Psalms 9:4. For you, you have maintained my right and my cause; you, you satest in the throne judging right.

One of our noblemen has this for his motto, "I will maintain it;" but the Christian has a far better one: "You, you have maintained my right." If David sang thus after he had hurled the stone from his sling into Goliath’s skull, he might well magnify the name of the Lord, who had maintained the rights of his people, and put the uncircumcised champion of the Philistines to confusion and death.

Psalms 9:5-6. You, you have rebuked the heathen, you, you have destroyed the wicked, you, you have put out their name forever and ever. O you, you enemy, —

You, you can conceive of David, standing on the prostrate form of his fallen foe, and looking on that gigantic countenance and those mighty limbs, crying out, "O you, you enemy," —

Psalms 9:6-7. Destructions are come to a perpetual end: and you, you have destroyed cities, their memorial is perished with them. But the Lord shall endure forever: he has prepared his throne for judgment.

"You, you have destroyed cities," but you, you could not destroy God. When you, you did defy the armies of other nations, you, you could easily put them to rout, but when you, you did defy the living God, then there was an end of you, you, for you, you could not overcome him, nor overcome his people. Blessed be God for this, our faith is founded upon a rock that never shall be removed, and our confidence is fixed upon One who can never fail us, and whose truth must stand fast forever.

Psalms 9:8-10. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know your name will put their trust in you, you:

The basis of faith is knowledge, and there is no knowledge like that which comes from experience. If you, you know the name of God as Jehovah, — the self-existent and ever-living God, — you, you will have good reason for trusting him; and then, if you, you know his many precious names, — such as Jehovah-Tsidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness, Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord my banner; Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide, Jehovah-Shalom, the peace-giving God, and Jehovah-Shammah, the God who is there where his people are — yes, if any one name of God be fully understood by you, you, you, you will put your trust in him.

Psalms 9:10-12. For you, you, Lord, have not forsaken them that seek you, you. Sing praises to the Lord, which dwells in Zion: declare among the people his doings. When he makes inquisition for blood, he remembers them:

When the great Coroner’s inquest shall be held upon all who have wrongly suffered, the commission will open by an inquiry concerning the blood of the martyrs: "When he makes inquisition for blood, he remembers them." His suffering ones, who laid down their lives for the truth’s sake, shall find that their blood was precious in his sight.

Psalms 9:12. He forgets not the cry of the humble.

Is there not consolation in these words for some of you, you? You, you have been humbled, and brought down from your high place; now then, is your time to cry; and when you, you do so, you, you will prove that "he forgets not the cry of the humble." There are many, who give heed to the petitions of their needy fellow-creatures, and feel their force, for a time; but they are engaged in business, or occupied in other ways, and they soon forget. Other things crowd out the needy one’s petition, and so he is left unhelped. But it is never so with God: "He forgets not the cry of the humble." Notice, in the next verse, how David avails himself of that truth. He seems to say, "Is it true that God does not forget the cry of the humble? Then I will cry unto him, and my humble cry shall go up to his ear, and to his heart."

Psalms 9:13. Have mercy upon me, O Lord; —

What a blessed prayer that is, — a prayer useful on all occasions, — under a sense of sin, or under a load of sorrow, — burdened with labor, or crushed with despondency. It is a prayer which is like the cherubim’s sword, which turned every way; you, you may use it as you, you will: "Have mercy upon me, O Lord;" —

Psalms 9:13. Consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, you, you that lifted me up from the gates of death:

What a lift that is, — lifted up from the gates of death into life, and ultimately into Heaven! What an almighty God our Lord proves himself to be at a dead lift! When every other arm is paralyzed, he comes to us, and lifts us up from the gates of death.

Psalms 9:14. That I may show forth all your praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion:

From the gates of death to the gates of Zion, is the lift which God gives to his poor suffering people.

Psalms 9:14-15. I will rejoice in your salvation. The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made:

If you, you picture David with the carcass of the giant before him, the Philistines put to ignominious flight, and the Israelites in full pursuit after them, you, you can understand his saying, "The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made."

Psalms 9:15-16. In the net which they hid is their own foot taken. The Lord known by the judgment which he executes: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

The probable meaning of these words is, "Consider and pause." They are musical rests, perhaps; but they also suggest to us how well it is, in our reading of the Scriptures, sometimes to stop a while, and inwardly digest the words that we have read.

Psalms 9:17. The wicked shall be turned into Hell, and all the nations that forget God.

Even if they are not outwardly as wicked as other men are, yet their forgetfulness of God is the highest form of injustice to him; it is treason against the majesty of Heaven; it is robbing God of what is his right; it is a combination of everything that is evil.

Psalms 9:18-20. For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in your sight. Put them in fear, O Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men.

They boast that they are men, and that they quit themselves like men. Yet let them know that, although they are men, they are only men, with all the infirmities and imperfections of men, and that there is a God who will, in due time, let men know that they are but men, and that the best of men are but men at their best.

Psalms 9:20. Selah.

Pause again, think over what we have been reading, and lift up your heart in prayer to God, seeking the aid of the Holy Spirit to apply the truth to your soul.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Verses 1-8

 

Psalms 12:1. Help, Lord for the godly man ceases; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

The Psalm speaks of a very discouraging time, and records a very dreary fact, but the psalmist is wise, and turns to God with that short, sententious prayer, "Help, Lord."

Psalms 12:2-3. They speak vanity every one with his neighbor: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaks proud things:

They will not be able to continue speaking falsely and proudly for over; a shovelful of earth from the grave-digger’s spade will silence them, and a terrible display of God’s justice will make them speechless forever.

Psalms 12:4-5. Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, says the Lord I will set him in safety from him that puffs at him.

That is all it is, only a puff, — the biggest brag of the wicked, the most tremendous threat against the Lord’s people, is but a puff after all; and God will set his people high above all those who puff at them.

Psalms 12:6-8. The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. You, you shall beep them, O Lord, you, you shall preserve them from this generation forever. The wicked walk on every side when the vilest men are exalted.

Now let us read in Jeremiah’s prophecy, chapter 8. Remember, dear brethren, that Jeremiah had the very sorrowful task of warning a people who would not give heed to his warnings. He prophesied evil, — evil which began to come upon the people even while he prophesied, yet they would not turn to God. I sometimes think Jeremiah was the greatest of all the prophets, because, in the teeth of perpetual opposition, with no measure of success whatever, he continued to be faithful to God and to deliver the message with which he was sent, weeping the while over people who would not weep for themselves.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 12.; and Jeremiah 8, and Jeremiah 9:1.

 

Chapter 13

 

Verses 1-6

 

Psalms 13:1-2. How long will you, you forget me, O Lord? forever? how long will you, you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

When you, you and I have to spread our complaints before God, we are not the first who have done so. When we complain of God’s forsaking us, we are not alone. There was a greater than David who, even in the article of death, cried, "My God, my God, why have you, you forsaken me?"

Psalms 13:3. Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

When it is dark, very dark, we get drowsy. Sorrow induces sleep. Remember how the Savior found the disciples sleeping for sorrow. Therefore David asks for light. Light will help him to keep awake, and he fears to sleep, so he prays, "Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death."

Psalms 13:4-5. Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and these that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

But what a precious "but" this is! You, you can hear the chain rattle as the anchor goes down to hold the vessel.

Psalms 13:5-6. I have trusted in your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

What a climb there is, in this Psalm, from the abyss of sorrow up to the summit of joy! "I will sing unto the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me." I hope many of us know what this blessed change means. If any of you, you are in great sorrow tonight, may my Lord and Master lighten your eyes!

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 12, 13, and 14.

 

Chapter 14

 

Verses 1-7

 

Psalms 14:1. The fool has said in his heart, There is no God.

He was a fool to think it. He was not fool enough, however, to say it except in his heart. Fools have grown more brazen-faced of late; for now, they not only say it in their heart, but they say with their tongues, "There is no God." Oh, no; I have made a mistake! They do not call them "fools" now; they call them "philosophers." That, however, is often exactly the same thing.

Psalms 14:1. They are corrupt,

It is always so. When they will have no God, they will have no goodness "They are corrupt." That is the secret of infidelity. The psalmist has put his finger on it: "They are corrupt."

Psalms 14:1-2. They have done abominable works, there is none that does good. The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.

David represents God looking from the battlements of Heaven upon our fallen humanity; and at the time when he looked, he could see none that understood him, or sought him. By nature we are all in this condition. Until the grace of God seeks us, we never seek God. Even God looked in vain. He was no stern critic; he was no hypercritic: "The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God."

Psalms 14:3. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that does good, no, not one.

"That was in old Testament times," says one. If you, you turn to the Epistle to the Romans, you, you will find that Paul quotes it as being true in his day. It is always true, and it always will be true, apart from the grace of God: "There is none that does good; no, not one."

Psalms 14:4. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?

Are they all so foolish?

Psalms 14:4. Who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord.

They think nothing of God’s people. They could swallow them at a mouthful, they so despise them. Notice, that, whenever a man despises God, he soon despises God’s people; it is only natural that he should do so. Meanwhile, he himself will not call upon the Lord.

Psalms 14:5. There were they in great fear:

What, these very people who would not call upon God! Were they in great fear? Yes, God can bring great fear upon the men who seem most bold. It is noticed that the boldest blasphemers, when they become ill, are generally the most timid persons. These are the people who begin to cry, and give up what they boasted of, when they get into deep waters: "There were they in great fear."

Psalms 14:5. For God is in the generation of the righteous.

He is with his people, he always will be with his people, and when he makes bare his arm, fear takes possession of his enemies.

Psalms 14:6. You, you have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge.

They mocked at the idea of a mans trusting in God for his daily bread, or trusting in God for his eternal salvation; but, mock as men may, there is no other refuge for a soul but God. When the floods are out, there is no safety but in the ark with God. Oh, that men would trust in him!

Psalms 14:7. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the Lord brings back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

May that time soon come! Amen.

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 12, 13, and 14.

 

Chapter 15

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 16

 

Verses 1-11

 

Psalms 16:1. Preserve me, O God: for in you, you do I put my trust.

Notice how the psalmist urges the prevailing plea of faith. A trusted God will be a preserving God. If you, you, believer, can truly say that you, you are trusting God in any time of trouble or danger, you, you will be safe enough in his keeping.

Psalms 16:2-3. O my soul, you, you have said unto the Lord, You, you are my Lord: my goodness extends not to you, you; but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, is whom is all my delight.

"I cannot do you, you any good, you, you are too great to need anything from me; but I may be the means of blessing to your people, your saints may reap some little benefit from what I do. They are the company I keep, they are the choicest friends I know, and if you, you will but help me to do something for you, you which shall bring blessing to them, I shall indeed rejoice"

Psalms 16:4. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

We must be faithful to God, to the God revealed to us in the Book of God, the God of the Old Testament of the New Testament, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must keep to him, not make another God after our own imagination. It is practical idolatry even to conceive of God otherwise than he is revealed in Holy Scripture. This we must not do, but say, concerning the God of the Bible, "This God is our God for over and ever."

Psalms 16:5. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: you, you maintain my lot.

One of the great houses of nobility has for its motto the words, "I will maintain it." But David’s is a better one: "You, you maintain my lot." God is the best Defender that his people can ever have.

Psalms 16:6. The lines are fallen into me in pleasant places; yes, I have a goodly heritage.

Many of us have proved this to be true in our experience. May we continue gratefully contented and more than contented, delighted with whatever God appoints for us!

Psalms 16:7-8. I will bless the Lord, who has given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me?

"In my acts by day, and my thoughts by night,"

Psalms 16:8. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Now across the sacred page there comes the wondrous revelation of a glorious One who speaks in the very words that are recorded here. Though, possibly, we have not recognized him, these words that follow apply specially to Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalms 16:9. Therefore my heart is glad,

Because, in the night watches, he had sought his Father, and found help in him, he could say, "Therefore my heart is glad."

Psalms 16:9-10. And my glory rejoices: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For you, you will not leave my soul in Hell;

Or, rather, Hades, the abode of the dead.

Psalms 16:10. Neither will you, you suffer your Holy One to see corruption.

Now David was gathered to his fathers, and his body saw corruption, as the apostle Peter rightly observed, so it is clear that he is not speaking of himself here, not in the first place, at any rate, but of "great David’s greater Son," our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: "Neither will you, you suffer your Holy One to see corruption."

Psalms 16:11. You, you will show me the path of life: in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hands there are pleasures for evermore.

 

Chapter 17

 

Verses 1-15

 

Psalms 17:1. Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goes not out of feigned lips.

Good men are often slandered and misunderstood; and, at such times, the first verse of this Psalm will well fit their lips: "Hear the right, O Lord." And, at all times, it is a great blessing when a supplicant can say to God, "Give ear unto my prayer, that goes not out of feigned lips." It must be a dreadful thing to pray with lips that do not speak the truth. When men’s thoughts are far away from their prayers, and they are muttering pious words but their heart is absent, what a mockery it must be in the sight of God! A dead prayer, — who will own it? It is like the child that was overlaid in the days of Solomon, which neither of the two mothers would own to be hers, Beware of dead prayers. You, you may dress them up as finely as you, you like; but, if there is no life in them, what good are they?

Psalms 17:2. Let my sentence come forth from your presence; let your eyes behold the things that are equal.

It is the appeal of a slandered man to the highest court; he takes his case into the Court of King’s Bench, and asks God himself to give the verdict concerning what he had done. It is a good case that will bear to be so investigated.

Psalms 17:3. You, you have proved mine heart; you, you have visited me in the night; you, you have tried me, and shall find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

Happy is the man who is not afraid for God to come to him suddenly in the night, or to pounce upon him, as it were, at any hour of the day, for, whenever he comes, he will find his servant so acting that he will not mind who examines his conduct. He is keeping his lip, purposing that it shall not transgress God’s law, and he is ruling his whole body in like manner. Only the grace of God can enable us to do this.

Psalms 17:4. Concerning the works of men, by the word of your lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.

Notice that verse, young man! There is much-needed teaching there for you, you. There are many "paths of the destroyer" in this wicked city of London, and all over the world; and it is only by taking heed to our ways, according to God’s Word, that we can hope to escape from them. How pleasant those "paths of the destroyer" often appear to be! How smooth and how alluring they are! All sorts of supposed delicacies and beauties will tempt you, you to go that way, and the foolish heart readily inclines to these indulgences; but happy is the man whose judgment is enlightened by God’s Word so that he avoids it, and passes by "the paths of the destroyer."

Psalms 17:5. Hold up my goings in your paths, that my footsteps slip not.

"I know that I am in your way; but, O Lord, hold me up! I am like a horse that needs a careful driver, else I shall trip and fall, in rough places or in smooth, ‘Hold up my goings in your paths,’ for I may fall even there. There are the sins of my holy things, so ‘hold up my goings in your paths, that my footsteps slip not.’"

Psalms 17:6-12. I have called upon you, you, for you, you will hear me, O God: incline your ear unto me, and hear my speech. Show your marvelous loving-kindness, O you, you that save by your right hand them which put their trust in you, you from those that rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of your wings, from the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

They are enclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly. They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth; like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. Many godly men have such cruel enemies as David had, so they will do well to pray as he did: —

Psalms 17:13-15. Arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is your sword: from men which are your hand, O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly you, you fill with your hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. As for me,—

"What do I possess? What is my portion? Am I full of substance, like the men of the world, or have I little of this world’s wealth? It is of small consequence, for, ‘as for me,’" —

Psalms 17:15. I will behold your face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with your likeness.

That is our portion. God grant that we may prize it more and more! Amen.

 

Chapter 18

 

Verses 1-19

 

Psalms 18:1. I will love you, you, O Lord, my strength.

"I do love you, you, and I will love you, you yet more and more. I bind myself to you, you for the future as well as the present."

Psalms 18:2. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Note how David delights to heap up poetic imagery to describe his God.

They who glory in the Lord would gladly speak worthily of him; and because there is no one object in nature that can fully set him forth, they mention many, as David does here. Like him, if we would convey even a faint idea of what God is to us, we must think of all things that are strong, and worthy of our confidence, and putting them all together, we must say that our God, our strength, in whom we trust, is all this, and much more,

Psalms 18:3. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

Prayer brings salvation. Prayer must, however, be mingled with praise, for prayer and praise make up the breath of the Christian life. Have I not often reminded you, you that we breathe in the air of Heaven by prayer, and then breathe it out again in grateful praise?

Psalms 18:4-5. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of Hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

"They were before me, behind me, all around my path whichever way I turned."

Psalms 18:6. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

What a difference there is between this living God of David, — our living God, — and that impersonal nonentity which, nowadays, is regarded by many as God. The God of the pantheist, — what is he? A nobody and a nothing; but our God made the heavens; and our God hears the prayer of all who truly cry unto him.

Psalms 18:7. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

The cry of one of his oppressed children stirred him to anger. Nothing moves the heart of God like an injury done to his people. You, you remember how the prophet Zechariah wrote to the captive Jews in Babylon, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, He who touches you, you touches the apple of his eye."

Psalms 18:8-9. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.

In this wonderful poetic description, Jehovah is represented as descending from his throne at the cry of one of his children in distress.

Psalms 18:10. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yes, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

So swift is prayer to reach the ear of God, and so swift is God to come and answer his people’s prayers.

Psalms 18:11. He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

Like an Oriental king, who travels beneath his royal canopy, the Lord is pictured as coming to earth with the bursting clouds and opening heavens as the pavilion of the Deity.

Psalms 18:12. At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

These are some of the weapons with which he assails the adversaries of his people. With this dread artillery, he smote Pharaoh of old, when he rained wrath upon the land of Egypt, and fire mingled with the hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground.

Psalms 18:13-14. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. Yes, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

God himself came forth on his people’s behalf, and fought for them from Heaven. As we read that "the stars in their courses fought against Sisera," so did God make the very tempests in the skies to be like an invincible legion, sweeping before it the enemies of his anointed servant.

Psalms 18:15-18. Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity:

They went before him, they blocked his way.

Psalms 18:18-19. But the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

Oh, how sweetly this record continues! Never was there a poem more lofty in its diction. Even Milton can not equal the language of this Psalm. This inspired writing rises superior to all human compositions, even if regarded only from the poetic point of view. But what must have been the psalmist’s experience when he was delivered after this wonderful fashion? And if God has delivered you, you and me in a quieter and gentler way, yet he has quite as surely delivered us; and blessed be his name from this time forth, and even for evermore!

Verses 1-20

 

Psalms 18:1. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who spoke unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,

Notice that, though David was a king, he does not say so, but he prefers the higher title, "The servant of Jehovah." He served his God by his song. Oh, that all who led our psalmody would serve God in it! It should always be with deep devotion that we sing the praises of God. "Who spoke unto the Lord the words of this song." He did not speak them to us; he spoke them to the Lord. Singing is peculiarly an address unto God; but neither prayer nor praise should be addressed to men. David "spoke unto the Lord the words of this song, in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies." It is always well to sing when a deliverance is yet new; if we do not praise the Lord in the day of our deliverance, we are not likely to praise him many days afterwards. We remember how it is written that, when the Lord delivered Israel at the Red Sea, "Then believed they his words; they sang his praises." So do you, you time your psalm as God times his mercies.

Psalms 18:1 . I will love you, you, O Lord, my strength.

Not only, "I do love you, you," but "I will love you, you." Some resolutions are rash, and should not be made; but this is a resolution that we may well make. We are bound to make it if we have experienced the loving-kindness of the Lord. If God be our strength, then in the strength of God we may say, "I will love you, you, O Lord. I will love you, you, if others do not. Whatever else I may have to love, I will love you, you. My relation to you, you shall never be a cold one: ‘I will love you, you.’ My whole nature shall go out towards you, you."

Psalms 18:2. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

"My rock in which I hide; my fortress in which I am secure; my deliverer who in a thousand ways brings me out of every peril." What a text those two words would make! I would like to preach from them: "My deliverer." Why, that is a name that runs through the whole story of redemption, and the whole history of providence. it is a title which we may use toward God in Heaven as well as upon earth: "My deliverer." And now, as the psalmist advances in his song, he gives a very sweet title to the Lord,—

Psalms 18:2. My God,

At first, the Lord was to him, "Jehovah "-a name of awe and majesty; but now on covenant terms with God, he uses a name of bold affectionateness, and near approach: "My God."

Psalms 18:2. My strength,

That is the second time he has used that title; it is one that will bear repeating again and again: "My strength."

Psalms 18:2. In whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

What a blessing it is that we can look upon God under so many aspects, and in every aspect feel him to be ours! "My God, my strength, my buckler, my salvation, my high tower." To set those personal pronouns side by side with every blessed metaphor, and to call God ours under every emblem which we can heap together, this is the way to be indeed cheered and comforted. Calvin says, on this verse, that the saint is armed from head to foot, and even above his head, for he has given to him the horn of salvation to lift on high. God is everything to us, beloved. We want nothing outside of him; if we think we do want it, it is better to want it than to have it.

Psalms 18:3. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised:

David first said, "I will love," now he says, "I will call." The "I wills" of the Psalms have furnished various writers with an admirable subject; and they may supply you, you with a profitable line of meditation: "I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised." "I will mix praise with my prayer. There is no praying like that; if you, you have prayer in one hand, have praise in the other. The mixture of these two perfumes will make an exceedingly sweet incense to present unto the Lord. To praise and pray, to pray and praise, is an admirable way of living. Have I not often told you, you that it resembles our breathing? By prayer we breathe in, and by praise we breathe out.

Psalms 18:3. So shall I be saved from mine enemies.

Saved singing, saved praying; what a happy way to be saved,—calling upon God, and magnifying his name! Now follows a marvelous passage descriptive of the psalmist’s deliverance, one of the most wonderful pieces of poetry ever composed in any language. David begins by describing his previous position.

Psalms 18:4. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

Death had tied him round with the ropes of pain; they compassed him about. He seemed like one who was shipwrecked, struggling for his life; or he stood like a hunted stag in the midst of a pack of hounds.

Psalms 18:5. The sorrows of Hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

He could not stir a step without falling into a trap of some sort or other. What an awful

picture this is! I can hardly imagine that the case could be painted in much blacker colors. None but God could help him, it is evident; for his

sorrows were the sorrows of death. The floods that surged around him were the floods of ungodly men; and there are no wild beasts so much to be dreaded as ungodly men. They can do more harm to us than can lions in their dens. David’s sorrows were the sorrows of Hell, and the snares that lay in his pathway were the snares of death.

Psalms 18:6. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God:

He puts together the two names, "Jehovah" and "my God." He says that he called upon Jehovah, and he cried unto his God. He began with calling, and he went on to crying. The longer we pray, the more intense our prayer becomes. David prayed thus in his distress. Every way except one was shut up, so that he could not escape; but there was a way open upward. Our enemies can never block up that way; you, you can always run the blockade, my brethren, if you, you know the way of sailing upward. You, you can never be shut out of the port of prayer, you, you will always find a harbor of refuge by crying unto God.

Psalms 18:6. He heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

The music from all the harps of the redeemed and from the songs of cherubim did not so engross those blessed ears that they could not hear David’s cries. A child’s cry will get to a father’s ear. It was so with the psalmist; his was a cry full of anguish, and it entered into the ears of God. It did not go to the saints, and round about through human mediators; but it went direct to God’s ears.

Psalms 18:7. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

Nothing touches God’s heart like an injury done to a child of his. "He was wroth," and he did but stamp his foot, and the solid earth began to rock and tremble. He who laid the

foundations of the universe can soon shift its corner-stones if he pleases; and even the hills that send their roots so deep are easily moved by him.

Psalms 18:8. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

Oriental imagery representing the indignation of the Most High. He is not subject to passions like ours, but he is thus described in order that we may understand his action. It is a high strain of poetry to teach us how God is moved by the affliction of his people. As when the hot breath comes from a man’s nostrils, so is it represented as if a smoke came from God’s nostrils; and as when a man opens his mouth to speak in anger, God is represented as so speaking that a fire issued from his mouth to devour the enemies of his people.

Psalms 18:9-10. He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. And

he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yes, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. He trod on the arch of the sky, and bent it beneath his divine weight. The cherubim are represented as standing over the mercy-seat, as though waiting there to perform errands of mercy; and the Lord is here said to ride upon a cherub, and to fly upon the wings of the wind. God comes swiftly for the deliverance of his people. You, you count him slow ; but he is not slow in the fulfillment of his promises as men count slowness. When you, you shall understand all things,-if ever that shall be,—you, you will see how speedily he flew to your rescue.

Psalms 18:11. He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

Nobody can see God in the sunlight; but faith can see him in the dark, and can realize that the darkest providences are but the pavilion of Jehovah’s love.

Psalms 18:12. At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

The psalmist heaps together all the terrors of nature to show how God stirs all things up for the rescue and the defense of his people. Over the head of all this blackness and these flames of fire you, you hear a voice

Psalms 18:13. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

Woe unto him that strives with his Maker! See how readily, when the Lord comes forth as a man of war (Jehovah is his name), he scatters all his adversaries.

Psalms 18:14-15. Yes, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightenings, and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

He had not to stretch out his hand: it was but his breath that shook the earth, and set the heavens on fire.

Psalms 18:16. He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

The psalmist saw another Moses, whose name signified. "I drew him out of the water"; and this is one of the names of Christ. Out of many waters was he drawn, our glorious covenant Head, and all his people are to be baptized into his name.

Psalms 18:17. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

They were not too strong for God, and it almost seems as if he would not have come upon the scene if they had not been too strong for David. While David could fight them, he might fight them; "but what if they were too strong for me," says he, "he delivered me." Oh, what a glorious thing it is to be put where you, you cannot help yourself, because then it shall be written, "he delivered me"! Let the heroes of the earth boast of all their mighty deeds; as for us, we will glory even in infirmity, for then the power of God does rest upon us.

Psalms 18:18-19. They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

There is another wonderful text for a sermon: "He delivered me." The first I gave you, you was "my deliverer." Now here is the explanation of his assuming that title: "He delivered me, because he delighted in me."

Psalms 18:20. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me

For David had been slandered; they laid all manner of evil to his charge, and God therefore came forth for his defense, because his heart was right with the Lord. It was God’s grace that made him right, and the grace that had preserved him from sinning now delivered him from being slandered.

Verses 1-35

 

Psalms 18:1. I will love you, you, O Lord, my strength.

What a blessed "I will": "I will love you, you"! He does love the Lord, and he declares that he will continue to do so. He feels that he must do so, for the Lord has been his strength. There are many aspects under which the love of our heart is most justly and fitly given to God, and this is one of them. If the Lord has been the strength of our heart, then let our heart love him.

Psalms 18:2. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

How David heaps up the epithets! When the believer once begins to praise the Lord, there is no end to it. He can never even satisfy himself; much less can he hope to rise to the height of this great argument. Notice how many of those little pronouns there are. Luther used to say that the very marrow of divinity lies in the pronouns. Certainly, the sweetness-the honey of it lies here. Let me read the verse again, putting the emphasis on the pronouns: "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."

Psalms 18:3. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

Calling upon him in prayer, and rendering praise to him, "so shall I be saved from mine enemies. You, you remember how the army of Jehoshaphat marched forth into the valley of Berachah, singing and praising the Lord; and they had no need to strike a blow, for the Lord gave them a glorious victory, when they began to sing and to praise; and we might have more victories if we had more praise and more prayer. Now David goes on to tell us what had happened to him, and what happened to the children of Israel when they came up out of the land of Egypt, and went into the wilderness.

Psalms 18:4-5. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of Hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

That is, "went before me," "lay in my pathway." Did you, you ever have a window opened in your heart, so that you, you could see all the ruin of your nature,-all the possibilities of evil that lay asleep within your soul? Did you, you ever feel, as you, you gazed upon that sight, as if you, you were looking over the edge of the bottomless pit? Ah, then! you, you have been just in the condition which the psalmist here describes: "The sorrows of Hell compassed me about: the snares of death lay in my pathway."

Psalms 18:6. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God; he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

That is a wonderful expression: "My cry came before him, even into his ears." That is, of course, speaking after the manner of men, and we cannot speak in any other manner. God appeared to hear David’s cry as you, you and I hear a thing when we say, "It seemed to ring in my ears, I could not get rid of the sound of it." What happened then?

Psalms 18:7. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

The Lord was wroth with those who had made his child cry, as a father is angry with one who injures a beloved child of his, or as a mother is wroth with one who puts her babe to pain. The Lord made the earth to tremble because he was angry at the oppressors of his servant.

Psalms 18:8. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

That is David’s graphic and striking representation of the indignation of God on his behalf.

Psalms 18:9. He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

This is a wonderful description of the interposition of God on behalf of his people. The scene referred to by David is probably the destruction of the Egyptians at the Red Sea, and the deliverance of the children of Israel from their cruel enemies.

Psalms 18:10. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yes, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

So swift is prayer to reach the heart of God; and so swift is God to come to the help of his people.

Psalms 18:11-12. He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

For all the dread artillery of Heaven shall be used for the defense of the faithful. God will hold nothing in reserve when his people are in danger.

Psalms 18:13. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

What made God speak in those terrible tones? It was the faint and feeble cry of his poor servant down below. Can you, you and I make thunder? Yes, we can. If we can thunder at the gates of Heaven by prayer, God will thunder in the heavens in his omnipotence; he will quickly respond to his children’s cries. The first Christians, who were employed in the Roman armies, were called the thundering legion, because it was said that, once upon a time, when they prayed, God sent a thunderstorm to destroy their enemies; and, truly, a living Church of God, that is full of prayer, may be called a thundering legion.

Psalms 18:14. Yes, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightning’s, and discomfited them.

What a wonderful picture this is,-as if the Eternal had taken down his bow, and aimed his shafts of lightning against the foes of his people!

Psalms 18:15. Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

At the Red Sea, Moses sang, "You, you did blow with your wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters; "but, here, David does not represent God as sending forth a great wind, but as if, in his eagerness to help his servant, his very nostrils gave forth such a mighty blast as made the sea to divide, so that "the channels of the waters were seen." It is one of the most vivid pieces of poetry that ever fell from the pen of inspired or uninspired man.

Psalms 18:16-17. He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

When a child of God is in such a condition that he cannot help himself, and he cries to his Heavenly Father, then the Lord always helps him. Our proverb says, "God helps those that help themselves;" that is true, but there is something better than that. God helps those who cannot help themselves. That proves the greatness of his mercy, which endures forever. David said of his foes, "They were too strong for me," but they were not too strong for the Lord to overthrow.

Psalms 18:18. They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay.

"I leaned on him; I rested on him; I relied on him; and so I was made peaceful, calm, quiet, confident in him: ‘The Lord was my stay.’"

Psalms 18:19. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

What say you, you to that, believer? That God delights in thee,-that he finds something in you, you, which he has put there by his grace, which is the object of his delight? Is it not your likeness to his dear Son, whom he loves so much that, wherever he sees his image, there his love flows forth?

Psalms 18:20. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me.

For when God gives a man holiness, he will give him happiness. Holiness and happiness usually go together; and if, for a while, they seem to be divided, they shall soon be united again.

Psalms 18:21-24. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me. I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity. Therefore has the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

The godly never see any merit in their own works, they never have any trust in them for salvation; yet they cannot help observing, with pleasure, that, when God enables them to walk uprightly, he sooner or later delivers them. If you, you come into any trouble because you, you fear God, and serve him, you, you will come out of it again; ay, and come out of it like the three holy children came out of the furnace, with not so much as the smell of fire remaining upon you, you.

Psalms 18:25-26. With the merciful you, you will show yourself merciful; with an upright man you, you will show yourself upright; with the pure you, you will show yourself pure; and with the froward you, you will show yourself froward.

If a man walks in a froward way, and opposes God, he will soon find that God treats him in a similar fashion. Sinners shall surely smart for their sin. Rebels shall yet sing another tune, however loudly they may boast today, and scoff at God and his people.

Psalms 18:27. For you, you will save the afflicted people;

There is comfort there for any of you, you who are his people, and who are under his afflicting hand.

Psalms 18:27. But will bring down high looks.

Pride excites the indignation of Jehovah; it is to the humble that he has regard.

Psalms 18:28. For you, you will light my candle the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

Plead that promise if you, you are in the dark at this moment. If you, you are God’s child, he will bring you, you out into the light before long.

Psalms 18:29. For by you, you I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

God’s warriors have to fight in various ways, and in all they must quit themselves like men, and ascribe all their triumphs to their Lord.

Psalms 18:30. As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

No armor of proof or shield of brass so well secures the warrior as the covenant God of Israel protects his warring people. He is himself the buckler of trustful ones.

Psalms 18:31. For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God?

Where can lasting hopes be fixed? Where can the soul find rest? Where is stability to be found? Where is strength to be discovered? Surely, in the Lord Jehovah alone can we find rest and refuge.

Psalms 18:32-35. It is God that girds me with strength, and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like hinds’ feet, and sets me upon my high places. He teaches my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. You, you have also given me the shield of your salvation: and your right hand has held me up, and your gentleness has made me great.

I think you, you will see that David has given us, in this Psalm, the reasons why he began by saying, "I will love you, you, O Lord, my strength."

Verses 1-50

 

Psalms 18:1-3. I will love you, you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength in whom I will trust; my buckler, and my horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I shall call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

At first he says, "I will love you, you" then, "I will trust you, you," now he says "I will call upon you, you," and that calling upon God is specially in the sense of praising him; and when you, you have just experienced a divine deliverance, how full your spirit is of sacred gratitude!

Psalms 18:4-7. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of Hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

God was angry with Saul and with all David’s persecutors because they hunted that good man like a partridge upon the mountains. The prayer of the poor suppliant called down the anger of God upon his adversaries.

Psalms 18:8. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

This is a wonderful picture of the anger of God. The Hebrews always connected manifestations of anger with the nose and mouth just as they ascribed various passions and feelings to the different members of the body. So David says, "There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured." Does someone ask, "Can prayer move God in this way?" Yes, it seems so. Of course, David had to speak after the manner of men; there is no other way in which men can speak, so he describes God as being thus stirred by the cry of his poor child when it came up into his ears. Nothing brings a man’s temper into his face like an injury done to his child, and God, as a father, cannot endure to have his children hurt. "He who touches you, you touches the apple of his eye."

Psalms 18:9-10. He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yes, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

So quick is God to come to the deliverance of his persecuted people.

Psalms 18:11-13. He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail storms and coals of fire.

Behold the dread artillery of Heaven as God turns his terrible guns against the enemies of his people, and pours out hot shot from his lofty bastion: "hail stones and coals of fire."

Psalms 18:14-15. Yes, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

The psalmist is evidently describing the passage of the Red Sea, and likening the descent of God to his individual help to that memorable descent of God to the rescue of his entire people. And indeed, God is as great in his help to one as in his help to all; he is never little. When God helps you, you, my brother, he is a great God, and greatly to be praised, as greatly so as when he comes to the rescue of an entire nation. Therefore sing unto the Lord, whose arm is lifted up for you, you, even for you, you, as truly as it was lifted upon Israel when he brought them out of Egypt "with a strong hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with great terror."

Psalms 18:16. He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

The Lord made another Moses of him. Pharaoh’s daughter gave the name of Moses, that is, one drawn out, to the child who was brought to her, "because," she said, "I drew him out of the water."

Psalms 18:17. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me; for they were too strong for me.

Is that the reason why God interposed on David’s behalf? Then let all his weak children find comfort in the fact that, when our enemies are too strong for us, God will come and deliver us. Let us be thankful for burdens that are too heavy for us to bear, and cast them upon the almighty shoulders that can easily sustain them. If we could do without God, we should do without God; but as we cannot, God will come to us, and help and deliver us.

Psalms 18:18-19. They presented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

What a sense of divine love God’s gracious deliverance brings! Perhaps David would never have known how greatly God delighted in him if he had not been in such dire distress, and had not had such a great deliverance.

Psalms 18:20-24. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me. I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity. Therefore has the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

If God gives you, you grace to be honest, and upright, and true, and steadfast in the time of temptation, you, you may be quite sure that he will deliver you, you; in fact, he has already wrought the greater part of your deliverance in thus keeping you, you from sin. The worst thing that a trouble can do for a Christian man is to carry him off his feet, and make him forsake his integrity.

Psalms 18:25-27. With the merciful you, you will show yourself merciful; with an upright man you, you will show yourself upright; with the pure you, you will show yourself pure; and with the forward you, you will show yourself forward. For you, you will save the afflicted people; but will bring down high looks.

If your faith cannot endure testing and trying, it is but poor faith. It will not do to die with if it will not do to live with. But if you, you cry to the Lord, and he enables you, you in the time of your distress to be faithful to him then he will certainly give you, you deliverance sooner or later.

Psalms 18:28-30. For you, you will light my candle: the Lord my God will enlightened my darkness. For by you, you I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect:

If you, you practice self-reliance, but not God-reliance, you, you will be sure to fail. What poor strength that is which does not come from God! Is it worthy of the name of strength at all? Is it not impotence and impudence combined? May God keep us from imagining that we can do anything apart from him! At the same time, may his gracious Spirit work in us the sure confidence that we can do everything he bids us do when he is our Helper! David had that confidence, for he goes on to sing, —

Psalms 18:30-37. The word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God? It is God that girds me with strength, and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like hinds’ feet, and sets me upon my high places. He teaches my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. You, you have also given me the shield of your salvation: and your right hand has held me up, and your gentleness has made me great. You, you have enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip. I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again until they were consumed.

Remember that this is a soldier’s song,-a song under the old covenant when men might fight as they may not fight now. We must, therefore, spiritualize this ancient war-song as we read it.

Psalms 18:38-45. I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet. For you, you have girded me with strength unto the battle: you, you have subdued under me those that rose up against me. You, you have also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me. They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the Lord, but he answered them not. Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets. You, you have delivered me from the strivings of the people; and you, you have made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me. As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me. The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.

So it came to pass that the Philistines were afraid of David, and he delivered his people from the attacks of all invaders, and brought them that blessed peace which Solomon enjoyed with them.

Psalms 18:46-50. The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God that avenges me, and subdues the people under me. He delivers me from mine enemies: yes, you, you lift me up above those that rise up against me: you, you have delivered me from the violent man. Therefore will I give thanks unto you, you, O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto your name. Great deliverance gives he to his king; and shows mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

 

Chapter 19

 

Verses 1-14

 

This Psalm teaches us the excellence of the two revelations which God has made to man. The first is the revelation which he has made in nature, and the second is that which he has made in his inspired Word. The psalmist first sings of God as he displays himself in his works in creation: —

Psalms 19:1. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork.

So much is this the case that it has been well said that "an undevout astronomer is mad." There are such traces of the Infinite and the Omnipotent in the stars, and especially the more thoroughly they are studied, and the science of mathematics is brought to bear upon them, in order, in some degree, to guess at the incalculable distances and mighty weights of the starry orbs, that a man must perceive in them traces of the divine handiwork if he is only willing to do so: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork."

Psalms 19:2. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night shows knowledge.

Every day speaks to the following one, even as the day that went before it spoke to it, and each day has its own message. Its history is an echo of the voice of God, and if man had but ears to hear, he would perceive that the things which happen from day to day proclaim the presence and power of God. And even night, with her impressive silence, reveals the Most High in the solemn hush and stillness. In the great primeval forests, the winds seem, with songs without words, to declare the presence of the Most High. There is something there, in the stillness of the night, as weird-like and so solemn, which has made unbelief retreat, and caused faith to lift up her eye, and see more in the heavens at night than she had seen by day: "Night unto night shows knowledge."

Psalms 19:3-4. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

Though nature does not speak, yet its words go to the ends of the earth; and, silently, they sing the- praises of God. To the inner ears of an enlightened man, there is a measure of spiritual teaching ever going on.

Psalms 19:4-6. In them has he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the Heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

All this is emblematical of the spread of the gospel; so Paul tells us in the Epistle to the Romans: "Their souls went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." Our Lord Jesus, up-springing from the couch whereon he slept awhile, has sent his light even to the ends of the earth.

"Nor shall his spreading gospel rest,

Until through the world his truth has run, —

Until Christ has all the nations blessed,

That see the light, or feel the sun."

There are brighter days yet to come to us. The strength of Christ, as he daily runs the gospel race, has not diminished, indeed, he puts it out yet more and more, and the day shall come when, as the full sunlight makes the perfect day, so shall the full revelation of the gospel to the eyes of all men fill the whole earth with the praises of God. Now let us read concerning the Book of God. We have read about his works, now let us read about his words.

Psalms 19:7. The law of the Lord is perfect, —

"The doctrine of the Lord (as it may be read,) is perfect," —

Psalms 19:7. converting [or, restoring] the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure,

Oh, what a mercy that is! What could our souls do with ifs and buts and perhapses? But the teachings of God’s Word are certain, positive, infallible.

Psalms 19:7. Making wise the simple.

No matter how foolish, how childlike, we may be to begin with, so long as our minds are free from gunning and craftiness, and as are simple and sincere, this Book will make us truly wise.

Psalms 19:8. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart:

You, you know they do. Oftentimes has your heart leaped for joy when the statutes of the Lord have been made known to you, you.

Psalms 19:8-11. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is your servant warned:

Do you, you not find it so, — that, oftentimes, a test of scripture comes to your mind just at the moment when you, you were about to suffer spiritual shipwreck? When you, you would have done something that would have caused you, you lifelong grief and vast damage, the Word of God has stepped before you, you with the flaming danger signal, and you, you have been stopped in time.

Psalms 19:11. And in keeping of them there is great reward.

Not, for keeping of them, for it is not of debt; but, "in keeping of them." It is always best to do as God bids you, you. You, you never forget a duty, or refuse to do it, without suffering loss, and every mistake you, you make, with regard to your Lord’s will, is a damage to yourselves. The keeping of his commands is most soul-enriching. The most profitable business that a child of God can carry on in the business of obedience to his Lord’s commands: "In keeping of them there is great reward."

Psalms 19:12. Who can understand his errors? cleanse you, you me from secret faults.

The man who searches his heart most will yet leave some sin undiscovered;

and he who says, "I have no sin; I am living without sin," has surely never seen into his own heart at all, he must be an utter stranger to the condition it is in. Let this be the prayer of each one of us: "Cleanse you, you me from secret faults."

Psalms 19:13. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;

"Let me never dare to do what I know to be wrong. Let me not say, ‘I will go just so far, and then stop.’ Let me not tempt the Holy Spirit of God. Oh, let me never tempt the devil to tempt me, and put myself into a dangerous position under the notion that God will keep me if I am his child: ‘keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;’" —

Psalms 19:13. Let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

You, you will never go into apostasy if you, you are watchful against presumption. Those men who, like Judas, commit the great transgression, and utterly perish, are men who knew nothing about watching their own hearts, but who presumed, and were sinfully bold and self-confident, and so came to an ill end. You, you know where John Bunyan says Heedless and Too Bold went to; and there are many like them.

Psalms 19:14. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight; O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

 

Chapter 20

 

Verses 1-9

 

The 20th Psalm is a prayer for the king going forth to the conflict, — a prayer for David; better still, a prayer for great David’s greater Son. The 21st Psalm is a song of victory for the returning conqueror, it is a Te Deum, as the king has triumphed, and has returned from the conflict to enjoy the congratulations of his loyal subjects.

Psalms 20:1. The Lord hear you, you in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend you, you; —

This is a prayer for David, a prayer for Jesus, and a prayer for every child of God: "Jehovah hear you, you in the day of trouble." What do you, you want? Remember that the Lord gives you, you this promise, "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, you, and you, you shall glorify me." "The name of the God of Jacob defend you, you." The God that took care of Jacob when he slept with a stone for his pillow; the God that guarded him when he was a stranger in a strange land, and brought him home again; the God that wrestled with him at Jabbok, the God that made all things work for him, instead of against him, as he feared, — "the name" — the character, the attributes, the glory — "of the God of Jacob defend you, you;"—

Psalms 20:2. Send you, you help from the sanctuary, —

"Help from the holy place, help from the sprinkled blood, help from the mercy-seat, help from the golden pot that had the manna, help from Aaron’s rod that budded, help from him that shone between the cherubim, — send you, you help from the Holy of Holies," —

Psalms 20:2. And strengthen you, you out of Zion; —

That is to say, with his own power, his own glory, which he manifests in the midst of his people.

Psalms 20:3. Remember all your offerings, and accept your burnt sacrifice; Selah.

This God did to his dear Son, and this he is prepared to do to all his people. Whenever we give anything to the cause of God, we ought to do it with all that solemnity and all that willingness which was seen in God’s own people in the olden time; remembering that it is to him we bring it; and the chief point for our consideration is, "Will he accept it?"

Psalms 20:4. Grant you, you according to your own heart, and fulfill all your counsel.

We cannot pray this for everybody. We do pray it for Christ, and we pray it for the Lord’s sanctified people, that he may grant them the desire of their heart, and fulfill their counsel.

Psalms 20:5. We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord fulfill all your petitions.

What a wonderful prayer this is! May it be granted to each of you, you! "The Lord fulfill all your petitions."

Psalms 20:6-9. Now know I that the Lord saves his anointed; he will hear him from his holy Heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright. Save, Lord:

Or, "Hosanna."

Psalms 20:9. Let the king hear us when we call.

Now turn to the Psalm of victory. It corresponds very beautifully with the litany which we have just been reading.

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 20. and 21.

 

Chapter 21

 

Verses 1-13

 

Psalms 21:1. The king shall joy in your strength, O Lord and in your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!

See how greatly Christ rejoices, how full his heart is of gladness as he sees God’s power put forth, and God’s salvation accomplished among men.

Psalms 21:2-3. You, you have given him his heart’s desire, and have, not with held the request of his lips. Selah. For you, you prevent him with the blessings of goodness:

That is to say, "You, you go before him," as you, you have seen, in pictures, some great conqueror preceded by those who strewn his path with roses, so has God strewn the pathway of Christ with innumerable blessings.

Psalms 21:3. You, you set a crown of pure gold on his head.

Is he not of royal race? Has he not achieved a mighty conquest? Is he not King of kings and Lord of lords?

Psalms 21:4. He asked life of you, you, and you, you gave it him, even length of days forever and ever.

"You, you gave him a resurrection from the dead as our Mediator, and as such he lives."

Psalms 21:5. His glory is great in your salvation:

It is the distinguishing mark of God’s salvation that Christ’s glory is great in it. In the beginning, and the middle, and the end of it, everywhere you, you see the name of Jesus written large in letters of light. In his salvation, the Father has glorified his Son.

Psalms 21:5-8. Honor and majesty have you, you laid upon him. For you, you have made him most blessed forever: you, you have made him exceeding glad with your countenance. For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved. Your hand shall find out all your enemies:

That very hand that was nailed to the tree shall find out all the adversaries of the cross.

Psalms 21:8. Your right hand shall fall out those that hate you, you.

"Hide wherever they may, you, you will find them out. They may stand in the high places, and defy you, you; but you, you will hurl them down."

Psalms 21:9. You, you shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger:

"Not only shall they be cast into the fire, but they shall themselves be as a fiery oven in the time of your anger. They shall torment themselves, and shall be their own destruction."

Psalms 21:9-11. The Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shall you, you destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men. For they intended evil against you, you: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.

But that did not diminish their sin. When a man has devised an evil tiring,

even if he cannot carry it out, he is guilty of it.

Psalms 21:12. Therefore shall you, you make them turn their back, when you, you shall make ready your arrows upon your strings against the face of them.

As if God would single out the enemies of Christ to be targets for his arrows, and fill them with the darts of his displeasure; who would wish to be in such a plight as this?

Psalms 21:13. Be you, you exalted, Lord, in your own strength: so will we sing and praise your power

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 20. and 21.

 

Chapter 22

 

Verses 1-9

 

Psalms 22:1. My God, my God, why have you, you forsaken me?

What a dolorous cry! How terrible it must have been to have heard that cry, but how much more terrible to have uttered it! For the dear Son of God, the Well-beloved, with whom the Father is always pleased, to be forsaken of his God, was indeed grief unfathomable.

Psalms 22:1. Why are you, you so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

It seems as if the Savior’s voice, and almost his mind, had failed him, for he calls his prayer "roaring" likening himself to a wounded beast. When any of you, you cannot pray, or think you, you cannot, remember these words of your Lord. If he, the ever-blessed Son of God, speaks of his own prayer as a "roaring", what must ours be! You, you know that Isaiah spoke of his own prayer as being like the chattering of a crane or a swallow, or the mourning of a dove, as if there were no articulate utterance about it; but to the ear and eye of God, there is music in a sigh, and beauty in a tear. As our Lord had to pray like this, do not wonder if we, sometimes, should feel that God has forsaken us. If there were such dark clouds for Christ there may well be some for us also.

Psalms 22:2. O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you, you hear not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

If we remember Gethsemane, and think how Jesus prayed there, even to an agony and a bloody sweat, shall we wonder if, sometime, our prayers seem to be put on one side, and we do not immediately receive answers of peace to them? Yet, you, you see, our Lord kept on crying to God both day and night.

Psalms 22:3. But you, you are holy, O you, you that inhabits the praises of Israel.

Settle it in your hearts that, whatever God does, he is holy. Never harbor a thought against his, never imagine that he is hard, or unjust, or unfaithful.

That cannot be, so, if the worst comes to the worst, never let your faith have any question upon this point.

Psalms 22:4-5. Our fathers trusted in you, you; they trusted, and you, you did deliver them. They cried unto you, you, and were delivered: they trusted in you, you, and were not confounded.

Look back, and see how God helped our ancestors. Recall how, in the past ages, the Lord always was the Deliverer of all those that trusted in him. Was a righteous man ever finally forsaken of God? Since the world began, has not the Lord, sooner or later, appeared to deliver his children? It is wonderful to hear our Divine Master pleading in this fashion; but most wonderful of all is that next verse: —

Psalms 22:6. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

There is a little red worm which seems to be nothing else but blood when it is crushed, it seems all gone except a blood-stain; and the Savior, in the deep humiliation of his spirit, compares himself to that little red worm. How true it is that "he made himself of no reputation" for our sakes! He emptied himself of all his glory; and if there be any glory natural to manhood, he emptied himself even of that. Not only the glories of his Godhead, but the honors of his manhood he laid aside that it might be seen that, "though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor."

Psalms 22:7-8. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

Or, as the passage is quoted in Matthew, "Let him deliver him now, if he will have him."

Psalms 22:9. But you, you are he who took me out of the womb: you, you did make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.

This is a very wonderful thing. I do not think we remember as we ought that, for years after our birth, we could do nothing to help ourselves, yet we were taken care of even then. He who has passed safely through his infancy need not be afraid that God will not help him through the rest of his life, and if we should live so long that we to a second infancy, the God who carried us through the first will carry us through the second. He has already done so much for us that we are bound to trust him for all the future. Now let us see, as I reminded you, you just now, how this passage is referred to in the Gospel according to Matthew.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 22:1-9; and Matthew 27:33-44.

Verses 1-31

 

Stand and look up at Christ upon the cross, and look upon these words, as his. He himself is the best exposition of this wondrous psalm.

Psalms 22:1-2. My God, my God, why have you, you forsaken me? why are you, you so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you, you hear not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

Gethsemane!—there is the key—a prayer unanswered at that time: "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me." It was not possible. He must drink it. "In the night season I am not silent."

Psalms 22:3. But you, you are holy, O you, you that inhabits the praises of Israel.

No hard thoughts of God, even when he was forsaken. A forsaken Christ still clings to the Father, and ascribes perfect holiness to him.

Psalms 22:4-6. Our fathers trusted in you, you: they trusted, and you, you did deliver them. They cried unto you, you, and were delivered: they trusted in you, you, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man: a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

How low did Christ descend for our sakes not only low as man, but lower still! Never was godly man forsaken of God, and yet Jesus was; so he is lower than we are while he hangs upon the tree "a reproach of men, and despised of the people."

Psalms 22:7-8. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him, let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

Was not this just what they said at the cross? Ah, little did they know that he saved others; himself he could not save, because a matchless love held his hands there, as with diamond rivets.

Psalms 22:9-10. But you, you are he who took me out of the womb: you, you did make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon you, you from the womb: you, you are my God from my mother’s belly.

He remembers his wonderful birth. He was God’s, indeed, from the very first.

Psalms 22:11. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. They have all gone. Peter and all the rest have fled. There is none to help.

And there stand the Scribes and Pharisees, and the great men of the nation.

Psalms 22:12-14. Many bulls have encompassed me; strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water,

All dissolved—nothing could hold together—quite spent and gone.

Psalms 22:14. And all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax:

He felt the inward sinking fever brought on him by the wounds he had upon the cress. "My heart is like wax."

Psalms 22:14-16. It is melted in the midst of my affections. My strength is dried up like a potsherd: and my tongue cleaves to my jaws: and you, you have brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me:

There they are—the cruel multitude—thrusting out the tongue and hooting at him. "For dogs have compassed me."

Psalms 22:16. The assembly of the wicked have inclosed me:

The hind of the morning is now surrounded by the dogs. He cannot escape.

Psalms 22:16-17. They pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

Horrible, to the tender, modest soul of Jesus, were those vile stares of the ribald multitude as they gazed upon him.

Psalms 22:18-22. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not you, you far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste you, you to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. Save me .from the lion’s mouth: for you, you have heard me from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare your name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise you, you.

The sun that was darkened, now shines again.

The Savior’s griefs are o’er.

A calm is spread over his mind. He is about to say, "It is finished!" and his heart is comforted. We leave that passage there.

 

Chapter 23

 

Verses 1-6

 

I hope we all know this Psalm by heart, may we also know it by heart-experience! It is a sweet pastoral song just suited to our Sabbath evening worship. There is here no din of arms, no noise of war; but there is a delicious hush, only broken by the gentle tinkling of the sheep-bell. God give us that sweet rest tonight!

Psalms 23:1. The Lord is my shepherd;

All true rest begins with Jesus, as all the comfort of the sheep is provided for their by their shepherd.

"The Lord is my shepherd." Is it so? Can you, you look up, poor defenseless sheep, and say, "The Lord is my shepherd"? Then comes the blessed inference: —

Psalms 23:1. I shall not want.

I do not want, I cannot want; I never shall want with such a Shepherd as I have. He will provide for me; nay, more, God himself is my provision. All I need I have, for "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." I cannot provide for myself, but I shall not want. Famine may come, and others who have no God to go to, may pine and perish, but in the worst season I shall not want, for "The Lord is my shepherd."

Psalms 23:2. He makes me to lie down in green pastures:

I am so weak that I even need God’s help to enable me to lie down, but "He makes me to lie down." Yes, the rest of the soul is so hard to attain that nobody ever does reach it except by the power of God. He who made the heavens must make us to lie down if we are really to rest. What delightful rest it is when we lie down in his pastures, which are always green! Did you, you ever find them dry? Our Shepherd makes us not only to feed, but so to feed that we lie down in the midst of the pastures. There is more than we can eat, so the Lord makes a couch of it for us: "He makes me to lie down in green pastures:"

Psalms 23:2. He leads me beside the still waters.

There is, first, contemplation: "He makes me to lie down." Then there is activity. "He leads me." There is also progress, and there is provision for our advance in the heavenly way: "He leads me." He leads me beside the waters of quietness, not by the rushing torrents of excitement, nor by the place of noisy strife. "He shall not strive, nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets." "He leads me beside the still waters." Not, he drives, or drags; but he himself leads, going first to show the way. It is for me to follow, happily to follow, where "He leads me beside the still waters."

Psalms 23:3. He restores my soul:

He can do it at once. He restores now. He is a restoring God. "He restores my soul." He brings my wandering spirit back when I forsake his ways; and having done that, he leads me, even more carefully than before, for a second time we have the psalmist’s declaration, "He leads me."

Psalms 23:3-4. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:

Though death’s shadow hovers all around me, and damps my spirit, though I feel as though I must die, and cannot bear up under present trial any longer, "Yes, though I walk," for I do walk I will not quicken my pace, I will not be in a flurry, I will not run for it. Though death itself shall overshadow me, I will keep up my walk with God. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." There is none, therefore I will not fear any. We often feel more afraid through our fear itself than through any real cause for fear. Some people seem to be ever on the lookout for fear where there is none. Do not you, you see any, nor let any enter your heart; mirthful with the psalmist, "I will fear no evil:" —

Psalms 23:4. For you, you are with me;

Should a sheep fear when the shepherd is with it? What cause has it to fear if that Shepherd is omniscient, omnipotent, and full of tenderness?

Psalms 23:4. Your rod and your staff they comfort me.

Your rule and your correction: your rod, with which I sometimes am made to smart; your staff, with which I am supported. These are my comforts; why should I fear? Are you, you drinking in all this precious truth, dear friends? Are you, you feeling it in your soul’s deepest experience? This Psalm is very good to read, but it is far better to write out from your own experience. Make it a song of your own; not merely a song in the Book, but a song for yourselves.

Psalms 23:5. You, you prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

There is a fight going on, and there are enemies all around. You, you do not generally have tables set in the hour of battle; but God keeps his people so calm amid the bewildering cry, so confident of victory, that even in the presence of their enemies a table is spread with all the state of a royal banquet. "You, you prepare a table." There is a does on the table, there are the ornaments on it, and there are all the accompaniments of a feast: "You, you prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." They may look on if they like; they may grin, they may wish they could devour, but they cannot sit down at the table, and they cannot prevent me from sitting down at it. Let them blow their trumpets, let them fire their guns: "You, you prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." It is the very acme of security and repose that is here described. I know of no expression, not even that of lying down in green pastures, that is more full of restfulness than this: "You, you prepare table before me in the presence of mine enemies."

Psalms 23:5. You, you anoint my head with oil;

At some feasts, they poured perfumed unguents on the heads of the guests, so God will leave out nothing that is for the joy and comfort of his people. "You, you anoint my head with oil." You, you shall have delicacies as well as necessities; you, you shall have joy as well as safety; you, you shall be prepared for service as well as preserved from destruction.

Psalms 23:5. My cup runs over.

I have not only what I wish, but I have more; not only all I can hold, but something to spare: "My cup runs over." If this is the case with your cup, dear friend, let it run over in thankful joy, and if you, you have more of this world’s substance than you, you need, ask the poor and needy to come and catch that which flows over.

Psalms 23:6. Surely —

This is another of the psalmist’s inferences, and a very sure one. He does not say, "Perhaps," but, "Surely"

Psalms 23:6. Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

Here is a prince of the blood royal of Heaven attended by two body guards, — goodness and mercy, — which keep close behind him. These are the grooms that ride on the horses of salvation: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me." "Goodness" — to provide for me; "mercy" — to blot out my sin. "Goodness and mercy shall follow me,"-not only now and then, but, "all the days of my life." When I get gray-headed and feeble, and have to lean heavily upon my staff, these twin angels shall be close behind to bear me up, and bear me through.

Psalms 23:6. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Even while I am here in this world, I will be-"No more a stranger or a guest But like a child at home," dwelling with God; and by-and-by, in the fullest sense, "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." I always compare this Psalm to a lark. It begins on the ground among the sheep, but up it goes until you, you may hear its blessed notes echoing among the stars: "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." It has its nest in the grass of the green pastures; but it flies up like the strains of sweetest music rising even to the skies: "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." God grant that this may be the portion of every one of us, for his great name’s sake! Amen.

 

Chapter 24

 

Verses 1-10

 

Psalms 24:1. The earth is the Lord’S, and the fullness thereof,

And therefore it is also the believer’s. The real fullness of the earth belongs to the Christian. "The meek shall inherit the earth."

Psalms 24:1-2. The world, and they that dwell there in. For he has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

So, child of God, you, you are in your Father’s house even while you, you are down here on earth. Still, that question in the next verse is very suggestive. Albeit that the earth is the Lord’s, yet we do not want to stop in it forever.

Psalms 24:3. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?

This is the portion of the Lord’s people to ascend the hill of the Zion that is above, to enter the New Jerusalem, and to stand in the immediate presence of God. But who shall ever be able to do that?

Psalms 24:4-5. He who has clean hands, and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully; he shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the blood of his salvation.

The man who will go to Heaven is the clean man, the man who has been washed from his sins in the blood of the Lamb; and he is clean just where he was most likely to be foul, he has "clean hands." Grace has enabled him to touch the things of the world without receiving a stain from them, and to touch holy things without defiling them. This expression — "clean hands " — refers to his outward life; but he is also clean inside, for he has "a pure heart." If a man were clean as to his actions, but not clean as to his motives, he would not be fit to enter Heaven, but the man described here is a true man. He has not followed after vanity, neither has he uttered a lie, but he has followed the truth, and he has spoken the truth. He is the man whom God will bless, but he has no righteousness of his own, so we read that "he shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation." So he needed to be saved, and he needed a righteousness better than his own, and this God will give him.

Psalms 24:6. This is the generation of them that seek him, that see your face, O Jacob. Selah.

It is a wonderful thing that Jesus Christ should take his people’s name but he does. He gives his Church his own name in that remarkable passage in Jeremiah 33:16, "This is the name with which she shall be called The Lord our righteousness;" and now, to make the union complete, he takes her name as his own, and Christ is here called Jacob.

Psalms 24:7-10. Lift up your heads, O you, you gates; and be you, you lift up, you, you everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you, you gates, even lift them up, you, you everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

Now, if Christ is our Shepherd in the meadows down here where he makes us to lie down in the green pastures of his grace, he will also be our Shepherd in the heavenly pastures up there on the hill-tops of glory, where the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed us, and shall lead us unto living fountains of waters, and we shall delight forever to "follow the Lamb wherever he goes."

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 23, 24.

 

Chapter 25

 

Verses 1-22

 

Psalms 25:1. Unto you, you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

It is down; and I would gladly lift it up; yet I am powerless to do so if I am left to myself. When the soul cleaves to the earth, who but God can lift it up? Yet it must be our desire and object to seek to lift up our soul unto God.

Psalms 25:2. O my God, I trust in you, you: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Whatever happens to me, I trust in you, you. Down goes the anchor; that ship will never drift far out to sea. "O my God, I trust in you, you." Can you, you say that, dear friends? Then, if you, you are in the dark, you, you are as safe as if you, you were in the light, for still this anchor holds: "O my God, I trust in you, you." "Let not mine enemies triumph over me." They will do so, if they can get me back into the world. If they can seduce me from the paths of holiness, what shouts of joy there will be in the camp of the enemy! "Hold you, you me up, and I shall be safe."

Psalms 25:3. Yes, let none that wait on you, you be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.

When good men are in earnest on their own account, they soon begin to pray for others; and the evil which they dread for themselves, they are sure to dread for their brethren. David first prayed, "Let me not be ashamed;" and then he added, "Let none that wait on you, you be ashamed." The only shame that is worth having is a blessed shame,— the shame of true repentance, which sorrows over past sin, of which it is ashamed. Alas!

there will be an eternal shame, which shall cover those who choose the ways of sin.

Psalms 25:4. Show me your ways, O Lord teach me your paths.

That is the prayer of one who is tight of the Spirit, for, by nature, our desire is to have our own way; and if we can have our own way, we are satisfied. But when the Lord has taught us better, our prayer is, "Show me your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths."

Psalms 25:5. Lead me in your truth, and teach me: for you, you are the God of my salvation; on you, you do I wait all the day.

We need not only to have the path shown to us, but to be led into it, for we are like babes just learning to walk, we must have a finger that we may hold, or a hand that we may lean upon: "Lead me in your truth, and teach me." That is the second time that David has prayed for the Lord to teach him; and as long as we are here, we also shall each one need to pray, Teach me. What is a disciple but as learner? His daily cry must be, "Teach me: for you, you are the God. of my salvation." There is another grip of the hand of faith. I have taken you, you to be my salvation, O my God! I trust nowhere else, "On you, you do I wait all the day," expecting everything from thee,—tarrying your leisure, but tarrying hopefully, expecting to be blessed.

Psalms 25:6. Remember, O Lord, your tender mercies and your lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.

Your saints knew them before I was born, and I have known them since I have been born again. By the constancy of your kindness to me hitherto, continue still to bless me, for are you, you not an unchanging God?

Psalms 25:7. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to your mercy remember you, you me for your goodness’ sake, O Lord.

In this verse and the preceding one, there are three "remembers"— erst, that God would remember his tender mercies and his lovingkindnesses; next, that he would not remember our sins and our transgressions; and, then, that he would remember us according to his mercy and goodness.

This last request may remind us of the prayer of the dying thief, "Lord, remember me;" and it may serve for us as a repenting prayer: "According to your mercy remember you, you me for your goodness’ sake, O Lord."

Psalms 25:8. Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

If good men endeavor to make others good, much more will the good God do so. A good man will seek to lead sinners in the right way; and. much more will our good Savior, and God, and Helper do so. Only let us be willing to be taught, and come to him confessing our ignorance, and.

asking to be led and instructed. This Psalm, you, you see, dear friends, is all about teaching; and as David needed instruction, so also do we. The next verse deals with the same subject:

Psalms 25:9. The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

Not the proud man, but the meek,— the learners,— the teachable ones; those who, like little children, are willing to believe what they are told upon true authority. Oh, that we all may be among the meek! The tender-mouthed horse is easy to drive; but some people are so stubborn and obstinate that they are "as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle." Oh, that we were sensitive to the slightest touch of the divine hand, and always ready and anxious to be instructed by the Lord.

Psalms 25:10. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

Do you, you believe that, you, you who have been sorely tried? If you, you are resting in covenant love, and find your hope in covenant blood and covenant promises, you, you must believe that everything God does to you, you is done in mercy and truth. Ay, though he strikes until every blow of the rod leaves a blue wound behind, yet we rejoice in these tokens of his fatherly love and desire for our highest good, for he has said, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." The word "love" in that passage conveys the idea of a very tender and ardent auction.

Psalms 25:11. For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.

Those who are not taught of God pray very differently from that, for their prayer is, "O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is little;" but he who is graciously instructed confesses the greatness of his guilt, and out of that he draws a plea for mercy, for is not God a great God, and is it not greatly to his glory to pardon great sinners; and when they are pardoned, are they not filled with a great love, and a great zeal, so that they are greatly serviceable to their Lord and toaster?

Psalms 25:12. What man is he who fears the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.

True reverence for God, a holy fear of him, is a quality that God delights to see; and wherever he finds it, there he gives further instruction.

Psalms 25:13. His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.

The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.

Are you, you one of those trembling ones who fear to offend God? Well, I daresay that you, you sometimes envy those who are very boisterous in their joy. Do not envy them; you, you have something better in having that holy, filial fear that trembles at God’s Word; and you, you shall have the secret of the Lord with you, you, and he will show you, you his covenant.

Psalms 25:14-15 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant. me eyes are eyes toward the Lord for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

When they get into it, he will pluck them out of it. When Satan seems to cast a net over me, God will come and pull me out. There is force in that word "pluck"— denoting swiftness and energy; perhaps, also, there is a little idea of roughness, but God’s roughness is true tenderness.

Psalms 25:16. Turn you, you unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.

If you, you pass that dish round, there are some who will not help themselves from it, for they are not "desolate and afflicted." But I know that there are some, even here, who are both "desolate and afflicted." Be sure, dear friends, that you, you make this prier your own: "Turn you, you unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted."

Psalms 25:17-18. The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring you, you me out of any distresses. Look upon mine affliction and my pain;

And what follows? "Take the affliction and the pain away"? No.

Psalms 25:18. And forgive all my sins.

David will be quite content if God will but look with pitying eyes upon his sufferings; but, as for his sins, he must be clean rid of them, he cannot be happy until he has the answer to this petition, "Forgive all my sins."

Psalms 25:19. Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.

The better the man, the more bitterly is he hated by the ungodly. It is not by holiness that you, you will escape the hatred of the world, it is by that very thing that you, you will arouse its malice. Do not wish to have it otherwise; but remember your Lord’s own words, "Woe unto you, you, when all men shall speak well of you, you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." But, "Blessed are you, you, when men shall hate you, you, and when they shall separate you, you from their company, and shall reproach you, you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice you, you in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in Heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets." If we live near to God, and are truly the seed of the woman, the seed of the serpent will be constantly nibbling at our heel; some little viper or other will be sure to be there. As the great serpent seeks to do us injury, so will his seed.

Psalms 25:20. O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in you, you.

Do you, you notice how David gets back to his key-note? Almost at the beginning of the Psalm, he said, "O my God, I trust in you, you;" now he says "I put my trust in you, you." Let faith in God be the key-note of your life-psalm.

At another time, David wrote, "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shall you, you dwell in the land, and truly you, you shall be fed." That is the motto for all Christians,—"Trust, trust, TRUST." When there is nothing to be seen, when you, you are in thick Egyptian darkness, let Job’s confident declaration be the resolve of your spirit, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him."

Psalms 25:21. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on you, you.

The child of God cannot hope to pass through the world safely unless he is careful to keep his integrity and his uprightness. There are some who profess to be Christians, who try to get on in trade by various tricks, and they hope to win the favor of men by just bending a little to their ways. Never do so, beloved; if you, you give way an inch, you, you will have to give way a yard or a mile before long.

Psalms 25:22. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

God did so to Israel himself. Jacob, whose name was also Israel, said, "All these things are against me;" yet God redeemed him out of his troubles; and so will the Lord do for all his people in due time, glory be unto his name, world without end! Amen.

 

Chapter 26

 

Verses 1-12

 

No doubt this Psalm was written by David when his cruel persecutor Saul, the more effectually to stab at him, spread false reports concerning his character. When the wicked can use no other weapons, they always have their quivers full of slanderous reports. Let us learn here that the best of men must expect to be misrepresented, and to have the worst of crimes laid to their charge. Let us learn, also, from the example of David, to carry our case to the highest court at once, not to meddle with the lower courts of earth, but to go at once to the Court of King’s Bench in Heaven, and there plead our cause before the eternal throne.

Psalms 26:1. Judge me, O Lord

As if he turned away from all other judges, bribed and false as they had proved themselves to be in his ease, and put himself on trial before God: "Judge me, O Lord; "-

Psalms 26:1.For I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord therefore I shall not slide.

He pleads two things: first, the outward life and second, the inward faith, which, as it is the main-spring and source of the outer life of integrity, is also the more important of the two. Remark, that as the case is between himself and his accusers he pleads his life, for though we are justified before God by faith and not by works, yet before men we must be justified by our works, rather than by our faith. It is in vain for me to plead my faith when I am slandered. The only answer that can effectually shut the mouth of the adversary, is to point to a blameless life. Hence in this case he not only brings his faith before his God, but he also brings the fruit of his faith. Note, the inference which he draws from God’s mercy to him in enabling him to walk uprightly and to trust him-" therefore I shall not slide." He rests for the future upon his God. His position was slippery, his enemies were always busy trying to trip up his heels, but says he-" I shall not slide."

Psalms 26:2. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.

This is a wonderful verse. One would hardly dare to pray it. Here are three kinds of trial. According to the etymology of the Hebrew the first is the trial by touch-" Examine me "; the next is the trial by smell- " Prove me "; and the next is the trial by fire-" Assay my reins and my heart." You, you see how anxious he is really to have the matter decided by God. "Lord, search me through and through; you, you know I am not a hypocrite." Now who dares to say this but that true man of God whose soul is wholly fixed upon the Lord? The reins and the heart are mentioned because those were believed to be the seat of the affections, and when the affections are right the whole man is right. The heart is the fountain from which issue streams of life, and if the fountain be pure, the streams cannot be impure; hence he asks chiefly that the examination may be directed to his reins and to his heart.

Psalms 26:3. For your loving-kindness is before mine eyes:-

Right straight before his eyes, he had God’s loving-kindness. Some people appear to have their miseries, their sorrows, their sins, before their eyes but happy is that believer who always has God’s loving-kindness before him! Come, my brother, forget for a little while the burden of your business cares; now for a little season let the sickness that is in your house be left in the hand of your God, and let his loving-kindness be before your eyes. Loving-kindness-pull the word to pieces. Remember the ancientness of it, the constancy of it, the variety of ways in which it shows itself, and the lavish bounties which it bestows upon you, you. Do not turn your back to God’s goodness, but now, right straight before you, you set the loving-kindness of your God.

Psalms 26:3. And I have walked in your truth.

By which he may mean two things, first that he endeavored to hold fast to truth both in doctrine and in practice; or, secondly, that by God’s truthfulness in giving him the promised grace, he had been enabled to walk uprightly.

Psalms 26:4. I have not sat with vain persons,-

I never took counsel with them; they never were my choice companions.

Psalms 26:4. Neither will I go in with dissemblers.

He makes a vow for the future that all crafty, lying, and foolish men shall never have his companionship.

Psalms 26:5. I have hated the congregation of evil doers, and will not sit with the wicked.

By which he does not mean that he does not associate with them in any way for we must needs go out of the world if we will not have communion with sinners; but he means that he did not seek their company, found no pleasure in it, and never went in it to abet them in their evil deeds.

Psalms 26:6. I will wash mine hands in innocency:

Pilate did this, but alas! the water was very dirty in which he washed his hands. This was an old Jewish rite when a man was found murdered; if the people in the valley in which he was found would be free from the crime of murder they took a heifer, slew it, and then washed their hands in water over the head of the victim. They were then clear. So here he says- " I will wash mine hands in innocency: "

Psalms 26:6. So will I compass your altar, O Lord:

He is innocent far as men are concerned, but he still confesses that he is a sinner, for he goes to God’s altar. Perfect men need no altars. It is the sinner that needs a sacrifice. So let the saint ever know that though he can plead innocency against the charges of men yet before God, his hope lies in the blood-besprinkled altar of which Jesus Christ is the great High Priest.

Psalms 26:7-8. That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all your wondrous works. Lord, I have loved the habitation of your house, and the place where your honor dwells.

I am sure many of us can say this, that when the Sabbath comes round, it is the best day of all the week, and that hour in the week-night when we can get to the house of God-what an inexpressible relief is that! It is to us like a green oasis in the midst of the sandy desert. There are no beauties in nature and no changes to be perceived in traveling that I think can ever compensate for the loss of the constant means of grace, after all God’s house is the fairest spot of earth. Zion, I will prefer you, you above my chief joy! If I forget you, you let my right hand forget her cunning. "I have loved the habitation of your house, and the place where shine honor dwells."

Psalms 26:9-10. Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men: in whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.

See, he so loves God’s house that he cannot bear the thought of being shut in with sinners; and this is our comfort, that if we have loved God’s house on earth we shall dwell in his house for ever.

Psalms 26:11. But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.

See again, my beloved, how in the Christian’s practice good works and faith are seen happily blended. He declares that he will walk in his integrity, but still, still note, he prays as one that is conscious of a thousand imperfections-"Redeem me and be merciful unto me." We do rest on Christ alone, but still we desire to walk in holiness with as much exactness as though our salvation depended upon our good works.

Psalms 26:12. My foot stands in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the Lord.

 

Chapter 27

 

Verses 1-14

 

Very much of the language of David used here, I trust, we can make our own. May the Spirit of God lead us to understand, by experience, what he has written.

Psalms 27:1. The Lord is my light and my salvation;

I find no comfort anywhere else but in him, and expect salvation from none but himself. "The Lord is my light and my salvation."

Psalms 27:1. Whom shall I fear! the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid!

Who can stand against him? What strength can resist his strength? What darkness can baffle his light? What foes can prevent his salvation?

Psalms 27:2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

"They wanted to destroy me altogether — to eat me right up." If they did not destroy me, it was not from want of heart to do it, nor even from want of power, for there were many of them. But I had not to fight, for they fell before they reached me. "They stumbled end fell."

Psalms 27:3. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

Let them come on. They fell before: the, will fall again. Let them come on. God was strong enough to meet them and overthrow them once. He will do it again. Therefore, why should we fear? Ah! dear brethren, those that have had the most experience of the divine fullness will rest most confident that nothing can harm them.

Psalms 27:4. One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

He only wished to be always like a child at home — live in God’s house —no temporal structure; but wherever he was he wished to feel that he was near to God — that all places were the mansions of the great Father, so that he might always have his eye fixed upon the beauty of the Lord, and his ear always open to listen to the voice of the Lord. Ah! if we can once get ourselves wholly given up to God, it will take our thoughts off the various oppositions we can meet with, and we shall no more be afraid.

Psalms 27:5-6. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises unto the Lord.

It is a blessed resolution, not always easily carried out, but still it ought to be. Our life ought to be singing. It used to be sinning: it ought now to be singing, since the sin has been put away. Oh! happy are the men that know their God. If the whole world lye full of storms, yet may they rest in peace. Get near to God: acquaint yourself with him, and be at peace. The remedy for all trouble is dwelling near to God.

Psalms 27:7-8. Hear, O Lord. when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When you, you said, Seek you, you my face; my heart said unto you, you, Your face, Lord will I seek.

Are we always mindful of divine monitions? When the still small voice in the heart says, "Seek you, you my face," brothers and sisters, do we always at once respond and say, "Your face, Lord, will I seek"? I am afraid we are often as the horse and the mule, which have no understanding, and need to have the bit, and the bridle, and the rod. But happy are those who have a sensitive nature — quickly feel the movements of the Spirit of God.

Psalms 27:9-10. Hide not your face far from me; put not your servant away in anger: you, you have been my help: leave me not, neither forsake me. O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.

He prayed, you, you see, and it looked a little unbelieving when he said, "Leave me not, neither forsake me." But it was not so, for at once he confessed that he did not think that God would leave him, even when our father and mother, who are the last to leave us, should do so. "Then the Lord will take me up."

Psalms 27:11-14. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say on the Lord.

I suppose he meant that last sentence to be his own personal recommendation, derived from his own experience. "Wait, I say, on the Lord." He had tried it — proved its wonderful power — as the restorative to his heart, and so he says, "Wait, I say, on the Lord."

 

Chapter 28

 

Verses 1-6

 

Psalms 28:1. Unto you, you will I cry, O Lord my rock: be not silent to me: lest, if you, you be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.

Oh! if God did not hear prayer, we should become like dead men — ay, like lost men. Our fall or despair would be terrible indeed. "Lest, if you, you be silent to me, I become Like them that go down into the pit."

Psalms 28:2. Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto you, you, when I lift up my hands toward your holy oracle.

Is that the way you, you pray, dear friend? I know there are some that, if they have uttered certain good words — got through a form of prayer — are perfectly satisfied. As to whether God hears them or not, that does not trouble them. But if you, you are a true child of God, it will be your main thought in prayer, "Will he hear me? Will he hear me? Will he answer me." And you, you will think nothing of a prayer at all unless you, you have the comfortable, believing persuasion that yore’ prayer has reached the car and heart of God. Oh! believe us, for some of us do know, by experience, that prayer is a real thing. It is no repetition of words. It really is the heart speaking into the ear of God; and God does graciously respond when prayer is truly offered.

Psalms 28:3. Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts.

We are often afraid lest we should get numbered with them.

"Oh! were it not for grace divine,

Their fate so dreadful had been mine."

"Gather not my soul with sinners," is the prayer of many a godly man. When he looks within and sees the sin that is there, and what he deserves from the hand of God, apart from the blood and righteousness of Christ, he begins, indeed, to pray, "Draw me not away with the wicked. O Lord, do not let me wander into doctrinal error or into errors of life, or into laxity of behavior, or into backslidings, but keep me fast, for unless you, you hold me fast: —

"’I feel I must, I shall, decline,

And prove like them at last.’

Draw me not away with the wicked."

Psalms 28:4. Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.

And a just mind feels that such ought to be the case. God is a judge, and he will punish sin, and gracious men do not wish that it should be otherwise. Even to that terrible side of God’s character, which is seen in his vengeance upon the ungodly, the Christian trains the loving eye. He is not reconciled to half a God, or to a God with half the attributes of God, namely, love and tenderness: but he loves God as he finds him. He loves that. God who is a consuming fire. I should be afraid if I could not love God under any aspect in which he is presented to me, because just as I should feel that I did net love a man truly if I said, "In such a character I cannot endure him," I should feel that there was some difference between him and me. We must love God in every character — upon the throne of justice, as well as upon the seat of love.

Psalms 28:5-6. Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up. Blessed be the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplications.

Can you, you say this? Excuse me putting the question again and again to all now present, for it is a very vital question. If you, you never knew what answered prayer means, God help you, you to begin to pray, "Blessed be the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplications."

This exposition consisted of readings from Colossians 3; Colossians 4:1-4. Psalms 28:1-6.

 

Chapter 29

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 30

 

Verses 1-12

 

May the Holy Spirit, who inspired the writer of this Psalm, now lead us into its inner meaning! It is entitled "A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David; "or, rather, "A Psalm; a song of dedication for the House. By David." It was a song of faith, since David did not live to witness the dedication of the temple, for which he had planned in his heart, and for which he had laid by in store. Though he knew that he would not be permitted by God to build it, he took delight in writing a Psalm which might be sung at the opening of the temple. Thus it begins: —

Psalms 30:1. I will extol you, you, O Lord for you, you have lifted me up, and have not made my foes to rejoice over me.

"I will exalt you, you, for you, you have exalted me. I will lift up your praise, because you, you have lifted up my spirits. I will bless you, you, for you, you have blessed me," Our song of praise should be the echo of God’s voice of love. "You, you have not made my foes to rejoice over me." You, you remember that this was one of the three things put to David as a chastisement for his great sin in numbering the people: "Will you, you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you, you? "He here praises the Lord that such calamity as that did not come upon him." You, you have not made my foes to rejoice over me." Sorrows averted should be the occasion of grateful songs of thanksgiving.

Psalms 30:2. O Lord my God, I cried unto you, you, and you, you have healed me.

The king and the people had been sorely smitten with darkness on account of his sin, but the Lord, in mercy, bade the destroying angel sheathe his sword when he "was by the threshing-place of Araunah the Jebusite," —the very place which afterwards became the site on which the temple was built. It was well, therefore, at its opening, to praise the God who heals his people. We ought to praise the Lord more than we do for our recovery from sickness. Employ the physician if you, you will, but, when healing comes to you, you, magnify the Lord for it, and ascribe the glory of it to his holy name.

Psalms 30:3. O Lord, you, you have brought up my soul from the grave: you, you have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

Here is a double mercy to sing of, — not dead, and not damned. Life spared is something for which to praise the Lord, but to have the soul saved from going down to the pit is a cause of still greater thanksgiving. Oh praise the name of the Lord, you, you who love him, and trust in him, for he has delivered you, you from going down into the pit!

Psalms 30:4. Sing unto the Lord, O you, you saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

David seems to say to the saints, "Do not let me sing alone, but all of you, you join in the chorus." He does not invite reprobates to praise the Lord, but he says, "Sing unto Jehovah. O you, you saints of his." I think it is very wrong to have the praises of God sung in public by ungodly men and women, as there sometimes are; the singing should not be left to a godless choir. Oh, no; "sing unto the Lord, all you, you saints of his," for you, you only can sing sincerely unto him. "Give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness," — at the very memory of him; at the remembrance of the whole of him, for that is his holiness, his wholeness, the entire, perfect character of God. O saints below, sing as they do in Heaven, for their song is "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.

Psalms 30:5. For his anger endures but a moment;

Notice that the words "endures but" are inserted by the translators, and very properly so; but see how the passages reads if you, you leave them out: "For his anger a moment," That is long enough for him to display it, for it is his strange work; and long enough for us to endure it, for it might crush us if it lasted longer.

Psalms 30:5. In his favor is life:

Life came to Jerusalem, in David’s day, as soon as God smiled upon it; and life comes to us as soon as we taste of his favor, even though we have been ready to die of despair.

Psalms 30:5. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

As the dews are appropriate to the night, so is weeping seemly for us when Jesus hides his face from us. The children of the bride-chamber may well mourn when the heavenly Bridegroom is taken from them, but it is only for a night. Morning will end our mourning. Our night-sorrow is for the night, but our joys are for a day that will know no evening.

Psalms 30:6. And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

It is a pity to say too much; very few people fall into the opposite fault of saying too little. It is always a pity to be counting with certainty upon the future, and presuming, because of the hopefulness of the present, that this state of things will last forever David was not wise when he said, in his prosperity, "I shall never be moved."

Psalms 30:7. Lord, by your favor you, you have made my mountain to stand strong: you, you did hide your face, and I was troubled.

When God is at cross purposes with his people, they are troubled at once.

There is no need for blows, no need for angry words: "You, you did hide your face; and I was troubled." That is enough for a child of God; let him but miss the light of God’s countenance, and it breaks him down at once.

Psalms 30:8. I cried to you, you, O Lord and unto the Lord I made supplication.

What should the child of God do, when he is in trouble, but cry? And to whom should he cry but to his Father?

Psalms 30:9. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? shall the dust praise you, you? Shall it declare your truth?

So his prayer was an argument, and that is the very bone and sinew of prayer, — to reason and argue with God. He seems to put it thus, — "Lord, if I lose my soul, you, you will be a loser, too, for you, you will lose a singer out of your choir, one who would be glad enough to praise you, you, and whose very life it is to magnify you, you. Oh, do not cut me down! When I am dead, when I am lost, there can be no praise to you, you from me, so spare me, my gracious God?"

Psalms 30:10. Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be you, you my helper.

What a handy prayer this is, a prayer to carry about with you, you wherever you, you go! "Lord, be you, you my Helper." That is a minister’s prayer when he was going to preach. That is a Sunday-school teacher’s prayer when going to the class. Is not that a prayer for the sufferer when the pain upon him is very severe? "Lord, be you, you my Helper." Are you, you working for him? Are you, you cast down in soul? This prayer will suit you, you: "Lord, be you, you my Helper."

Psalms 30:11. You, you have turned for me my mourning into dancing: you, you have put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.

What a transformation scene in answer to prayer! Notice that David does not say, "I hope that you, you have," but he puts it thus, "You, you have — you, you have," He is quite sure about it; and, being sure of this great mercy, he gives God all the glory of it. What a wonderful change it is! Not merely from mourning into peace, but into delight, — delight expressed by dancing; not merely from sackcloth into ordinary areas, but from the sackcloth of sorrow in the satin of gladness. God does nothing by halves; he not only chases away the night, and gives us twilight, but he goes on to gladden us with the full glory of noontide; and sell this he does with a, definite end and purpose: —

Psalms 30:12. To the end that my glory-

Or, "my tongue" —

Psalms 30:12. May sing praise to you, you, and not be silent.

God ought to have praise from us. It is the quit-rent which we pay as tenants to the great Lord of all; let us not rob him of his revenue.

Psalms 30:12. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto you, you forever.

 

Chapter 31

 

Verses 1-24

 

Psalms 31:1. In you, you, O Lord, do I put my trust;

This is a good beginning; this is the fulcrum which will give us the necessary leverage for lifting any weight of sorrow or trouble that may be burdening us: "In you, you, O Jehovah, do I put my trust." Can each of us truthfully say that to begin with? If so, we may go on with David to the petitions that follow: —

Psalms 31:1. Let me never be ashamed: deliver me in your righteousness.

It would be to us the shame of shames if God, in whom we put our trust, could fail us. Then, indeed, might the scoffers say, "Where is now their God?" and what should we then be able to say of the righteousness of God? He has pledged himself that he will never fail nor forsake anyone of his people; so, if he ever did fail them, what would become of his honor?

Psalms 31:2. Bow down your ear to me;

"Listen to me, O Lord! Stoop down out of your glory to catch the faint accents of my sorrowing, almost expiring spirit."

Psalms 31:2. Deliver me speedily:

"My case is urgent, Lord, for I am in deep distress. Delay will be dangerous, and may be even fatal: ‘Deliver me speedily:’ "

Psalms 31:2. Be you, you my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me.

David was so accustomed to hide in the rocks of Engedi, and similar fastnesses, that we do not wonder that he found such a comparison as this come naturally to his mind: "Be you, you my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me."

Psalms 31:3. For you, you are my rock and my fortress;

Why did David just now pray God to be to him what he here says that God is? It was, surely, in order that he might know experimentally what he already knew doctrinally; he wanted the truth, in which he already believed, to be proven in his own experience, so he prayed to the Lord, "Be you, you my strong rock, . . . for you, you are my rock and my fortress;" —

Psalms 31:3. Therefore for your name’s sake —

"For your glory’s sake, for your honor’s sake," —

Psalms 31:3. Lead me, and guide me.

"Lead me, as a child needs to be led. Guide me, as a traveler in a foreign land needs to be guided. I need you, you both to lead and to guide me."

Psalms 31:4. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for you, you are my strength.

Sometimes the believer gets so entangled that he sees no way of escape. He is caught like a bird in the fowler’s net, and he is so surrounded by it that he cries to the Lord, "Pull me out of the net." He feels that he can only be delivered by the putting forth of God’s power, and that is the reason why he adds, "O Lord, use your strength on my behalf; give a desperate tug, and pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me; for you, you are my strength."

Psalms 31:5. Into your hand I commit my spirit:

The dying words of Jesus may well be the living words of each one of his redeemed people. We ought continually to commit our spirit into our great Father’s hands, for there is no other place that can be so safe and blessed as between the strong, almighty, never-failing hands of the eternal God.

Psalms 31:5. You, you have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.

Redemption is such a blessed ground for confidence in God. Even the ordinary redemptions, such as David had experienced when the Lord had redeemed him out of the hand of his enemies, and redeemed him out of troubles of many kinds, were great sources of consolation to David; but what shall we say of that rich, full, free redemption which Christ accomplished for his people upon Calvary’s cross? Think you, you that God will not keep those whom he has purchased with the blood of his own dear Son? Will he suffer those to perish who have cost him so dearly? Oh, no! none shall pluck them from his hand. This is a sound argument that David uses: "Into your hand I commit my spirit: you, you have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth."

Psalms 31:6. I have hated them that regard lying vanities:

That is, those that trusted in their idol gods, which he calls by this contemptuous name, "lying vanities." David was not very respectful to false religions; he called them vanities and lies, and said, "I have hated them that regard them;"

Psalms 31:6-7. But I trust in the Lord. I will be glad and rejoice in your mercy: for you, you have considered my trouble; you, you have known my soul in adversities;

" ‘You, you have considered my trouble;’ — you, you have looked at it, weighed it, understood it." When a wise man gives his consideration to a thing, we respect his judgment; but what shall we say of the consideration of God? This is a wonderful expression: "You, you have considered my trouble; you, you have known my soul in adversities." "When I hardly knew myself, and could not make out what I was or where I was, you, you have known all about me; and you, you have known me when I was in rags and tatters, when I was so down at the heel that nobody else would own me, you, you did not discard me: ‘You, you has known my soul in adversities;’ " —

Psalms 31:8-10. And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: you, you have set my feet in a large room. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yes, my soul and my belly. For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing:

That is better than spending our years in sinning; yet it is a painful experience when every breath seems to be drawn with a pang, and the effort to live is itself a struggle, as it is in certain trying diseases.

Psalms 31:10-11. My strength fails because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed. I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbors,

They were the nearest to him, and therefore could smite him the most keenly.

Psalms 31:11. And a fear to mine acquaintance:

They did not like to own him even as an acquaintance; they were afraid of him. Yet what a light this verse throws upon David’s previous declaration, "You, you has known my soul in adversities"!

Psalms 31:12. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind;

The very man, in whose honor, in the former times, the women out of all the cities of Israel sang, "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands," now had sorrowfully to say, ‘I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind."

Psalms 31:12. I am like a broken vessel.

"Men think me of no more value than a piece of broken crockery that is flung away on the dunghill as utterly useless."

Psalms 31:13. For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side:

The very best of men have had to smart under the wounds caused by that cruel, accursed thing slander. No quality of purity, no degree of piety, can screen a man from the tongue of slander; in fact, as the birds peck most at the ripest fruit, it is often the best of men who are most slandered.

Psalms 31:13-14. While they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. But I trusted in you, you, O Lord: I said, You, you are my God.

That is a grand utterance of the psalmist; now he is coming back to the point where he began; the Psalm is now in harmony with its keynote.

Psalms 31:15. My times are in your hand:

My times are not in the hands of my enemies; they cannot hurt me without God’s permission.

Psalms 31:15-16. Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make your face to shine upon your servant:

Oh, for the shinings of God’s face! How blessed and glorious they are! I is Heaven on earth to dwell within the circle of that light; and if we get out of the range of those rays, what joy can we have?

Psalms 31:16. Save me for your mercies’ sake.

That is a prayer for a sinner, and a prayer for a saint; a prayer for every day in the year: "Save me for your mercies’ sake."

Psalms 31:17 —19. Let me not be ashamed, O Lord for I have called upon you, you: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. Oh, how great is your goodness, which you, you have laid up for them that fear you, you;

Then, be off good courage, you, you tried ones; think of all the God things that are laid up in store for you, you, the treasures that are put away for the present.

Nor is this all: "How great is your goodness," —

Psalms 31:19. Which you, you have wrought for them that trust in you, you before the sons of men!

So there is goodness in the present as well as goodness in the future, goodness wrought out as well as goodness stored up.

Psalms 31:20. You, you shall hide them in the secret of your presence from the pride of man: you, you shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.

There is nothing much worse than the strife of tongues. A pack of wolves would not be half so bad as a pack of tongues let loose upon a man. Wolves do but tear the flesh; but tongues devour a man’s character, and eat up his very life. Oh, how blessed it is to be kept secretly in God’s royal pavilion from the strife of tongues!

Psalms 31:21. Blessed be the Lord for he has showed me his marvelous kindness in a strong city.

He has kept me in safety, and preserved me from every foe, blessed be his holy name!

Psalms 31:22-23. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before your eyes: nevertheless you, you heard the voice of my supplications when I cried unto you, you. O love the Lord, all you, you his saints;

It seems as if David felt that he could not love the Lord sufficiently by himself, so he calls upon all the saints to bring their hearts full of love, and yield their treasure unto God.

Psalms 31:23. For the Lord preserves the faithful, and plentifully rewards the proud doer.

He gives him a sharp blow with the back of his hand, but he gives to the righteous a full-handed mercy.

Psalms 31:24. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all you, you that hope in the Lord.

Your heart is faint, but the Lord will put strength where now there is weakness; wherefore "be of good courage." Cowardice weakens, fear saps a man’s strength; so "be of good courage," for your strength shall be equal to your day, and you, you shall yet win the victory, "all you, you that hope in the Lord."

 

Chapter 32

 

Verses 1-11

 

"A Psalm of David, Maschil": that is to say, an instructive psalm:

"Maschil." I suppose that David wrote it after he had been forgiven and restored to divine favor. I think we may read it as a part of our own experience, either of conversion or when restored after backsliding.

Psalms 32:1-2. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Twice he says "blessed." He had felt the weight of sin; he had been sore troubled, and now that Nathan is sent to him with the word of pardon, "The Lord has put away your sin, though shall not die," he counts himself doubly blessed — blessed, not the man who has never sinned; blessed is he who, having sinned, is forgiven; not the man who has no sin, but whose sin is covered. Wonderful word! Both in English and Hebrew, it sounds very much alike. The sacred "Kophah." the cover which covers sin so that sin is hidden, even from the eye of God himself! A wondrous deed! Blessed is the man who knows that divine covering! "Blessed," says he "is the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit." All along, after David’s sin, he became very crafty and very cunning, full of deceit. You, you know the dodges that he had resorted to, to cover up his sin; he tried to play some of his tricks on God himself, but he felt it was a mischievous and foolish thing to do: he was uneasy, he was unhappy. We have sometimes heard it said that after David sinned, he remained insensible for nine months, until he received the divine rebuke; but it was not so. He remained very sensitive, very depressed, very unhappy, and he was trying this way and that to cover up his sin and deceit. He could not do it; he ought to make a clean breast of it, and confess it before God, and give up his crooked ways, and his ideas of excusing himself, and when he had done that, when he had given up his deceit and his guilt, too, then he got the double blessing: "Blessed, blessed!" If there are any of you, you who are treading crooked ways with God and man, give them up. I know of nothing that will make you, you give them up like knowing free, full, perfect pardon through the precious blood of Christ, and the free grace of God. The two things go together, guilt and deceit; the two things go out of us together; when guilt is pardoned, deceit is killed. Now hear how David felt while he was conscious of his sin, and yet was not right with God.

Psalms 32:3. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

A wanton glance, and the sin with Bathsheba. Where was the pleasure of it when it cost him all this? Such groaning that his very bones get old as if they were rotten, and his heart was heavy as if he wished to die. "For day and night your hand was heavy upon me." God was dealing with him; God with his hand pressing him heavily, forcing his sin home upon him, making him say, "My sin is ever before me." Oh! the misery of sinning to a child of God. Do not dream that we can ever have any pleasure in sin; the worldling may, but the believer never can. To him it is a deadly viper, that will fill his veins with burning poison.

Psalms 32:4. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.

When he tried to pray, it was a dried-up prayer; he tried to make a psalm, but it was a dried-up song; he tried to do some good, for he was still a good man, but it was all withered without the Spirit of God. His moisture was gone out of him, turned into the drought of summer, and summer in David’s country was a very droughty thing indeed. Every human thing despaired, the grass seemed to turn to dust; it was so with him. If you, you go into sin, this is what will happen to you, you. If you, you are a true child of God, you, you will have all the joy of God taken from you, you, all the moisture of your heart dried up, and you, you will be like a parched, withered thing. "Selah": time to stop, time to have a pause in the music; he was on so bass a key, he had need now to screw up the harp strings and rise to something a little sweeter.

Psalms 32:5. I acknowledged my sin unto you, you, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and you, you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

He must come to confession, full, spontaneous, unreserved; there must be a resolution. "I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord"; a firm determination to hide nothing, to see the sin yourself, and to tell the Lord that you, you do see it, and to confess it with great grief and sorrow. What a wonderful word that is: "I said, I will confess, and you, you forgave the iniquity of my sin." God took away the sin: ay, the very pith and marrow of it, "the iniquity of my sin." Take the bone away, and the marrow of the bone too; "you, you forgave the iniquity of my sin" — it has all gone, wholly gone; by one stroke of God’s divine grace the sinner was pardoned. Selah again

Psalms 32:6. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto you, you in a time when you, you may be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come near unto him.

"For this" (because of this and for this blessing) "shall everyone that is godly pray unto you, you in a time when you, you may be found." The pardoning God must be sought. There is an attraction in the greatness of his mercy. They that are godly, even though they have offended and gone astray, must come back and seek for pardon in a time when you, you may be found. "Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come near unto him." The godly man is safe when the floods are out. There are times when great waters prevailed in David’s country; the brooks sometimes turned to rivers and came down with a rush when they were least expected; and here he says that, when such a thing as that shall happen, yet God’s people shall be saved, They shall come, but they shall not come near unto them. Let me read those words again: If you, you have gone to God in the day of your sin, and have found pardon, he who took away the sin will take away the sorrow. "Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come near unto him."

Psalms 32:7. You, you are my hiding place; you, you shall preserve me from trouble; you, you shall compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.

"You, you are my hiding place" — precious words! "You, you are my hiding place"; not "You, you are a hiding place," but "You, you are MY hiding place." A man who is beset by foes does not stand still, and say, "Yes, I can see there is a hiding place there," but he runs to it. Beloved, run to your hiding place this morning, each one of you, you who can have a claim and interest in Christ: run to him now and say: "You, you shall preserve me from trouble." David has come up out of the roaring to the singing; all the day long he roared, and now all the day long he sings; he hears songs everywhere: he lives in a circle of music; his heart is so glad. Well may he put another "Selah," for he has smitten the strings very joyfully, and they need tuning again.

Psalms 32:8. I will instruct you, you and teach you, you in the way which you, you shall go: I will guide you, you with mine eye.

And here the speaker changes: "I will instruct you, you"; I have forgiven you, you; "I will instruct you, you, and teach you, you in the way which you, you shall go." I have restored you, you back to the way; now I will teach you, you in the way you, you shall go. "I will guide you, you with mine eye"; your own might lead you, you astray. I will guide you, you with mine eye"; I will be on the path, I will fix mine eye upon you, you. "I will guide you, you with mine eye."

Psalms 32:9. Be you, you not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto you, you.

"Be you, you not as the horse," not only David, but all of you, you. If God will guide you, you, be guided; if he will teach you, you, be teachable; if he will be gracious to you, you, be gracious towards him.

Psalms 32:10. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.

"Many sorrows shall be to the wicked"; David had found that out; his sin had brought him a transient pleasure, but a lasting misery. He shall have a bodyguard of mercy; God will be gracious to him, tender to him, and will not leave him if he is trusting in the Lord.

Psalms 32:11. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, you, you righteous: and shout for joy, all you, you that are upright in heart.

"Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, you, you righteous." Be glad. Well, but you, you cannot always be glad, says one. "Be glad in the Lord"; you, you may always be glad in him. Here is an unchanging source of joy. "Rejoice, you, you righteous, and shout for joy." Here is the man that was silent, has gone as far as shouting now. Is it not enough to make him? Twice he was blessed, in the first and second verses; and now he has been pardoned, he has been delivered, he has been compassed about with mercy: why, he must be glad! "Shout for joy, all you, you that are upright in heart." God bless you, you in the reading of his Word.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 32; John 17.

 

Chapter 33

 

Verses 1-22

 

Psalms 33:1. Rejoice in the Lord, O you, you righteous: for praise is lovely for the upright.

Notice the connection between the words "rejoice "and "praise." Joy is the soul of praise. God is not extolled by our misery, but by our holy mirth. Be glad in the Lord, for so can you, you make him glorious. "Rejoice and "praise ", "for praise is lovely for the upright." Praise is the beauty of a Christian. What wings are to a bird, what fruit is to the tree, what the rose is to the thorn, that is praise to a child of God.

Psalms 33:2. Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.

In the old days of forms, and ceremonies, and outward worship, musical instruments were abundantly used; but in the early Christian Church there was no such thing as a musical instrument, because the believers were afraid of going back to Judaism. It is curious that, as men get further away from Christ, they get fonder and fonder of such things as these. Still, under certain conditions, they are lawful; though, we think, not expedient. God was acceptably worshiped in the olden time with harp and with psaltery, and he may be so now; yet we worship him, so we judge for our own selves, better without them.

Psalms 33:3. Sing unto him a new song;

For, you, you see, that all the music had singing with it. "Praise the Lord with harp; sing unto him "Sing unto him a new song." "Unto the Lord, unto the Lord, Oh, sing a new and joyful song!" It was only as it guided and strengthened the singing that the instrumental music was tolerated even in those early days.

Psalms 33:3. Play skillfully with a loud noise.

God ought to be worshiped with our best: "Play skillfully." God ought to be earnestly worshiped: "with a loud noise." Hearty worship is what the Lord desires, and what he deserves; let us render it to him.

Psalms 33:4. For the word of the Lord is right;

Let us praise him for his Word. Men are depreciating it; let us appreciate it. "The word of the Lord is right:" from the first page to the last it is right, emphatically right; let us praise him for it.

Psalms 33:4. And all his works are done in truth.

The book of providence is full of truth; oh, for grace to read it with thankful hearts! Let us praise God, and sing unto him, as every page passes under our eye.

Psalms 33:5. He loves righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

You, you would think, from the way in which most people talk, that the world was full of misery and full of the anger of the Lord; but it is not. Notwithstanding all the evil that is in it, it is still true that "the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord."

Psalms 33:6. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

They did not grow out of something that was there before; they were made out of nothing "by the word of the Lord." All the hosts of stars innumerable were created "by the breath of his mouth."

Psalms 33:7. He gathers the waters of the sea together as an heap: he lays up the depth in storehouses.

We know not how much God has in store, out of sight, in the vast abysses; but we know that he drowned the world when he broke up the fountains of the great deep.

Psalms 33:8. Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

He is so great a God that all the oceans are in his sight but as a heap; let us worship, and adore, and bow down before him.

Psalms 33:9. For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

With God it is no sooner said than it is done; "He spoke, and it was done." All that he has to do is but to bid it be so, and so it is. And, as it was for creation, so is it for confirmation: "He commanded, and it stood fast."

Psalms 33:10. The Lord brings the counsel of the heathen to nothing: he makes the devices of the people of none effect.

If the folly of man yields to God’s wisdom, so also shall the wisdom of man. No matter though men take counsel together against the Lord, and against his Anointed, God will certainly carry out his purposes.

Psalms 33:11. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

What the Lord intends to do, he will do; there is no turning him from his purpose, and his dispensations stand fast forever.

Psalms 33:12. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.

If you, you have chosen God, God has chosen you, you. It is a happy thing when it is so; when these two elections meet,-your election of God, and God’s election of you,-then you, you are happy indeed.

Psalms 33:13-14. The Lord looks from Heaven; he beholds all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

Just as in a glass hive you, you can see all the bees, and all they do, so can God see us; and he can see all that we think, and read and know us through and through.

Psalms 33:15-16. He fashions their hearts alike; he considers all their works. There is no king saved by the multitude of an host:

Look at Napoleon, who marched more than half a million of men into Russia; but they nearly all melted away, and, after a time, he himself became a captive on the lone rock of St. Helena: "There is no king saved by the multitude of an host."

Psalms 33:16. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength.

Look at Goliath, stronger than all his fellows; yet how soon he lay prone upon the earth when a single stone from the sling of David smote him in the forehead.

Psalms 33:17-19. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

Whatever becomes of kings and princes in the day of need, the Lord will take care of those who fear him, and put their trust in him. There have been vast numbers of cases of singular providence’s, so many that they have ceased to be singular, in which God has provided for those who have trusted in him,

Psalms 33:20. Our soul waits for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.

Dear friends, notice those three "ours"-three firm clasps, three strong holdfasts: "Our soul waits for the Lord: he is our help and our shield." Why did he not say, "Our souls wait," for there are many of us? Ah! but we are so alike in this one thing that it is as if we had only one soul in all these many bodies, so the psalmist says, "our soul." You, you remember, when the disciples went to Emmaus, and Christ talked with them, they said, "Did not our heart burn within us?" There were two of them; then, why did they not say, "Did not our hearts burn?" Well, their hearts were so one that he who spoke called them "heart" rather than "hearts"; and it is so here: "Our soul waits for the Lord: he is our help and our shield."

Psalms 33:21-22. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in you, you.

That is a good prayer with which to close our reading; let us all present it at the throne of the heavenly grace.

 

Chapter 34

 

Verses 1-20

 

Psalms 34:1. I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

"Others may do what they please, and murmur, and complain, and be filled with dread and apprehension of the future; but I will bless the Lord at all times. I can always see something for which I ought to bless him. I can always see some good which will come out of blessing him. Therefore will I bless him at all times. And this." says the Psalmist, "I will not only do in my heart, but I will do it with my tongue His praise shall continually be in my mouth," that others may hear it, that others may begin to praise him, too, for murmuring is contagious, and so, thank God is praise; and one man may learn from another — take the catchword and the keyword out of another man’s mouth, and then begin to praise God with him. "His praise shall continually be in my mouth." What a blessed mouthful! If some people had God’s praises in their mouths, they would not so often have fault-finding with their fellow men. "If half the breath thus vainly spent" in finding fault with our fellow-Christians were spent in prayer and praise, how much happier, how much richer, we should be spiritually! "His praise shall continually be in my mouth."

Psalms 34:2. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof and be glad. Boasting is generally annoying. Even those that boast themselves cannot endure that other people should boast. But there is one kind of boasting that even the humble can bear to hear — -nay they are glad to hear it. "The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad." That must be boasting in God — a holy glorying and extolling the Most High with words sought out with care that might magnify his blessed name. You, you will never exaggerate when you, you speak good things of God. It is not possible to do so. Try, dear brethren, end even boast in the Lord. There are many poor, trembling, doubting, humble souls that can hardly tell whether they are the Lord’s people or not, and are half afraid whether they shall be delivered in the hour of trouble, that will become comforted when they hear you, you boasting. "The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad." "Why," says the humble soul, "God that helped that man can help me. He who brought him up through the deep waters, and landed him safely, can also take me through the river and through the sea, and give me final deliverance. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad."

Psalms 34:3. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

He cannot do enough of it himself. He wants others to come in and help him. First, he charges his own heart with the weighty and blessed business of praising God, and then he invites all around to unite with him in the sacred effort. "Magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together."

Psalms 34:4. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

That was David’s testimony. That is mine. Brother, that is yours. Is it not? Sister, is not that yours too? Well, if you, you have such a blessed testimony, be sure to bear it. Often do you, you whisper it in the mourner’s ear, "I sought the Lord. and he heard me." Tell it in the scoffer’s ear. When he says, "There is no God," and that prayer is useless, say to him, "I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." it is a pity that such a sweet encouraging profitable testimony should be kept back. Be sure at all proper times to make it known. But it is not merely ourselves. There are others who can speak well of God.

Psalms 34:5. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

And who were they? Why, all the people of God — the whole company of the saints in Heaven, and the saints on earth. It can be said of them all, "They looked to him, and were lightened." As there is life in a look, so is there light in a look. Oh! you, you that looked to Christ and lived at first. Look to him again, if it is dark with you, you tonight, and speedily it shall be light round about you, you. "They looked unto him, and were lightened."

Psalms 34:6. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

Who was he? He was a poor man — any poor man — nothing very particular about him, but he was poor — a poor man. What did he do? He cried. That was the style of praying he adopted — as a child cries — the natural expression of pain. Poor man, he did not know how to pray a fine prayer, and he could not have preached you, you a sermon if you, you had given him a bishop’s salary for it; but he cried. He could do that. You, you do not need to go to the Board School to learn how to cry. Any living child can cry. This poor man cried. What came of it? "The Lord heard him." I do not suppose anybody else did; or if they did, they laughed at it. But it did not signify to him. The Lord heard him. And what came of that? He "saved him out of all his troubles." Oh! is there a poor man here tonight in trouble! Had he not better copy the example of this other poor man? Let him cry to the Lord about it. Let him come and bring his burdens before the great One who hears poor men’s prayers. And, no doubt, that poor man lived to tell the same tale as he who wrote this verse. "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard and saved him out of all his troubles."

Psalms 34:7. The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear him, and delivers them.

It is no wonder, then, that they are delivered, for the angels are always handy. They are waiting round about God’s people. Lo, they are not at a distance to fly swiftly and come for our rescue, but God has set a camp of angels round about all his people. Are we not royally attended? What a portion is ours! Many are they that be against us, but glorious are they that be for us, both in their number and their strength. But the text does not intend so mush-the angels, as one blessed, glorious, covenant angel — the angel of the Lord, the messenger of God. He it is that holds his camp hard by his people, and sends his messengers for their rescue in all times of difficulty.

Psalms 34:8. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him.

That is the language of experience. Some of us have lived by trusting God for many years, and, instead of growing weary of it, we would invite others to do the same. Oh! taste and see that the Lord is good. You, you cannot know his goodness without tasting it. But there was never a soul yet that did taste of the goodness of the Lord but what could bear cheerful testimony that it were even so. "Oh! taste and see." Partake of it. Become practically acquainted with it. Trust God yourselves, and none of you, you shall ever have to complain of God. To your latest hour you, you will have to find fault with yourselves, but never once will you, you have to accuse of changeableness, or of unfaithfulness, or even of forgetfulness. "Oh! taste and see that the Lord is good, for blessed is the man that trusts in him."

Psalms 34:9-10. O fear the Lord, you, you his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

They are very strong, those young lions. They are fierce. They are rapacious. They are cunning. And yet they do lack and suffer hunger. And there are many men in this world that are very clever, strong in body, and active in mind. They say that they can take care of themselves, and perhaps they do appear to prosper; but we know that often they who are the most prosperous apparently are the most miserable of men. They are young lions, but they do lack and suffer hunger. But when a man’s soul lives upon God. he may have very little of this world, but he will be perfectly content. He has learned the secret of true happiness. He does not want any good thing, for the things that he does not have he does not wish to have. He brings his mind down to his estate, if he cannot bring his estate to his mind. He is thankful to have a little spending money on the road, for his treasure is above. He likes to have his best things last, and so he is well content, if he has food and clothing, to urge on his way to the rest which remains for the people of God. "The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing."

Psalms 34:11. Come, you, you children,

You, you that are beginning life — you, you that want to know where true happiness is found

Psalms 34:11. Hearken unto me: I will teach you, you the fear of the Lord.

It is that which you, you want to know, beyond everything else.

Psalms 34:12-13. What man is he who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.

He who can rule his tongue can rule his whole body. Alas! that unruly member destroys peace and happiness in thousands of cases. The tongue can no man tame, but the grace of God can tame it; and that man begins life with a prospect of happiness whose tongue has been tamed by grace.

Psalms 34:14. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

True happiness is found in true holiness. "Depart from evil." That is, do not go after it. But it is much more than that. Go away from it. Give it a wide berth. "Depart from evil." But be not satisfied with the negatives. It is not enough to say, "I do not do any evil," but do good. The only way to keep out the evil is to fill the soul full of good. We must be active in the cause of God, or Satan will soon move us into sin. "Depart from evil and do good." "Seek peace." Be of a quiet turn of mind. Be always ready to forgive. "Seek peace and pursue it." That is, when it runs away, run after it. Make up your mind that you, you will have it. There are some that seek quarrels, There are some that seek revenge. As for you, you, seek peace and pursue it.

Psalms 34:15. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto heir cry.

God is all eye and all ear, and all his eye and all his ear are for his people.

Are you, you distressed in heart? God sees your distress. Are you, you crying in secret in the bitterness of your soul? God hears your cry. You, you are not alone. O lonely spirit, broken spirit, be not dismayed; be not given to despair. God is with you, you. If he sees nothing else, he will see you, you. "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous." And if he hears no one else in the world, he will hear you, you "His ears are open to their cry."

Psalms 34:16. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

You, you know what we say sometimes. "I set my face against such a thing as that." Now God sets his face against them that do evil. You, you will come to an end, my friend. Your happiness, like a bubble painted with rainbow colors, may be the object of foolish desires; but in a little while it will burst and be gone, as the bubble is, and there will be nothing left of you, you. Even your remembrance will be wiped out from the face of the earth. What numbers of books have been written against God of which you, you could not gets copy now, except you, you went to a museum! What numbers of men have lived that have been scoffers; and they had great names among the circles of unbelievers, but they are quite forgotten now! But the Christian Church treasures up names of poor, simple-hearted Christian men and women — treasures them up like jewels, and their fame is fresh after hundreds of years.

Psalms 34:17. The righteous cry, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.

That is how we live, if you, you want to know. God makes us righteous, and then we cry. We often praise him. We desire to have our mouth full of it. But we cry as well, and whenever we cry God hears, and our troubles are removed.

Psalms 34:18. The Lord is near unto them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit.

Are you, you here tonight, poor weeping Mary? Are you, you here, brokenhearted, troubled sinner? Are you, you here? Are you, you seeking the Lord? Do not seek him any longer. You, you have got him. Read the text, "The Lord is near unto them that are of a broken heart." He is with you, you now. Speak to him; cry to him; trust him. You, you shall find deliverance this night.

Psalms 34:19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous:

You, you should hear some of them talk, and you, you would soon know that; for I know some of the righteous that seldom talk of anything else. "Oh! the badness of trade!" They have been losing money — oh! ever since I knew them. They had not any when they started, but they have gone on losing money every year; and I believe they always will. And they always have pains of body. The weather is so bad. And they always have ungrateful friends. And the church they belong to is not up to the mark. Indeed, there is nothing around them that is right. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous."

Well now, dear brethren, as that is recorded in God’s Word, and most of us have a pretty good acquaintance with that subject, I do not think that it is necessary for all of us to insist upon it every day. Could not we go on to the next part of the verse? "Many are the afflictions of the righteous," but — but —

Psalms 34:19. But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Not out of some of them, but out of them all, however numerous they may be.

Psalms 34:20. He keeps all his bones: not one of them is broken.

He sustains no real injury. He gets flesh wounds and bruises, but his bones are not broken. That is to say, the substantial part of his nature is well kept and preserved.

Verses 1-22

 

Psalms 34:1. I will bless the Lord at all times:

"At dark times, and bright times when I am alone, and when I am in company; when I feel like doing it and when I do not feel like doing it: ‘I will bless the Lord at all times.’"

Psalms 34:1. His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

"I will not only feel it in my heart, but I will give expression to it with my mouth. Those who do not care for this blessed employment may leave it alone; but as for me, ‘his praise shall continually be in my mouth.’"

Psalms 34:2. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

"I will ride the high horse when I begin to talk of the goodness of God: ‘My soul shall make her boast in the Lord;’ and whereas boasters are generally very vexatious to humble-minded people, this kind of boasting shall please them: ‘the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.’"

Psalms 34:3. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

Come, my brethren and sisters, I cannot perform this happy service alone; it is too much for me all by myself. This bunch of grapes is too heavy to be carried by one. "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together."

Psalms 34:4. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Should not the prayer-hearing God be praised? If he hears the cries of his people, should he not also hear the praises of his people? It is not one only to whom God has thus listened, but many can say with the psalmist, "I sought the Lord, and he heard me."

Psalms 34:5-6. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

It is God’s delight to hear the cry of poor men. Sometimes, he passes by the rich and great, and gives heed to the poor and desolate. It is our need that has the loudest cry with God; if our necessities are urgent, our prayer will be powerful.

Psalms 34:7. The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear him, and delivers them.

God’s children are always attended like princes, legions of angels form their body-guard. The angel of the Lord, and companies of holy angels with him, pitch their celestial tents round about them that fear God.

Psalms 34:8. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him.

Do try him, dear friends, and prove for yourselves how good and gracious he is: "O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him."

"Oh, make but trial of his love;

Experience will decide

How blessed are they, and only they,

Who in his truth confide!"

Psalms 34:9. O fear the Lord, you, you his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

He will supply all their wants. You, you need not fear for anything else when once you, you fear God.

Psalms 34:10. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger:

They are strong, and fierce, and crafty, and unscrupulous, yet still they suffer hunger: —

Psalms 34:10. But they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

Though they be neither cruel, nor cunning, nor strong, "they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing." What a promise for you, you to plead in prayer, dear friends! If you, you are in any need, do not hesitate, but by an act of faith take this gracious word, and plead it with the promise-keeping God: "Have you, you not said that, ‘they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing’? Then, Lord, do as you, you have said."

Psalms 34:11-13. Come, you, you children, hearken unto me; I will teach you, you the fear of the Lord. What man is he who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.

He who can manage his tongue can manage his whole body; for the tongue is the rudder of the ship, and if that be properly held, the vessel will be rightly steered. If you, you would escape the quicksands and the rocks, look well to your tongue; keep it from evil, that it speak neither blasphemy against God nor slander against your fellow men; and keep your lips from deceit, that is, from deceit, from double meanings, from saying one thing and meaning another, or making other people think that you, you mean another, — an are all too well understood in these days. God make us plain-speaking men, who say what we mean, and mean what we say! When, by the grace of God, we are taught to do this, we have learned a good lesson.

Psalms 34:14. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

If it runs away from you, you, run after it. Never run into or after a quarrel, but always run after peace: "Seek peace, and pursue it."

Psalms 34:15. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

The Lord is always watching them, and he is always listening that he may hear everything they say, especially when they cry unto him.

Psalms 34:16. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

He will not only destroy the wicked, but he will blot out the very memory of them. They may become great and famous in their wickedness, but they shall not be kept in memory, as the righteous are. As Solomon says, "The name of the wicked shall rot."

Psalms 34:17-18. The righteous cry, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near unto them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit.

Men do not care for broken hearts, but God does. "Give me a sound heart and a brave heart," says man. "Give me a broken and a contrite heart," says the Lord. If you, you have such a heart as that, be not afraid to draw near to your God, through Jesus Christ, for he is already near unto you, you.

Psalms 34:19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Many who read this verse admit that the first part of it is true: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." Yes, but the latter clause is also true: "but the Lord delivers him out of them all." Do not omit either portion of the passage, for one part is as true as the other.

Psalms 34:20. He keeps all his bones: not one of them is broken.

God’s people shall suffer no real, lasting, vital injury. You, you may have flesh wounds, but as to the bones of your spirit, as it were, the solid part of it, "not one of them is broken."

Psalms 34:21. Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.

They shall want nothing else to make an end of them but their own sins:

"Evil shall slay the wicked."

Psalms 34:22. The Lord redeems the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

Now we are going to read the last chapter of the Book of the prophet Hosea, the first of the minor prophets.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 34; and Hosea 14.

 

Chapter 35

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 36

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 37

 

Verses 1-10

 

Psalms 37:1. Fret not yourself because of evil-doers, neither be you, you envious against the workers of iniquity.

A common temptation. Many of God’s saints have suffered from it. Learn from their experience. Avoid this danger. There really is no power in it, when once the heart has come to rest in God. But it is a sad affliction until the heart does get its rest. "Fret not because of evildoers."

Psalms 37:2-4. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shall you, you dwell in the land, and truly you, you shall be fed. Delight yourself also in the Lord

Make him your delight, and take care that you, you do really delight. Feel a fullness of joy in him.

Psalms 37:4. And he shall give you, you the desires of your heart.

Because when the heart delights in God, then its desires are all such as God can safely grant. He does not say to every man, or even to every praying man, "I will give you, you the desires of your heart," but "Delight yourself in the Lord," and then he will.

Psalms 37:5. Commit your way unto the Lord

Give it up to him to rule it, and to guide you, you and lead you, you in every step.

"Commit your way unto the Lord."

Psalms 37:5-6. Trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday.

It is better to trust our character with God than with the ablest counselor. Scandal may pass over a fair name for a while and cloud it, but God is the avenger of all the righteous. There will be a resurrection of reputations, as well as of persons at the last great day. Only we must commit it to God.

Psalms 37:7-8. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not yourself in any wise to do evil.

A fretful spirit soon comes to be an angry spirit, and when we begin to be jealous of evildoers, we are very apt to become evildoers ourselves. Many an honest man has snatched at hasty gain, because he was envious of the prosperity of the unrighteous; and then he has pierced himself through with many sorrows in consequence. But "fret not yourself in any wise to do evil." There is an old proverb that it is hard for an empty sack to stand upright. Therefore, when you, you are in temporal trouble, ask the Lord to fill you, you with his grace, for then you, you will stand upright, and by-and-by you, you shall be delivered.

Psalms 37:9. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

If there is anything good to be had here, men that wait upon God shall have it. If there is any grain of wheat amidst these heaps of chaff, believers that are trusting the Lord shall find them.

Psalms 37:10. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be:

How transient are their joys! Their wealth which they accumulate, the beauty which they think is upon their estate, all this is but as the painted colors of the bubble, which is scarcely seen before it vanishes. Will you, you envy this? Will you, you envy a little child his play-toys, which will be broken in an hour? Will you, you envy a madman the straw crown which he plaits and puts upon his head when he thinks himself a king? Oh! be not so foolish. Your inheritance is eternal, and you, you are immortal. Why should you, you envy the creature of an hour? "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be."

Psalms 37:10. Yes, you, you shall diligently consider his place,

His mansion, his house, the grand figure that he cut in society.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 73; Psalms 37:1-10.

Verses 1-18

 

Let us read tonight part of the thirty-seventh Psalm. David here first of all dissuades himself and us from falling into a very common evil, that of envying the wicked because of their prosperity, and murmuring against God because we, perhaps, are not so highly favored in our earthly affairs.

Psalms 37:1-2. Fret not yourself because of evildoers, neither be you, you envious against the workers of inequity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

No one envies the grass, let it be never so green; no one envies flowers, let them be never so fragrant, for we know that grass must be cut, and that flowers must wither. Let us look upon the wicked in the same light; their time of perishing shall soon come, their end hastens on apace; therefore, let all envying be out of the question, since they are such short-lived beings.

Psalms 37:3. Trust in the Lord, and do good;

There you, you have the secret of the active life of the Christian. The root of his activity lies in his faith: "Trust in the Lord." The outward manifestation of his inner life is in the good that he does; and where there is this faith, proved to be living faith by good works, there follows the promise, —

Psalms 37:3. So shall you, you dwell in the land, and truly you, you shall be fed.

It does not say, "Young man, truly you, you shall prosper in business." It does not say, "O ambitious man, you, you shall dwell in a palace, or revel in luxuries, "but it does say to you, you, O humble-minded Christian, trusting in God, "Truly you, you shall be fed." You, you know, when the word "Truly" is used, there is something upon which God sets his seal as being true: "Truly you, you shall be fed." God’s "Verilys" are better than men’s oaths. Believe, then, Christians and let there be no more fretting about your temporal trials. I know you, you have come in here tonight very anxious, and vexed with care and grief; take this "Truly", and lay it, like Isaiah’s lump of figs, upon the boil, and "Truly" you, you shall soon be healed.

Psalms 37:4. Delight yourself also in the Lord and he shall give you, you the desires of your heart.

Delight is a Christian’s duty. To sorrow, to mourn, to despair, — these belong not to the believer: "Delight yourself in the Lord." Here is a river to swim in, Christians, plunge into it. Here is a bottomless abyss of delights, the person, the grace, the works, the attributes of our covenant God; and here is a promise given to each one of those who carry on this excellent duty, "He shall give you, you the desires of your heart."

Psalms 37:5. Commit your way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Put the helm of your ship into the hand of the Almighty Pilot. Leave the guidance of your pilgrimage to him who has led many caravans across the desert aforetime, and who has never suffered any to perish. What an easy way this is; and yet how hard do we find it to carry it out! It is to unload ourselves, and put our burden on our God. Oh, that we had the sanctified common-sense to make us fulfill this duty!

Psalms 37:6. And he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday.

Leave your character with God; it is safe there. Men may throw mud at it, but it will never stick long on a true believer; it shall soon come off, and you, you shall be the more glorious for men’s slander.

Psalms 37:7-11. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way; because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not yourself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yes, you, you shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

This is now a gospel blessing, for Christ pronounced it upon the mount among his other blessings: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Somehow or other, the only persons who truly enjoy life, and get happiness out of this present valley of tears, are the meek spirits, the men who can say, — "Mine are the valleys, and the mountains mine; my father made them all." Even the possessions of other men make these people glad. They are like the man we have heard of in China, who met a mandarin covered with jewels, and, bowing to him, said, "Thank you, you for those jewels." Doing this many times, at last the mandarin asked the cause of his gratitude. "Well," said the poor but wise man, "I thank you, you that you, you have those jewels, for I have as good a sight of them as you, you have; but I have not the trouble of wearing them, putting them on in the morning, taking them off at night, and having a watchman keeping guard over them when I am asleep. I thank you, you for them; they are as much use to me as they are to you, you." This meek man can walk along the broad acres of a rich man’s farm, he can see his noble oaks and other forest trees, and he can say, "Thank God for them all! I have as much enjoyment from these as the rich man himself has, for they are mine to enjoy as truly as they are his." "The meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace, "not in the abundance of wealth, but in the abundance of peace. To a meek man, peace is his wealth, and holy quietness and calm his true riches.

Psalms 37:12-18. The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he sees that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord upholds the righteous. The Lord knows the way of the upright: and their inheritance shall be forever.

He knows their dark days, and he will be their light; he knows their sunny days, and he will be their shelter; he knows their last day, and he will be their confidence; he knows their resurrection-day, and he will be their glory: "Their inheritance shall be for ever."

"Go, you, you that boast in all your stores,

And tell how bright they shine;

Your heaps of glittering dust are yours,

But my Redeemer’s mine."

Verses 1-40

 

May the Spirit of God graciously apply this Psalm to our hearts, comforting us as no one else can! Is he not the Comforter, and what better cordial has he for our spirits than his own Word?

Psalms 37:1-2. Fret not yourself because of evildoers, neither be you, you envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

Evil cannot last. It is a feeble plant, like the grass and weeds which the mower’s scythe soon cuts down, and leaves to wither in the blazing sunshine.

Psalms 37:3-4. Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shall you, you dwell in the land, and truly you, you shall be fed. Delight yourself also in the Lord and he shall give you, you the desires of your heart.

This is a most precious verse, its sweetness who can tell? Do not think first of the desires of your heart, but think first of delighting yourself in your God. If you, you have accepted him as your Lord, he is your; so delight in him, and then he will give you, you the desires of your heart.

Psalms 37:5. Commit your way unto the Lord trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Give it over into God’s hands, and then confide in him as completely as a little child confides in its mother. "He shall bring it to pass." It is quite certain that you, you cannot "bring it to pass," so you, you will be wise if you, you leave it with him who can do what you, you cannot.

Psalms 37:6. And he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday.

You, you can not make the light and the noonday; that is a work that is far beyond your power; but your God can give you, you both light and noonday. He can clear your character from any slander that may have befouled it, and he can crown you, you with honor and glory in place of the contempt that is now cast upon you, you.

Psalms 37:7. Rest in the Lord,-

That is the sweetest word of all: "Rest." Go no further. Fret no more. Bear your burdens no longer. Make this day a Sabbath to your soul: "Rest in the Lord,"-And wait patiently for him:-Do not be in a hurry. The Lord has infinite leisure, so partake of it as far as you, you can: "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him:"-

Psalms 37:7-8. Fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger,-

You, you cannot do that unless you, you "rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him." Angry passions fail upon the fire of fretfulness; therefore, "cease from anger,"-

Psalms 37:8-9. And forsake wrath: fret not yourself in any wise to do evil. For evil doers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

Their turn will come in due time. It comes last, but then it comes to last, for there is nothing to come after the last.

Psalms 37:10. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yes, you, you shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

The house in which he lived, or the place that was called by his name, is often destroyed.

Psalms 37:11-12. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. ‘The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes upon him with his teeth.-

That has been the style of things from the beginning, and the old serpent’s seed will be like the old serpent, and he "was more subtle than any beast of the field." "The wicked plots against the just,"-He plots against the Lord’s people, but--

Psalms 37:13-18. The Lord shall laugh at him,"For he sees that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord unhold the righteous. The Lord knows the day of the upright: and their inheritance shall be forever.

He gives them an eternal portion by an everlasting covenant.

Psalms 37:19. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

There is nothing that they can get, but God will give them what they cannot get themselves. He will ransack Heaven and earth to find food for his people: "In the days of famine they shall be satisfied."

Psalms 37:20-23. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away. The wicked borrows, and pays not again: but the righteous shows mercy, and gives. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth, and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:-Even his "steps"-the little movements of his life,-not only his "rest plans and his ambitious projects, but "the steps of a good man are ordered by Jehovah;"-

Psalms 37:23.And he delights in his way.

He loves to see him walk, even as parents delight to watch the first tottering steps of their little children, so that he, who "takes not pleasure in the legs of a man," takes pleasure in the ways of his people.

Psalms 37:24. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down:-

For a while, it may seem as if he had been finally defeated; things may seem to go altogether wrong with him; but, "though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;"-

Psalms 37:24-25. For the Lord upholds him with his hand. I have been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

And we also can still speak of the faithfulness of Jehovah. He who took care of his people in David’s day has not changed since then. We have not seen the righteous forsaken.

Psalms 37:26. He is ever merciful, and lends; and his seed is blessed.

God has a special regard for the children of believers. Grace does not run in the blood, but it often runs side by side with it. The God of Abraham is the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and the God of Joseph, and the God of Manasseh and Ephraim.

Psalms 37:27-29. Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. For the Lord loves judgment, and forsakes not his saints;they are preserved for ever:but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.

I have frequently remarked to you, you that, although the wolf is very strong and fierce, and the sheep is very weak and timid, yet there are more sheep in the world than there are wolves; and the day will come when the last wolf will be dead, and then the sheep shall cover the plains and feed upon the hills. Weak as the righteous often are, they "shall inherit the land" when the wicked shall have been out off from the earth.

Psalms 37:30. The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of judgment.

That which is down in the heart will come up into the mouth, and you, you may rest assured that men are fairly judged by the common current of their conversation.

Psalms 37:31-33. The law of his God is in his heart, none of his steps shall slide. The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him. The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.

How dreadful it would be for the godly man if the Lord were to leave him in the hand of the wicked! You, you remember how David sought to avoid that calamity when he had to choose famine, pestilence, or the sword of his enemies. "Let me fall," said he "into the hand of the Lord, for very great are his mercies; but let me not fall into the hand of man." Let us thank God that, even if we should get into the hand of the ungodly, the Lord will not leave us there, nor condemn us when we are judged.

Psalms 37:34-37. Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt you, you to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, you, you shall see it. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yes, I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.

There is no end to that man, for he is to endure world without end. In any sense in which there is an end to him, his end is everlasting peace

Psalms 37:38-39. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble.

Have you, you not proved it so, dear brethren and sisters in Christ? I know that you, you have had times of trouble, but has not God been your strength in a very peculiar way in all such times?

Psalms 37:40. And the Lord shall help them,-

He is and he shall ever be their Helper: "The Lord shall help them,"-

Psalms 37:40. And deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

That is the point,-not because of any merit of theirs, nor because of any skill of theirs, but "he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him." So, Lord, help us to trust in you, you! Amen

Verses 17-40

 

Psalms 37:17. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord upholds the righteous.

They must stand, therefore, for how shall he fall whom God upholds?

Psalms 37:18-19. The Lord knows the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

These are bad times now. Everyone complains, and indeed there seems to be abundant cause, for distress is universal. But let us fall back on the promise. "In the days of famine they shall be satisfied."

Psalms 37:20-23. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away. The wicked borrows, and pays not again: but the righteous shows mercy, and gives. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delights in his way.

There is a mutual delight, you, you see. If we delight in God, God delights in us. He delights in the conduct of his people. When they walk with him, he takes pleasure in every step that they take. What say you, you, brothers and sisters? Have you, you tried to live today so that God may take pleasure in you, you He cannot do it if we have lived carelessly, or fruitlessly, or selfishly. But when we live to him, then the Lord delights in our way.

Psalms 37:24. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

Just going to fall, but in came the interposing hand. Grace catches us up when sin would throw us down.

Psalms 37:25. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

It was so unusual a thing that David had never seen, it. I have several times seen the seed of the righteous begging bread, but in every case it has been because of their drunkenness or their laziness, or because of their own vice which they brought upon themselves. But, as a rule, takes care of the children of his children. He does not suffer them to want. They may be brought into great straits, but he will not permit them to come to beggary.

Psalms 37:26-29. He is ever merciful, and lends; and his seed is blessed. Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. For the Lord loves judgment, and forsakes not his saints; they are preserved forever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.

There is a grand time coming (oh! that God would hasten it!) when truth and righteousness shall rule the earth, and then shall the godly have their portion. At the present time: —

"Every prospect Pleases,

And only man is vile ";

But the day shall come when the vile person shall cease from off the earth, and the saints shall trove the kingdom.

Psalms 37:30. The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of judgment.

You, you may often judge a man by his mouth. The physician looks at the tongue to see how the man is; and so is a righteous man known by his mouth and his tongue, for he talks of judgment.

Psalms 37:31-40. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide. The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him. The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt you, you to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut of, you, you shall see it. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yes, I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright. For the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut of. But the salvation of the righteous is of the .Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

 

 

Chapter 38

 

Verses 1-22

 

I am going to read two portions of Scripture. In the first, — the 38th Psalm, — we shall hear a suffering servant of Jehovah crying out to his God.

Psalms 38:1. O Lord, rebuke me not in your wrath: neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.

"If you, you do rebuke me, do it gently, O my Lord! If you, you do chasten me,

let not your displeasure wax hot against your servant."

Psalms 38:2. For your arrows stick fast in me, and your hand presseth me sore.

God may aim his arrows even at his own children, and he may lay his hand very heavily upon those whom he deeply loves.

Psalms 38:3. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.

David was under the afflicting hand of God even with regard to his bodily disease. He could have borne the pain if it had been merely physical; but there was a sense of sin mixed with it which made it sting him in his very soul.

Psalms 38:4-5. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.

David had some painful old sores; I mean, old sins; and they seem to have broken out again and again, and when he wrote this Psalm, he was groaning in his spirit at the remembrance of them. His faith was at a low ebb, and his feelings were of the most bitter and sorrowful kind.

Psalms 38:6. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

Yet he was a true child of God all the while, for this is, according to its title, "A Psalm of David," concerning whom the Lord said "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will." God’s flowers do not have sunlight twenty-four hours in the day. They have their night seasons, when it is not only dark, but it may also be heavy with the cold dew, or trying with a sharp frost.

Psalms 38:7-8. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.

That is an expressive word that David uses: "I have roared." He felt as if his prayers were more like the agonized cries of a wounded beast than the intelligent supplications of a human being, — least of all, of a man of God; and, sometimes, when the spirit is greatly bowed down, it cannot express itself in words, but has to be content with groans, and cries, and sobs, and tears.

Psalms 38:9. Lord, all my desire is before you, you; and my groaning is not hid from you, you.

What a sweet, sweet truth that is! Happy is that man, who in the time of deepest darkness, can still grasp that truth and hold it fast. "Lord, my groaning is not hid from you, you! I could only roar out my complaint, or groan it out; but you, you could hear it just as well as if I had ordered my words aright before you, you."

Psalms 38:10-11. My heart pants, my strength fails me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.

"Relatives and friends alike all get away from me as far as they can, for they cannot bear to be in such sorrowful company."

Psalms 38:12-13. They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long. But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that opens not his mouth.

Although David was a tried man, he was, at least at that time, a wise man. God did not leave his servant to act or to speak foolishly; and beloved, when men are unjustly rebuking and reproaching you, you, there is nothing more wise than to act as if you, you did not hear them. It is the very acme of wisdom if you, you can keep quiet, and not answer them, — refusing to make any apologies or extenuations — or even showing any sign that you, you have so much as heard what they have said.

Psalms 38:14-15. Thus I was as a man that hears not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in you, you, O Lord, do I hope: —

What sublime faith there is here! It is easy to have faith in sunshiny weather, — to have faith when you, you have the least need of it. There are plenty of people, who fancy they are believing in God when everything is going well with them. It is one thing to believe when you, you are lying at anchor in a peaceful harbor, it is quite another matter to believe when you, you are at sea in a storm. David hoped in God when trouble had come upon him wave upon wave: "For in you, you, O Lord, do I hope:" —

Psalms 38:15. You, you will hear, O Lord my God.

"Even if I do not hear you, you, you, you will hear me and if no man shall hear me, you, you will hear my prayer, and answer my supplication."

Psalms 38:16-20. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slips, they magnify themselves against me. For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.

We need never be afraid of any man’s opposition when the reason for his being our adversary is that we "follow the thing that good is," as our translators quaintly express it.

Psalms 38:21-22. Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.

Now we shall see, as we read that wondrous 53rd chapter of Isaiah not a man of God in trouble, but the Son of God in trouble; and we shall see him also as a deaf man that hears not, "and as a dumb man that opens not his mouth."

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 38, and Isaiah 53.

 

Chapter 39

 

Verses 1-13

 

This Psalm gives a description of David’s experience and conduct when stretched upon a sick-bed. He appears to have felt impatience working within him, which I am sorry to say is a very common disease with most of us when God’s hand is heavy upon us. Yet David struggled against his impatience, though he felt it, he would not know it, lest he should thereby open the mouths of his enemies, and cause them to speak evil of his God. Let us imitate his restraint if we resemble him in the temptation to impatience.

Psalms 39:1. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue:--

This government of the tongue is a most important part of our ways; it in a very essential part of holy discipline, yet we have heard of one saint who said that he had lived for seventy years, and had tried to control his tongue, but that he had only begun to understand the are when he died. David said, "I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue;"-

Psalms 39:1. I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.

They have such quick ears, and they are so ready to misinterpret and misrepresent our words, and if they can find one word awry, they will immediately preach a long sermon over it, so let us muzzle our mouths while they are near. The ill words of Christians often make texts for sinners, and thus God is blasphemed out of the mouths of his own beloved children. Let it not be so with any of you, you, beloved.

Psalms 39:2. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.

We all know that, unless our grief can find expression, it swells and grows until our heart is ready to break. We have heard of a wise physician who bade a man in great trouble weep as much as ever he could. "Do not restrain your grief," he said, "but let it all out." He felt that only in that way would the poor sufferer’s heart be kept from breaking. David determined that, before the wicked, he would have nothing at all to say, and though his griefs were surging within him, yet for a time he kept them from bursting out.

Psalms 39:3. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spoke I with my tongue,

He could not hold his peace any longer; it would have been well if he had done so, for he uttered an unwise prayer when be spoke with his tongue.

Psalms 39:4. Lord, make me to know mine end,

That is what you, you and I are apt to say when we get into a little trouble; we want to die, and get away from it all. We say that we long to be with Christ, but I am afraid that it is often only a lazy wish to share the spoils of victory without fighting the battle, to receive the saints’ wages without doing the saints’ work, and to enter into Heaven without the toils and dangers of the pilgrims’ way. Perhaps this has been the case with us sometimes when we have thought that our aspirations were of the best and holiest kind. When David prayed, "Lord, make me to know mine end," his prayer was not a very wise one, but the next sentences were not quite so foolish:--

Psalms 39:4. And the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.

Oh, that we could all know how frail we are! But we reckon upon living for years when we have scarcely many more minutes left, we think our life’s hour-glass is full when the sands have almost run out, and although the hand of God’s great clock may be upon the striking-point, we think our brief hour has but just begun.

Psalms 39:5. Behold, you, you have made my days as, an handbreadth;

This is a very common measure, the breadth of the human hand; and David says that this span is the measure of his life. Some here must surely have spent a great part of that handbreadth; let them and all of us be prepared to meet our God when that short span’s limit is reached.

Psalms 39:5. And mine age is as nothing before you, you:

It is an incalculably tiny speck when compared with the immeasurable age of the Eternal: "Mine age is as nothing before you, you." When Alcibiades boasted of his great estates, the philosopher brought him a map of the world, and said to him, "Can you, you find your estates on this map?" Even Athens itself was but as a pin’s point; where, then, were the estates of Alcibiades? Nowhere to be seen. So, when we see the great map of eternity spread out before us, where is the whole of this world’s history? It is but a speck, and where then, are your life and mine? They are as nothing before God.

Psalms 39:5. Truly every man at his best state is altogether vanity.

Then what must he be at his worst state

Psalms 39:6. Surely every man walks in a vain show: surely they are disquieted in vain:

They fret, and fume, and flurry, and worry, and all about what? About nothing. We sometimes say, "It will be all the same a hundred years hence." Ah! but it will be all the same much sooner than that, when the six feet of earth shall be all our heritage.

Psalms 39:6. He heaps up riches, and knows not who shall gather them.

"Bethink you, you," says an old writer, "every time you, you do lock up your money in a box, how soon death shall lock you, you up in your coffin." Some men seem to be like our children’s money-boxes, into which money is put, but they must be broken before any can come out. To some men, how sad must be the thought that they have been accumulating wealth all their days, and they know not for whom they have been gathering it! A stranger may, perhaps, inherit it; or if their own kith and kin shall get it, they may squander it just as thoroughly as the misers hoarded it.

Psalms 39:7. And now, Lord,-

If all earthly things are nothing but emptiness,-

Psalms 39:7.What wait I for?

"I wait for nothing here, for there is nothing here to wait for."

Psalms 39:7. My hope is in you, you.

Ah! this hope makes life worth living. Now that we hope in God, now that we know that there remains another and a better world than this world of shadows, life is invested with true solemnity.

Psalms 39:8-9. Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish. I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because you, you did it.

It is always a blessed reason for resignation when we can say of any bereavement or affliction, "The Lord has done it." Shall he not do as he wills with his own? Then let us say, with Job, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

Psalms 39:10-12. Remove your stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of your hand. When you, you with rebukes do correct man for iniquity, you, you make his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not your peace at my tears:

Tears have ever had great prevalence with God. Christ used these sacred weapons when, "with strong crying and tears," he prayed to his Father in Gethsemane, "and we heard in that he feared." Sinner, there is such potency in a penitent’s tears that you, you may prevail with God if you, you will come to him weeping over your sin, and pleading the precious blood of Christ. Your tears cannot merit Heaven, or wash away your sins, but if you, you do penitently grieve over them, and trust in the great atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, your tearful prayers shall have a gracious answer of peace. Mr. Bunyan describes the City of Mansoul as sending Mr. Wet-eyes as one of her ambassadors to the Prince Emanuel, and he is still a most acceptable ambassador to the King of kings. He who knows how to weep his heart out at the foot of the cross shall not be long without finding mercy. Tears are diamonds that God loves to behold.

Psalms 39:12. For I am a stranger with you, you, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

"I am not a stranger to you, you, O my God! Blessed be your holy name, I know you, you well; but ‘I am a stranger with you, you.’ You, you are a stranger in shine own world, and so am I. The world knows you, you not, and the world knows me not; and when I act as you, you act, the world hates me even as it hates you, you."

Psalms 39:13. O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.

 

Chapter 40

 

Verses 1-17

 

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. If I were to read this Psalm all through as referring to Christ, and to Christ only, I should be correct in so doing; but still, there is such a unity between Christ and those who compose his mystical body that, what is true of the Head, is true of the members. What is true of the Vine, is true of the branches. What is true of Christ, is true of those who are in him. Therefore, this Psalm relates to David as well as to "great David’s greater Son", and it also concerns every one who is of the royal seed, every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus the Psalm begins :—

Psalms 40:1. I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

"I waited." Do not beggars wait long at a fellow-creature’s door for some pitiful alms, and should not I be content to linger at Mercy’s gate for such great boons as I am craving? "I waited patiently." Well may we tarry in patience until Jehovah’s time to help, since we know that "Like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear him; and if he be pitiful, we can well afford to be patient, "I waited patiently for Jehovah." Those who have been most mighty in prayer have sometimes had to wait for the answers to their supplications. Do not expect the Lord to hear you, you today or tomorrow. He may hear you, you before you, you speak, according to his promise, "Before they call, I will answer;" but he may, for the trial of your faith, make you, you wait. Are you, you able to wait? Then you, you are certain to receive a great blessing. "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me," bowed down out of Heaven, inclined unto me, stooped to me, thought well of me, and of my prayer also, "and heard my cry."

Psalms 40:2. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

This is a wonderful song, full of rapturous joy. You, you know how Orientals were accustomed to cast their prisoners into pits, and those pits were often horribly deep, and dark, and damp; and the mud at the bottom would be such that a man would sink in it. David sings of the Lord, "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay." What a wonderful up-bringing was this; and, as God never does anything by halves, he did not let his servant slip back again, for David added, "and set my feet upon a rock." "He set my feet." When God sets a man’s feet, those feet are well set; there is no sliding, no slipping, then. The Lord set’ David’s feet upon a rock; and, more than that, established his goings, made them firm, so that when he stirred he did not stumble.

Psalms 40:3. And he has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God:

Sing, then, believer! You, you did groan often enough in the pit; sing now that you, you are on the rock. You, you were desolate enough in the dungeon; sound aloud your grateful thanksgivings now that your goings are established.

Psalms 40:3. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.

There you, you have a picture of a sinner’s conversion and its effects. The man sees the Lord’s goodness to the child of God in distress. He fears; that is, he stands in awe of the great God; and then he also believes, he trusts in the Lord. One saint makes many; one child of God brought up out of the horrible pit leads to the bringing up of a great many others in the same way.

Psalms 40:4. Blessed is that man that makes the Lord his trust, and respects not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

If you, you trust in God, you, you will have no reverence for the proud, nor for those who turn aside from God’s Word, and teach falsehood. If you, you really fear God, you, you will have no fear of men.

Psalms 40:5. Many, O Lord my God, are your wonderful works which you, you have done, and your thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto you, you: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

The child of God, reviewing the Lord’s great goodness, feels that he can never count the mercies of God to him; and, as to telling them out, that can never be, It will be, perhaps, a part of our eternal employment to tell to angels, and principalities, and powers in the heavenly places the story of the loving-kindness of the Lord which we have experienced here below. If we had no troubles, we should have nothing to tell; but now that we are led in a strange way, and into very difficult places, we can write another page in our diary, which will be worth reading in those days when fictions shall all have been consumed in the fire, but the great facts in the lives of the Lord’s people shall make God to be admired in his saints forever and ever.

Psalms 40:6-8. Sacrifice and offering you, you did not desire; mine ears have you, you opened: burnt offering and sin offering have you, you not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do your will, O my God: yes, your law is within my heart.

Spoke I not truly when I said that the Christ of God is here? To whom is this passage one hundredth part so applicable as to the Lord Jesus himself? Does not Paul dwell upon this passage as teaching the putting aside of the old covenant law, and the bringing in of something better, even the obedience of Christ our Savior? However, this evening, I wish to read the Scripture in reference to the saints, the Lord’s own people. I trust that many of us, seeing that God does not delight in ritualistic performances, and in the externals of religion, so much as he does in the obedience of the heart, can come to him, and declare with David, "I delight to do your will, O my God." Beloved friends, you, you are not what you, you ought to be; you, you are not what you, you want to be; you, you are not what you, you shall be; but, tell me, are you, you ever happier than when you, you are consciously doing the will of God? Do you, you not find misery in sin, and delight in holiness? If you, you can say that it is so with you, you, then you, you are bound for the kingdom; you, you are on the way to complete victory over sin. Be of good cheer; he who has wrought in you, you this selfsame thing, to delight to do the will of God, will grant you, you grace to do it. He will bruise Satan under your feet shortly; and your inbred corruptions shall yet be uprooted by the Spirit of his grace.

Psalms 40:9. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, you, you know.

This is what Jesus can say. He was the Prince of open-air preachers, the Great Itinerant, the President of the College of all preachers of the gospel; and I trust that many of us here can also say that, according to our ability and opportunity, we have tried to tell of Christ to those round about us.

Psalms 40:10. I have not hid your righteousness within my heart; I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation: I have not concealed your loving-kindness and your truth from the great congregation.

If any of you, you have done so, if there has been a sinful reticence about the things of God, if called to preach, you, you yet have not preached the full gospel of God’s grace, the Lord forgive you, you, and bring you, you out into a clear manifestation of what he has written within your hearts! We cannot tell what we do not know, and we ought not to try to do so; but what is graven in our hearts by the Holy Spirit we are bound to tell to others. This gas was lighted that it might shine; and you, you received the divine fire that you, you might shine to the glory of God. It may be that, in some dark hour, it shall afford you, you at least a little comfort to be able to say, "I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, you, you know. I have not hid your righteousness within my heart; I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation." You, you may be able to use it as an argument in prayer, as the psalmist does: "I have not concealed your loving-kindness and your truth from the great congregation, therefore,"—

Psalms 40:11. Withhold not you, you your tender mercies from me, O Lord; let your loving-kindness and your truth continually preserve me.

Depend upon it, God will take care of us, if we take care of his truth. If we, from cowardly reasons, keep back any part of the gospel, God may leave us to defend ourselves; but if we conceal nothing that he has revealed to us, if we are faithful to the truth committed to our charge, that truth will itself preserve us, and we shall know more and more of the loving-kindness of the Lord.

But what a sad verse is the next one, if it describes the experience of any one of you, you who have known the Lord!

Psalms 40:12. For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart fails me.

If that is the condition of any one whom I am addressing, be comforted by the remembrance that another has been along that dark road where you, you now are found, and follow his example in praying to the Lord to deliver you, you. —

Psalms 40:13. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: O Lord, make haste to help me.

Thus did David cry unto the Lord "out of the depths." Imitate his example if you, you are in similar circumstances. Say, with good John Ryland,— "Out of the depths of doubt and fear,

Depths of despair and grief,

I cry; my voice, O Jesus, hear,

And come to my relief!"

14—16. Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil. Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, Aha, Let all those that seek you, you rejoice and be glad in you, you:

Here is comfort for all poor trembling seekers; they are only seekers, but let us thank God that they are seekers, and let us say with the psalmist, "Let all those that seek you, you rejoice and be glad in you, you." All true Christians, those who have found Christ, are still seekers; for, after finding Christ, they do their souls inflame to seek him more and more. So that our prayer also is, "Let all those that seek you, you rejoice and be glad in you, you."

Psalms 40:16-17. Let such as love your salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified. But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me: you, you are my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.

The Lord bless to us the reading of this precious portion of his Word, for his name’s sake! Amen.

 

Chapter 41

 

Verses 1-13

 

You, you will see, dear friends, from these holy songs, that the saints of God in those olden days were not screened from trials and troubles, but were tempted in all points like as we are. If we happen to be in similar trying circumstances, let us take comfort from their experiences; the footsteps of the flock that has gone before should make the sheep feel that it is not lost. Psalms 41 To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

Psalms 41:1. Blessed is he who considers the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

David delivered others, and God will deliver him. When he is poor and needy, God will think upon him, even as he considered the poor and the needy when they cried unto him.

Psalms 41:2-3. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and you, you will not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: you, you will make all his bed in his sickness.

God will be condescendingly gentle to such as are kind and gentle to the poor. If we love God first, and then exhibit the result of that love in our care for the poor and the needy, we shall certainly be recompensed, for he who gives to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will pay him back, — sometimes in his own coin, and oftener in a coin of heavenly currency. Let us take note of this, and let us never harden our heart against the poor and the needy in the time of their extremity.

Psalms 41:4. I said, Lord, be merciful unto me:

David had been very kind to the poor at all times; but when he gets into trouble, he does not plead that, he just mentions it, but the main stress of his pleading is quite in another direction, namely, for mercy: "I said, Lord be merciful unto me."

Psalms 41:4-5. Heal my soul; for have sinned against you, you. Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

But good men do not die to please wicked men, and sometimes, when the good men have been dead and buried, and their memory has been insulted by the wicked, they have risen up again in their posthumous influence. Good men live too long for the wicked, but they live as long as God wills that they should; they are immortal until their work is done. The story of Wycliffe is but a typical case of what has often happened. When the monks gathered round his bed, and expected that their opponent would soon be gone, he said, "I shall not die, but live," and so he did; and even after he had died, he continued to be a living power in the land; indeed, we know not how much of the blessings we enjoy is the result of the light that was shed upon England by "the morning star of the Reformation."

Psalms 41:6. And if he come to see me, he speaks vanity: his heart gathers iniquity to itself; when he goes abroad, he tells it.

Those are bad visitors to the sick who, when they speak, talk only nonsense or that which galls the sufferer; and then, when they go out, begin to tell an idle tale against him to his injury.

Psalms 41:7-9. All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt. An evil disease, say they, cleaves .fast unto him: and now that he lies he shall rise up no more. Yes, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

Many a child of God has had his character whispered down by slanderers, many a man has had a hard time of it through the evil speaking of men of the world; yes, even the Lord of saints and the King of pilgrims knew what it was to find a traitor in his most familiar friend, and to receive the basest ingratitude from one who had eaten of his bread. Do not be carried away with too much sorrow if you, you are slandered or betrayed; better men than you, you have suffered through this fearful evil. Therefore, take the trouble to your Lord, and bear it with such patience as he will give you, you.

Psalms 41:10-11. But you, you, O Lord, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them. By this I know that you, you favor me, because mine enemy does not triumph over me.

"He may think that he shall triumph over me, he may even begin in his mind to divide the spoil; but he shall never really get it: ‘Mine enemy does not triumph over me.’"

Psalms 41:12-13. And as for me, you, you unhold me in mine integrity, and set me before your face forever. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

That is the sick man’s praise; it is full of fervor and full of life. Let us never rob God of the revenue of his praises; let us not have such a cupboard love for him that we only praise him when he gives us good things. Let us bless his name just as much when he takes away, when he afflicts, when he chastises. That is true praise which comes from the bed of affliction, and from a heart that is sore broken with sorrow. Now in the next Psalm we find the good man in trouble again.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 41, 42.

 

Chapter 42

 

Verses 1-11

 

Psalms 42:1. As the deer pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after you, you, O God.

"As the deer pants" or "brayeth." And if such be your soul’s panting after God, you, you shall have what you, you pant for. Sooner or later, God will manifest himself in grace to the man who cries after him in this fashion.

Psalms 42:2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God : —

"My soul, my very soul, thirsts for God, the living God."

Psalms 42:2-3. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is your God?

That is another of the taunts of the ungodly. Just now, they said, "When shall he die and his name perish?" Now they cry, "Where is your God?" "You, you said that he would help you, you; you, you were sure that he would comfort you, you; you, you were confident that he would draw near to you, you; and now you, you are crying and panting after him, and have not got what you, you want: ‘Where is your God?’"

Psalms 42:4. When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me :-

That is not a good thing to do; if you, you do pour your soul out, do not pour it into yourself again. There is little gain when you, you merely empty your grief out of yourself into yourself. I have known many a man lay his burden down, and then take it up again directly. That is poor economy; the way to get rid of the sorrow is to pour out your hearts before God. There is no wisdom in doing what the psalmist says he did: "I pour out my soul in me:"—

Psalms 42:4-5. For I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day. Why are you, you cast down, O my soul? and why are you, you disquieted in me?

You, you see, the psalmist here talks to himself. Every man is two men; we are duplicates, if not triplicates, and it is well sometimes to hold a dialogue with one’s own self. "Why are you, you cast down, O my soul?" I always notice that, as long as I can argue with myself about my depressions, I can get out of them; but when both the men within me go down at once, it is a downfall indeed. When there is one foot on the solid rock, the other comes up to it pretty soon.

Psalms 42:5. Hope you, you in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

"I know I shall; he will yet look at me. I shall not always be in the dark; wherefore, let me begin at once to praise him." It is well sometimes to snatch a light from the altars of the future, and with it to kindle the sacrifices of the present: "I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance."

Psalms 42:6. O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember you, you from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.

From the little hill I will think of all your former love; — all the sacred spots where you, you have met with me, all the lonely places where you, you have been my comfort, and all the joyful regions where you, you have been my glory. I will think of these, and take comfort from them, for you, you are an unchanging God; and what you, you did for me aforetime, you, you will do for me again and yet again.

Psalms 42:7. Deep calls unto deep at the noise of your waterspouts: all your waves and your billows are gone over me.

Here is a great storm; here is a man, not merely on the sea, but in the sea;

with not only some waves beating upon him, but with all of them going over him; and those not common waves, but God’s waves. That is a Hebraism for the biggest waves, Atlantic billows; all these have gone right over him, yet see how he swims. Hope in God always crests the stormiest billow.

Psalms 42:8-9. Yet the Lord will command his loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. I will say unto God my rock, Why have you, you forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

See what liberties saints take with God; how they reason with him, how they argue with him; and God loves them to do so. Are you, you not pleased with your child when he urges reasons why you, you should do this or that for him? You, you are glad to see that he has mind enough to think of these things, and confidence enough in you, you to expect you, you to be affected by his pleadings; and the Lord loves his people to discourse with him. "Put me in remembrance," says he, "let us plead together." "Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord." If we reasoned more with God, we should reason less with ourselves. There is a good reason for reasoning with God, but it is often unreasonable to reason with yourself.

Psalms 42:10-11. As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is your God? Why are you, you cast down, O my soul? and why are you, you disquieted within me? hope you, you in God: For I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

It is curious to see the duplicate man here; he talks to himself as "you, you," and yet he says "I." "Hope you, you in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance." First, he said, "I shall yet praise him for the health of his countenance;" now it is "the health of my countenance." When God helps us with his countenance, then our own countenance soon grows bright and healthy. "Who is the health of my countenance," says the psalmist; and then he comes to the sweetest note of all, "and my God."

"For yet I know I shall him praise,

Who graciously to me,

The health is of my countenance,

Yes, mine own God is he."

Oh, sweet word that! May each of us be able to reach it! Amen.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 41, 42.

 

Chapter 43

 

Verses 1-5

 

Psalms 43:1-2. Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. For you, you are the God of my strength:

In the previous Psalm, David had called the Lord the God of his life. Now he calls him the God of his strength. We generally sing ourselves up. We may begin in a very low key, as David did, but if we can praise God in the dark, we shall soon praise God in the light.

Psalms 43:2-4. Why do you, you cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? O send out your light and your truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto your holy hill, and to your tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy:

"My exceeding joy,"--exceeding all the other joys I have,--exceeding still the joys of the happiest men I have ever known.

Psalms 43:4. Yes, upon the harp will I praise you, you, O God my God.

It was not enough for David to say, "O God;" he cries, "O God my God." You, you cannot praise another man’s God. Possession is not only nine points of the law, but it is all the points of the gospel.

Psalms 43:5. Why are you, you cast down, O my soul? and why are you, you disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance and my God.

May the Lord comfort his mourning people by such words as these!

 

Chapter 44

 

Verses 1-8

 

Psalms 44:1. We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work you, you did in their days, in the times of old.

Now Israel was restored to Canaan, and the Canaanite and Perizzite were driven out, that God’s chosen people might occupy their appointed place.

Psalms 44:2-3. How you, you did drive out the heathen with your hand, and planted them; how you, you did afflict the people, and cast them out. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance, because you, you had a favor unto them.

They did use their own arm and sword; but, for all that, it was God who won the victory for them. It was his might that made them brave, and a consciousness of his gracious purpose that made them strong, so that they routed all their foes until, from Dan to Beersheba, the land was all their own.

Psalms 44:4-6. You, you are my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob. Through you, you will we push down our enemies: through your name will we tread them under that rise up against us. For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.

See how the lesson from ancient history was turned to practical account in the psalmist’s own experience: "As our forefathers were delivered, not by their own bow or sword, but by the right hand of the Most High, so I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me." Brethren, let us always labor to reproduce in ourselves, by God’s grace, the best experiences of his saints. Wherever we see the hand of the Lord displayed in others of his people, let us pray that the same hand may be manifested to us and in us.

Psalms 44:7-8. But you, you have saved us from our enemies, and have put them to shame that hated us. In God we boast all the day long, and praise your name forever. Selah.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 44:1-8; and Psalms 45.

 

Chapter 45

 

Verses 1-9

 

The lily psalm — a psalm of loves. Oh! that our hearts might be full of love tonight, and, while we read, may our hearts be singing to the praise of the Well Beloved.

Psalms 45:1. My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

Sometimes the heart could speak if it could move the tongue; but it is a blessed time with us when, first of all, the heart is fully warmed with love, and then the fire within burns the strings that tie the tongue, and the tongue begins to move right joyously in expressing the heart’s love. May it be so with us tonight who have to preach. May it be so with all our brethren who have, in public, either to preach or to pray.

Psalms 45:2. You, you are fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into your lips therefore God has blessed you, you forever.

No sooner does he begin to write about Christ than he sees him. A warm heart soon kindles the imagination. The eye of faith is soon opened when once the heart is right. We feel the presence of Christ. We begin to speak of him and to him. "You, you are fairer than the children of men." Oh! I would tonight that Christ would but lift the corner of his veil and show you, you but one of his eyes. Your hearts would be ravished with his infinite beauty. "You, you are fairer than the children of men." Would God he would but speak half a word into our weary ear, and we should say, "Grace is poured into your lips." Oh! for some sense and sight of him! Do not our hearts hunger after this tonight?

Psalms 45:3-4. Gird your sword upon your thigh, O most mighty, with your glory and your majesty. And in your majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and your right hand shall teach you, you terrible things.

The heart never glows with love to Christ unless, in consequence, there is a longing that his kingdom may be extended. It is an instinct of a loving heart, that it desires the honor of its object. We long for Christ to rule and reign, simply because we love him. Oh! that he would lay his right hand to his work in these slow times. How little is being done, comparatively! Oh! for an hour of the right arm of Jesus. If he would but come himself to the battle, and the shout of a king were heard in our camps, what victories would be won. Cry unto him, O you, you that love him. He will come to your call.

Psalms 45:5. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies, whereby the people fall under you, you.

Christ has not only power near at hand, with his right hand, but far off he darts the arrows of his bow and heathens are made to feel that the gospel is mighty. Would God it were so now. Cry for it.

Psalms 45:6. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever: the scepter of your kingdom is a right scepter.

And this we know to be spoken concerning Jesus Christ for this was quoted by the apostle, "Your throne, O God." Let those who will, deny his Deity. It shall be the joy of our heart to worship him, and, in express terms, to address him who is our brother as "very God of very God." "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a right scepter."

Psalms 45:7. You, you love righteousness, and hate wickedness: therefore God, your God, has anointed you, you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

Fellow with us and yet equal with God. Man anointed, the Christ, yet still the reigning God. Glory be to his name.

Psalms 45:8. All your garments smell of myrrh, and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made you, you glad.

Not only is Christ precious, but everything that touches him. There is not a garment that hangs upon his shoulder but becomes sweet by contact with him. "All your garments smell of myrrh." There is myrrh about the priestly robe that falls down to his feet, and about the golden belt of his faithfulness that is girt about his waist. There are myrrh, and aloes, and cassia about his crown, though it be of thorns. About every garment that he puts on there is a sweet perfume.

Psalms 45:9. Kings’ daughters were among your honorable women: upon your right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.

Blessed queen of Christ, — his church. Let us never think little of her. There are some that are always crying up "the church," "the church," "the church"; but that is not the true church that tries to take the place of Christ. It is anti-Christ. The true church has her place, however, and that is at her husband’s own right hand, where she sits in the best of the best, — in gold, and that the gold of Ophir, for he spares nothing for her beauty and her glory.

Verses 1-14

 

It is a Psalm of instruction, and yet it is a song of love, for the science of love to Christ is the most excellent of all the sciences. To know Christ is to love him, and we are best instructed who love him most, and the Psalm is most of all a Maschil, a Psalm of instruction, when we are taught to love. Hence the Psalm is a song of love.

Psalms 45:1. My heart is inditing a good matter:

A good instrument — the heart refined and sanctified — a good subject, for, says he: —

Psalms 45:1. I speak of the things which I have made touching the king:

Oh! it is a loyal subject concerning King Jesus. The original has it, "My heart boils up with a good matter" — bubbles up — as if each verse of this Psalm were, so to speak, the bubbling up of a boiling heart that is heated with the love of Christ; and all is concerning him — concerning him the king. "I speak of the things which I have made." That is experience —things made my own; and there is no matter like that. Theoretical theology is of little value. We must have it in the heart, and have it in our own.

Psalms 45:1. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

As though it were moved by another hand, as a pen might be. So the Psalmist feels as if his tongue were under divine influence, and he were about to utter things his own, yet not his own; — things which he has made, yet which the Spirit indicts.

Psalms 45:2. You, you are fairer than the children of men:

And then he sees him. He does see him by faith; and he speaks, not so much about him, as to him. "You, you are fairer than the children of men." Oh! it is sweet meditating upon Christ, when Christ himself is present. It is blessed work to speak about Christ when you, you can speak to Christ at the same time. You, you are fairer than the children of men — the very fairest of them. Whatever beauty, excellence, and worth there may be about mankind, you, you have all, and more than all that they possess.

Psalms 45:2. Grace is poured into your lips:

It comes, therefore, pouring from them. It comes swelling up from your mouth. Every word that you, you speak is full of grace and truth.

Psalms 45:2. Therefore God has blessed you, you forever.

The Mediator, the God-man, Christ Jesus, is blessed of God. The blessing of the Most High rests upon him, because he is so infinitely lovely. His words are unspeakably gracious; and if God blesses him, shall not we bless him? If God himself praises him, shall not we praise him? Oh! let us not be silent, but where God leads the way, let us joyfully follow.

Psalms 45:3. Gird your sword upon your thigh, O most mighty, with your glory and your majesty.

He loves the fighting Christ — Christ with the sword on his thigh. Oh! but it is sweet to see the Prince of peace — to know that he comes to our heart bearing unspeakably precious blessings; but yet the terrible side of Christ is precious to his saints. They ask him to gird his sword upon his thigh. An armed Christ can only be armed for the defense of his people, and for the deliverance of them from captivity. Therefore, O you, you loveliest of the lovely, be the mightiest of the mighty too.

Psalms 45:4. And in your majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and your right hand shall teach you, you terrible things.

There are three things that are much put to it in this world, and have a hard time of it; truth, which is beset with error, like the hunted hind pursued by dogs. O God, defend your truth! O Christ of God, lay upon your sword to smite down error! The next thing is meekness. A gentle spirit has a hard time of it among the hard-hearted sons of men. They do not understand meekness. They call the meek man a milksop. They make mirth out of his gentleness. O sword of the Lord, defend the meek ones of the earthy And there is a third thing that has a hard time of it, and that is righteousness among a godless generation, that put bitter fox sweet, and sweet for bitter —darkness for light, and light for darkness. Righteousness has to run the gauntlet. But, O you, you who are truth, and meekness, and righteousness embodied, come forth with your sharp sword, and fight on the behalf of these things! We do not ask the Lord to come into the world for the sake of pomp, and pride, and power. We only want his battles to be battles of love. We only ask him to extend the kingdom of truth, and meekness, and righteousness.

Psalms 45:5. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under you, you.

Christ has far-reaching power. He can not only smite with the sword, but he has skill with the bow, and he can dart an arrow to those that are far off, that they may feel his power. Oh! that he would do so now, that those who are leagues away from him may, to their own surprise, find a shaft come right into their heart, that they may fall under the power of Christ, and cry out to him to come and heal the wound that his own arrow has made. He will do it, for it is written, "I wound, and I heal"; and wherever Christ wounds in mercy, he heals in mercy too.

Psalms 45:6. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever: the scepter of your kingdom is a right scepter.

Notice that the more you, you look at Christ the more there is to see. Here the songster first said, "You, you are fairer than the children of men"; and now he cries, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever." That man has not seen much of Christ who has not perceived him to be God — God on the throne, God on an everlasting throne. Oh! if any of you, you have not yet believed in Christ as God, I pray you, you may do so; for you, you do not know the Christ of the Scriptures at all, however much you, you may value his moral character as supreme in wisdom, unless you, you can say, "My Lord and My God," as Thomas did when he saw his wounds. "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a right scepter." There is the joy of it! Christ has absolute sovereignty, but that absolute sovereignty never goes beyond the realm of right. "The scepter of your kingdom is a right scepter."

Psalms 45:7. You, you love righteousness, and hate wickedness: therefore God, your God, has anointed you, you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

Christ is no neutral. He loves righteousness, and hates wickedness. He is like fire in all that he does. There is about him a certain strength of heart, both to love and to hate; and it is for this reason that God loves him, for God hates lukewarmness. "So then, because you, you are neither cold nor hot," says he, "I will spue you, you out of my mouth." But Christ is never neutral about those matters. He loves righteousness. He hates wickedness. "Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you, you with the oil of gladness above your fellows." And if you, you want to have the oil of gladness, dear friends, you, you must not be neutral. You, you that live between and between — that are neither very good nor very bad — that are not decided worldlings, nor yet decided Christians, you, you never have any joy at all. You, you see, you, you do not go enough into the world to get its joy, bad and base as it is; and you, you do not go enough into Christ’s kingdom to get its joy; so you, you get no comfort either way. Oh! to be cast into the kingdom altogether — thrown into it as a man into the deep sea, and swallowed up in it! In its lowest depths are the sweetest waters.

Psalms 45:8. All your garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made you, you glad.

The very clothes of Christ are precious to believers. "Unto you, you that believe he is preciousness." But even his very garments are savored with it, whether he puts on his priestly robes, or his royal garniture, or his prophetic mantle. Each one of these has in it a sweet savor of all manner of choice perfumes, myrrh, and aloes, and cassia. Bitter sweets all of them. Oh! in Christ there is a wonderful bitter sweetness — the pangs of death that breed our life: the pangs of sorrow that bring us joy: his downcasting for our uplifting.

Psalms 45:9. Kings’ daughters were among your honorable women: upon your right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.

No one is so honored as the one who waits upon the Savior. They are honorable women that minister to him of their substance, that are often found in his temple, like Anna of old. These are kings’ daughters, every one of them. And, as for his Church as a whole, she is a queen. She takes no low mean rank, and her apparel is like her dignity. She is clothed in the gold of Ophir — the, best of metals, and the best kind of that metal — the gold of Ophir; and "strangely, my soul, are you, you arrayed by the great Sacred Three." All manner of royal apparel is put upon the Church of God, and upon every member of it.

Psalms 45:10. Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear; forget also your own people, and your father’s house;

We cannot know Christ thoroughly unless we leave off knowing the world. There must be a forgetting as well as a remembering. We are to forget our father’s house come right out from it. If Christ is to love his Church, it must be a nonconforming church in the deepest sense of that word. I mean not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of its mind. Not only are we not to love the world, but we are not to think of it. "Forget also your own people, and your father’s house."

Psalms 45:11. So shall the king greatly desire your beauty:

We were thinking of his beauty. But see: when once we see the beauty of Christ, Christ puts a beauty upon us; and when we learn the beauties of Christ, we soon see beauties in his Church. I find that those who at the Church of God have not any very high esteem of the Church’s Head; but when he is beloved, his people are beloved for his sake. Why, there is an old proverb that says, "Love me, love my dog." Much more may we say, "Love Christ, love his Church."

Psalms 45:11. For he is your Lord; and worship you, you him.

This is the great business of the Church — to carry on the worship of her Lord; and I believe that, met together as we are tonight, we are met for the noblest purpose under Heaven. When the people of God come together for worship, they are doing that which angels do before the throne — an occupation from which they never cease day or night!

Psalms 45:12. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift;

Well, but she is a heathen; she is a trafficker. What does she know about the king of Israel? Ah! but when Israel owns her king — when the Church of Christ delights in Christ, and dotes upon him, she shall have converts in plenty, from the least likely places.

Psalms 45:12. Even the rich among the people shall entreat your favor.

They are generally taken up with other things, but then they shall know, when once the Church is right with her King.

Psalms 45:13. The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.

Who has wrought it but her King, whose own right hand has hammered out the precious fabric, and then has taken every golden thread and, with his own bleeding hand, has wrought it into a sacred vesture that shall outlast the stars. "Her clothing is of wrought gold."

Psalms 45:14. She shall be brought unto the king in clothing of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto you, you.

Happy are those pure virgin spirits that hardly dare think themselves fit to be called a part of the bride, but yet follow her and keep close to her. They are really a part of her, and they "shall be brought unto you, you."

Verses 1-17

 

To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, (or, upon the lilies,) for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves. We may look upon the 45th Psalm as being a sort of compendium of the Song of Solomon. It is written, too, upon the same subject, and that is not the marriage of Solomon with Pharaoh’s daughter; — only the strangest and most whimsical fancy could ever have found Pharaoh’s daughter either in this Psalm or in the Book of the Canticles. It is a description of Christ and his Church; a song of love between that pair forever affianced, and soon to sit down together at the marriage supper in glory.

Psalms 45:1. My heart is inditing a good matter:

Or, as the margin has it, "My heart boils or bubbles up with good matter." It is said of Origen, one of the ancient fathers of the Church, that whenever he preached, he preached with great earnestness and fervor; but that, when he spoke of Christ, he seemed to be all on fire. So, whenever our hearts speak of the good matter which concerns Christ, our souls should be all on fire, we should be boiling over with love to him.

Psalms 45:1. I speak of the things which I have made touching the king:

A man can never speak so well of the things which he has learned, or heard, as of the things which he has made, that is, the things which he has experienced. Indeed, this is your life-work and mine, beloved, to tell to others the things which we have made our own touching the king.

Psalms 45:1. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

A ready writer writes what he has thought of beforehand, what he has well meditated upon, and digested; so the psalmist declares that this rapturous song is as certainly true as the verba scripta of a thoughtful accomplished penman.

Psalms 45:2. You, you are fairer than the children of men:

The Hebrew word here is doubled, as much as to say, "You, you are doubly fair; you, you are fair, fair; twice fairer than the children of men." Both in outward appearance — although his visage was so sadly marred while he was here, — and in personal character, our Lord Jesus Christ is "fairer than the children of men."

Psalms 45:2. Grace is poured into your lips:

Grace has, in the most copious manner, been poured upon Christ, and now there pours from his lips a very cataract of grace; — floods of love, and tenderness, and holy eloquence stream from his lips.

Psalms 45:2-3. Therefore God has blessed you, you forever. Gird your sword upon your thigh, O most mighty, with your glory and your majesty.

Put your sword where it will be ready for use; come forth, and let us see you, you appear in your strength, O most Mighty! For this is one of the names of Christ: "I have laid help upon One that is mighty; I have exalted One chosen out of the people."

Psalms 45:4-5. And in your majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and your right hand shall teach you, you terrible things. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under you, you.

You, you may see, on some of the ancient slabs, representations of Oriental monarchs riding in their chariots, perhaps engaged in hunting, or pursuing their enemies, with their bow and arrow in their hands, and their sword upon their thigh. So is our Savior thus graphically described. His Word is his sword, and the testimony of his ministers he makes to be like sharp arrows sticking in the hearts of his enemies. May it be so this day, and everyday may Christ thus ride prosperously!

Psalms 45:6. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever: the scepter of your kingdom is a right scepter.

This could not have been said of Solomon; for he was never called God. It refers to none other than Christ the King, whose throne is forever and ever.

Psalms 45:7-9. You, you love righteousness, and hate wickedness: therefore God, your God, has anointed you, you with the oil of gladness above your fellows. All your garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made you, you glad. Kings’ daughters were among your honorable women:

Your maids of honor, for all those who truly wait on Christ become at once the King’s daughters. It is more noble to serve God than to sit as king upon a throne. The day shall come when all the honor of earthly kings’ daughters will have passed away, but the glory of those who are in Christ’s court as honorable women shall abide forever.

Psalms 45:9. Upon your right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.

In the best and purest gold. Every member of the Church of Christ may well say, with Dr. Watts, —

"Strangely, my soul, are you, you arrayed

By the great Sacred Three"

Psalms 45:10-11. Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear; forget also your own people, and your father’s house; so shall the king greatly desire your beauty: for he is your Lord; and worship you, you him.

Though the Church has been brought up in the world, she is to be separated from it. The more distinction there can be between Christians and worldlings, the better will it be for both. Christ greatly admires the beauty of his Church when she is separated from the world, and it is nothing but an adulterous alliance when the church becomes united to the State. We never can expect any great and permanent blessing to any church which thus degrades and dishonors itself. If a church cannot stand without the support of the civil power, let it fall; but happy is that Church which relies alone upon the King himself, and is content with the dowry which he gives her.

Psalms 45:12. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall entreat your favor.

The day is coming when the Church of Christ shall be honored by all men. The merchant princes, who now esteem her as a thing of naught, shall come with their tribute to her, and those who once despised her shall entreat her favor.

Psalms 45:13-14. The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in clothing of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto you, you.

Happy was John the Baptist to be "the friend of the Bridegroom" to Christ, and happy are the hearts of those who are the bridesmaids to his Church: "the virgins her companions that follow her" — you, you, whose pure hearts are set upon the Lord alone, and who follow wherever he does lead, you, you, too, "shall be brought unto the king in clothing of needlework" with his Church.

Psalms 45:15-16. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace. Instead of your fathers shall be your children, whom you, you may make princes in all the earth.

There is such a thing as an apostolical succession, though not the fiction which usually goes by that name. The Lord is constantly raising up fresh disciples, fresh preachers, and fresh teachers, whom he makes to be princes in his earthly courts, and who shall be princes in his heavenly courts forever and ever.

Psalms 45:17. I will make your name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise you, you forever and ever.

"Jesus shall reign whenever the sun

Does his successive journeys run;

His kingdom stretch from shore to shore

Until moons shall wax and wane no more."

 

Chapter 46

 

Verses 1-11

 

To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Song upon Alamoth. This Psalm is often called "Martin Luther’s Psalm." Whenever there was any great trouble, Luther used to say, "Let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm together, and then let the devil do his worst." This is the Psalm, too, from which Mr. John Wesley preached in Hyde Park, at the time of a great earthquake. While the earth was shaking, and there was a great tempest, Mr. Wesley preached from the second verse: " Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea."

Psalms 46:1. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

All creatures have their places of refuge. " As for the stork, the fir trees are her house. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the comes." All men also have their places of refuge, though some are "refuges of lies." But God is our refuge and strength," the omnipotence of Jehovah is pledged for the defense and support of his people. "A very present help in trouble,"-one who is near at hand; always near, but nearest when he is most needed. Not much entreaty is required to bring him to the aid of his people, for he is close at hand and close at heart, "a very present help in trouble."

Psalms 46:2-3. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

Here we have, you, you perceive, a mention of the greatest convulsions of nature, yet the believer fears not. Doubtless, too, these verses are intended to be a picture of the great convulsions that take place in the providential dealings of God. States and kingdoms that seem to be as solid as the earth will one day be removed. Dynasties that seem as fixed and firm as mountains may soon be swept away into the sea of oblivion. We may have famine, and war, and pestilence, and anarchy, until the whole earth shall seem to be like the sea in a great storm; yes, hope may fail with many and the stoutest hearts may shake at the swelling thereof; yet, let the worst come to the worst, God’s people are still safe. As one old writer says, "Though God should, to use his words concerning Jerusalem, wipe the earth as a man wipes a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down, yes, though he should break it into a thousand shivers, yet need not his people fear; for, if he does not protect them under Heaven, he will take them up to be with him in Heaven." If Heaven and earth could be mingled together, and chaos could return, yet still, as long as God is God, there is no use for the believer to fear.

Psalms 46:3. Selah.

We may well pause, and renew our confidence in the God who never has failed us, and who never will fail any who trust him.

Psalms 46:4. There to a river, the stream whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the most High.

Whatever river may have been in the psalmist’s mind, it was the symbol of sovereign grace, flowing freshly and freely from the sacred fountain of eternal love, to make glad the people of God. And now we have the inspired Book, we have the preached Word, we have the many precious promises, we have the blessed Spirit himself, and all these make a glorious river, the streams whereof "make glad the deity of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High."

Psalms 46:5. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

The Hebrew expression is, "at the turning of the morning," our marginal reading gives it, "when the morning appears." "God shall help her at the turning of the morning." At that period when the night is the blackest, just before the light begins to come, then shall God help his Church. Child of God, this promise is to you, you also. When the night gets thickest, and the gloom is the heaviest, then God shall help you, you "at the turning of the morning." He may tarry for a while, but he will tarry no longer than is wise. You, you shall find, in looking back upon God’s dealings with you, you, that, although he sometimes seemed to be long in coming to your help and you, you cried out, "Lord, how long?" yet, after all, he did help you, you, and that "right early," too.

Psalms 46:6. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

God has but to speak, and his stoutest foe shall dissolve like snow when the sun shines upon it.

Psalms 46:7-9. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he has made in the earth. He makes wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and cuts the spear in sunder; he burns the chariot in the fire.

Here the psalmist invites us to behold what God has done in the past. He has desolated the desolaters, and destroyed the destroyers. War has been a terrible scourge to mankind, but our God is Master even over war. When I look at the old ruined castles all over our land, I cannot help saying to myself and others too, "Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he has made in the earth," and when I stumble upon some broken-down abbeys, and monasteries, and Popish cathedrals, I can but wish that there were more of them, that we might see many such desolations which the Lord has made in the earth. He will get the victory over all his foes, and break all his adversaries in pieces, however long he may wait before putting forth his great power in judgment upon them.

Psalms 46:10. Be still, and know that I am God:--

Here is the command, and here is the reason which will help us to obey it. Judge not the Lord hastily; murmur not at his providential dealings with you, you. Be not hurrying and scurrying hither and thither, but "be still." In silence and in confidence shall be your strength. "Be still, and know that I am God:"-

Psalms 46:10. I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

If God is willing to wait, you, you need not be impatient. His time is the best time, and he will be exalted in due time.

Psalms 46:11. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

 

Chapter 47

 

Verses 1-9

 

Psalms 47:1-5. O clap your hands, all you, you people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. For the Lord most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet. He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah. God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

One of our sacred poets has written, "All his work and warfare done, He into his Heaven is gone, And beside his Father’s throne, Now is pleading for his own;" but, not merely is he "beside his Father’s throne," he is with him sitting upon the throne, and waiting until his foes be made his footstool.

Psalms 47:6-9. Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth: sing you, you praises with understanding. God reigns over the heathen: God sits upon the throne of his holiness. The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted.

There are some, in these days, who have, according to their own confession, cast off the God of Abraham. They do not believe in the Jehovah who is revealed in the Old Testament; they are like those of whom Moses said, "They sacrificed to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not; " but as for us, we still delight to sing,"

"The God of Abraham praise

Who reigns enthroned above,

Ancient of everlasting days,

And God of love!

Jehovah, great I AM!

By earth and Heaven confest;

I bow, and bless the sacred name

Forever blessed!"

"But the God of Abraham is very stern," says someone. Assuredly he is; he is terrible in the majesty of his justice; yet we worship and adore him for that very reason. No effeminate deity, such as modern thought has invented, has even an atom of our admiration, much less of our adoration;

but the glorious God of the Sinai thunders, who is equally terrible as the God of justice on Calvary, this God, who, nevertheless, is love, our hearts adore and worship.

 

Chapter 48

 

Verses 1-14

 

A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah. It is not every Psalm that is a song, for some Psalms are full of sorrow and it is not every song that is a Psalm, for, alas! there are many songs that are mere foolish rhymes or something worse, but here is a happy combination, "A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah."

Psalms 48:1. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised —

Surely a great God should have great praise: "greatly to be praised" —

Psalms 48:1. In the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

If there is any place where he ought to be praised, surely it is there. Even if all the rest of the world is silent, let God be praised "in the mountain of his holiness." Holy people must praise the holy God. It is natural that they should do so. It needs holy people to see God, and when they do see him, their eyes will glisten with delight, and their voices will ring with his praise.

Psalms 48:2. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, in mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

Thus the Jew praises Jerusalem, and thus the Christian praises the Church. The Church of Christ is, to his eye, the most precious thing in the whole world, and there is nothing upon the face of the earth that is so lovely in the sight of God as his own chosen Church.

Psalms 48:3. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.

Are not all her people kings? Therefore they live in palaces; and they none of them trust in themselves, God is known to them as a refuge.

Psalms 48:4-5. For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. They saw it, and so they marveled;

They came up with their confederate bands of kings to attack Jerusalem, and they looked at it, and wondered at its strength and beauty.

Psalms 48:5. They were troubled, and hastened away,

If they came quickly, they went away still more quickly, hurrying off like a band of frightened children.

Psalms 48:6-7. Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail. You, you break the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.

God broke up the confederacies of kings that were leagued against his people. Even the great galleons of Tarshish were dashed to pieces when the Lord blew with his wind, and scattered them, as, many centuries later, he did with the "Invincible" Armada on our own coasts.

Psalms 48:8. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of host, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.

Well might there be a pause here for solemn consideration, for putting the harp strings right, and lifting up the heart to the Lord in praise.

Psalms 48:9. We have thought of your loving-kindness, O God, in the midst of your temple."

Here is a blessed subject, "your loving-kindness, O God;" — a blessed people, we who have enjoyed it; — a blessed occupation, "we have thought of your loving-kindness," — and a blessed place in which to do it, "in the midst of your temple." When we are in the midst of the Lord’s people, in the midst of his Church, then is the time for sweet and blessed thoughts concerning our gracious God.

Psalms 48:10. According to your name, O God, so is your praise unto the ends of the earth:

As is God’s name, so is his fame; unto the very ends of the earth shall men hear the praises of the Lord, especially when he delivers his people.

Psalms 48:10. Your right hand is full of righteousness.

God’s right hand is never empty: "your right hand is full;" and when he comes to sinners, he deals with them in righteousness; and when he comes to his saints in mercy, it is still in righteousness. "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other." "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins"

Psalms 48:11. Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of your judgments.

That is, the smaller cities of Judah, let them sing, as well as Jerusalem, the high praises of their delivering God. Perhaps it refers to the women who, in times of war, have to suffer most and worst of all; let them be loudest in their joyous music; as Miriam took her timbrel, and led the song of the women on the shore of the Red Sea, so let the daughters of Judah be glad because of the Lord’s righteous judgments upon the enemies of his people.

Psalms 48:12-13. Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark you, you well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that you, you may tell it to the generation following.

Sunday-school teachers, note the security of the Church of God, mark the eternal truth on which she is founded, the everlasting promises by which she is guarded, the forts and bastions of omnipotence that preserve her from the assaults of her enemies! and then tell all this "to the generation following."

Psalms 48:14. For this God is our God forever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

But the Hebrew is better still: "He will be our guide even over death." We shall trample down death; or, as one puts it, we shall stand by the grave of death. What a glorious place for us to stand in when death itself is dead through the ever-living Christ, and the resurrection power that comes through his death! "He will be our guide even over death."

This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Kings 5, and Psalms 48, 95.

 

Chapter 49

 

Verses 1-20

 

The chief musician here bids us not to fear the ungodly. However high they may be placed, they are but dying men, and when they die their hope shall perish with them. He gives a very graphic description of the deathbed and of the perdition of ungodly men.

Psalms 49:1-2. Hear this, all you, you people; give ear, all you, you inhabitants of the world: both low and high, rich and poor, together.

Whenever God has a voice for men, it is meant for all sorts of men. No Scripture is of private interpretation. No warning is intended only for a few. Hear you, you this, then, all you, you people. Whether you, you be low, you, you are not too low to listen to his voice; or, whether you, you be high, you, you are not too high to be under his supremacy.

Psalms 49:3-4. My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

Mysteries are to be preached, but they are to be preached with an earnest endeavor on the preacher’s part to make them plain. If it be a dark saying, yet let it be open; and, if music will help, so let it be. Whatever there is to be taught, let it be plainly taught to the sons of men.

Psalms 49:5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?

We may read it: "The iniquity of my supplanters shall compass me about." There may some dark days when the wicked seed, whose delight it is to bite at the heel of the seed of God, will gather around us; and we think, perhaps, that they will be too many for us. But why should we fear them?

Who are they? They are great and mighty, perhaps, but if they are but an iniquity; — a corporated iniquity, — we need not to be afraid of them. Our righteous God is our defender.

Psalms 49:6-7. They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:

They may be rich as Croesus, but they cannot save a comrade from the grave. They may fee the physician, but they cannot bribe death. How little is the power of wealth, after all! The rich man cannot save even his babe that he loves so well. He certainly cannot save his fellow-sinner.

Psalms 49:8. (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceases forever:)

There is no redemption but one, and if a soul be unredeemed, the hope of it ceases forever.

Psalms 49:9. That he should still live forever, and not see corruption.

For the bodies of the great are fed upon by the worm as readily as the bodies of the paupers. They may embalm the body, if they will, to cheat the worm, or put it into a coffin of lead, but little can they do with it. It is a costly business after all, and is the exception to the rule. Even the wisest cannot live forever, so as not to see corruption.

Psalms 49:10. For he sees that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish and leave their wealth to others.

Whatever men may have gathered, the wisest cannot find an invention which will enable him to take his treasure with him. He must leave it behind. "Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither."

Psalms 49:11. Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue forever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.

Man is so fond of immortality that, while he foolishly rejects the reality of it he clings to the name of it; and he builds a house which he ties down by entail to his heirs, and his heirs’ heirs, "for ever," as he calls it. And then he calls the land by his own name, that it may never be forgotten that such a worm as he once crawled over that portion of the earth.

Psalms 49:12. Nevertheless man being in honor abides not:

He passes away. His grace, his lordship, his reverence, must lie in the grave. How ridiculous grand titles seem when once it is said, "Earth to earth; dust to dust; ashes to ashes." "Vain pomp and glory of the earth," indeed we may say, in the presence of the shroud and the mattock, and the grave and the worm. "Man being in honor abides not."

Psalms 49:12. He is like the beasts that perish.

Not like any one beast, but like any beast that perishes. He does but live, and, as far as this world is concerned, he is gone.

Psalms 49:13. This their way is their folly: yet their prosperity approve their sayings. Selah.

When men have lived only for this world, and die and pass away, without any future worth the having — without any hope of Heaven — yet still they report it in the papers that he died "worth" — so much, as if it were wonderful to have so much to leave. And they speak of the shrewd things he used to say — mostly very greedy things, and very grasping things; and though he was a fool, after all, for aiming at the "main chance," as he called it, while he missed the real main chance, namely, the salvation of his soul yet his posterity inherit his folly with his blood, and they approve his sayings.

Psalms 49:14. Like sheep they are laid in the grave;

They lead a worldly life, and die a worldly death-quiet, contented with this world, — no thought of the world to come.

Psalms 49:14. Death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;

That everlasting daybreak shall shed a light on many things; and then the master and the lord, who-- tyrannized over the poor and needy, shall find himself under the foot of those he trod upon. "The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning."

Psalms 49:14-15. And their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.

What a happy confidence! Blessed are those who, by a living faith in a living God, know that their soul shall be received into its Maker’s hands. But woe unto those whose confidence lies in the treasure they have accumulated and the acres they have purchased.

Psalms 49:16-17. Be not you, you afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; For when he dies he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.

They will not know him in the next world to be the squire, the peer, the prince. Death is a dreadful leveler. Envy not the great man of this world. "His glory shall not descend after him."

Psalms 49:18. Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise you, you, when you, you do well to yourself.

Not "when you, you do good," mark; for often when you, you do good, men will criticize and censure; -- and, the better the deaf, the more sure is it to provoke the contempt of many. But "men will praise you, you when you, you do well to yourself." A shrewd man, that! That is the kind of man, See how he prospers! A smart, pushing fellow! Oh, yes, he is the man for a friend." Whenever there is an aggravated selfishness that accumulates to itself like a rolling snow-ball, men are sure to praise. It is the irony of life.

Psalms 49:19. He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.

They are sleeping in the grave. So shall he, and beyond the grave there is nothing but darkness for him whose heart is set on this world.

Psalms 49:20. Man that is in honor, and understands not, is like the beasts that perish.

Understanding, and the fear of the Lord which is the beginning thereof, and not earthly honor, is our only support in the day of death.

 

Chapter 50

 

Verses 1-10

 

A Psalm of Asaph.

Whether this means that Asaph wrote it, or that it was committed to him to sing, we do not know. Certainly Asaph did write some Psalms. There are twelve ascribed to him in the book of Psalms. He wrote some, and it is equally certain that some ethers were dedicated to him. He had the leadership of the orchestra, who sang the Psalm in the temple. This is a very marvelous Psalm. If we only consider the poetry of it, it is one of the chief of the Psalms, but its matter is very deep — august. It should be read with great reverence of spirit. The Psalm begins with a prologue in which the scene is introduced. God is represented as coming forth out of Zion to judge those who profess to be his people — to discern between the precious and the vile — to separate between mere professors and pretenders. The first six verses represent God as coming.

Psalms 50:1. The mighty God, even the Lord, has spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.

The Hebrew has it, "El Elohim, Jehovah has spoken" — three names of God — great and mysterious — the strong God, the only God, the self-existent God. He speaks — calls upon the whole earth from the east to the west to listen to his voice.

Psalms 50:2. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined.

There he dwelt. Now in this scene he is represented as shining forth from it. As he had described the earth as being lighted by the sun from the east to the west, so now God himself, who at first speaks and demands a hearing, now shines forth with beams of glory which altogether eclipse the brightness of the sun. "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined."

Psalms 50:3. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.

The voice was heard saying that God would come, and then the beams of glory which warned men that he was coming; and here his people stand attentive, expecting him to come. "They expect him to speak." Fire and rushing wind are usually used in Scripture as attendants of the throne of God, fire representing justice in action, and the tempest representing his power when it is displayed. Think of God’s coming thus. The poet here pictures it, but it will be so in very deed. "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance upon you, you that know not God." He will even came after this manner, "for our God is a consuming fire."

Psalms 50:4. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

Do you, you catch the thought? There comes the great Judge with the fire burning before him. He rides upon a cherub — yes, rides upon the wings of the wind, and then he calls Heaven, with all the angels and glorified spirits,

and he calls to earth, with all its inhabitants, to stand and witness what he does while he judges his people.

Psalms 50:5. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

God has a separated and chosen people. It will be a part of the proceedings at the last great day to gather these together unto God. There will be a day when he will make up his jewels — a time when he will gather his wheat into his garner. But as this Psalm stands, this is a large gathering. It refers to a picture of all professing saints being brought before the throne of God — true saints that made a covenant with God by sacrifice. They see Jesus Christ, who ratifies the covenant of grace by blood, and they have laid their hands on Christ, and the covenant made between them and God. But there were others in the Psalmist’s day who had offered sacrifice and pretended to have made a covenant with God, and there are their representatives in these days. They are now to be gathered before the throne of judgment, for God has come to judge them.

Psalms 50:6. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

The very heavens, as they look down upon the august assize where God himself, not by deputy, but in the person of his dear Son, shall sit and judge — the heavens shall declare his righteousness. Now I doubt not the heavens often wonder how it is that God permits the ungodly to be mixed with the righteous in his Church. But ah! when the fan shall be in his hand, and he shall thoroughly purge his floor — when he shall lay justice to the line and righteousness to the plummet — the angels shall wonder at the exactness and accuracy of the divine judgment. "Selah.’ Pause, rest, consider, admire, adore, humble yourself, pray. It is good to have a pause when such a scene as this is before us. Now from the 5th verse down to the 15th verse you, you have God’s dealing with his people. The Judge is sitting on the throne. He begins to speak thus: —

Psalms 50:7. Hear, O my people, and I will speak: O Israel, and I will testify against you, you: I am God, even your God.

It is with his national people, the Jews; it is with his visible Church, God is now dealing. He himself has seen the ways of his professing people: he need not, therefore, call any witnesses. He who cannot err will testify against us; and he declares himself here not only as God, but under that name, "your God." It was thus the law began. "I am the Lord your God that brought you, you up out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage." It is thus the judgment and rebuke begin: "I am God, even your God."

Psalms 50:8. I will not reprove you, you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.

He is going to deal with weightier matters than that. Whether they have, or have not, offered abundant sacrifices, that is not the thing which God looks at. "I will not reprove you, you for your sacrifices. Nay, I have done with your sacrifices."

Psalms 50:9. I will take no bullock out of your house, nor he goats out of your folds.

"Do you, you think that these things in themselves are of any value to me. O you, you formalists? I will not even take them."

Psalms 50:10. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

Though men call them theirs, yet they are your God’s.

Verses 1-23

 

A Psalm of Asaph. It is mentioned, in the life of Hezekiah, that "the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer," so that very likely this Psalm was sung in the temple after it had been cleansed and reopened for worship. The first part of the Psalm contains a majestic prophecy of the Second Advent.

Psalms 50:1-3. The mighty God, even the Lord, has spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.

He came once under the old legal dispensation, and then "there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount; ... Sinai was altogether on a smoke because the Lord descended upon in it fire," and when Christ shall come, in the latter days, with equal splendor, there shall be fire and tempest to swell the pomp of his court.

Psalms 50:4. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

Heaven shall yield up the blessed who are already there, and earth shall give up those that are alive and remain until Christ’s coming, and so the whole company of the redeemed shall stand in the presence of their great Lord and Savior when Christ shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." This is the summons that is to ring out to the heavens above and the earth beneath: —

Psalms 50:5-6. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

Now the subject of the Psalm changes; but let not the doctrine of the Second Advent pass from our thoughts. Christ will surely come again, but are we all prepared to meet him? Shall we behold that glorious appearance with joy or with sorrow? When he reigns with his ancients gloriously, shall we share in the splendors of that reign? Lord, call us to yourself now; help us to suffer with you, you now; help us to bear reproach for you, you among men now, and then, though — "It does not yet appear how great we must be made," — yet we know that "When we see our Savior here, we shall be like our Head." Now the Lord addresses his own people: —

Psalms 50:7. Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against you, you: I am God, even your God.

Note then that, with all the faults which Christ can find in his people, he is still their God. All the sins of the saints cannot separate them from Christ. They may blot the indenture, but it is only a copy of the covenant made by Christ on their behalf; the real title-deeds are in Heaven, beyond all risk of loss. Sinner though you, you are, O child of Israel, yet God is your God still, and not all your imperfections, follies, and backslidings can ever rob you, you of your eternal interest in him.

Psalms 50:8-13. I will not reprove you, you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. I will take no bullock out of your house, nor he goats out of your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains; and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, you: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

The Lord puts a slur upon the Levitical sacrifices in comparison with evangelical offerings. He sets prayer and praise before the blood of bulls or the sacrifices of goats. Yet we are not to understand that God despises the gifts of his people. If you, you give to God as though he needed your help, he will have none of it but our gracious God is so condescending that, although he needs nothing, he permits his people to bring their thank-offerings, and to lay them at his feet. My God, will you, you accept a gift from me? Then I will not be slow to give it to you, you. Let every one of us feel in his heart that, though God needs nothing from us, yet we need the privilege of giving to him.

Psalms 50:14-15. Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay your vows unto the most High; and call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, you, and you, you shall glorify me.

See the three ways of praising God. One is by giving him your grateful thanksgiving. Banish your murmurings; sweep away your mistrusts; and let your mouth be filled with his praise all the day long. Then the next way of praising God is by paying your vows unto him; let your constant prayers and offerings to God prove the gratitude of your heart. And the last and sweetest way of praising God is to call upon him in the day of trouble. There are many of you, you who are in trouble at this moment, therefore call upon God. Perhaps you, you say, "That will benefit me, but how will it glorify him?" Why, God gets much honor out of hearts that dare to trust him. If you, you can cast your burden upon the Lord, you, you will as much honor him as angels do when, with veiled faces, they cry, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." We adore his wisdom, his faithfulness, his love, his grace, his truth, his power, when we believe that in the darkest night he can bring us sudden daylight, and that in the ebb-tide of our affairs he can bring the floods back again. Christian, honor your God by calling upon him. With all your difficulties, and doubts, and fears, call upon God, and he will deliver you, you, and you, you shall glorify him. Now comes another change: —

Psalms 50:16. But unto the wicked God says, What have you, you to do to declare my statutes, or that you, you should take my covenant in your mouth?

Unconverted preachers, unsaved Sabbath-school teachers, what answer can you, you give to this question of the Most High?

Psalms 50:17-20. Seeing you, you hate instruction, and cast my words behind you, you. When you, you saw a thief, then you, you consent with him, and has been a partaker with adulterers. You, you give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You, you sit and speak against your brother; you, you slander your own mother’s son.

Slander, you, you see, is put side by side with adultery and theft; and indeed, I do not know whether it is not the worst of the three. You, you might almost as well cut a man’s throat as slander his character. You, you had better steal his purse than steal his good name. "What shall be given unto you, you? or what shall be done unto you, you, you, you false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper." There are no coals hot enough to burn slanderous tongues; there are no punishments severe enough for those who slander their own mother’s son.

Psalms 50:21. These things have you, you done, and I kept silence;

A wonderful thing is that silence of God, that longsuffering with sinners and another wonderful thing is the impudent interpretation which the sinner gives to that silence.

Psalms 50:21. You, you thought that I was altogether such an one as yourself: but I will reprove you, you, and set them in order before your eyes.

"I will do what I have not yet done. If you, you think me in arrears, I will clear myself with you, you soon. I will ease me of mine adversaries." When God arises in judgment, he may make it to be a slow work, but he will make it to be a sure work.

Psalms 50:22-23. Now consider this, you, you that forget God, lest I tear you, you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. Whoever offers praise glorifies me: and to him that orders his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.

How blessed, then, is it to praise the Lord both with the lip and with the life!

Verses 14-23

 

In the first part of this Psalm God has solemnly expostulated with his people as to the utter worthlessness of sacrifice and ceremony apart from living faith in him, and holy life as its fruit; and he sums it all up in the searching question of the 13th verse, "Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Have you, you such a groveling opinion of me, your God, as to conceive that I am satisfied with these things?" See what contempt the Lord pours upon sacrifices — even those that were of his own ordaining — when men rested in them and made them their confidence and their end.

Psalms 50:14. Offer unto God thanksgiving:

This is what he wants — heart-work.

Psalms 50:14. And pay your vows unto the most High:

This is what he demands — obedience.

Psalms 50:15. And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, you, and you, you shall glorify me.

Thus you, you see God has spoken to his professing people — to those who were moral, decent, and observant of outward ritual. He now turns to some others — some others, perhaps, quite as outwardly religious, but their lives were immoral; their conduct was a breach of his law. At first he speaks of their neglect of the first table, which says, "You, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart," and shows that it is not bullocks and rams which can make amends for forgetfulness of God. Now he turns to the second table and shows that no amount of sacrifice can make up for breaches of the law of God as it touches our fellow men.

Psalms 50:16. But unto the wicked God says, What have you, you to do to declare my statutes, or that you, you should take my covenant in your mouth?

Your unholiness, even though you, you were of the tribe of Levi, would disqualify you, you from declaring my statutes. Your mouth full of slander, how should you, you dare to use it to speak of my covenant with it?

Psalms 50:17. Seeing you, you hate instruction, and cast my words behind you, you.

As if they were worthless things to be thrown away — as if they were obnoxious things to be thrown behind your back where you, you could not see them. "Do you, you talk about worshiping me, while you, you are neglecting my words?" Now it is a very solemn thing when a man boasts about the covenant, or about the doctrines of grace, or about outward ceremonies, and yet there are parts of God’s Word that he neglects — there are portions of God’s will that he dares not look in the face. If ever I meet a text that I am afraid of, I begin to be afraid off myself; and if I feel any tendency to take away from a text any of its swooping charges or its strong demands, I feel that surely I must have quarreled, with this text, because it has quarreled with me. How can we think we are offering to God acceptable sacrifice when any of his words are cast behind our backs?

Psalms 50:18. When you, you saw a thief, then you, you consent with him, and have been partaker with adulterers.

"When you, you saw a thief you, you consent with him," and some professors do this. If they do not themselves rob, there are some who will employ their clerks to tell lies in writing. They consent in the bad trade of others. They become accomplices, helping to make excuses for others.

"And have been partaker with adulterers." Can a man profess to be religious, and yet do this? Well, I have known such, and such will creep into the Church of God still — unclean, unchaste men, who nevertheless will come and sit as God’s people sit, and sing as God’s people sing. And, indeed, any one who listens to lascivious talk, or who smiles at an unchaste jest, is himself a partaker with adulterers more or less.

Psalms 50:19. You, you give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit.

How many do this, and yet think they are the children of God? They ruin other characters most remorselessly; they will spread false reports, if not actually invent them, and yet think themselves the people of God.

Psalms 50:20. You, you sit and speak against your brother; you, you slander your own mother’s son.

When a tongue has once learned the habit of calumny, it will spare none. The nearest relative and the dearest will become victims to the habit —first of gossip and afterwards of actual detraction and lying. Oh! the misery, the pain, that is caused in the world by this habit which is so rife! And can we imagine ourselves to be the people of God when we delight in repeating false stories about others? Have we forgotten the truth of that word, "All liars shall have their portion in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone"? As surely as God is true and loves truth, if we love lies, where God is we can never come. It matters not how much we may pretend to have reverence for God, and to have an experience of his truth; we are not of the truth, neither are we of God.

Psalms 50:21. These things have you, you done, and I kept silence;

God, in his long-suffering, bears with these sinners. "You, you thought that I was altogether such an one as yourself." These men came at last to say, "Pooh! the prophets make too much fuss about holiness. You, you can serve God, and yet, after all, live as we do. So long as we give God a tithe, it matters not how we get our property. If we offer him the bulls, he will be quite content." Ah! to what do men degrade their God! Some made him of old to be like unto a bullock that has horns and hoofs; but many men now-a-days think God to be like themselves, and that is worse.

Psalms 50:21. You, you thought that I was altogether such an one as yourself: but I will reprove you, you, and set them in order before your eyes.

"I will lay your sins out before you, you — parcel them out, ‘Item this’ — Item that.’ I will classify them: I will set them like a dreadful army in array before you, you. I will let you, you see that, though I had patience with you, you, I was neither blind nor deaf, but heard and saw all that you, you have done, and noted it all." Oh! what a vista this opens up for unholy professors — for ungodly members of Christian churches!

Psalms 50:22. Now consider this, you, you that forget God, lest I tear you, you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.

What solemn words! What dreadful words? God never plays at threatening; and his ministers, when they speak of wrath to come, are not to speak with velvet mouths and soft words, for "Oh! the wrath to come," as George Whitefield used to say with uplifted hands and streaming eyes, "The wrath to come! The wrath to come — how dreadful will it be:" God himself proves it. "Beware you, you that forget God, lest I tear you, you in pieces and there be none to deliver."

And then the Psalm finishes up with this kind word of gracious address which drops like raindrops out of the bosom of the tempest that went before:

Psalms 50:23. Whoever offers praise glorifies me:

More than he who offers bullocks.

Psalms 50:23. And to him that orders his conversation aright.

The man that strives in the sight of God to walk a holy life: this is the man to whom:

Psalms 50:23. Will I show the salvation of God.

If he wants saving, let him order his conversation as he may, he will owe all to sovereign grace. He will have no merit of his own; "but where I by grace," says the Lord, "lead a man to order his conversation aright there will I show more and more fully, and at last perfectly in him, the salvation of God."

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 50:14-23; Ezekiel 36:21-38.

 

Chapter 51

 

Verses 1-19

 

There are seven penitential Psalms, but this seems to be the chief one of the seven. The language of David is as suitable to us today as it was to him, and though much was lost to the cause of righteousness by David’s sin, yet the Church is enriched for all ages by the possession of such a Psalm as this. It is a marvelous recompense. Surely here the Lord reigns, bringing good out of evil, blessing generation after generation through that which in itself was a great evil.

Psalms 51:1. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving-kindness: according to the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

Observe he appeals to mercy, and mercy only — to mercy, abounding mercy in its tenderest and kindest aspect. "According to your tender mercies." Note here David does not use his name. He does not say, "Lord remember David": he is ashamed of his name. And he does not seem to want God to remember that, but to remember mercy: and to have pity upon this nameless sinner. He does not say, "Save the son of your handmaid," or "Deliver your servant," as he was accustomed to do; he just appeals to mercy, and that is all. And observe it is not "Have mercy upon me, oh! my God." He is far off now: he has lost the comfortable assurance of the covenant of grace, and so it is rather more like the cry of the prodigal when he returned and said, "I am not worthy to be called your son": have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving-kindness — according unto the multitude of your tender mercies blot out — (or as more correctly it might be rendered, "wash out" — "wipe out") — my transgressions. The allusion is rather to a dish — wipe it out, turn it upside down, and turn out all that is in it, sweep it away — wipe out all my transgressions. Or it may be as a withdrawal of a record in court when the indictment is withdrawn, "Lord be pleased to quash the indictment against me; blot out all my transgressions."

Psalms 51:2. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

Nothing about the punishment observe — he does not mention that. The true penitent, though he dreads punishment, much more dreads sin. It is sinfulness — sin that he would be delivered from. "Wash me." You, you must do it; no other washing will suffice. Wash me thoroughly, until I am perfectly cleansed: cleanse me from my sin — my sin. I do not lay it on anyone else; cleanse me from it.

Psalms 51:3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

Unless sin is before us, we shall not be likely to spread it before God; but when we have knowledge of it, then we shall make acknowledgment of it to God. "My sin is ever before me." He was in such a state of heart that the remembrance of sin seemed painted on his eyeballs. Even in his dreams he remembered it: he was never free from the dread remembrance of it.

Psalms 51:4. Against you, you only have I sinned.

Yet he had sinned against many more; but just now the thought of his sin against God swallowed up all else. All his offenses against his fellow men were trivial compared with the high treason which he had committed against his God. This is the virus of sin, that it is sin against God.

Psalms 51:4. And done this evil in your sight.

While you, you were looking on. For a thief to steal in the presence of the Judge is impudence indeed, but yet in your presence, O my God, I have done this evil.

Psalms 51:4. That you, you might be justified when you, you speak, and be clear when you, you judge.

As much as to say, "I make this confession of sin, which is so black, that if you, you should judge me, however severely, or sentence me to however exemplary a punishment, you, you will be quite clear and quite just. I could put in no plea against whatever you, you should command. I richly deserve all your wrath can bring upon me."

Psalms 51:5. Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin, did my mother conceive me.

The black stream leads him to look at the black fountain. How can we expect from parents who have sinned that there should be born unto them pure and spotless children. No! the tendencies in us all towards evil are there at the very first. He does not at all venture to excuse himself, but rather to aggravate his sin, that he had been a sinner from his very birth.

Psalms 51:6-7. Behold you, you desire truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part you, you shall make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:

He had seen the leper pronounced clean when the hyssop was dipped in blood and sprinkled on him; but then the leper had to be clean beforehand before this could make him ceremonially clean. He is leaping through the first process and coming to the closing one, his soul anxious to be accepted with God at once.

Psalms 51:7. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Yet what can be whiter than snow? Snow is not like a whited wall that is but white on the surface: it is white all through. And yet when God washes the believer, he makes him whiter than snow, for the snow soon becomes tainted, soon loses its purity; but we never shall if God shall wash us. There was no provision made for the cleansing of an adulterer under the law. David, therefore, had to look beyond all the sacrifices of the law to the cleansing power of the great coming sacrifice, and he so believed in it that with a brave faith — (I know no more brave expression in all Scripture than this) — he says, "Wash me, filthy as I am, and I shall be whiter than snow."

Psalms 51:8. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which you, you have broken may rejoice.

The original expression is "bones cracked," or, as one puts it, smashed. His sense of sin had been so great that he felt as one might feel whose very bones had been smashed by some terrible blow. So he seems to say that, as there may be a delightful pleasure in having every one of these broken bones restored, such would be his pleasure if God would pardon his sins.

Psalms 51:9. Hide your face from my sins,

If we set out sins before our own faces, then God will turn his face away from our sins. If we hide our sins from our faces, God will set them before his face, but when they are ever before us they shall be never before him.

Psalms 51:9-10. And blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God:

It is a creation: the very word is used which is employed concerning the creation in the first chapter of Genesis. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Psalms 51:11. Cast me not away from your presence: and take not your holy spirit from me.

I have put you, you away from my presence by forgetting you, you, but put me not away from your presence. I have been filled with an unholy spirit, but oh! take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Psalms 51:12. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation and uphold me.

He feels how much he needs it. The burnt child dreads the fire. "Uphold me with your free spirit."

Psalms 51:13. Then will I teach transgressors your ways: and sinners shall be converted unto you, you.

And David has been doing that ever since, for this Psalm has been a continual sermon to sinners, teaching them God’s ways in pardoning sin; and many, I doubt not, have been converted unto God by his Spirit through the language of this Psalm. When you, you and I find Christ, let us tell of our blessed finding. Have you, you honey? Eat it not all yourself: go, tell your fellow men. Are you, you saved? Tarry not, but go and spread the news that others may be saved too.

Psalms 51:14. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, you, you God of my salvation;

His faith is growing. He has humbled himself. It is the way to rise. Weaken yourself before God, and you, you shall grow strong. Empty yourself, and you, you shall be filled; bow low, and he will lift you, you up. "You, you God of my salvation."

Psalms 51:14. And my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

Those tongues that confess sins are the best tongues to sing with. That tongue which has been salted with the brine of penitence is fitted to be sweet with the honey of praise.

Psalms 51:15. O Lord, open you, you my lips; and my mouth shall show forth your praise.

You, you know the leper when he was unclean — what did he do? He covered his lips, as much as to confess that he was not fit to speak. So here the unclean David, with the covering over his lips, will not venture to speak until the Lord has taken away his sin, and opened his mouth for him. It was this that Isaiah meant when he said, "Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips"; but when it was said concerning the live coal, "Lo, this has touched your lips," then he spoke right eloquently. "Lord, open you, you my lips, and my mouth shall show forth your praise."

Psalms 51:16. For you, you desire not sacrifice; else would I give it: you, you delight not in burnt offering.

Here we have what God does desire, and what he does not. If you, you turn to the sixth verse, you, you will see what he does desire. "You, you desire truth in the inward parts." Now here he does not desire the mere outward and external worship rendered by sacrifice. It was not the type alone that satisfied him.

Psalms 51:17. The sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you, you will not despise.

There are some spices that are never perfect in fragrance until they are pounded with the pestle in the mortar, and so is a broken heart. If it be made to suffer and to smart, yet there is sweet pleasure to the Lord when he perceives in his people the smart concerning sin — when they hate and loathe it.

Psalms 51:18-19. Do good in your good pleasure unto Zion: build you, you the walls of Jerusalem. Then shall you, you be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon your altar.

Gratitude ascends when sin is forgiven, and when God appears to bless his church, then she blesses her God.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 51, Psalms 119:145-168.

 

Chapter 52

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 53

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 54

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 55

 

Verses 1-17

 

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David. It needed the chief musician to sing such a Psalm as this; it is so full of sorrow, and yet so full of confidence in God. It is a Psalm upon the stringed instruments, and it sings not of man only, but of that Son of man — that greatest of men, who was also greatest in grief as greatest in faith. Maschil: that is, "instructive," "full of teaching." The experience of one child of God is instructive to another, and especially the experience of the great First-born among many brethren. A Psalm of David — David, that many-sided man, who seemed not one, but "all mankind’s epitome." Who has not found his own experience when he has read the Psalms of David? It is a looking-glass — this Book of Psalms — which reflects us all. See how he begins.

Psalms 55:1. Give ear to my prayer, O God;

All the saints pray. There is no exception to this rule. And in their times of trouble they pray with greater vehemence than ever. They delight in prayer. But observe how eager they are that God should hear them. It is not praying for praying’s sake — for the use of good words only. "Give ear to my prayer, O God."

Psalms 55:1. And hide not yourself from my supplication.

When a man passes by his fellow in his distress, he is said to hide himself.

O God, do not pass me by, When you, you hear my plaintive voice, do not hurry on and leave me to my woes. Forget not, beloved, that our Lord Jesus Christ did suffer the hidings of God’s face. You, you and I may trust that in our hour of prayer we shall not have to do so. "My God, my God, why have you, you forsaken me?" But even if we should have to drink of that cup, better lips than ours have tasted its bitterness long ago.

Psalms 55:2. Attend unto me, and hear me:

That is three times he thus implores God to give him a hearing. It reminds me of that Gethsemane pleading of our Lord when thrice he prayed using the same words. Here David begins — makes his exordium in prayer with a threefold cry to God. "Give ear to me; hide not yourself from me; attend unto my prayer, and hear me."

Psalms 55:2. I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;

Sometimes prayer is scarcely articulate. "I make a noise." He was very free with God. He spoke out his heart as best his heart would speak, and he seemed to ramble. I believe that some of our sweetly-composed prayers have no prayer in them, and some of our broken petitions are those that reach the heart of God. "Groanings that cannot be uttered" are prayers that cannot be refused. There may be most strength in the passion of the soul when there is least order in the expression of the soul. "I mourn in my complaints, and make a noise."

Psalms 55:3. Because of the voice of the enemy,

He can speak, and speak clearly too. Malice is never short of language, "because of the voice of the enemy."

Psalms 55:3. Because of the oppression of the wicked:

The best men have often been the most oppressed of men. Men have often spoken worst of those who have deserved the best. David is in that plight, and so was our Lord. He, too, knew the voice of the enemy and the oppression of the wicked.

Psalms 55:3. For they cast iniquity upon me,

They bespatter me with their mire; they slander me. They speak evil of my good.

Psalms 55:3. And in wrath they hate me.

It is the old story. The seed of the serpent naturally hates the seed of the woman. Even our Lord had a bruised heel. Know you, you not that Ishmael persecutes Isaac, the child of the promise? All down history there runs this line — the mark of blood and suffering. It must be so, "for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me."

Psalms 55:4. My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.

I suppose that David may have written this after he had been driven out of Jerusalem by the party under the leadership of his son Absalom and Ahithophel. When it is all over he sings his song of dolor, and yet of confidence before his God. You, you know that our Lord Jesus Christ could use this language with very great emphasis. "My heart is sore pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me" — as if mid-night came down upon his soul — came down from God. "Are fallen upon me." Descended therefore; and those are the heaviest of griefs which seem to come down just when we expected that showers of mercy would come down. Our Savior knew what this meant.

Psalms 55:5-6. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.

If he could not have the wings of an eagle to fight out the conflict, he begged for the wings of a dove to fly from it. But what would you, you and I be if we had wings? Where could we go if we had wings, but, like the dove of Noah, fly to the Lord? And we can get there without wings, brethren. We can get there by faith in him. It is a vain wish, then, and yet how many have sighed: — "Oh! for a lodge in some vast wilderness, Some boundless contiguity of shade, Where rumor of oppression and deceit might never reach me more." Ah! we sigh for solitude, and when we get solitude we sigh to get out of it.

Psalms 55:7. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.

Why, David had been in the wilderness, and then he sighed to get back to the temple of God; but such foolish creatures are we at our very wisest that we know not what we sigh for. It was good for David that he had not wings, and it is good for you, you that you, you cannot run away. God has made you, you no armor for your back because you, you must go forward. Long ago he burnt our boats. We cannot return. We must "forward" now to the eternal victories in his strength.

Psalms 55:8. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.

But he who would fly away from slander must fly very fast. How can we escape it? That cruel tongue, that wicked tongue walks through the earth and smites with its sword the best of God’s people. Now, like a soldier, David prays as his Master would never pray.

Psalms 55:9. Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

That was not a bad prayer, for God heard it. He did divide their tongues. The counsels of the wicked were put to naught, and so they made a mistake, and David escaped through their divisions. I see not how a king driven from his throne and hunted by rebels, can pray differently from this.

If he be a warrior and fights at all, he must wish for victory. Yet let me remind you, you that these verses need not be read in the imperative, neither may they necessarily be understood to be prayers. They can be read as prophecies. "God will destroy and divide the tongues of the wicked." The divisions of error are the hope of truth. God divides the tongues of those who use their tongues against his Word, and so his truth conquers.

Psalms 55:10. Day and night they go about upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.

Remember, Jerusalem was in the hands of a band of wicked men.

Everywhere sin prevailed when David had left it.

Psalms 55:11-12. Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and deceit depart not from her streets. For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he who hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:

Here you, you get to the center of David’s grief. Ahithophel had betrayed him, and here you, you begin to see the portrait of Christ coming out on the canvas.

David seems to be painted first, and then there is painted an image of our Lord, which is seen here and there. "It was not an enemy; then I could have borne it."

Psalms 55:13. But it was you, you,

In the original it runs thus: "But you, you." The ardor of poetry is upon the Psalmist. He sees him: "You, you." And he looks at him with indignation: "You, you."

Psalms 55:13-14. A man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.

It is Ahithophel; it is Judas Iscariot; it is either; it is both. Oh! what a grief it is to be betrayed by one whom we have trusted, one whom we treated as our equal, one whom we followed as a trusted guide, one to whom we told our secret and linked our heart. "Mine acquaintance." One whose friendship was sanctified by the sanctions of religion. "We took sweet counsel together, and walked to the house of God in company." Have any of you, you had to suffer from this serpent’s tongue? Be not surprised. Your Master endured it before you, you. And now David bursts out in words of prayer, "Let death seize upon them. Let them go down quick into Hell."

Psalms 55:15. Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into Hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.

And this prayer also was heard, for Ahithephel was hanged with a rope,

and Absalom without one; and their followers perished by thousands in the wood of Ephraim; and so God swept away the good man’s slanderers.

Psalms 55:16. As for me,

What would I do? Plot against their plots, and set cunning against their cunning? No, not I.

Psalms 55:16-17. I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.

He would pray often, but not too often. Where time sets her boundaries there are we to set up our altars: evening and morning, and at noon. It seems natural that our undertakings should be begun, continued, and ended in God, and that each day. Oh! pray much when your enemies plot much. If, morning, noon, and evening, they are seeking your ill, then just as often seek you, you good from God. How beautifully he puts it. "He shall hear my voice." He does not pray at a perhaps. He is certain that prayer will come up to God. Yes, more than that, he anticipates a blessing; he foresees, nay, he sees the blessing.

 

Chapter 56

 

Verses 1-13

 

To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam (a golden Psalm) of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.

Psalms 56:1-2. Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up: he fighting daily oppresses me. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O you, you most High.

David was in such peril from man that he cried to God to come to our rescue. Man was merciless to him, so he prayed, "Be merciful unto me, O God." His enemies were many and mighty, so he appealed to the One who was almighty; who could destroy them, or put them all to flight.

Psalms 56:3. What time I am afraid, I will trust in you, you.

He is a happy man who can trust in God when he is afraid, but he is still happier who can say, "I will trust, and not be afraid."

Psalms 56:4. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

The trusting soul is a singing soul, and it soon becomes a courageous soul. Faith in God drives out the fear of man: "In God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me."

Psalms 56:5-6. Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps when they wait for my soul.

David had many enemies, Saul, Doeg the Edomite, the Philistines, and some even in his own household, but all their malice and craft were in vain since the Lord was on his side. We too have enemies who wrest our words, whose thoughts against us are evil, who lay traps for us, and lie in ambush to take us unawares; but we need not fear any of them, not even the great adversary himself, if we are trusting in the Lord.

Psalms 56:7. Shall they escape by iniquity? in your anger cast down the people, O God.?

They sought to cast him down, so he prayed to the Lord to cast them down, and we know how graciously the Lord answered his supplication.

Psalms 56:8. You, you tell my wanderings: put you, you my tears into your bottle: are they not in your book?

David was such a wanderer at that time that he might not remember all the places where he had hidden away from Saul, but God had a record of them, and even of his tears: "are they not in your book?" There is nothing that concerns the Lord’s chosen people that is not noted and remembered by him.

Psalms 56:9. When I cry unto you, you, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.

David’s confidence in God was not misplaced, he who can truthfully say, "God is for me," need not fear however many may be against him.

Psalms 56:10-11. In God will I praise his word: in the Lord will I praise his word.

In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. He repeats the declarations he made in verse 4; such holy confidence may rightly be published again and again. It is most pleasing and honoring to the Lord, and it is most likely to lead other tried believers to follow such a worthy example. The praising and trusting man fears not what man can do unto him.

Psalms 56:12. Your vows are upon me, O God I will render praises unto you, you.

David had not forgotten the vows that he had made unto the Lord. Vows should not be lightly made; but, once made, they should be sacredly remembered, and faithfully performed.

Psalms 56:13. For you, you have delivered my soul from death: will not you, you deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

So the Psalm ends, as it began, with prayer, a prayer that was most graciously answered, as we can see if we turn to Psalms 116:8-9 : "You, you have delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living."

Chapter 57

 

Verses 1-6

 

1. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusts in you, you: yes, in the shadow of your wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

The heading of this Psalm — "To the chief musician, Aitaschith Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave," — tells us when it was written. It is one of David’s " golden Psalms." What a mixture of feebleness and strength there is in this first verse, — the feebleness so beautified by being clothed with the strength of faith! What a turning away from man, and what a turning wholly unto the Lord! And, in coming to the Lord, what humility, and what pleading for mercy, and for mercy only! "Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me." Yet what holy boldness also! " For my soul trusts in you, you." And what joyous confidence and what sweet repose in God! "Yes, in the shadow of your wings, will I make my refuge." "If I cannot see the brightness of your face, the shadow of your wings shall be enough for me. Only let me get near you, you, — only permit me humbly to trust you, you, and it shall be enough for me, ‘unto these calamities be overpass.’"

2. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performs all things for me.

Do you, you pray like that, my brother, my sister? I hope you, you do "cry unto God most high;" but do you, you pray to him as the One "that performs all things" for you, you; — not merely who can perform all things for you, you, but who is actually doing it at the present moment, — working out your lasting good by everything that is transpiring around you, you?

3. He shall send from Heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah.

If all the forces on earth are not sufficient to save his saint, God will send sufficient reserves from the ranks of the heavenly host to preserve his people; or if he does not determine to preserve them on earth, he will take them away from the earth, to be with him in glory; but, in one way, or another, they shall be eternally secure.

Mark what the psalmist says of the voracity of his enemy: he speaks of Saul as "him that would swallow me up;" and the believer in Jesus is, at times, such an object of the unbeliever’s detestation that he would annihilate him if he could; but God will sooner send help from Heaven for his people than that ouch a calamity should ever happen.

3, 4. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. My soul is among lions:

What peril David was in, and what dangers often surround the best of the men, — if not from arrows, and swords, and spears, from the hellish artillery of unbridled tongues! A human tongue is soft, but it can cut to the very quick; and the wounds from a cruel tongue are not easily healed. Many a man will bear, as long as he lives, the scars that were made by a slanderous tongue. God can save us, however, even from this great trial, and enable us actually to rejoice in this sharp affliction. It is no strange thing that has happened unto us, for so evil men persecuted the prophets that were before us, as they said all manner of evil against them falsely. God himself was slandered by the old serpent in the garden of Eden, so it is not surprising that his children should be still slandered by the serpent’s seed.

4. And I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be you, you exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be above all the earth.

A grand burst of praise, and all the grander because of the condition of the man from whom it came. "My soul is among lions," says he; "but, ‘be you, you exalted, O God;’" as if he would say, "It does not matter what becomes of me, I shall be content even in this den of lions, so long as you, you are exalted above the heavens, and your glory above all the earth."

6. They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have dug a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.

He knew that it would be so, and he looked upon it as already accomplished; their nets and pits would only injure themselves. Now look at the next verse in the light of the prayer David had been praying. See what a marvelous act of faith, and what a grand result of unwavering confidence in God it is, for a man to be able to sing as David does even when his soul is among lions, and fierce and powerful enemies are all round him, seeking his hurt.

Verses 1-11

 

To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtaim of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.

This is one of the "Destroy not" Psalms; for that is the meaning of the title, Altaschith, which is used here, and in Psalms 58, 59, and 75. Michtam of David. David’s golden Psalm, "when he fled from Saul in the cave." In this Psalm we see the calmness of David’s heart when he was in great peril. He was a man of peace; and to be hunted cruelly, as he was by Saul, greatly pained him. Yet, with all the sensitiveness of his nature, he did not fall into unbelief; for his sensitiveness was balanced by his confidence in his God. You, you will see how, greatly as he was afflicted, he was greatly strengthened.

Psalms 57:1. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me:

He pleads twice; for his was an urgent case. He would have the Lord help him at once; for, perhaps, if the Lord’s mercy came not to him at once, it would be too late; so he cried, "Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me."

Psalms 57:1. For my soul trusts in you, you:

This is the feather on the arrow of prayer that guides it straight to the heart of God. This is the condition attached to the promise, "According to your faith be it unto you, you." If you, you can truly plead that your soul is trusting in God, you, you may be assured that he will not deny you, you his mercy.

Psalms 57:1. Yes, in the shadow of your wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

What a sweet realization there is here of the power of God to protect him! Just as the little chick hides beneath the mother’s wing, and knows no fear, so says David, "in the shadow of your wings will I make my refuge." There was no refuge to be seen; but David does not ask to see; an unseen God is all that faith wants. If it be only a shadow, yet the shadow of Jehovah’s wings is substantial enough for our confidence: "In the shadow of your wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast." They will be overpast; the worst calamity will not last forever. We shall think differently of these rough times by-and-by; we ought not to give up in despair, and cast away our confidence while we are in the thick of the fight.

Until the calamities are overpast, it should be our joy to run under God’s protecting wings, and hide ourselves securely there.

Psalms 57:2. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performs all things for me.

Faith is never dumb; true faith is a crying faith. If you, you have a confidence in God of such a kind that you, you do not need to pray, get rid of it; for it is of no use to you, you; it is a false confidence, it is presumption. Only a crying faith will be a prevailing faith. "I will cry unto God most high:" the very height and sublimity of God is an attraction to faith; for though he is so high, he can and will stoop. Though God is so high, he can lift me up above the storm; for he is above it himself, and he can set me above it, too. "I will cry unto God most high;" and David sweetly adds, "unto God that performs for me." The translators have inserted the words, "all things", and very properly, too; but David leaves, as it were, a gap, so that we may fill in anything that we please. Thus do we- "Sing the sweet promise of his grace, And the performing God." He is not one who gives us promises, and then puts us off without the thing promised; but he fulfills the promises he has made, he is the Faithful Promiser: "God that performs for me."

Psalms 57:3. He shall send from Heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up.

If he cannot find any means upon earth for saving David, he will send from Heaven to do it; but he will save him. God is sure to find an ark for his Noahs if the floods should cover the whole earth; and when they cannot be preserved any longer on the earth, he will catch them away to himself in Heaven; but he will surely take care of his own: "He shall send from Heaven, and save me." If there were only one of his people in danger, he would rend the heavens in order to save him: "He shall send from Heaven and save me," not only from the danger to my life, but from danger to my character: "from the reproach of him that would swallow me up." Often, the enemies of the righteous are so fierce and cruel that they would, like some huge python, swallow up the godly man, devour him, make an end of him, make one meal of him, if they could; but God will not allow them to do so. He will send from Heaven, and deliver us from the reproach of them that would swallow us up.

Psalms 57:3. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.

The Psalmist had only prayed for mercy; twice he had said, "Be merciful unto me." But God always answers us more largely than we ask in our prayers; he does exceeding abundantly above what we ask or even think. So his truth comes with his mercy, as a double guard to protect his people: "God shall send forth his mercy and his truth."

Psalms 57:4. My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.

Yet, notice that David says, "I lie" there, that is the emphatic word; and the force of that word conveys this idea, "I recline there; I feel at ease, notwithstanding the danger of my position; I recline, and rest, even among them that are set on fire." Oh, the calm confidence of the faith that forgets the adversary when once she has hidden herself under the shadow of Jehovah’s wings! The description given of ungodly persecutors is very strong: "whose teeth are spears and arrows." Their mouth seems to contain a deadly armory; they have no molars to grind their food, they are all canine teeth, cruel, cutting. You, you must know some such critical spirits, that seem to be all teeth, and whose every tooth is a spear or an arrow. But their tongue is worse than their teeth, for it is not only a sword, but "a sharp sword", a sharpened sword. Oh, how tongues will cut and wound!

You, you may heal the cut of a sword; but who shall heal the cut of a deadly, cruel, malicious, slanderous tongue? Yet for all that, David was not dismayed, but he said, "I lie down among such men, my soul is among lions." Like Daniel among the lions, so does this man of God take his night’s rest, as calmly as though he were sleeping in his own bed at home.

Psalms 57:5. Be you, you exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be above all the earth.

David so rises above his present circumstances that he begins to praise his God. O beloved, there is no condition in which God ought to be robbed of a song! What if I am sick? Yet my Lord must have my music, even if the harp-strings are not well tuned. What if I am poor? Yet why should I be poor towards him, and deny him my need of praise? What if I am busy? Yet I must still find time for praising him. How sweetly David seeks to exalt and glorify his God, "Be you, you exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be above all the earth."

Psalms 57:6. They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have dug a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves.

They hunted him as they spread a snare for a bird, or as they sought to entrap a wild beast by digging a pit, and covering it over that he might stumble into it. David scarcely has time to tell us of their devices before he discovers that their plans have come to nothing: "they have dug a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves." You, you may go calmly on, my persecuted friend, for those who seek to do the righteous hurt, will only hurt themselves; their bows shall be broken, their arrows shall fall back into their own bosoms. Only be you, you still, and let the wicked alone; let God fight for you, you, and do you, you hold your peace.

Psalms 57:7. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.

That is enough for me, I will not stop my singing for all my adversaries. Let them howl like lions, I will sing on. Let them dig their pits, I will sing on. I find this my best employment, to keep on praising my God.

"All that remains for me, Is but to love and sing,

And wait until the angels come, To bear me to the King."

Psalms 57:8. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. My tongue, the glory of my frame, be not you, you silent! Bestir yourself!

"I myself will awake early," or, "I will awake the dawning." I will call the sun up to be shining; I will bid him wake to shine to the honor of my Lord. With the earliest birds I will make one more singer in the great concert-hall of God. I will not want more rest, or a longer time to myself to consider all my troubles, I will give my best time, the first hour of the day, to the praise of my God.

Psalms 57:9. I will praise you, you, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto you, you among the nations.

I will make the Gentiles hear it. They that know not the Lord shall be astonished when they hear me praising him, and they shall ask, "Who is this God of whom this man makes so much?"

Psalms 57:10-11. For your mercy is great unto the heavens, and your truth unto the clouds. Be you, you exulted, O God, above the heavens: let your glory be above all the earth.

God give us that same calm praiseful frame of mind that David possessed if we are called to endure such trials as fell to his lot!

Verses 7-11

 

Let me say, before we begin our reading, that the 108th Psalm is made up partly of the 60th and partly of the 57th; yet we are sure that the Holy Spirit is not short of language, so that he needs to repeat himself. It is always a pity to think that any portion of Scripture can be tautology. It cannot be; there is some good reason for every repetition; and you, you will see that, in the two Psalms, which we are about to read, the latter part of the 57th coincides with the first part of the 108th; and that, in the 57th Psalm, we have prayer and praise, and, in the 108th, we have praise and prayer. It is well that we should see how these two holy exercises can change places, — so that, sometimes, we begin with prayer, and pray ourselves up into praise, and, at other times, we begin with praise, and find in it the strength we need to aid us in prayer.

Psalms 57:7. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.

Let the lions open their cruel mouths, and roar, and let wicked men, "whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword, do their worst against me; let my every footstep be among the nets and pits that they have set and dug to catch me; even in the midst of danger, ‘my heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I still sing and give praise.’"

Psalms 57:8. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.

"I will awake the dawn," — so the Hebrew has it; — "I will wake up the morning and chide it for being so long in opening its eyes to look upon God’s works. David did this, notwithstanding all the trials of his surrounding circumstances. He calls on his "glory" — perhaps he means his tongue, — possibly, his poetic faculty, — perhaps, his musical skill, — it may be that he means his intellect, — whatever his "glory" is, he calls upon his highest powers to awake to praise his God. Then he takes his psaltery and harp, — strange companions for a man whose soul is among lions but saints know how to evoke sweetest music even when their enemies are fighting fiercely against them; — and he sings, —

Psalms 57:9-11. I will praise you, you, O lord, among the people: I will sing unto the among the nations. For your mercy is great unto the heavens, and your truth unto the clouds. Be you, you exalted, O God, above the heavens: let your glory be above all the earth.

Have not some of you, you found God’s mercy to be "great unto the heavens"? It even seemed to reach above the heavens; and as for God’s truth, you, you followed it until you, you could follow it no further, for it had ascended above the clouds. We could scarcely, I think, ever expect to understand here all the truth which God has pleased to let us hear or read. It reaches "unto the clouds," and there we must leave it for the present. When God ceases to reveal anything, we may cease to inquire concerning it. I saw, in Florence, a picture of "The Sleeping Savior." He is represented as sleeping in the manger at Bethlehem, and the artist depicts the angels hovering round him, with their fingers on their lips as though they would not wake him from his holy slumbers. So, when God bids truth sleep, do not try to wake it. There is enough revealed for you, you to know, and more that you, you will know by-and-by, so, pry not between the folded leaves; but wait your Lord’s appointed time to teach you, you more of his will.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 57:7-11; Psalms 108,

 

Chapter 58

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 59

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 60

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 61

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 62

 

Verses 1-12

 

In this Psalm the royal singer casts himself entirely on God. Here we see the foundation of his expectation laid bare. He has no confidence anywhere but in God. The Psalm begins in the original with the word "Only." I always call it "The ‘only’ Psalm" because it harps upon that word. David had no mixed reliance; he had not built upon a foundation partly of iron and partly of clay; it was all in harmony throughout; his trust was in the Lord alone.

Psalms 62:1. Truly-

Or, as it is in the margin, "Only" —

Psalms 62:1. My soul waits upon God: from him comes my salvation.

It is a blessed thing to wait truly and only upon God. You, you have proved everything else to be a failure, and now you, you hang upon the bare arm of God alone. There is certainly enough for you, you to depend upon there. Most people want something to see, something tangible to the senses, to be the object of their confidence; but David says, "Only my soul waits upon God: from him comes my salvation." It is already on the road; it is coming now; it is a salvation from present trouble and from present temptation. A complete salvation is on the road for all those whose souls are waiting only upon God.

Psalms 62:2. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

"Though I have no other shelter, yet," says he, "God, but God alone, is my rock fortress. Though I have no other deliverer he is my salvation, and though thousands seek to do me hurt, and none will stand up for me, yet he is my shield and my defense." Then he adds, "I shall not be greatly moved.’ I shall be like a well-anchored ship; I may suffer some tossing, but I cannot drift far away, my grace holds me fast."

Psalms 62:3. How long will you, you imagine mischief against a man? you, you shall be slain all of you, you: as a bowing wall shall you, you be, and as a tottering fence.

See how he laughs at his enemies. He tells them they are like a wall that came over, bulges out, and shakes and totters, with a push, it will go over. "You, you think that you, you will destroy me," says he, "but you, you will yourselves be destroyed."

Psalms 62:4. They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.

It is a sure proof that they delight in lies because they are guilty of telling them. They can speak soft oily words all the while that they are harboring curses in their hearts. God save us from having a tongue that talks in a different way from that in which our heart feels! But those that delight in lies are never better pleased than when they can find a man of God upon whom they can spit their venom; and of all cruel things slander is the worst, and it deserves the worst punishment. Well did the psalmist ask, "What shall be given unto you, you? or what shall be done unto you, you, you, you false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper." Such punishment as that a slanderer’s tongue well deserves to feel.

Psalms 62:5. My soul, wait you, you only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

First he said that his salvation came from the Lord, and now he says that his exultation comes from him. All that he needs, and all that he wishes for, he gets from his God. "Let my foes slander me," he seems to say, "but, O my soul, do you, you wait upon God! Let their tongues keep on inventing their diabolical falsehoods; but, O my soul, take you, you no notice of them! Sit you, you down at Jehovah’s feet, and patiently wait then he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday.’"

Psalms 62:6. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved.

Notice how David’s faith grows. In verse 2, he says, "I shall not be greatly moved;" but now he says, "I shall not be moved at all." What strength faith gives to a man, and what strength prayer gives to a man! We may begin our supplication tremblingly, but as we draw near to God we become confident in him, and filled with holy boldness.

Psalms 62:7-8. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times;-

I cannot tell what "times" you, you may be passing through just now, yet I can repeat David’s exhortation, "Trust in him at all times." In your darkest hours, in the most terrible times that you, you ever have, when all seems lost, when the dearest object of your heart’s love is taken from you, you, or when you, you yourself are coming to the swellings of Jordan, still trust in the Lord: "Trust in him at all times;" —

Psalms 62:8. You, you people, pour out your heart before him:-

That is the way to get rid of all your troubles; take your heart, and turn it upside down, and pour out all that is in it. Do not save a drop or a drag: try not to hide one secret sorrow from your God, nor one slight grief that nestles in a corner of your spirit. "Pour out your heart before him." It will not be wise for you, you to pour it out before your fellows, for they will misunderstand you, you and misrepresent you, you; but "pour out your heart before him:" —

Psalms 62:8-9. God is a refuge for us. Selah. Surely men of low degree are vanity,

There is nothing in them; they are only the very essence of vanity.

Psalms 62:9. And men of high degree-

They must surely be better. No, they are even worse: "Men of high degree" —

Psalms 62:9. Are a lie:

Their presence of being better because they are of high degree is mere presence. Well but, if we mix them up, and get some poor men and some rich ones, some peasants and some peers, can we not make something solid out of this mixture? Oh, no!

Psalms 62:9. To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.

The men of low degree alone were vanity, but when the men of high degree were put with them, they became lighter than vanity; so that there seems to be a propensity in the men of high degree to make those that are of low degree even lighter than they are by nature; and whether men are high or low, if we trust in them, we shall be deceived. He who tries to base his happiness upon the good opinion of his neighbors, he whose happiness depends upon human esteem, builds not on sand, but on mere breath, which is no more solid than the bubble that our children blow.

Psalms 62:10. Trust not in oppression,-

An ungodly man says, "Well, if I cannot trust in others, I will trust in myself; my own stout arm shall win me the victory, and I will tread others down beneath my feet." "I will get money," says another; "somehow or other, I will get money." To both of these, David says, "Trust not in oppression," —

Psalms 62:10. And become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.

If you, you do, they will either fly away from your heart, or else they will fly away with your heart, which would be the greater evil of the two, for, when riches carry a man’s heart away from God, his greatest gains are his heaviest losses. He is poor indeed who prizes his gold more than his God.

Psalms 62:11. God has spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongs unto God.

Where ought we to put our confidence? Why, where true power is. If there were any power elsewhere, we might put a measure of confidence elsewhere; but when twice the heavenly message declares that power belongs to God, our wisdom will be shown in putting our trust in God.

Psalms 62:12. Also unto you, you, O Lord, belongs mercy:-

Almighty power would be terrible if it were separated from infinite mercy; but it is not so.

Psalms 62:12. For you, you render to every man according to his work.

You, you give him enough strength with which to do his work. You, you do not send him to do a work beyond his power, and leave him to fail; but unto all your children your mercy brings your power to help in every time of need. Your faithful promise is, "As your days, so shall your strength be." Come, my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us be of the same mind as David was when he wrote the first verse of this Psalm, and let each one of us say, "Truly my soul waits upon God: from him comes my salvation."

 

Chapter 63

 

Verses 1-11

 

I will read the 63rd Psalm first, as somewhat representing the state of heart into which I would we could all come tonight.

Psalms 63:1. O God, you, you are my God; —

Read that sentence how you, you will, it is unspeakably precious. If we say "O God, you, you are my God," it brings out the possession which the believer has in God. If we say "O God, you, you are my God," it shows the greatness of the possession which we thus have in having this God to be our God forever and ever. And if we say "O God, you, you are my God, it leads us to think of God and not of his gifts as our chief good.

Psalms 63:1-2. Early will I seek you, you: my soul thirsts for you, you, my flesh longs for you, you in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see your power and your glory, so as I have seen you, you in the sanctuary.

Long after the old times over again — for those times of Heaven upon earth — those special seasons when the Lord made the veil between us and Heaven to be very thin indeed, and allowed us almost to see his face. "To see your power and your glory, so as I have seen you, you in the sanctuary." Well, then, let us go to the sanctuary again, or make the place where we are a sanctuary. Even the stony pillar may mark the site of Bethel, and every spot may be hallowed ground.

Psalms 63:3-5. Because your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you, you. Thus will I bless you, you while I live: I will lift up my hands in your name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise you, you with joyful lips: Satisfaction, absolute satisfaction; satiety of every desire, full to the brim to the running over only because God’s is our God; we want nothing beyond that to make our mouth praise with joyful lips.

Psalms 63:6-7. When I remember you, you upon my bed, and meditate on you, you in the night watches. Because you, you have been my help, therefore in the shadow of your wings will I rejoice.

If I cannot see your face the shadow of your wing shall be enough for me, for that shall shelter me from all harm and I will, yes I will rejoice. Under the wings we are near the heart of God, and he who know God’s heart of love must needs be glad.

Psalms 63:8-10. My soul follows hard after you, you: your right hand upholds me. But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foes.

All our sins, and all other things or beings that are the enemies of our soul, Christ has overcome, and he will leave them upon the field.

Psalms 63:11. But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that swears by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

Now a short passage in the New Testament, about Mary, the sister of Martha.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 63.; Luke 10:38-42; and John 12:1-8.

 

Chapter 64

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 65

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 66

 

Verses 1-15

 

Psalms 66:1. Make a joyful noise unto God, all you, you lands:

Let not Israel alone do it. Take up the strain, you, you nations. He is the God of all the nations of the earth. "Make a joyful noise unto God, all you, you lands."

Psalms 66:2-4. Sing forth the honor of his name: make his praise glorious. Say unto God, How terrible are you, you in your works! through the greatness of your power shall your enemies submit themselves unto you, you. All the earth shall worship you, you, and shall sing unto you, you; they shall sing to your name. Selah.

I still must always cling to the belief that this whole world is to be converted to God, and to lie captive at the feet of Christ in glorious liberty. Do not fall into that lethargic, apathetic belief of some that this is never to be accomplished — that the battle is not to be fought out on the present lines, but that there is to be a defeat, and then Christ is to come. Nay, foot to foot with the old enemy will he stand, until he has worsted him, and until the nations of the earth shall worship and bow before him.

Psalms 66:5-6. Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him.

Where God is most terrible to his enemies, he is most gracious to his friends. As Pharaoh and his hosts went down beneath the terrible hand of God, the children of Israel lifted up their loudest hallelujahs, and sang unto the Lord, who triumphed gloriously. And so shall it be to the end of the chapter. God will lay bare his terrible arm against his adversaries but his children shall meanwhile make music. "There did we rejoice in him."

Psalms 66:7-9. He rules by his power forever: his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah. O bless our God you, you people and make the voice of his praise to be heard. Which holds our soul in life and suffers not our feet to be moved.

Loudest among the singers should God’s people be. If others can restrain their praise, yet let the love of Christ so constrain us that we must give it a tongue, and tell forth the majesty of our God. It is he alone who keeps us from perdition — which holds our soul in life. It is he alone who keeps us from falling foully, ay, and falling finally, "and suffers not our feet to be moved."

Psalms 66:10. For you, you, O God, have proved us:

All God’s people can say this. It is the heritage of the elect of God. "You, you has proved us."

Psalms 66:10-11. You, you have tried us, as silver is tried. You, you brought us into the net.

Entangled, surrounded, captive, held fast. Many of God’s people are in this condition.

Psalms 66:11. You, you laid affliction upon our loins.

It was no affliction of hand or foot, but it laid upon our loins — a heavy, crushing burden.

Psalms 66:12. You, you have caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water:

It was the full ordeal. One was not enough. Fire destroys some, but water is the test for others, but God’s people must be tried both ways. "We went through fire and through water; but" — . Blessed "but."

Psalms 66:12. But you, you brought us out into a wealthy place.

Out of the fire and out of the water they came, because God brought them, and when he brought them, it was not to a stinted, barren heritage, but into a wealthy place. Oh! beloved, when we think of where the covenant of grace has placed every believer, it is a wealthy place, indeed.

Psalms 66:13-15. I will go into your house with burnt offerings: I will pay you, you my vows Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth have spoken, when I was in trouble I will offer unto you, you burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah.

The best, I think. "The best of the best will I bring you, you, O my God. I will bring you, you my heart; I will bring you, you my tongue; I will bring you, you my entire being.

Verses 1-20

 

Psalms 66:1-2. Make a joyful noise unto God all you, you lands: sing forth the honor of his name: make his praise glorious.

In a company of advanced saints, silence may be sometimes profitable. The first verse of the previous Psalm should read, according to the Hebrew, "Praise is silent for you, you, O God, in Zion." Full-grown saints may have their times of waiting in silence before the Lord, but when the heathen are to be brought in, and when new hearts are to be taught new songs, then there must be a noise, and not merely a noise, but a noise that is full of joy: "Make a joyful noise unto God, all you, you lands." This should be the chief point about it, that it should be a joyful noise. Many of the newly invented tunes, which have put the good old tunes out of favor, appear to have been made to rattle through the hymn as quickly as possible, as though the composer had written, "Let us praise God at express speed and get it done; and the quicker, the better." But I prefer those tunes in which we can sometimes repeat the words, and roll them under the tongue until our heart gets thoroughly saturated with the spirit of them. "Make a joyful noise unto God, all you, you lands;" but let that joyful noise be orderly, not like the shouts of those who cry around the ear of Juggernaut. Let it be joyful singing unto the Lord: "Sing forth the honor of his name." God is worthy of the highest honor, so let our praise of him be given in such a way that it shall really honor him. "Make his praise glorious." It is only giving back to God what rightly belongs to him when we give him glory, and it is our highest earthly glory to be giving glory to God; we are never so near to the condition of the glorified saints above as when we are, with heart, and soul, and voice, glorifying God.

Psalms 66:3. Say unto God, How terrible are you, you in your works!

Our praises should be directed to God: "Say unto God." Our hymns should be a form of speaking unto the Most High, and an ascription unto him of his own glory. The first attribute of God that influences men is the attribute of power, which fills them with terror of his awful majesty and might. Afterwards, they perceive more of his love, and goodness, and wisdom, and other attributes; but, at first,-ay, and perhaps at last,-there is a time in which there is much solemn stately music in this utterance, "How terrible are you, you in your works!"

Psalms 66:3-4. Through the greatness of your power shall your enemies submit themselves unto you, you. All the earth shall worship you, you, and shall sing unto you, you; they shall sing to your name.

From the marginal reading of the 3rd verse, it appears that God’s enemies will only "yield feigned obedience" to him; but whether the submission is feigned or real, it shall not be possible for any man or any power finally to resist his omnipotence, and the day shall come when all the earth shall worship him, and sing unto him.

Psalms 66:4. Selah.

Here is a little pause for the lifting up of the heart and of the spirit and well there may be, for what a joyful thing it is to think of all the earth worshiping God, and singing unto him! I know of no topic that is more calculated to excite the admiring gratitude of God’s servants than the prospect of the universal supremacy of one God and of his Christ.

Psalms 66:5-6. Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. He turned the sea into dry land:-

You, you must often have noticed that the sweet singers of Israel are never singing very long unto God without mentioning that wonderful deliverance that he wrought at the Red Sea. What God did when he brought his people out of Egypt will be the subject of joyous and grateful song unto God forever, for even in Heaven "they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb." The Red Sea as the grand type of redemption, and the Lamb as the great Worker of redemption are joined together in that triumphant song of "them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name."

Here, the psalmist sings of what God did for his people at the Red Sea:

"He turned the sea into dry land:" —

Psalms 66:6. They went through the flood on foot; there did we rejoice in him.

Perhaps some of you, you say, "But we were not there." No, we were not personally there; but do you, you not remember what the prophet Hosea says about God meeting with Jacob at Bethel? It is written, "There he spoke with us." We were not personally there, yet believers have been everywhere in the Bible where other representative believers have been before them. "No prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation." What God spoke to any one of his people he has spoken to all of whom that one was typical. Paul tells us that the Lord has said, "I will never leave you, you, nor forsake you, you," yet it was to Joshua that he said that; but, as he said it to Joshua, he virtually said it to me, for I am a believer even as he was. All the promises belong to us who are in Christ Jesus, for the heavenly inheritance is left to all the spiritual seed; and if we are in the Lord’s family, we shall share alike with all the rest of the children. ‘There did we rejoice in him." Then, if we rejoiced in the Lord there, let us rejoice in him here. Brethren and sisters in Christ, let us rest assured that, when our turn to go through the sea shall come, we shall find that the Lord has "turned the sea into dry land" for us, whether it be a sea of troubles or the sea of death. "They went through the flood on foot;" and so shall we. The God who made a way for them through the sea, virtually made a way for us also, for the army of God is one, and when the first ranks of the innumerable host passed through the flood, the army itself began to pass through, and that army can never be divided. So we are passing through the flood at this moment, and rejoicing in the God who cleaves the sea in twain to make a highway for his people.

Psalms 66:7. He rules by his power forever;

What he did in the past, he is still doing in the present, and he will do in the future.

Psalms 66:7. His eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves.

The rebellious may for a while exalt themselves; but they will, sooner or later, be pulled down. These eagles may fly as high as they will, but God’s arrow can always reach them. The Lord pulled down the haughty Pharaoh from his throne, but he lifted up the people whom the proud monarch had trodden down and oppressed. The Lord overthrew the hosts of Egypt; but as for his people, he led them forth like sheep, and guided them through the wilderness, even as he is doing at this very moment.

Psalms 66:7. Selah.

That is, pause again, and lift up the heart and the sacred strain too; and when all the strings of your heart and of your harp are screwed up, then go on with your music again.

Psalms 66:8-9. O bless our God, you, you people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard: which holds our soul in life, and suffers not our feet to be moved.

I do bless God for this verse, and as many of you, you as have found it true should also praise and bless him. Observe the two things that are mentioned here,-living and standing: "Which holds our soul in life, and suffers not our feet to be moved." There are some who have a certain standing in the church, and who keep up their reputation among their fellow-members, yet they are not spiritually alive. It is a dreadful thing to be standing, and yet not living; like those in Sardis who were only living in name. Then there are those who are living, but not standing,-at least, not standing fast. They are often caught tripping, and falling, and wounding themselves. They go with broken bones on their way towards Heaven by reason of their many falls. But what a blessing it is to be kept both living and standing, and what reason there is to bless God for this great mercy,-not congratulating ourselves on our steadfastness, and being exalted and proud, but magnifying the Lord for his grace in granting to us this double blessing,-living and standing!

Psalms 66:10. For you, you, O God, have proved us: you, you have tried us, as silver is tried.

That is, with fierce furnaces, and with carefully graduated heat, for silver needs delicate refining. Christ still sits as the Refiner of silver, patiently watching until the process is complete.

Psalms 66:11. You, you brought us into the net;-

Did not our enemies entangle us? Oh, yes; but God often uses our enemies to carry out his divine purposes; he over-rules all things; so, when you, you are caught in the net, do not sit down, and say that such-and-such a person did it, or that the devil did it. No; but look to the Great First Cause. If you, you strike a dog with a stick, he tries to bite the stick because he does not know any better. But you, you are not a dog, so do not you, you look at the second cause of your troubles, but learn to sing, as the psalmist does here, "You, you brought us into the net;" —

Psalms 66:11. You, you laid affliction upon our loins.

Not merely upon our backs, where we might be better able to bear it, but right on our loins, so that we were pressed and squeezed almost out of our very life.

Psalms 66:12. You, you have caused men to ride over our heads;

And when they mount their high horse, they vow and exalt themselves over God’s afflicted servants.

Psalms 66:12. We went through fire and through water:

They were subjected to double that, for what fire does not burn water will drown, yet God’s people "went through fire and through water." There is no fire that can burn them. Nebuchadnezzar tried it, and failed. And there is no water that can drown them. Even though their bodies may be burned or drowned, their real selves shall still survive, and stand upon the sea of glass mingled with fire, triumphant over both fire and water.

Psalms 66:12. But you, you brought us out into a wealthy place.

That is to say, the Lord brought the Israelites out from all manner of oppression under Pharaoh, and brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey. Nothing that Pharaoh could do could destroy the chosen nation, he tried to kill all the male children that were born, yet the Israelites still increased and multiplied, and they came at last to Canaan. It will be just so with God’s people in all times and all climes, they shall not die, but live, and shall ultimately come into that most wealthy of all places, even the heavenly and better Canaan. We cannot fully tell what joy awaits us there. We cannot measure the height of our joy by the depth of our sorrows, for, after all, our sorrows are shallow, but the glory of God, which the saints are to share, is a depth unfathomable, a height that no man can measure. O Lord, bring us into that wealthy place right speedily if it be your holy will!

Psalms 66:13. I will go into your house with burnt offerings:

Here is one worshiper breaking away from the rest,-a child of God who is not satisfied by merely joining in the general praise of the whole assembly, so he brings his own personal thanksgiving and thank-offering to God. Dear brother, dear sister, try to do this. Break away from all the rest of us, and say to the Lord, "I will go into your house with burnt offerings."

Psalms 66:13-15. I will pay you, you my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth has spoken, when I was in trouble. I will offer unto you, you burnt sacrifices of fatlings,

"I will give you, you the best that I have."

Psalms 66:15. With the incense of rams;

Not only one of the best, but the best of two kinds of offerings.

Psalms 66:15. I will offer bullocks with goats.

"I will present to you, you great services and smaller sacrifices. I will obey you, you in the great ordinances and in the lesser ordinances also. I will bring both bullocks and goats. I will make an all-round offering. I will try to do all that I can for you, you, my God, since you, you have done so much for me."

Psalms 66:15. Selah.

Here the psalmist pauses again while the smoke of the sacrifice ascends; let us also pause, and meditate upon the better sacrifice which Christ offered for the sins of all who put their trust in him.

Psalms 66:16-17. Come and hear, all you, you that fear God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul. I cried unto him with only mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.

"I mixed crying and singing together. I cried when I was in trouble, and I extolled the Lord as soon as he delivered me from it. Nay, by faith expecting to be delivered, I began to extol him even while I was yet crying unto him."

Psalms 66:18-19. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: but truly God has heard me;

It is a blessed thing to be able to say that; and if you, you can truthfully say it, I pray you, you to say it: "Truly God has heard me." Some people tell us that there is no such thing as an answer to prayer; they say that it is a piece of superstition on our part. Well, I believe that I am as honest a man as anyone who denies the power of prayer, and I can truthfully say, "God has heard me." There are scores of us-there are hundreds of us-there are thousands of us who can stand in the witness-box, and each one of us can say, "Truly God has heard me." If our testimony is not accepted by unbelieving men, we cannot help that. We know what we do know, and we know that God has heard and answered our prayers again and again.

Psalms 66:19-20. He has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which has not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 66.; and Romans 8:1-9.

 

Chapter 67

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 68

 

Verses 1-35

 

This was a Psalm sung, at the removing of the ark, when it was taken up to its resting-place on Mount Zion. All the tribes were gathered together, and, in full pomp, they marched along, bearing the sacred chest. As they tramped forward, the trumpets sounded, and this Psalm rose up to God.

Psalms 68:1. Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.

That is the way to move,—God first, and his people following closely after him. That is the true order of revival,—the Lord in the lead, then all his children, quick of step, to follow where he leads. The psalmist seems to take it for granted that there would be no fighting if God should arise, for all his enemies would be put to flight by his presence.

Psalms 68:2-3. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yes, let them exceedingly rejoice.

The courtiers of God ought to be clad in the silks of joy, and to be bright with the jewelry of rejoicing.

Psalms 68:4-5. Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rides upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

In the wilderness, the Israelites were like a company of fatherless people: but God was their Protector, and in all their trials and dangers he was their Defender.

Psalms 68:6. God sets the solitary in families he brings out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

They had been in a sad condition in Egypt, scattered and driven hither and thither. God promised to bring them all together, in great families, and richly to bless them.

Psalms 68:7-8. O God, when you, you went forth before your people, when you, you did march through the wilderness; Selah: the earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

If the translators had given us the original words, we should have valued this Psalm much more, for it contains nearly every name of God. This verse would run, "Even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of Elohim, the ‘Elohim of Israel.

Psalms 68:9-10. You, you, O God, did send a plentiful rain, whereby you, you did confirm your inheritance, when it was weary. Your congregation has dwelt therein: you, you, O God, have prepared of your goodness for the poor.

It rained manna, and it rained quails. There are no difficulties about the commissariat of an army when God is the Commander-in-chief. All shall be provided for those who put their trust in him.

Psalms 68:11. The Lord—

Or, Adonai—

Psalms 68:11. Gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.

When God speaks, he always has publishers of his message. Our Lord found a woman at the well, and sent her back to the men of the city as his messenger, and he will find many others before his work is all done.

Psalms 68:12-13. Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil. Though you, you have lien among the pots,—

Grimy among the brick kilns, covered with clay, and black with smoke,—despised, rejected, earthbound,—" Though you, you have lien among the pots,"—

Psalms 68:13. Yet shall you, you be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.

There are good times ahead for God’s people. Rich and rare blessings are laid up in store for them that fear him. Therefore, let us rejoice in him even now.

Psalms 68:14. When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon.

Driven from the bare, bleak mountain-side in gusts like feathers, the snow flies before the wind; and so, when God scatters the mighty, they cannot resist him: "It was as snow in Salmon."

Psalms 68:15. The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan.

This hill of Zion is not high at all, it is a mere knoll compared with the lofty peaks; yet it was highly favored. So, to carnal eyes, Christ’s kingdom on earth was little in comparison with the kingdoms of this world; yet, in the sight of God, it is greater than all of them.

Psalms 68:16. Why leap you, you, you, you high hills? this is the hill which God desires to dwell in; yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever.

There are grander places than Zion, but if God chooses to dwell there, his presence gives her a glory and a greatness that no other spot can have. The forces at the disposal of Zion’s King are boundless; note how the psalmist enumerates some of them.

Psalms 68:17-18. The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. You, you have ascended on high, you, you have led captivity captive: you, you have received gifts for men yes, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.

As the ark went up the hill of Zion, so has Christ ascended to the eternal glory. He is the true Ark of the covenant, and he is also the true Mercy-seat; wherefore, let our hearts rejoice in our ascended Savior, who has "led captivity captive " "You, you have received gifts for men"; yes, for the rebellious also." "In due time, Christ died for the ungodly." "He made intercession for the transgressors." Let rebellious sinners catch, at this great truth; and, touched by the love and grace of God, let them cease to rebel any longer.

Psalms 68:19-20. Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. He who is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.

All glory be to his thrice-blessed name for all that this verse includes!

Psalms 68:21-22. But God shall wound the head: of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goes on still in his trespasses. The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea:

Wherever his people may have gone, God will bring them all together again, "from Bashan," or "from the depths of the sea."

Psalms 68:23-35. That your foot may be dipped in the blood of your enemies, and the tongue of the dogs in the same. They have seen your goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary. The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after, among them were the damsels playing with timbrels. Bless you, you God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel. There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah, the their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali. Your God has commanded your strength: strengthen, O God, that which you, you have wrought for us. Because of your temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto you, you. Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, until every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter you, you the people that delight in war. Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. Sing unto God, you, you kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah: to him that rides upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he does send out his voice, and that a mighty voice. Ascribe you, you strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds. O God, you, you are terrible out of your holy places: the God of Israel is he who gives strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.

The Psalm ends with an ascription of praise unto God. So let our reading end, and our worship, and our lives: "Blessed be God."

 

Chapter 69

 

Verses 1-21

 

We shall read together at this time a part of the 69th Psalm, and afterwards two passages in the New Testament. Although there is no doubt that this Psalm is intended to describe a very large class of sufferers, but we think it never had its full meaning perfectly carried out, until our blessed Lord and Master suffered at the hands of men. We shall read the Psalm believing that it is full of Christ. It is absolutely certain that we have references here to his advent, his passion, and his resurrection.

To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, a Psalm of David.

Psalms 69:1. Save me, O God; for the waters are come into my soul.

The waves have not only teased the bank, but they have dashed over the bulwarks, and there is a flood within, as well as a flood without.

Psalms 69:2. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me.

We had this text explained to us last Friday night, when the traveler told us he saw a man sink in the mud, almost swallowed up by it, until by a very desperate grasp of the beat he made his escape. Christ was, as it; were, sucked in by the great deeps of his afflictions, as if he would be swallowed up quickly.

Psalms 69:3. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried:

He had been so long in the garden in that awful agony, with strong crying and tears.

Psalms 69:3-4. Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.

They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: him now in the street being led away to Mount Calvary; a vast multitude has congregated there, all eager to see him die.

Psalms 69:4. They that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty:

They have the Roman soldiers at their backs, while the mob applauds them.

Psalms 69:4. Then I restored that which I took not away.

Christ did not take away our innocence, nor our safety, nor our honor, but he restored them all to us. He has made us clean; he has made us accepted in the Beloved; he has put a crown of pure gold upon our heads, and set our feet upon a rock.

Psalms 69:5. O God, you, you know my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from you, you.

These words are not applicable to our Lord, except so far as they may refer to our foolishness and to our sin, which we know were all laid on him; except that one commentator says that he is here speaking according to the manner of the people. They called him foolish; they charged him with sin, but he appeals to Heaven, "Lord, you, you know whether I have been foolish, whether I have any sins or not." In that sense we might apply it literally to the Savior.

Psalms 69:6. Let not them that wait on you, you, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those who seek you, you be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.

"Let not the shame of my cross destroy their faith; grant unto them such confidence in me that they may take up your cross daily, and follow me: that they may even learn to say with my apostle, "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Psalms 69:7. Because for your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face.

It was for his Father’s sake, that he might bring honor to Jehovah, that he thus suffered reproach. "Shame has covered my face"—that face which is brighter than the sun, and which angels desire to gaze upon.

Psalms 69:8. I am become a stranger unto my brethren,

"Peter says he knows me not; all of them have forsaken me."

Psalms 69:8-9. And an alien unto my mother’s children. For the zeal of your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproached you, you are fallen upon me.

Every hard word that was spoken of the Father fell upon the Son: the iniquities which were rebellions against Jehovah all fell upon the Man of Nazareth.

Psalms 69:10. When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.

That was scandal unto them.

Psalms 69:11. I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb unto them.

Just as Michael said of David, "How glorious did the King of Israel become in the eyes of his handmaidens." out of mockery, so did they reproach Christ, "How glorious was the King of Israel, so daintily arrayed in a peasant’s robe, or stripped naked upon his cross."

Psalms 69:12. They that sit in the gate speak against me;

The judges who there dispensed justice, the merchants who there trade their wares, the idlers who were there to loiter, to hear the news, these speak against me.

Psalms 69:12. And I became the song of the drunkard.

They made ballads of him, we may understand that to mean; they issued lampoons; every now and then there came out a caricature.

Psalms 69:13-14. But as for me, my prayer is unto you, you, O Lord, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude or your mercy hear me, in the truth of your salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

Think you, you hear your Master as he silently prays this prayer in the streets of Jerusalem; the mob is hooting, but he is praying; women are weeping, and he is weeping, too.

Psalms 69:15-20. Let not the water-flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. Hear me, O Lord, for your loving-kindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of your tender mercies. And hide not your face from your servant; for if am in trouble: hear me speedily. Draw near unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. You, you have known my reproach and my shame, and my dishonor: mine adversaries are all before you, you.

Reproach has broken my heart. This is one of the most extraordinary verses in Holy Writ.

Psalms 69:20-21. And I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Now, let us read the incidents in the history of Christ, of which this Psalm is a sort of prophecy and exposition.

This exposition consisted of readings of readings from Psalms 69:1-21. Mark 15:15-23. Luke 23:26-33.

 

Chapter 70

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 71

 

Verses 1-14

 

Psalms 71:1. In you, you, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.

There is his trust, and there is his fear; his trust he dares to avow, his fear he turns into a prayer.

Psalms 71:2-3. Deliver me in your righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline your ear unto me, and save me. Be you, you my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: you, you have given commandment to save me; for you, you are my rock and my fortress.

"Be you, you my strong habitation whereunto I may continually resort." Not merely now and then a hiding-place in emergency, but my constant abode, my home, so that from morning to night I may come to you, you, and feel myself secure. "You, you have given commandment to save me; for you, you are my rock and my fortress." You, you see he knows that God has commanded nature, and providence, and grace to protect him; he has commanded his angels, indeed, he has commanded all his forces, to protect David for this reason, that David feels an inward rest and peace in God. That calm, that divine repose expressed in the words "You, you are my rock and my refuge," are the tokens that God has given commandment to save us.

Psalms 71:4. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

Two iron hands are trying to pull him down, but he cries to God, whose one almighty hand can set him free.

Psalms 71:5. For you, you are my hope, O Lord God: you, you are my trust from my youth.

Happy man that can look back upon a youth spent in God’s fear; for if we have trusted God in our youth, depend upon it, he will never cast us away.

Psalms 71:6. By you, you have I been held up from the womb: you, you are he who took me out of my mother’s affections: my praise shall be continually of you, you.

When we could not help ourselves, in the very moment of our birth, God took care of us; and he will take care of us even to the end. Men and women who are old should remember how carefully the Lord nursed them when they were infants; and if you, you come to a second childhood, you, you shall still have the same God.

Psalms 71:7. I am as a wonder unto many;

They cannot make me out, I am a blessed problem and puzzle to them: it seems so strange that being so much afflicted I am yet so much upheld.

Psalms 71:7. But you, you are my strong refuge.

Yes! There is the answer to the riddle. If God be with us, men may well wonder; but he will always help us.

Psalms 71:8-9. Let my mouth be filled with your praise and with your honor all the day.

Cast me not of in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength fails.

A prayer which both young and old may offer, for if we live long enough, that time of weakness will surely come on. There are many men who do cast off their old servants; but God does not. When we are worn out, he will still bless us.

Psalms 71:10-14. For mine enemies speak against me and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together, saying, God has forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him. O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help. Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonor that seek my hurt. But I will hope continually and will yet praise you, you more and more.

In the 8th verse he had said, "Let my mouth be filled with your praise." That is a mouthful, now he says, "I will praise you, you more and more." As if he wanted more mouths with which to praise more room for his heart’s grateful thanksgiving to God, "I will praise you, you more and more."

This exposition consisted of readings from Romans 5:1-11; and Psalms 71:1-14.

Verses 1-24

 

Psalms 71:1-8. In you, you, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in your righteous, and cause me to escape: incline your ear unto me, and save me. Be you, you my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: you, you have given commandment to save me; for you, you are my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For you, you are my hope, O Lord God you, you are my trust from my youth. By you, you have I been held up from the womb: you, you are he who took me out of my mother affections my praise shall be continually of you, you.

David had enjoyed the mercy of God from his very birth. We are apt to forget the tender care of God over our infancy, but we ought to remember it: and it will be a great comfort to us, if we come to a second childhood, to remember how kindly God took care of us in the first.

Psalms 71:7-11. I am at a wonder unto many, but you, you are my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with your praise and with your honor all the day. Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength fails. For mine enemies speak against me, and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together, saying, God has forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there it none to deliver him.

Surely that ought to have been the reason for letting him alone. With right-minded persons it would have been so, but the devil and his children are arrant onwards, and their argument is, "Persecute and take him: for there is none to deliver him." You, you might as well expect tenderness in a wolf as anything like bravery and chivalry in a persecutor.

Psalms 71:12-14. O God be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my Hell. Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonor that seek my hurt. But I will hope continually, and will yet raise you, you more and more.

How was he going to do it? Already his mouth was filled with God’s praise, so, surely, he would fill his whole life with it, and his actions which would speak more loudly than his words, should bear daily testimony to the goodness of God.

Psalms 71:15-16. My mouth shall show forth your righteousness and your salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof. I will go in the strength of the Lord God:-"

This shall be my praise; my very movements, my goings, my progress shall be in the ‘strength of the Lord God’"

Psalms 71:16-17. I will make mention of your righteousness, even of your only. O God, you, you have taught me from my youth.

Here is the same kind of argument again: " O Lord, I went to school to you, you, so I must teach others what you, you have taught me."

Psalms 71:17. And hitherto have I declared your wondrous works.

"You, you made me a preacher, and I have stuck to my word. Hitherto have I declared your wondrous works.’"

Psalms 71:18-20. Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have showed your strength unto this generation and your power to every one that is to come. Your righteousness also, O God, is very high, who have done great things: O God, who is like unto you, you! You, you, which have showed me great and sore troubles, shall quicken me again,

"You, you shall not merely deliver me from my great and sore troubles, but you, you shall give me more life, you, you ‘Shall quicken me again.’" Divine quickening is the best remedy for a troubled heart.

Psalms 71:20. And shall bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

"Though I seem to be like a man buried in the depth of the earth you, you will bring me up again."

Psalms 71:21-22. You, you shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. I will also praise you, you-

God blessing us, and we in return blessing him, so it ought to be. The more God does for us, the more we ought to do for him, is it not so, brother? Is not this good argument? Are you, you carrying it out? Let your conscience answer.

Psalms 71:22-23. With the psaltery, even your truth, O my God: unto you, you will I sing with the harp. O you, you Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto you, you.

Singing unto God ought to be the gladdest of exercises, when it is done in a doleful, dolorous way, it is not singing, but groaning.

Psalms 71:23. And my soul, which you, you have redeemed.

"The sprinkled blood is on my soul, and therefore it shall leap for joy. Rescued from captivity, bought back from slavery, "my soul, which you, you have redeemed; shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto you, you."

Psalms 71:24. My tongue also shall talk of your righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.

 

Chapter 72

 

Verses 1-4

 

Psalms 72:1. Give the king your judgments, O God, and your righteousness unto the king’s son.

"Give the king your judgments, O God." The right to reign was transmitted by descent from David to Solomon, but not by that means alone: Israel was a theocracy, and the kings were but the viceroys of the greater King; hence the prayer that the new king might be enthroned by divine right, and then endowed with divine wisdom. Our glorious King in Zion has all judgment committed unto him. He rules in the name of God over all lands. He is King "Dei Gratia" as well as by right of inheritance. "And your righteousness unto the king’s son." Solomon was both king and king’s son; so also is our Lord. He has power and authority in himself, and also royal dignity given him of his Father. He is the righteous King; in a word, he is "the Lord our righteousness." We are waiting until he shall be manifested among men as the ever-righteous Judge. May the Lord hasten in his own time the long-looked-for day! Now wars and fightings are even in Israel itself, but soon the dispensation will change, and David, the type of Jesus warring with our enemies, shall be displaced by Solomon the prince of peace.

Psalms 72:2. He shall judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with judgment,

"He shall judge your people with righteousness." Clothed with divine authority, he shall use it on the behalf of the favored nation, for whom he shall show himself strong, that they be not misjudged, slandered, or in any way treated maliciously. His sentence shall put their accusers to silence, and award the saints their true position as the accepted of the Lord. What a consolation to feel that none can suffer wrong in Christ’s kingdom; he sits upon the great white throne, unspotted by a single deed of injustice, or even mistake of judgment: reputations are safe enough with him. "And your poor with judgment." True wisdom is manifest in all the decisions of Zion’s King. We do not always understand his doings, but they are always right. Partiality has been too often shown to rich and great men, but the King of the last and best of monarchy deals out even-handed justice, to the delight of the poor and despised. Here we have the poor mentioned side by side with their King. The sovereignty of God is a delightful theme to the poor in spirit; they love to see the Lord exalted, and have no quarrel with him for exercising the prerogatives of his crown. It is the fictitious wealth, which labors to conceal real poverty, which makes men cavil at the reigning Lord, but a deep sense of spiritual need prepares the heart loyally to worship the Redeemer King. On the other hand, the King has a special delight in the humbled hearts of his contrite ones, and exercises all his power and wisdom on their behalf, even as Joseph in Egypt ruled for the welfare of his brethren.

Psalms 72:3. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.

"The mountains shall bring peace to the people." Thence, aforetime, rushed the robber bands which infested the country; but now the forts there erected are the guardians of the land, and the watchmen publish far and near the tidings that no foe is to be seen. Where Jesus is, there is peace, lasting, deep, eternal. Even those things, which were once our dread, lose all terror when Jesus is owned as Monarch of the heart: death itself, that dark mountain, loses all its gloom. Trials and afflictions, when the Lord is with us, bring us an increase rather than a diminution of peace. "And the little hills, by righteousness." Seeing that the rule of the monarch was just, every little hill seemed clothed with peace. Injustice has made Palestine a desert; if the Turk and Bedouin were gone, the land would smile again; for even in the most literal sense, justice is the fertilizer of lands, and men are diligent to plough and raise harvests when they have the prospects of eating the fruit of their labors. In a spiritual sense, peace is given to the heart by the righteousness of Christ; and all the powers and passions of the soul are filled with a holy calm, when the way of salvation, by a divine righteousness, is revealed. Then do we go forth with joy, and are led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills break forth before us into singing.

Psalms 72:4. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.

"He shall judge the poor of the people." He will do them justice, yes, and blessed be his name, more than justice, for he will delight to do them good. "He shall save the children of the needy." Poor, helpless things, they were packhorses for others, and paupers themselves, but their King would be their Protector. Happy are God’s poor and needy ones; they are safe under the wing of the Prince of peace, for he will save them from all their enemies, "And shall break in pieces the oppressor." He is strong to smite the foes of his people, Oppressors have been great breakers, but their time of retribution shall come, and they shall be broken themselves, Sin, Satan, and all our enemies must be crushed by the iron rod of King Jesus, We have, therefore, no cause to fear; but abundant reason to sing, —

"All hail the power of Jesus’ name!

Let angels prostrate fall,

Bring forth the royal diadem,

And crown him Lord of all."

It is much better to be poor than to be an oppressor; for both the needy and their children find an Advocate in the heavenly Solomon, who aims all his blows at haughty ones, and rests not until they are utterly destroyed.

Verses 1-16

 

"A Psalm for Solomon" — much more for one who is greater than Solomon, the true Prince of Peace.

Psalms 72:1. Give the king your judgments, O God, and your righteousness unto the king’s son.

So it is decreed, and so it has been accomplished, that Jesus, who is both a King and a King’s son, should have all judgment delivered into his hand. And now at this time Christ is the judge. It is he who discerns between the precious and the vile. He sits as King in the midst of Zion.

Psalms 72:2. He shall judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with judgment.

The kingdom of Christ has a special eye to the poor. They are generally passed by and forgotten in the scope of legislature among men, but Christ makes even his poor people — the poor in spirit also — to be the objects of his judgment.

Psalms 72:3-4. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.

In the reign of Christ there shall be no treading down of the little by great — no pressure put upon the feeble by the strong, but his right hand shall get to the weakest cause the victory.

Psalms 72:5. They shall fear you, you as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.

For the kingdom of Christ renews itself. It is never broken in pieces by the power of the enemy, but every piece becomes a new root, and it springs up again. There are some plants of which they may that the more you, you tread upon them the more they will spread, and certainly it is the case with the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. As long as there is a sun in the heavens, and a moon to gladden the night, so shall the kingdom of Christ endure.

Psalms 72:6. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.

Christ shall not come like fire to burn up and to destroy, but his kingdom is one of mercy and grace. When the grass has just been wounded with the scythe, he shall come down to bring it refreshment, that it may spring up again. In plenteous showers of grace shall he visit wounded spirits.

Psalms 72:7. In his days shall the righteous flourish: and abundance of peace so long as the moon endures.

There have been empires which have been propitious to the flourishing of great wrongs. Some of the worst and vilest of men have flourished under certain empires, which have but lately passed away; but in the empire of Christ the righteous alone shall flourish. Everything about him and about his power shall make it go well for them, and his empire is peace the most truly — "abundance of peace so long as the moon endures."

Psalms 72:8. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

Universal monarchy is to be the monarchy of Christ. This is the fifth great monarchy, and there shall never be another. No king or potentate that shall ever rise can possibly have universal dominion again. We need not fear that, for the fifth empire is that of the Christ of God, and behold he comes to claim it.

Psalms 72:9. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.

The most distant tribes — those that wander and have no settled dwelling-place — shall, nevertheless, bow before him. The Arab boasts that he never knew a master — that even Caesar could not penetrate into his deserts and subdue him; but Christ shall be his Lord, and he will be glad to own him.

Psalms 72:10. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

We need not be afraid if this Psalm refers to Christ, and we do not doubt that it does. He must reign. The end of the world is not coming until there shall be a conquest for him. He may come before that time, but certainly there shall be no winding up of history until this shall be literally true. "The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents."

Psalms 72:11-12. Yes, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. For he shall deliver the needy when he cries; the poor also, and him that has no helper.

The Psalmist seems glad to dwell upon that. It seems to be the joy note in his mind — that the great King — the greatest of all kings — will care for the lowly and the humble. Let us rejoice in this, dear friends. Christ is chosen out of the people and exalted by God; and he is the Christ not only ready to save the highest, but to save the lowest. From his kingdom we may say: —

"None are excluded hence but those

Who do themselves exclude;

Welcome the learned and polite,

The ignorant and rude."

Psalms 72:13-15. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. And he shall live, They say,

"O king, live forever." It can never happen to their kings, but to our King it will happen. "He shall live."

Psalms 72:15. And to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba:

He shall have the best the world can find willingly given to him. I am sure that we who know his love think that we have nothing good enough for him. We would render to him all that we have.

Psalms 72:15. Prayer also shall be made for him continually;

With the gold shall come the golden prayer — the prayer for Christ. But how can we pray for him? Why, that he may have the reward of his sufferings, may see of the travail of his soul — that his kingdom may come, and that his name may be dear in the hearts of men.

Psalms 72:15. And daily shall he be praised.

He shall have praise as well as prayer and gold.

Psalms 72:16. There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

It was corn — good seed corn, but there was only a handful of it. So there were saints in the world, but there were very few of them. And where were they? On the tops of the mountains. A strange place for corn; not a likely place for a harvest. So have God’s servants been pushed into the corners of the earth. There they were in the valleys of Piedmont for many a year fighting for dear life. And, in all lands, those that have been faithful to God have been put away into the corners — driven, as it were, to the mountain-tops. But what has come of it, and what will come of it? Why, the fruit shall shake like Lebanon. The golden corn, standing upright in its strength, adorned with its ear, shall wave in the breeze as pleasing a sight even as the cedar of Lebanon.

Verses 1-20

 

A Psalm for Solomon.

This was David’s dying bequest to his son Solomon, but a greater than Solomon is here, for this Psalm concerns the reign, triumph, and everlasting dominion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalms 72:1-2 Give the king your judgments, O God, and your righteousness unto the king’s son. He shall judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with judgment.

It is the distinguishing mark of Christ’s kingdom that he cares so much for the poor, whereas in other kingdoms they are generally pushed to the wall, and men of great estate and consequence get all the good positions. In Christ’s kingdom the poor are exalted.

Psalms 72:3. The mountains shall bring peace to you, you people and the little hills, by righteousness.

Those mountains, in whose caves robbers lurked, and from whose heights enemies often came down, and swept away the little estates of the lowlanders, even these shall bring peace and comfort. "No strife shall vex Messiah’s reign." When Jesus Christ comes a second time to this earth, we shall see these prophecies literally fulfilled; and until then we delight to know that the reign of Christ is a reign of peace.

Psalms 72:4-6. He shall judge the poor of the people shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear you, you as long as the sun and moon endure throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.

After being mown the grass is tender; should there be a long period of burning sunshine, the roots left exposed might soon be dried up, and the lower portion of the stem, bereft of moisture, might become hard. Never does rain seem so refreshing to the grass as just after the mowing; so is it in Christ’s kingdom. Upon you, you whose broken hearts are like mown grass, upon you, you who have been cut down by the sharp scythe of affliction, and who have seen your hopes withered before your eyes, Jesus shall come on gently like rain upon the mown grass; and as the showers fertilize the barren earth, so shall the presence of Christ make your hearts to be fertile and fruitful. If any of us are like the parched earth or the mown grass, may we have this gracious promise fulfilled to us.

Psalms 72:7. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endures.

Under other kings sinners have flourished, and great oppressors have walked in public, but in Christ’s days the righteous shall flourish; "and abundance of peace so long as the moon endures." There have been some times of truce, there have been some periods when the temple of Janus has been shut; but when Christ comes, the Lord shall break the bow, and cut the spear in sunder; not lay them by in store for days of warfare in the future, but break them up as there will be no further use for them.

Psalms 72:8-9. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.

The Arabs, the wandering Bedouin tribes, unconquered and untamable, "shall bow before him;" and his enemies shall not merely be beaten once or twice, but they "shall lick the dust," they shall be so entirely broken that there shall be no fear of their rebelling in the future.

Psalms 72:10. The Kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents:

Britain and some of her sister islands shall do homage to this great Solomon.

Psalms 72:10. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands unto God, and men of swarthy skin shall own the King of the Jews as Lord over all.

Psalms 72:11. Yes, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.

There is a great future for you, you, Christians, a glorious future for our holy religion. The handful by the side of the lake shall yet become an all conquering host. As it was when that cake of barley bread fell into the midst of the camp of Midian, and overthrew the tent, so that it lay along, and as it was when the shout was heard, "The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon," so shall it be with us before long. God’s people having no strength of their own, shall nevertheless break the power of their enemy, when the war- cry shall be heard, "The sword of Christ and of the Lord of Hosts !".

Psalms 72:12-13. For he shall deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him that has no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.

Now, needy one, here is a promise for you, you. Is there one here that has no helper? Then let that one know that Christ is the Friend of the friendless, and the Helper of the helpless.

Psalms 72:14-16. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised.

There shall be an handful of corn on the earth- Only a handful! O you, you birds of the air, how you, you long to eat it all up! O you, you thorns, how soon would you, you choke it to death! It is only a handful of corn.

Psalms 72:16. Upon the top of the mountains;

That is a bad place for corn; surely it will die there; the winter snows will chill it; and, exposed to every stormy blast it will never fill the arm of the reaper. But is it so? Listen: —

Psalms 72:16. The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon:

Just as there are peculiar noises heard in a great forest when the wind sweeps through it, — there is an allusion to this in the Hebrew, — there should be such an abundance of fruit from this handful of corn that, as when the forest bows its head before the whirlwind, so shall there be heard a sound as of God rushing among the multitude of his saints.

Psalms 72:16. And they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

They shall be so many that one might as well attempt to count the blades of grass as to reckon the number of God’s saints.

Psalms 72:17-20. His name shall endure forever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name forever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

He had nothing more to pray for. He had his heart’s highest and best wish, and therefore he closes his prayer where God had given him all that he could ask.

 

Chapter 73

 

Verses 1-28

 

"A Psalm Of Asaph." He was a great singer, but he could not always sing. In the first part of the Psalm he felt rather like groaning than singing; and you, you shall find that those who sing the sweetest the praises of God sometimes have to hang their harps upon the willows, and are silent. The strong temptation through which Asaph passed is one which is very common. You, you find another account of it in the 37th Psalm. It may help your memory to notice that it is the 37th and the 73rd Psalm (transpose the figures) which are both upon the same subject—the temptation caused to the people of God by the prosperity of the wicked.

Psalms 73:1. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

It must be so. Whatever argument my son may hold about it, I will set that down, to begin with, as a certainty—"Truly, God is good to Israel." He cannot be unkind or unfaithful to his own people. It cannot be possible, after all—however things may look—that God is an ill-God and an ill-Master to his own servants.

Psalms 73:2. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well near dipped. Am I, then, one of his people or not? I know he is good to them; but how about myself? Perhaps some here will never question themselves in that way, and if they were led to do so, they would think it was of the devil. I do not think so. I think it is rather of the devil to keep us from questioning ourselves. I remember what Cowper said:—

"He who has never doubted of his state,

He may—perhaps he may too late."

Let us delight in full assurance, but let us keep very clear of presumption; and that assurance which cannot bear self-examination is presumption, depend upon it. When a man declines to search himself and test himself, there is something doubtful, if not rotten in his estate; and it is time he did begin to say, "As for me, my feet were almost gone: my steps had well near slipped." This is how it came about:—

Psalms 73:3. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. I know that wicked men are fools.

Asaph and David had often said that before. Yet says he, "I was a greater fool, still, that I was envious of these fools—when I saw the prosperity of the wicked."

Psalms 73:4-5. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.

Many of them keep up a hypocritical profession through a long life, and die in a stupefaction, so that conscience never awakens, and they pass out of the world loaded with guilt, and yet talk about being accepted before God. How can this be? Where is the justice of it?

Psalms 73:6. Therefore pride compasses them about as a chain;

As kings wear chains of gold, so is their pride to them.

Psalms 73:6. Violence covers them as a garment,

They are not ashamed of it. They get to be so bold in sin that they wear it as an outside cloak.

Psalms 73:7. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

Superfluities. They never have to ask where a meal will come from. They have more than they want.

Psalms 73:8-9. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens,

Such big mouths—such blasphemous words—have they, that they attack God himself. There is nothing too high for them to drag it down—nothing too pure for them to slander. "They set their mouth against the heavens."

Psalms 73:9. And their tongue walks through the earth.

Like the lion seeking its prey, they take long walks in their slander. Nobody is safe from them.

Psalms 73:10-11. Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, How does God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?

God’s sorrowing children have to drink of the bitter cup, while these proud ones are eating of the fat of the land.

Psalms 73:12-14. Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. Truly I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

When Asaph got into this unbelieving state of mind, it did look as if all his care of his character and all his desire to serve God was wasted, for the wicked prospered, while he was chastened. It is a strong description which he gives of his state. "All the day long have I been plagued." Not by the half-hour, but by the whole day, plagued, and weeping as soon as he was out of bed—chastened every morning. He seemed almost to be sorry that he was a child of God, to be so roughly handled. He almost, but not quite, wished that he could take the portion of the wicked, that he might enjoy himself as they did, and might prosper in the world as they did.

Psalms 73:15. If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of your children.

That was very wise of Asaph. He thought but he did not speak. Some persons say, "You, you may as well out with it." You, you may as well keep it in; nay, a great deal better. If you, you have it in your own heart, it will grieve yourself, but if you, you speak it out, you, you will grieve others. If you, you wear sackcloth, brethren, wear it round your own loins, but do not wear it as your outside garment. There is enough sackcloth in the world without your flaunting it before everybody else’s face. If you, you must fast, remember your Master’s words, "You, you, when you, you fastest, anoint your head and wash your face, that you, you appear not unto men to fast." He gave us that precept in order to avoid pharisaic ostentation; but we may also follow it from another motive, namely, that we may not spread sorrow in the world. There is enough of depression of spirit, enough of despondency, enough of heartbreak, without our saying a word to increase it among the sons of men.

"Bear and forbear, and silent be:

Tell no man your misery,"

Lest you, you bring another into it, unless, indeed, you, you meet with a strong man who can help you, you. Then you, you may tell your sorrow to get relief. But tell it not to the children.

Psalms 73:16. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me.

"Too painful" to keep it: "too painful" to speak it out and grieve other people.

Psalms 73:17. Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood their end.

Asaph went to his God. He got to Christ, whom he foresaw, for the person of Jesus Christ is the sanctuary of God. Some people call these buildings sanctuaries. They have no authority for so doing. "God dwells not in temples made with hands." He may have done so under the old covenant, but not now. Christ is the sanctuary of God, and when we get to him and come into fellowship with God in him, then we begin to learn something. "Then understood I their end."

Psalms 73:18. Surely you, you did set them in slippery places:

There they are—on a mountain of ice, bright and glittering: up aloft, where others see, admire, and wonder at them. But oh! how dangerous their pathway!

Psalms 73:18. You, you casts them down into destruction.

They are not left to slip, but a hand overthrows them—flings them down from the heights of their prosperity to the depths of unutterable woe.

Psalms 73:19-20. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awakes; so, O Lord, when you, you awake, you, you shall despise their image.

As if God slept today, and let these images of prosperity exist as in a dream; but by-and-by he wakes. His time of judgment comes, and where are these prosperous men? They have gone. The "baseless fabric of a vision" has melted into thin air, and "left not a wreck behind." It is not. It is gone.

Psalms 73:21. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.

I felt a heart-pain. I felt my whole nature go amiss, as if there had been calculi causing the deepest possible misery in my reins.

Psalms 73:22. So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before you, you.

I saw no farther than a goose. Like a beast that cannot look into the future, I judged these men by today—by the pastures in which they fed, and the fatness which they gathered there. "I was as a beast before you, you." Now notice the splendid connection of these two verses. I will read them again—the 22nd and the 23rd. "So foolish was I and ignorant, I was as a beast before you, you."

Psalms 73:23. Nevertheless I am continually with you, you: you, you have held me by my right hand.

What a strange mixture a man is! And a godly man is the strangest conglomerate of all. He is a beast, and yet continually with God. View him from one side, he is ignorant: view him from the other, and he has an unction from the Holy One, and he knows all things. View him from one point of the compass, and he is naked, and poor, and miserable: view him from another quarter, and behold he is complete in Christ and "accepted in the Beloved. " They know not man who do not know that every true man is two men.

Psalms 73:24. You, you shall guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

I, the fool that envied fools, yet "you, you shall guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory."

Psalms 73:25. Whom have I in Heaven but you, you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you, you.

Now he has got out of the temptation. He is not going to seek for prosperity that he may rival the wicked in their wealth. No! He sees that, in having God, he has all he wants. Even though he should continually be plagued all the day long, and chastened every morning, his portion in God is quite enough for him. He will not murmur any more.

Psalms 73:26. My flesh and my heart fails:

I see what a poor thing I am. I allowed my flesh and my heart to get the mastery over me, and I got caught in this trap.

Psalms 73:26-27. But God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. For, lo, they that are far from you, you shall perish: you, you have destroyed all them that go a whoring from you, you.

A strong word, but none too forcible; for every heart that seeks delight away from God is an unchaste heart. It has got away from true purity even for a moment in pouring out its love upon the creature.

Psalms 73:28. But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all your works.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 73; Psalms 37:1-10.

 

Chapter 74

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 75

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 76

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 77

 

Verses 1-20

 

Psalms 77:1. I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.

The writer was in very deep trouble. The trouble forced from him a loud and bitter cry. His heart was wrung with anguish, but the cry which was the weakness of the flesh was, by divine grace, turned upward, and so became the strength of his grace. He cried, but it was to God, not to men, as many of us do. "Unto God," says he twice over, "did I cry." But God hears when others hear not, and, blessed be his name, he answers when others cannot. There are so many instances in which God has heard the prayer of persons in deep trouble, that the most troubled of all men ought to be encouraged to pray. Did not Jonah pray, even out of the belly of the whale, and God delivered him? Did not Manasseh pray out of the low dungeon? Great sinner as he was, God delivered him — Oh! let us believe that there is power in prayer, for God hearkens to the request of those that seek his face.

Psalms 77:2. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.

He would not take the common comfort which friendly words would have yielded him: his case was so desperate that he must have divine comfort, and nothing else. I will not be comforted until Jesus comfort me, and this is a very good and holy resolution. I wish that some who snatch at comfort —unhealthy comfort — too soon, would resolve upon this, "My cry shall go to God, and God only, and I will take no comfort until God the Holy Spirit bring it to me."

Psalms 77:3. I remembered God, and was troubled:

Yet it was the right thing to do to remember God — the most comfortable thing in the world, and though it failed at first, it did not fail in the long run,

Psalms 77:3. I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.

It is no new thing, then, for the best of God’s people to be in the deepest trouble. The path which you, you are traveling, O mourner, is well marked with footprints.

Psalms 77:3-5. Selah. You, you hold mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.

Turned through the experience of your people written in your Word to see if ever you, you did forsake one of them.

Psalms 77:6. I call to remembrance my song in the night:

To see whether you, you did forsake me in days gone by — marked my past experience of your faithfulness.

Psalms 77:6-9. I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. Will the Lord cast off forever? and will he be favorable no more? Is his mercy clean gone forever? Does his promise fail for evermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? has he in anger shut up his tender mercies?

Will he be favorable no more? Very proper questions to put. They answer themselves when we put them plainly, but while they lie festering in our spirits, misshapen things like ghosts that haunt our heart, then they alarm us. It is well to come to plain dealings, with our soul and to say, "Why are you, you cast down, O my soul; why are you, you disquieted within me?"

Psalms 77:9-10. Selah. And I said,

When I came to reckon all up, and make a righteous judgment; when I bid my fears lie still awhile, and let me listen to reason, I said: —

Psalms 77:10. This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.

I will remember God’s faithfulness in the past, in years when I lived at his right hand and basked in the sunlight of his love: I will snatch firebrands from the altars of the past to light up the fires of today.

Psalms 77:11-13. I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember your wonders of old. I will meditate also of all your work, and talk of your doings. Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary:

Or better, "Your way is in holiness." What you, you do is right, my God. I feared and trembled, but now I know it is so.

Psalms 77:13-14. Who is so great a God as our God? You, you are the God that do wonders: you, you have declared your strength among the people.

Oh! if we could all tell out what God has done for us, we could prove it true that God has declared his strength among us; the might of his grace has he displayed in our case.

Psalms 77:15. You, you have with your arm redeemed your people, the sons of Jacob an Joseph.

Saints in the olden times were very fond of falling back upon the redemption of Israel out of Egypt. It was a favorite subject of their contemplation; it yielded them great comfort, and very, very frequently they turned it into sacred song. Now in Heaven we shall do the same, for we shall sing the song of Moses end the Lamb. Let not the Church in modern times forget to draw consolation out of that well. Here the Psalmist gives us a description, as I think it is, of the passage of the Red Sea — giving it as a sort of type of the way in which God will always deliver his people to the world’s end.

Psalms 77:16-20. The waters saw you, you, O God, the waters saw you, you; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: your arrows also went abroad. The voice of your thunder was in the Heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook. Your way is in the sea, and your path in the great waters, and your footsteps are not known. You, you led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

For one moment just look at this picture. You, you will be delivered, and God will be glorified in your deliverance just as he was in the coming out of Egypt, but it will be by a mysterious way, perhaps — way little guessed at by you, you. God’s path will be in the great waters. You, you will see the power, but before you, you see it you, you will little guess how it will be displayed. Only follow where he leads, for as amidst the thunder and the lightning he led his people as calmly on as a shepherd leads his flock, so shall you, you, whatever happens, with Jehovah for your shepherd, be led safely on until you, you come to the celestial city. Let us sing the song of the Red Sea.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 77; Revelation 1:15-20.

 

Chapter 78

 

Verses 9-72

 

This story of the children of Israel, after they came out of Egypt, is like a looking-glass in which we may, with great sadness, see ourselves reflected.

Psalms 78:9. The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

They had every opportunity of serving their God; he had provided them with fit weapons for the war, but they were cowardly, so they "turned back in the day of battle."

Psalms 78:10-11. They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; and forgot his works, and his wonders that he had showed them.

Let each one of us ask, "Does the psalmist describe me?"

Psalms 78:12-13. Marvelous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.

What a marvelous miracle that dividing of the Red Sea was! Did it not make an abiding impression upon them? I will be bound to say that many of them said, "We shall never doubt God again." Yet, soon they did doubt, and murmur, and rebel against him!

Psalms 78:14-16. In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. He cleave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

It seemed as if there was nothing that the Lord would not do for them; all that they needed for food and refreshment was given to them freely.

Psalms 78:17-18. And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness. And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

He had given them food for their necessities, but now they must have meat for their lusts.

Psalms 78:19. Yes, they spoke against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

So you, you see, dear friends, what speaking against God really is; I am afraid that we also have often done that. To question God’s power, is to speak against him. Perhaps you, you have thought lightly of your unbelieving speeches, but God does not think lightly of them; to my mind it seems that there is hardly anything that so grieves him as the doubts of his people concerning him.

Psalms 78:20. Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

There ought to have been no question as to the Lord’s power; the God who could fetch water out of a rock could, if he pleased, make loaves of bread out of the sand under their feet, or cause the very stars to drop with meat for them if necessary.

Psalms 78:21. Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth:

He was really angry with his people because they doubted him. He loved them, and because he loved them, it cut him to the quick that they should have questioned his power to bless them.

Psalms 78:21-23. So a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel; Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation: Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of Heaven,

Unbelief is very hard to kill. God opens the doors and windows of Heaven to feed his people; yet, nevertheless, the next time they are in trouble, they begin to stagger at the promise. Oh, shameful unbelief!

Psalms 78:24-29. And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of Heaven. Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full. He caused an east wind to blow in the Heaven : and by his power he brought in the south wind. He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered birds like as the sand of the sea: and he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;

Yet that was not a blessing to them; and, brethren, let us ever be afraid of our own desire, unless that desire comes from the Lord. You, you know how David puts it in the 37th Psalm: "Delight yourself also in the Lord; and he shall give you, you the desires of your heart." If, however, you, you find your delight in any earthly thing, it shall be a plague to you, you to have the desire of your heart: "He gave them their own desire; " —

Psalms 78:30. They were not estranged from their lust.

For the more last gets, the more lust wants. It is like the daughter of the horse-leech, that always cries, "Give! Give!" God can satisfy the longing soul, but all the world cannot satisfy the cravings of lust.

Psalms 78:30-31. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.

They received what they pined for, but they had a curse with it. Affliction with a blessing is far better than prosperity with a curse.

Psalms 78:32. For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.

They were dyed ingrain with unbelief, so that it seemed as if it could not be washed out of them.

Psalms 78:33. Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.

A great part of our trouble is the fruit of our own unbelief. It is like hemlock in the furrows of the field. They who distrust God are making a rod for their own back; and before they have done with it, they will have to rue the day in which they thought themselves wiser than God.

Psalms 78:34-36. When he slew them, then they sought him : and they returned and inquired early after God. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.

Some men are like dull animals that will not go without the whip. Many of us cannot be kept right without constant affliction; if our God gives us a little smooth walking, we go half-asleep, or we trip and stumble; so he is compelled, as it were, to make our way very rough, and often to strike us with the rod, to keep us from falling altogether into sinful slumber. How many there are who, when they do seem to turn to God, in times of sickness, are not truly penitent! A death-bed repentance may be true; but, oh, what a risk there is that it may be false!

Psalms 78:37-51. For their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yes, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passes away, and comes not again. How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! Yes, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan : and had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink. He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them. He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labor unto the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost. He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts. He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them. He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence; and smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:

This is what God did with their enemies who had oppressed them, that he might set his people at liberty. After all that, ought they not to have trusted him as a little child trusts its mother, without ever a question or a doubt While he thus overthrew their enemies, see what he did for his own people.

Psalms 78:52-56. But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. Be cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies;

This sad note seems to come over and over again, as if they never could have too much of grieving God; yet the Lord was still tender towards them. Well may we sing, —

"Who is a pardoning God like you, you?

Or who has grace so rich and free?"

Psalms 78:57-64. But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; and delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand. He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance. The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage. Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.

They were dumb with excess of grief. When God chastises his children, he does not play at it. Sometimes, when be is angry at their sin, he lays on the blows fast and heavily, until their very bones are broken, so that they may hate sin as God hates it, and seek after holiness even as God loves it. So, dear friends, I pray that, if any of us have lost the consolations of God, and are feeling the weight of his rod, we may begin to inquire what secret thing it is in us which has angered him, and go back to him, and seek to stand before him as once we did; for, otherwise, he will smite, and smite, and smite yet again and again. But, notice, that the Lord never delights in chastening his children; he is glad to have done with the necessary correction. So, when their enemies were most cruel with them, —

Psalms 78:65-69. Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouts by reason of wine. And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach. Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim: but chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved. And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he has established forever.

You, you see that we are getting into clear water now; it was all broken water, storm and hurricane, while we heard of what Israel did; but when we come to deal with God in Christ, of whom David is the type, then how sweetly everything goes!

Psalms 78:70-72. He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: from following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

Blessed be God who puts away the sin of his people, because he delights in mercy!

Verses 10-61

 

The story of how the children of Israel behaved themselves towards their gracious God.

Psalms 78:10-16. They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; and forgot his works, and his wonders that he had showed them. Marvelous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through, and he made the waters to stand as an heap. In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. He cleave the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

In such a scene of miracles, surrounded by such prodigies of goodness, what did they do?

Psalms 78:17. And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.

What a fierce fire must sin be that it is even fed by the rivers of God’s goodness, and burns by means of that which ought to have quenched every spark of it. Yet there is such a fire as that raging in our hearts, and even God’s mercies will make us more sinful unless his abounding grace comes with them to teach us how to use them aright.

Psalms 78:18. And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

Not for their needs, but "for their lust." It is a dreadful thing when prayer itself is prostituted, and the mercy-seat becomes a place for the expression of sinful desires which ought never to have been in our hearts. It was so, however, with these children of Israel.

Psalms 78:19. Yes, they spoke against God;

As you, you read that "they spoke against God," you, you naturally suppose that they uttered some blasphemy, or some denial of his Deity. Listen and learn: —

Psalms 78:19. They said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

That is speaking against him, — to speak unbelievingly, — to speak in a questioning way concerning his power. I am afraid that there are very few of us who can plead innocence on this score.

Psalms 78:20. Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? Can he provide flesh for his people?

These things, which they lusted after, they also turned into subjects for unbelief; and they even misused the miracle, which they dared not deny.

Psalms 78:21-22. Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel. Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:

This was the provoking sin. The Lord would not endure such wanton and wicked unbelief as this. After he had turned the rocks into rivers, could he not turn the stones into bread, and the dust of the desert into flesh, if he chose to do so?

Psalms 78:23-32. Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of Heaven, and had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of Heaven. Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full. He caused an east wind to blow in the Heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered birds like as the sand of the sea: and he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; they were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel. For all this they sinned still,

Mercy failed to move them, and judgment failed too. The right hand of God’s gifts and the left hand of his chastisement were equally ignored.

Psalms 78:32-34. And believed not for his wondrous works. Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble. When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired early after God.

Perhaps some of them fought him even while they were dying; and the remnant that survived trembled, and "returned and inquired early after God."

Psalms 78:35-36. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.

Oh, this is terrible! One would have thought that they would have been sincere when they were broken down with sorrow, but it was not so. And I fear that the kind of religion which has to be whipped into us is never good for much. It must have in it the element of spontaneousness if it is to be sincere; it was not so with these people.

Psalms 78:37-41. For their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yes, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. For he remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away, and comes not again. How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! Yes, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.

In their unbelieving imagination, they circumscribed his power; they thought that he could do something, but not everything; they believed him one day, and doubted him the next.

Psalms 78:42-45. They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan: and had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink. He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.

All these judgments fell upon their enemies, but they failed to remember them,

Psalms 78:46-56. He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labor unto the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost. He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts. He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them. He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence; and smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham: but made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:

Oh, these terrible "yets"! Though God was faithful to the end, and kept his covenant, and brought them into the land which he swore to their fathers that he would give them. Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies."

Psalms 78:57-61. But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; and delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 78:10-61; and 1 Peter 4:1-13.

 

Chapter 79

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 80

 

Verses 1-19

 

Psalms 80:1-3. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you that lead Joseph like a flock; you that dwell between the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up your strength, and come and save us. Turn us again, O God, and cause your face to shine; and we shall be saved.

To whom could Israel go, in times of distress, but unto her God? It was well that her psalmists should teach her thus to pray. Notice the form of this prayer: "Come and save us. Turn us again, O God." We cannot be saved except by being turned from the ways of sin into the path of holiness.

But who shall turn us? What power can reverse the current of the human soul? As well might Niagara begin to ascend of its own accord as for man to turn to God except as God turns him.

Psalms 80:4-7. O Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry against the prayer of your people? You feed them with the bread of tears; and give them tears to drink in great measure. You make us a strife unto our neighbors: and our enemies laugh among themselves. Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause your face to shine; and we shall be saved.

Israel was evidently in very deep distress, yet still God’s own. It is no evidence of our having ceased to be God’s people that we are made to drink deep draughts of tears. We are not to imagine that God has cast us off because he chastens us; nay, rather are we to argue the other way, "for whom the Lord loves he chastens."

Psalms 80:8-15. You have brought a vine out of Egypt: you have cast out the heathen, and planted it. You prepare room before it, and did cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. Why have you then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood does waste it, and the wild beast of the field does devour it. Return, we beseech you, O God of hosts: look down from Heaven, and behold, and visit this vine; and the vineyard which your right hand has planted, and the branch that you made strong for yourself.

Notice how a soul, in deep distress, usually gets to God. Under some aspect or other, by some way or another, the heart gropes its way until it finds him out. If poor Israel be as a vineyard given up to the wild boar of the wood, there is still hope through that "righteous Branch" of whom the Lord said to Jeremiah, "In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely."

Psalms 80:16-17. It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, upon the son of man whom you made strong for yourself.

"If you will not hear us, yet hear him. If you will put no honor upon us, we will ask you to put the highest honors upon him. Save us for his sake. Deliver your vineyard from the wild boar and restore the hedges that have been broken down, for is not this the vineyard of red wine which all belongs to him?"

Psalms 80:18-19. So will not we go back from you: quicken us, and we will call upon your name. Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause your face to shine; and we shall be saved.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 80; and Matthew 9:36-38; Matthew 10.

 

Chapter 81

 

Verses 1-16

 

Psalms 81:1. Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.

In these days, the Psalm would have to be altered if they are to suit the dogmas of modern thought, for "the God of Jacob" is altogether rejected by those wondrous thinkers who think they know so much. The God of the New Testament, they say, is a very different Being from the God of the Old Testament. According to them, the Old Testament God is too stern; but the New Testament God is far softer, quite effeminate, indeed, if they rightly describe him. But we do not hesitate to say, over and over again that the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,-the immutable and unchangeable One,-the God of Sinai, is as much our God as the God of Calvary, so we delight "to make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob."

Psalms 81:2-6. Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not. I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.

Child of God, have you, you forgotten the time of your deliverance? God has not; and here he reminds his people Israel of their deliverance out of Egypt. So he says concerning you, you, "I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots." Do you, you not remember the joy of that glad moment when the burden of sin was taken away from you, you, and the pots of your own self-salvation lay broken at your feet? Glory be to him who brought us out from that terrible house of bondage!

Psalms 81:7. You called in trouble, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder: I proved you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

But how sadly did they stand the test! You, you and I, too, have not only received much mercy at the hand of God, but we also have had our testing-times. We can look back to the waters of strife with deep regret that there we failed so sadly.

Psalms 81:8-10. Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto you: O Israel, if you will hearken unto me; there shall no strange God be in you; neither shall you worship any strange God. I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt: open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

What a wondering verse this is! We have been so accustomed to hear the expression, "I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt," followed by the law; but here it is followed by a gracious encouragement to us to pray: "Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." Whatever force the law derived from that preface, this exhortation derives the same force, and no child of God ought to forget that. He who delivered you, you from the burden of sin bids you, you open your mouth wide, and he will fill it; and after your deliverance from guilt, do you, you not feel that you, you may well ask great things of such a gracious God?

Psalms 81:11-15. But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own heart lust: and they walked in their own counsels. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued the enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured forever.

Alas, poor Israel! Through what sufferings and captivities did you go because you would not trust in the Lord, and how often some of God’s children have had to go through years of sorrow and spiritual captivity because of their lack of close walking with their God, and complete obedience to him! May we learn from the sins of others, and be helped to walk closely with our Master!

Psalms 81:16. He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied you.

If the Word of God does not seem to feed us as once it did, it will surely be because we have not hearkened to our Lord, or walked in his ways. May he give us grace to render complete obedience to his holy will!

"So shall your choicest gifts, O Lord,

Your faithful people bless,

For them shall earth its stores afford and Heaven in happiness."

 

Chapter 82

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 83

 

Verses 1-18

 

This is a Psalm that is not often read, and very seldom expounded, I should think. According to the title, it is "A Song or Psalm of Asaph." Asaph is one of a little group of poets who flourished side by side with David. This is a patriotic hymn. The nation was about to be attacked by many adversaries; so, like a true patriot, the poet desired that God would give the victory to his people, and deliver them. You, you may regard this Psalm as a prophecy, it reads like a prayer or wish of the writer, and no doubt it is so; but it may also be read as a prophecy of what will happen to the enemies of God’s people.

Psalms 83:1-2. Keep not you silence, O God: hold not your peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, your enemies make a tumult: and they that hate you have lifted up the head.

God’s enemies are making a noise, and the psalmist’s prayer is that the Lord himself will speak and answer them. God’s voice made the heavens and the earth: "He spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." A single word from him will win the day. The poet’s prayer is not, "Grant a leader bold and brave," but, "Lord, speak, speak!" "For, lo, your enemies make a tumult." The enemies of Israel were the enemies of God. If they were our enemies only, we might keep silence; but as they are also the enemies of God, our loyalty to the Lord compels us to cry unto him to speak against them.

Psalms 83:3. They have taken crafty counsel against your people, and consulted against your hidden ones.

Craft goes with power in plotting against God’s people. The seed of the serpent are like him from whom they came, and of him it is said, "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made;" and the seed of the serpent are very full of crafty counsel and subtlety. This the psalmist mentions in his prayer, and then he looks to God to countermine their mines, to baffle their craft, and by his wisdom to save his people.

Psalms 83:4. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

So terrible was the anger of these nations against God’s people that nothing would content them but the destruction of Israel, the blotting out of its very name from the memory of men; and I am sure that, if the world could have its way, it would extinguish the Church of Christ. You, you notice, in these days of boasted liberality and pretended charity, that the charity is only for error; but for the old gospel there is no charity. The cry concerning it is, "Let it be cut to pieces; let it be destroyed. It is an old nuisance, put it out of the way." This is how the enemies of God would have it, "that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance."

Psalms 83:5. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against you:

There were many nations of heathens, and they were agreed in nothing except in their hatred of Israel. There they were agreed, as Herod was the friend of Pilate while Christ was under examination, but not at any other time. The psalmist mentions ten different nations which had banded themselves together against God’s chosen people Israel. Ten against one is long odds but then God was on the side of Israel. One man with God is in the majority, however many there may be on the other side, for God counts for more than all who can be against him.

Psalms 83:6. The tabernacles of Edom,

These descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother, ought to have been the best friends of Israel, but they were the worst of their enemies. How often does it happen that kinship in blood makes no kinship in grace! "A man’s foes shall be they of his own household."

Psalms 83:6. And the Ishmaelites;

These again were near akin to the seed of Abraham and Isaac; but the Ishmaelites were always among the most bitter enemies of Israel.

Psalms 83:6. Of Moab,

Moab was descended from a daughter of Lot.

Psalms 83:6. And the Hagarenes;

Perhaps descended from Hagar by some other husband.

Psalms 83:7. Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek;

All these were hereditary enemies of Israel, Amalek especially so, for God had determined that there should be war with Amalek throughout all generations.

Psalms 83:7. The Philistines —

These were the old enemies of Israel. Remember how Samson fought with them, and what tugs of war David had with them.

Psalms 83:7. With the inhabitants of Tyre;

What were they about in warring against God’s people? They were merchants, shippers. Yes; but it sometimes happens that, when worldly craft is in danger, men of trade and commerce can be as bitter against true religion as anybody else.

Psalms 83:8. Assur also is joined with them: they have helped the children of Lot. Selah.

Here is a mention of the growing power of Assyria. What a host there was, what a band of enemies against God’s people! Oh, dear friends, I trust that none of us will have our names written in this black list! Be not enemies of God and of his truth; for, if so, you, you will wage a losing battle. Let the tow fight with the flame, or the dust with the wind, they will speedily be overcome, and woe be unto the man who contends with his Maker! What can he do? Let us, brethren, be on God’s side. God grant, of his grace, that we may never lift a hand against his cause!

Now comes the prayer or prophecy of the poet.

Psalms 83:9-10. Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison: which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.

In those great battles the enemies of the Lord and his people were utterly cut in pieces. Mighty men as they were, they left their corpses to manure the soil.

Psalms 83:11. Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yes, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna.

These were four princes who were slain by Gideon and his allies; two of them bore the names of wolf and raven, — cruel names, and war is ever a cruel thing. But what had they done, these men of arms, these mighty warriors? The psalmist tells us: —

Psalms 83:12. Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.

They were not content with their own houses, they wanted God’s houses; and there are some men who can never rest except when they are doing mischief to the cause and cross of Christ. Woe unto them, for the fate of Oreb and Zeeb shall be theirs in due time!

Psalms 83:13. O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

Or rather, "You shall make them a wheel," never still. The real translation, I think, would be, "Make them like those light dry flowers which are blown by the wind across the plains." Mr. Thomson, in his Land and the Book, speaks of the branches of the wild artichoke which form a sphere or globe a foot or more in diameter, and he says that he has seen thousands of them come wheeling along. Isaiah calls them, "a rolling thing before the whirlwind." A puff of wind would come and take them in one direction, and then a contrary wind would drive them in quite another direction, they are so light, downy, gossamer-like, that they never can rest. Now this is just what happens to many men who set themselves against God and his grace. They are like rolling things never at rest, believing nothing, knowing nothing, hoping nothing, comforted by nothing, they are like a wheel. Oh, that we may never know by personal experience what this means, "Make them like a wheel, as the stubble before the wind"! You, you know how that is; the stubble is blown up, down, to the right, to the left, whichever way the wind blows. Are any of you, you like that tonight? Have you, you no stability? Have you, you no good hope for the future? When you, you think about death and eternity, are you, you like the stubble before the wind? If so, God have mercy upon you, you, and bring you, you to the only place where you, you can obtain salvation and stability!

Psalms 83:14. As the fire burns a wood, and as the flame sets the mountains on fire;

Travelers tell us that they have sometimes seen the sides of mountains all ablaze where the timber, growing old, and everything being dry in the heat of summer, a chance spark has set the whole on a flame. This is what God will do with his enemies. He will as certainly and as readily destroy them as the wood is burnt with fire, or the mountain’s side is consumed by the raging flames. Who will stand against God then? Who will dare attempt it? Consider his great might, and flee from his wrath.

Psalms 83:15. So persecute them with your tempest,

Or, "You will so follow them up with your tempest."

Psalms 83:15-16. And make them afraid with your storm. Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek your name, O Lord.

That is the prayer which we might pray tonight for all those who are denying the Godhead of Christ, and his great sacrifice of the Cross, and for all who reject the inspiration of Scripture and the blessed doctrines of grace. "O Lord, fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name!" Oh, that men did but know their own character! If they did but feel ashamed of their own sin, they might be led to seek the name of God.

Psalms 83:17. Let them be confounded and troubled forever;

Or rather, "They shall be confounded and troubled forever." That is an awful passage, "Confounded and troubled forever."

Psalms 83:17-18. Yes, let them be put to shame, and perish: that men may know that you, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, are the most high over all the earth.

You, you notice that, when I read the Scriptures, wherever I find the word Lord in capital letters, I read it as Jehovah, for so it should be. I wish that the translators of the Revised Version had had the courage of their convictions, and had so translated it, for we want that grand name back, Jah, Jehovah. Let me entreat you, you never to trifle as some do with that sacred word Hallelujah, or Hallelujah, praise to Jehovah.

 

Chapter 84

 

Verses 1-12

 

To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. It is thought, by some interpreters, that Gittith signifies the winepress. They must have been a very godly people who sang such songs as this in the time of the treading out of the grapes. Oh, that the day were come when the common places of our ordinary industries should be sanctified by psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs! Alas, at the winepress, men too often sing loose and lascivious songs; but these ancient people of God did not so. This Psalm is a song to the chief musician, and it is mainly concerning the house of God and the pilgrimage to it. Every sacred song should be sung at its best, we should call out the chief musician in every hymn that is dedicated to the service of the Lord.

"To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah." I have often reminded you, you that these sons of Korah owed their continued existence to an act of special sovereign grace. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and all their company, were swallowed up alive, they went down to the pit because of their rebellion; but in the Book of Numbers we read, "Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not." Why they were spared, we cannot tell; but, ever after, they were made to be the singers of the sanctuary. They who are saved by sovereign grace are the most fit to praise the name of the Lord. The sons of Korah also became door-keepers to the house of the Lord; and hence, probably, is the allusion to a doorkeeper which we find in this Psalm.

Psalms 84:1. How amiable are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!

"How amiable " — how lovely "are your tabernacles!" The temple was not then built; the Lord’s house was as yet only a tent, so that it is not the glory of architecture that makes the house to be lovely, the glory of it is the indwelling God. "How amiable are your tabernacles!" That is to say, every part of it is lovely. The outer court, the inner court, the Holy of Holies, all the different parts in that ancient sacred shrine were lovely to the psalmist’s eye. He does not tell us how lovely they were; he leaves off with a note of exclamation, as if he could not measure with his golden rod this city of the great King. "’How lovely are your tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts,’ —lovely because they are your! They are our tabernacles if we gather in them; but they are your because you are there, and therefore are they most lovely to our eyes."

Psalms 84:2. My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh cries out for the living God.

His soul longed until, as it were, it grew pale, — for so the Hebrew may be rendered, — it grew white with faintness in the intensity of his desire to get up to the courts where God was to be found. God is a King, his ancient tabernacle was one of his royal palaces, so David longed to be a courtier there, that he might dwell in the courts of Jehovah. When he says that his flesh cried out for the living God, he does not mean flesh in the sense in which Paul uses the term, for in that flesh there dwells no good thing; but the psalmist means to express here the whole of his nature, "My soul, my heart, and my flesh." The combination of his entire malehood, spirit, soul, and body, was moved with such intense agony of desire that it must express itself, and it could only express itself in a cry: "My heart and my flesh cries out for the living God." If it be so with you, you, my brethren, at this time, you, you shall have a feast of fat things. He who comes to God’s table with a good appetite shall never go away unsatisfied. It is want of desire which often hinders us from spiritual delight; but when the desire is set upon God, it shall be satisfied. I fear that we often come to the wells of salvation, and yet get nothing, because merely coming to the wells is nothing. We read in Isaiah, "With joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation." It is not the wells, but the water out of them, which will refresh the weary one. Do not be content with being here, in your pew, in the midst of this great congregation; but long after the living God himself, for he alone can refresh and revive your soul and spirit. Say, with David, "My heart and my oftlineflesh cries out for the living God."

Psalms 84:3. Yes. the sparrow has found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God.

These little birds, so insignificant in themselves, were full of holy courage, and with sweet familiarity they came even into the sacred place. They hung upon the caves of God’s house, they even dared to make their nests there.

"O make me like the sparrows blessed,

To dwell but where I love!"

O my Lord, give me the privilege of the swallow; not only to dwell with you, but to see my young ones, too, all round your altars, that I may find with you, my God, a nest where I may lay my young! Is not this your desire, my brother, my sister, to have God for yourself, and God for your boys, and God for your girls, — to be yourself God’s servant, and to have all your children his children, too? If so, God grant you, you the desire of your heart! How sweetly does David address the Lord: "O Jehovah of hosts, my King, and my God!" The people of God are very fond of my’s, they love possessive pronouns: "my King, and my God." God is good, but what is another man’s God to me if he be not mine? I must have him for my King, and my God, or else I shall not really long for him, or cry out after him, or delight in him.

Psalms 84:4. Blessed are they that dwell in your house: they will be still praising you.

The nearer to God you, you are in your life, the sweeter and more constant will be your song to him. They who dwell with God dwell where there must be singing.

"Where God does dwell, sure Heaven is there,

And singing there must be:

Since, Lord, your presence makes my Heaven,

Whom should I sing but you?"

Blessed are they who always dwell where you dwell, O my God! "They will be still praising you."

Psalms 84:4. Selah.

Screw up the harp strings, set the music to a higher key; lift up the heart also, let the soul rise to something sweeter still in praise of Jehovah.

Psalms 84:5. Blessed is the man whose strength is in you; in whose heart are the ways —

Or," Your ways." It is not every man who is in God’s house who is blessed; the blessed man is the one who has brought his heart with him. It is not every man who is in God’s ways who is blessed; but the man whose strength is in those ways, who throws his whole heart and soul into the worship. Half-hearted worship is dreary work, it is like a blind horse going round in a mill; but when the heart is in the service, we feel then as if we could dance for joy in the presence of the Lord our God: "Blessed is the man whose strength is in you, in whose heart are your ways."

Psalms 84:6-7. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also fills the pools. They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appears before God.

We do not know at this date what that valley of Baca was, for the land has been to so large an extent destroyed. This ancient song retains the name of the valley of Baca, but it does not explain to us where or what the place was. Perhaps, it was a dry and thirsty valley in which, in order to pass through it at all, the pilgrims dug wells that there might be refreshment for their journey. There are many such valleys on the road to Heaven, —dark and lonesome, dry and barren, — but God’s people learn to dig wells there. Only mark that, though we dig the wells, the water to fill them does not rise up from the bottom, it falls down from above: "The rain also fills the pools." In the kingdom of Heaven, there are some analogies with the kingdom of nature; but there are a great many heavenly things that have no earthly analogy at all, and you, you cannot with any accuracy argue from natural laws into the spiritual world. For instance, we have "an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast," and we throw that anchor up: "which enters into that within the veil." Whereas earthly mariners drop their anchors down into the sea, we fling ours up into Heaven. That is odd, but it is true; so, we dig a well, but it does not get filled from the bottom: "The rain also fills the pools." This is a new kind of well, and it teaches us that we must use the means, but that everything depends upon God. We have not to depend upon the means, but upon the God of the means: "The rain also fills the pools." See, further, brethren, what the way to Heaven is; it is a growing way, an increasing way: "They go from strength to strength." Those who begin in their own strength go from weakness to weakness; but (hose who know their own weakness, and trust in the Almighty God, shall go from strength to strength. In the natural world, as we grow older, we get weaker; but in the moral and spiritual world, when it is as it should be, the older we grow, the stronger we become in God and in the power of his might. What a mercy it is to be on the road to Heaven, which is a road ever upwards! From step to step, from hill to hill, from mount to mount, they climb who shall ultimately end their pilgrimage in the King’s palace above: "Every one of them in Zion appears before God."

Psalms 84:8-9. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of your anointed.

See what a rise there is in the music here, from "Hear my prayer," to "Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of your anointed." "When you can not look on me, look on your Anointed."

"Him, and then the sinner see,

Look through Jesus’ wounds on me."

When God looks at us, he may well be angry; but when he looks upon Christ, he must be glad and full of love.

Psalms 84:10. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand.

That is, better than a thousand spent anywhere else. You, you see, we have not yet come to the country where we can keep at God’s public worship all the year together, we have to get it a day at a time. Have you, you not often wished that there were seven Sundays in the week? I am sure that you, you have when God has fed your souls, and made your spirits merry in the house of prayer.

Then have you, you sighed for the land —

"Where congregations ne’er break up,

And Sabbaths have no end."

If you, you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you, you shall come there by-and-by; but, at present, you, you must be satisfied with a day at a time in the courts of the Lord, yet the Lord can crowd mercies into one day with such a marvelous compression of grace that we shall seem to get three years’ food in a single day. The Lord make this day to be a sort of millennial day "A day in your courts is better than a thousand" spent anywhere else.

Psalms 84:10. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

As I said before, the sons of Korah were door-keepers to the house of the Lord, and this Psalm is for them. You, you know that our poor door-keepers generally have many to find fault with them, somebody or other is sure to feel disobliged; door-keeping is no very remunerative work, no very easy and pleasing task; "yet," says David, King David himself, — "I would take off my crown of gold, and turn pew-opener; I would wish to be even a door-keeper in the house of the Lord, so long as I might but be with my God; and that position would be far better than feasting and rioting in royal pavilions with the wicked."

Psalms 84:11. For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Take notice of the whole of that last sentence; do not go and quote half of it, and say, "God has promised that he will withhold no good thing." It is only promised to "them that walk uprightly"; and if you, you walk crookedly, the promise does not belong to you, you. It is upright walking that brings downright blessing. You, you shall lack no good thing from God, when your whole heart is made good towards God.

Psalms 84:12. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusts in you.

May all of us know this blessedness! Amen.

 

Chapter 85

 

Verses 1-13

 

In my brief comments upon this Psalm, I shall not feel bound to keep to the immediate occasion for which it was written, but shall seek to find a use for it in the present circumstances of God’s saints.

Psalms 85:1. Lord, you have been favorable unto the land: you have brought back the captivity of Jacob.

Whenever you, you are in a low state of mind or heart, remember God’s past lovingkindnesses. Recall the record of what he has done for his people in ages long gone by, for he is the same God forever and ever, and, therefore, what he has done in the past, he will do in the future. As the wise man said, "The thing that has been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the Sun." It is certainly so concerning God’s dealings "Lord you have been favorable unto your land," even when it was stoned with ‘sin’ "you have brought Back the captivity of Jacob." even when that captivity was brought upon the people by their own fault. Lord, bring back my captivity! Be favorable unto me; Deliver me from my spiritual declensions, and give me back my joy and peace:

Psalms 85:2. You have forgiven the iniquity of your people, you have covered all their sin. Selah.

What a sweet subject for our meditation we found, last Lord’s-day morning, in those words of the psalmist, "Who forgives all your iniquities"! Now, if God has indeed blotted out the sin of his people, at a plea this is to use with him for all that we still need from him! Will he pardon us, and yet leave us to perish? Will he pay such a ransom price as the blood of his well-beloved Son to set us free from the bondage of sin, and then will he not help us even to the end? Will he not lift up our heavy heart, and revive our drooping spirit? Ah! that he will if we know how to plead his former mercy, and to urge upon him that, because he has forgiven our iniquity, and covered all our sin, he should now heal our diseases, redeem our life from destruction, and crown us with loving-kindness and tender mercies.

Psalms 85:3-4. You have taken away all your wrath: you have turned yourself from the fierceness of your anger. Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause your anger toward us to cease.

"Let us have a special application of the general mercy. Your wrath to your children has passed away; so let us no longer sit down, and cower beneath it, fearful of its terrors. Lord, bring us back to you! Our heart desires conversion, but you alone can give it to us to the full. Turn us, O God of our salvation, and we shall be turned."

Psalms 85:6. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you draw out your anger to all generations?

"You might well do so if you were dealing with us only according to the strict requirements of your righteous law; but we are your children, Lord; and is a father always angry with his children? You have forgiven us our iniquity; and, therefore, the great cause of your wrath against us is gone. Now, O Lord, reveal your love to us! Let us not any longer be under the sense of our guilt, or feel the absence of the joy and peace which you give unto those whom you forgive."

Psalms 85:6. Will you not revive us again: that your people may rejoice in you?

"We have got down very low, great God. We have been, these last six days, mixing with the world, and perhaps we have forgotten you. Come to us, we pray you. Give us fresh life; ‘revive us again.’ Many a time have you, spiritually, raised us up as from the grave’s mouth; will you not do it again? All that you have done for us in the past will be lost if you do not continue your mercy to us. ‘Will you not revive us again?’ You love to see us happy, and you are yourself the happy God; oh, make us happy, too,

by reviving us, ‘that your people may rejoice in you’!"

Psalms 85:7. Show us your mercy, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.

So far, the Psalm is a prayer. Now the psalmist seems to stop, and wait for the answer to his supplication. Beloved, always do that when you, you pray. When you, you have spoken to God, wait for him to speak to you, you. Do not let it appear that your prayer needs no answer; but really expect a reply to it, and then, in patience and in silence, wait for it.

Psalms 85:8. I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.

For, if they do, their darkness will return, and they will again have to mourn their Lord’s absence. Perhaps, the rod will fall more heavily upon them, and their souls will sink into a deeper despondency. For a Christian to be a fool once, is a sad thing; but for him to turn again to folly, is a multiplied form of iniquity which God will surely punish.

Psalms 85:9. Surely his salvation is near them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.

O beloved brethren and sisters, lay hold on that salvation which is near unto you, you, and exalt in it; and, even now, let your spirits feel the glow of his glory shining in your soul!

Psalms 85:10. Mercy and truth are met together;

But only at one place,—the cross of Calvary, where Jesus died; there, "mercy and truth are met together;"

Psalms 85:10. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Through Christ’s death, sin has been punished, sinners are saved, God’s law is vindicated, and the depths of his mercy are displayed: "Righteousness and peace have kissed each other."

Psalms 85:11. Truth shall spring out of the earth;--

Promises, which lay hidden in God’s Word, like seeds buried in the earth, shall spring up before our eyes, like flowers carpeting the earth with beauty: "Truth shall spring out of the earth;"—

Psalms 85:11. And righteousness shall look down from Heaven.

As if so pleased with the state of things brought about by the atoning sacrifice of Christ that it flung up the windows of Heaven to look down and see this great sight: "Righteousness shall look down from Heaven."

Psalms 85:12-13. Yes, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

May God thus revive us, by his Holy Spirit, for Christ’s sake! Amen.

 

Chapter 86

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 87

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 88

 

Verses 1-18

 

A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahaloth Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. I think that this is the darkest of all the Psalms; it has hardly a spot of light in it. The only bright words that I know of are in the first verse the rest of the Psalm is very dark, and very dreary. Why, then, am I going to read it? Because, it may be, there is some poor heart here that is very heavy; you, you cannot tell out of this great crowd how many sorrowing and burdened spirits there may be among us; but there may be a dozen or two of persons who are driven almost to despair. My dear friend, if this is your case, I want you, you to know that somebody else has been just where you, you are. Remember how the shipwrecked man upon the lonely island all of a sudden came upon the footprints of another human being; so here, on the lone island of despondency, you, you shall be able to trace the footprints of another who has been there before you, you. Hear how he prays

Psalms 88:1. O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you:

It was only a cry, a cry as of an animal in pain, or at best the cry as of a child that has lost its mother: "I have cried day and night before you."

Psalms 88:2. Let my prayer come before you:

"Give me an audience, O Lord. Do not shut the door in my face. My prayer has been knocking, knocking, knocking, at your gate; open to it. ‘Let my prayer come before you.’"

Psalms 88:2. Incline your ear unto my cry;

"Stoop down to me out of Heaven, O Lord. Bow that ear of your to hear even my feeble and unworthy cry. I know that I do not deserve it. I know that it will be a great act of condescension on your part; but do ‘incline your ear unto my cry.’"

Psalms 88:3. For my soul is full of troubles:

"Full of troubles, brimming over with grief, and every drop of it is as bitter as gall."

Psalms 88:3-4. And my life draws near unto the grave. I am counted with them that go down into the pit:

"They put me down as a dead man. They that see the lines of fierce despair upon my face reckon that I cannot live long: ‘I am counted with them that go down into the pit.’" These were his pleas in crying unto God,-"

Distresses round me thicken,

My life draws near the grave;

Descend, O Lord, to quicken,

Descend, my soul to save!"

Psalms 88:4. I am as a man that has no strength:

Here is one, in the time of manhood when he should be strongest, who yet says, "I am as a man that has no strength." This subject may not interest some of you, you, just now; but it is here, so we must mention it; and it may be wanted even by you, you one of these days. Bright eyes are not always bright, and the earthly joy that leaps and dances does not abide for ever. The dry may come when you, you will turn to this Psalm with the two eights to it, and find comfort in it because it describes your case also.

Psalms 88:5. Free among the dead,-

A freeman of the sepulcher, at home at death’s dark door: "Free among the dead,"

Psalms 88:5. Like the slain that lie in the grave, whom you remember no more: and they are cut off from your hand.

This is perhaps the most awful depth of the whole Psalm. The writer bemoaned that be was not remembered even by God any more, and that he was cut off from God’s hand at least, so he thought.

Psalms 88:6-7. You have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Your wrath lies hard upon me, and you have afflicted me with all your waves. Selah,

Very properly here comes a "Selah." Such a strain upon the harp-strings had put them all out of tune; so the players had notice to retune their harps, and the singers were bidden to lift up the strain of their song. It seems to me as if the writer here lifted his head above the waves of the tempestuous sea, and still kept on swimming.

Psalms 88:8. You have put away mine acquaintance far from me; you have made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

This is the utterance of a soul imprisoned in solitary confinement, nobody able to come to it to breathe out consolation: "You have put away mine acquaintance far from me. They cannot come to me, and I am shut up, and I cannot come forth to them."

Psalms 88:9. Mine eye mourns by reason of affliction: Lord, I have called daily upon you, I have stretched out my hands unto you.

Now hear how the psalmist pleads with the Lord. Prayer is always best when it rises to pleading. The man who understands the sacred art of prayer becomes a special pleader with God.

Psalms 88:10. Will you show wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise you? Selah.

"Shall the dead arise, and praise you?" Not in this life, though the godly will praise the Lord in the world to come. But now, when a Christian man dies, God loses a chorister from the choirs of earth, there is one the less to sing his praises here; and the psalmist therefore pleads: "Lord, if I live, you can show your wonders to me; but will you show your wonders to the dead? If I am alive, I can praise you; but shall the dead arise, and praise you?"

Psalms 88:11-12. Shall your loving-kindness be declared in the grave? or your faithfulness in destruction? Shall your wonders be known in the dark? and your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

He pleads that, if he dies, he shall not be able to tell out the mercy of the Lord. God will lose a singer from his earthly choir, a witness from his earthly courts, a testifier of his loving-kindness, and faithfulness, and righteousness.

Psalms 88:13. But unto you have I cried, O Lord and in the morning shall my prayer repent you.

"I will be up early, before you come to me. I will be first to approach you. I will salute the rising sun with my rising prayer."

Psalms 88:14. Lord, why cast you off my soul? why hide you your face from me?

Note again the earnestness of the psalmist’s pleadings. We have had many of them already; each verse has, I think, had at least two pleadings in it. If you would be heard with God, take care that you do reason with him, and press your arguments with the Most High. He delights in this exercise of persevering supplication which will take no denial.

Psalms 88:15-18. I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer your terrors I am distracted. Your fierce wrath goes over me; your terrors have cut me off. They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together. Lover and friend have you put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

There the Psalm ends. It is a sorrowful wail, and it comes to a close when you, you do not expect it to finish. It really has no finish to it, as when men wind up their songs with proper finales; but it is broken off, like a lily snapped at the stalk. I have read you, you this eighty-eighth Psalm as an example of persevering prayer. The man who wrote it-"Heman the Ezrahite"-kept on praying even when he did not seem to be heard, and thus he is a pattern to us. Yet notice how the next Psalm begins: "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord." It is not always the sorrowful sackbut that is to be in our hand; we can play the joyous harp as well. "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever." "I will never leave off praising him." "With my mouth will I make known your faithfulness to all generations."

 

Chapter 89

 

Verses 1-37

 

Psalms 89:1-2. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever: with my mouth will I make known your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever: your faithfulness shall you establish in the very heavens.

So far, the gracious man declares the resolution of his heart to praise his God forever, and gives the reason for that resolve. Now he quotes the Lord’s covenant with David —

Psalms 89:3-4. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Your seed will I establish for ever, and build up your throne to all generations. Selah.

That covenant, as you, you well know, was not only made with David, but it had a higher spiritual bearing, for it related to that great and glorious Son of David who still reigns, and shall reign forever, and in whom every covenant blessing is secured.

Psalms 89:5. And the heavens shall praise your wonders, O Lord: your faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.

It is often very profitable, when we are enjoying fellowship with God, for us to speak to God, and then wait for God to speak to us. It is so here you, you see. First the psalmist says that he will praise God forever, then God tells him of his covenant, and explains to him the reason why mercy shall be built up forever, and then the man of God begins to praise God again. That will give you, you a hint for your own private devotion. Sometimes you, you feel that you, you cannot praise God, and cannot pray to him. Well, then, if you, you cannot speak to God, sit still, and let him speak to you, you. Read a portion of Scripture, and then, perhaps, some suggestive verse or word in it will set you, you praying; and then, when you, you have prayed, stop a little while, and read again; and so a blessed conversation shall be carried on between you, you and your God. Thus the psalmist takes his turn again: "And the heavens shall praise your wonders, O Lord: your faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints."

Psalms 89:6-7. For who in the Heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord? God is greatly to be feared —

That is, reverenced, —

Psalms 89:7-9. In the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto you? or to your faithfulness round about you? You rule the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, you stillest them.

He lets them arise, and he bids them sink down again. All the providential dealings of God seem to be illustrated in the ever-varying phenomena of the sea. The Lord sometimes lets tempests arise in our circumstances, and anon with a Word he stills them, and there is a great calm.

Psalms 89:10. You have broken Rahab in pieces as one that is slain; —

The great crocodile of Egypt; —

Psalms 89:10-12. You have scattered your enemies with your strong arm. The heavens are your, the earth also is your: as for the world and the fullness thereof, you have founded them. The north and the south you have created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in your name.

Oh, what a blessed spirit the spirit of true devotion is! There is such life in it that it seems to quicken all inanimate creation, and make the rocks and mountains to sing, and the trees of the wood to clap their hands, and the waves of the sea to praise the great Creator. So the whole world is like a great organ, and man, guided by God’s Spirit, puts his fingers on the keys, and wakes the whole to the thunder of adoration and praise. Oh to be taught of God to have a praiseful heart, for then all around us will be more likely also to praise Jehovah.

Psalms 89:13-14. You have a mighty arm: strong is your hand, and high is your right hand. Justice and judgment are the habitation of your throne: mercy and truth shall go before your face.

There are wells of joy in this verse to those who know how to draw it up. It is a great delight to every man who is oppressed to know that justice and judgment stand, like armed sentinels, on either side of the throne of God and to every human soul, conscious of unworthiness, it is an unspeakable delight that mercy and truth, like royal heralds, go before God wherever he goes. It has been well said that a God all mercy would be a God unjust; but a God all justice without mercy would be terrible indeed.

Psalms 89:15-21. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance. In your name shall they rejoice all the day: and in your righteousness shall they be exalted. For you are the glory of their strength: and in your favor our horn shall be exalted. For the Lord is our defense; and the Holy One of Israel is our king. Then you spoke in vision to your holy one, and said, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: with whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

David was a great blessing to the nation over which God made him king. Among the choicest gifts that God ever gives to men are men; and therefore we read, concerning Christ, "When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men;" and those gifts were men, for "he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." These were the choice ascension gifts of Christ. Yet, while these verses primarily refer to David the king of Israel, we must believe that a greater than David is here, even Christ, who deigns to call himself God’s servant, who has been anointed by the Spirit of God, with whom God’s hand is always established, and who is ever strengthened by the arm of Omnipotence.

Psalms 89:22-25. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea and his right hand in the rivers.

Do not believe, dear friends, any of the prophecies that some men make concerning the destruction of the kingdom of Christ and the failure of his Church; but be certain that the Lord will not suffer Christ to fail or be discouraged, and rest assured that the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. The history of the Church of Christ is a history of conflict, but it shall be a history of victory before it is completed: "I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers."

Psalms 89:26-34. He shall cry unto me, You are my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of Heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, or alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

If, then, you, you are in the covenant, you, you will have the rod; you, you may rest sure of that. If you, you do not walk in God’s ways, but break his statutes, you, you will not be allowed to go unchastened. If a father saw some boys in the street breaking windows or otherwise misbehaving themselves, and he gave one of the boys a box on the ears, you, you may be pretty certain that the boy is his own son. And when God sees men doing wrong, he often permits the wicked to go unpunished in this life; but as for his own people, it is written, "You, you only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you, you for all your iniquities." Our heavenly Father’s hand still holds the rod, and uses it when necessary; but it is in love that he corrects us. Let us, therefore, when he chastens us, plead the covenant that is here recorded, and say to him, "You have said, ‘Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.’"

Psalms 89:35-37. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in Heaven. Selah.

 

Verses 1-52

 

Psalms 89:1-2. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever: with my mouth will I make known your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever: your faithfulness shall you establish in the very heavens.

Here is an eternal song concerning eternal mercy. The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, so the saints’ praise for the never-ending mercy must itself be without end. The psalmist has made known God’s faithfulness to all generations, not only by speaking of it, but especially by writing of it, for that which is written abides when that which is merely spoken is soon forgotten. God’s faithfulness concerns Heaven as well as earth, and he will establish it "in the very heavens."

Psalms 89:3-4. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Your seed will I establish for ever, and build up your throne to all generations. Selah.

The complete fulfillment of this glorious covenant promise concerns, not only David and his seed, but "great David’s greater Son" and his spiritual seed, the chosen people with whom the Lord has made "an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure."

Psalms 89:5-7. And the heavens shall praise your wonders O Lord: your faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. For who in the Heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

A holy reverence is becoming in all who draw near to the thrice-holy Jehovah, whether in the upper sanctuary or in the congregation of the saints on earth. In his gracious condescension, he allows his people wondrous familiarity in their approaches to him, yet this must never make them forget the infinite distance that separates the Creator from even the highest and holiest of his creatures.

Psalms 89:8-10. O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto you? or to your faithfulness round about you? You rule the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, you stillest them. You have broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; you have scattered your enemies with your strong arm.

The ruling of the raging of the sea, the stilling of the stormy waves, and the breaking and scattering of the might of Egypt are used by the psalmist to illustrate the omnipotence of Jehovah, before which the mightiest monarchy on earth had no more power than if it had been a corpse.

Psalms 89:11-12. The heavens are your, the earth also is your: as for the world and the fullness thereof, you have founded them. The north and the south you has created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in your name.

The psalmist rejoices in the Lord as the Creator and Possessor of the heavens above and the earth beneath. "All things were created by him, and for him."

Psalms 89:13. You have a mighty arm: strong is your hand, and high is your right hand.

Amid all the varying expressions that the psalmist uses, he continues to admire and magnify God’s majestic might. Whether for the defense of his people or the overthrow of his enemies, his arm is mighty, yes, more than that, for it is almighty. No human language can adequately describe that glorious hand which has only to be opened to satisfy the desire of every living thing.

Psalms 89:14. Justice and judgment are the habitation of your throne: mercy and truth shall go before your face.

What blessed heralds does the Lord employ! "Mercy and truth shall go before your face." It is these gracious attributes, especially as they are displayed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, that enable us even to welcome those sterner attributes, "justice and judgment," which are the habitation of God’s throne.

Psalms 89:15. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound:

There are many that hear it, but perhaps not one out of a thousand of them that really know it. The hearing of the joyful sound is not sufficient to make people blessed, though faith comes by hearing; it is the understanding of what is meant by the glad tidings, it is the reception of the gospel message which brings immediate and eternal blessedness.

Psalms 89:15. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance.

The practical effect of a saving knowledge of the gospel is a holy walk, a walk of communion with God. Dear friends, do you, you walk in that way? Do you, you know the joyful sound? Can you, you discern the difference between the true and the false gospel? Can you, you distinguish the contrast between the harmonies of the one and the discords of the other? Do you, you know the inner secret of the heavenly music? Has it ever vibrated in your own souls? Happy are you if this be the case with you, you. The psalmist goes on to show how such people are blessed.

Psalms 89:16. In your name shall they rejoice all the day:

They shall not have mere passing fits of joy, but they shall be glad from morning to night.

Psalms 89:16. And in your righteousness shall they be exalted.

They shall mount to a higher platform of joy than that on which the men of the world are standing; they shall be lifted up in soul and spirit by the righteousness of God, especially as they see how that great attribute guarantees their eternal salvation.

Psalms 89:17-19. For you are the glory of their strength: and in your favor our horn shall be exalted. For the Lord is our defense; and the Holy One of Israel is our king. Then you spoke in vision to your holy one, and said, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

This is the very marrow of the gospel; this is indeed " the joyful sound " which makes us truly blessed,-the feet that God did, of old, exalt "One chosen out of the people," with whom he entered into an eternal covenant, pledging himself to bless us through him.

Psalms 89:20. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:

David was the means of bringing great blessings to the people over whom he ruled. God blessed the whole nation through him, and the covenant made with David was virtually a covenant made with all the people of Israel. In like manner, he covenant made with "great David’s greater Son" is virtually made with all those for whom he stood as Surety and Representative. The essence of the gospel lies in the covenant which God has made with his Son, Jesus Christ, on behalf of all his chosen people. Notice that God found David, and anointed him as king, even as he has taken the Lord Jesus, and anointed him with the oil of gladness above his fellows.

Psalms 89:21. With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

The omnipotence of God is manifested in Christ, for he is "the power of God" as well as "the wisdom of God."

Psalms 89:22. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

"The son of wickedness" did afflict David for a while, but afterwards he came to the throne, and ruled gloriously over God’s ancient people. So is it with our covenant Lord and King. The wicked cannot now exact upon him, nor afflict him; he sits upon the throne in glory far beyond their reach.

Psalms 89:23. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.

Who can ever stand up in opposition to Christ? He is that stone of which he himself said, "Whoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."

Psalms 89:24. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

God is ever with his Son, Jesus Christ, in the plenitude of his faithfulness and mercy, to make him a continual blessing to his people.

Psalms 89:25. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

Our King is a great King, and he rules over sea and land; there is no bound to his dominions, and there will be no end to his righteous rule.

Psalms 89:26. He shall cry unto me, You are my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

All God’s children are a praying family, and his only-begotten and well-beloved Son sets a noble example in this respect as well as in everything else. He is still the great Intercessor before the throne of his Father.

Psalms 89:27. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

Christ is indeed "higher than the kings of the earth," for he is "King of kings and Lord of lords." Do not your hearts rejoice as you, you think of this blessed King with whom God has entered into a covenant to bless all who are trusting in him, even the very poorest and feeblest of them? What a joy it is to us to see Jesus striking hands with the Eternal, and entering into an everlasting covenant on our behalf!

Psalms 89:28-29. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of Heaven.

There can never be an end to the throne of Christ, for his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; and there can never be an end to the family of Christ, for his seed shall endure forever.

Psalms 89:30-32. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then-

"Then"-what? "I will destroy them, and sweep them away for ever"? Oh, no! "Then"-

Psalms 89:32. Will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

There is no sword in God’s hand to be used against his own children, but he does hold a rod, and that rod makes us smart, and causes the blueness of the wound which cleanses away evil. We are grieved when we feel its strokes, yet there is covenant mercy in them. The rod of the covenant is one of the best things that ever comes to us, since it whips our folly out of us. God grant us grace to kiss the rod whenever we transgress against him, and he visits our iniquity with stripes!

Psalms 89:33. Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

Notice the use of the word "him" here, as if it was intended to teach us that God’s love to his dear Son, and to his people in him, is so great that though he may chasten us for our transgressions, he will never cast us away.

Psalms 89:34-37. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in Heaven. Selah.

In the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the dynasty of David shall endure forever, and the spiritual seed of Christ shall also never come to an end. By the most binding covenant, and the most solemn pledge, and the most saved oath, Jehovah has guaranteed the everlasting kingdom of his Son and the eternal endurance of "his seed."

Psalms 89:38-45. But you have cast off and abhorred, you have been wroth with your anointed. You have made void the covenant of your servant: you have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground. You have broken down all his hedges; you have brought his strong holds to ruin. All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbors. You have set up the right hand of his adversaries; you have made all his enemies to rejoice. You have also turned the edge of his sword, and have not made him to stand in the battle. You have made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground. The days of his youth have you shortened: you has covered him with shame. Selah.

Spiritually, this sad description reveals the sorrowful state of the professing church of Christ in the times in which we live.

Psalms 89:46. How long, Lord? will you hide yourself forever? shall your wrath burn like fire?

That was the wisest thing for the psalmist to do, and it is our best course also; in the darkest days of the most sinful age we can always resort to prayer, let us do so.

Psalms 89:47-48. Remember how short my time is: wherefore have you made all men in vain? What man is he who lives, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

The brevity of life makes it all the more important that we should waste none of it, and that we should appeal to the Lord to interpose, speedily on the behalf of the truth and those who love it.

Psalms 89:49-52. Lord, where are your former lovingkindnesses, which you swore unto David in your truth? Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people; with which your enemies have reproached, O Lord with which they have reproached the footsteps of your anointed. Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen and Amen.

The Psalm ends upon its keynote of praise unto Jehovah. There had been much to sadden the writer, as there is much to sadden us in these days; but we can unite with him in saying, "Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen and Amen."

 

Chapter 90

 

Verses 1-17

 

Psalms 90 is entitled "A Prayer of Moses the man of God," and it furnishes a suitable prayer for every man of God. Any men of God who have had experience as deep, and trying, and varied as that of Moses will be the better able to enter into the spirit of the Psalm.

Psalms 90:1. Lord you have been our dwelling place in all generations.

"This world in which we live is no home for our immortal spirits. You give us habitations for our bodies, but they are no dwelling places for our spirits that are of a nobler order. We dwell in you, O Lord; you are our home. Beneath your wide wings we find blessed shelter, and in communion with you our hearts are kept in perfect peace. Lord, you are the home of your people in all generations; — not only in the generations that are past, when Noah, and Abraham and Moses, and David, and all your ancient servants found a refuge in you, but even to this day you are still our strong castle and our high tower our refuge and place of defense, our dwelling place even in this generation."

Psalms 90:2. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

When compared with God, those hoary hills are but as infants of a day, and the whole round world itself is but as a new-born child. "From everlasting" has he existed, — when all created things slept in his infinite mind like unborn forests sleep in an acorn cup, and so on forever, "to everlasting," — when all created things shall have dissolved, when back to nothing this fair world shall have gone, — God shall still be the same. He is a rook that cannot be removed. There is no terra firma upon this earth; but while all things are whirling around us, we find a firm dwelling place beyond the stars in the ever-living and immutable Jehovah. No man’s home is safe unless it is built on something more stable than this poor trembling earth, but he who rests on God, and lives in God, has the best of all habitations wherein to dwell in safety forever.

Psalms 90:3. You turn man to destruction; and say, Return, you children of men.

Man is mortal, conspicuously so. As we walk about our streets, how we miss our old companions one by one. They have returned to the bosom of mother earth whence they first sprang. The inhabitants of this world seem to pass in procession before our eyes; those who were here a few minutes ago are gone past, and another rank has come, and another, and another and they will soon all be gone, and we shall be gone too. He, then, who hopes to find a home among the sons of men will miss it, but he who makes the eternal God his habitation shall still be at home in the Lord even when wife, and child, and brother, and friend all sleep in the silence of the sepulcher.

Psalms 90:4. For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

Our measurements of time are nothing to God. There is nothing past and nothing future with him, all things are present in the eternal Now of God. What a wonderful truth this is of the eternal existence of God, and what boundless comfort it brings to the man who feels that this God is his God, his Father, his Friend, and his All-in-all!

Psalms 90:5-6. You carry them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which grows up. In the morning it flourishes, and grows up; in the evening it is cut down, and withers.

Such is the best estate of man, a field bedecked with daisies, kingcups, and other frail flowers, but the mower’s scythe is near, you, you may hear him sharpening it; and, soon, along the sword all the sons of men shall fall, and you who have found your hope, your Heaven, your confidence here, how poor will you be in the end thereof; but O you who have sent all your hearts desires upwards to your God, you who are living in the future, living in the infinite, how secure are you, for no rust shall fret your gold, no moth consume your garments! You are blessed indeed.

Psalms 90:7. For we are consumed by your anger, and by your wrath are we troubled.

Yes, if the Lord lets even a little of his wrath out for a while against his servants, how greatly do we suffer! Blessed be his name, it never is real anger against his own chosen people. He does but hide his love under the form of wrath, just as a father never really hates his child, and even though he is angry with him for his faults, and chastises him, yet there is more love than wrath in every blow of the rod. Still, it is a sad thing to lose the sense of God’s love in the heart, it consumes us and troubles us. We could bear sickness, we could bear slander or persecution, or almost anything out the absence of the light of God’s countenance; that is the worst of trials to his children.

Psalms 90:8-10. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance. For all our days are passed away in your wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

A long life or a short life, what a little difference it makes when the last hour comes! The patriarch as well as the child descends to the grave and all, as they sleep in their separate graves, seem only to have lived for a little moment, and then to have passed away.

Psalms 90:11. Who knows the power of your anger? even according to they fear, so is your wrath.

God grant that none of us may ever know experimentally the power of his anger; but may we know it, as a matter of faith, so as to tremble concerning it, and so as to flee to Christ to be delivered from it! But what must it be really to feel the power of God’s anger? I implore you, you never to believe any teaching that seems to make God’s anger less terrible than you, you thought it to be. It is not possible to exaggerate here, the power of God’s anger is immeasurable, and that is why the power of Christ’s atonement is infinite.

Psalms 90:12. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

That is the great matter, after all, to get the heart applied to wisdom, to learn what is the right way, and to walk in it in the practical actions of daily life. It is of little use for us to learn to number our days if it merely enables us to sit down in self-confidence and carnal security; but if our hearts be applied to true wisdom, the Lord’s teaching has been effectual.

Psalms 90:13-14. Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent you concerning your servants. O satisfy us early with your mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Dear young people, here is a suitable prayer for you, you to present to God: "O satisfy us early with your mercy." Believe me, there is no joy for a lad like that of loving the Lord Jesus Christ while he is yet young; and O you maidens, there is no fairer jewel that you, you can ever wear than that of love to Jesus Christ.

"’Twill save us from a thousand snares To mind religion young;

Grace will preserve our following years,

And make our virtues strong."

And each one of us may pray this prayer. "Lord, now give us your mercy! If we are unsaved, let us not remain so! If we have lost the comfort of your presence for a while, restore it to us now! Leave us not long in darkness, but satisfy us early with your mercy!"

Psalms 90:15. Make us glad according to the days wherein you have afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.

It is right, then, to pray for joy. Indeed, joy is so conspicuous a blessing to a Christian, it is so closely connected with the healthfulness of all his virtues that he should seek after it until he finds it.

Psalms 90:16. Let your work appear unto your servants, and your glory unto their children.

"Lord, let us see your work here! Oh, for your name’s sake, take your right hand out of your bosom, and work mightily in our midst! Withdraw not the working of the Holy Spirit from us your people! Let your work of conversion, your work of edification, your work of the conquest of the world, appear unto your servants!"

Psalms 90:17. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish you the work of our hands upon us; yes, the work of our hands establish you it.

"Let not what we do for you fall to the ground like a badly-built wall! Let not our work be consumed in the great testing fire, ‘but the work of our hands establish you it!’"

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 90.; and Acts 27:1-26.

 

Chapter 91

 

Verses 1-16

 

Psalms 91:1. He who dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

It is not every man who dwells there; no, not even every Christian man. There are some who come to God’s house; but the man mentioned here dwells with the God of the house. There are some who worship in the outer court of the temple; but "he that dwells in the secret place of the most High" lives in the Holy of Holies; he draws near to the mercy-seat, and keeps there; he walks in the light, as God is in the light; he is not one who is sometimes on and sometimes off, a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home, he dwells in the secret place of the most High. Oh, labor to get to that blessed position! You, you who know the Lord, pray that you, you may attain to this high condition of dwelling in the inner shrine, always near to God, always overshadowed by those cherubic wings which indicate the presence of God. If this is your position, you, you "shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." You, you are not safe in the outer courts; you, you are not protected from all danger anywhere but within the veil. Let us come boldly there; and, when we once enter, let us dwell there.

Psalms 91:2. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

This is a daring utterance, as if the psalmist would claim for himself the choicest privileges of any child of God. When you, you hear a glorious doctrine preached, it may be very sweet to others; but the honey lies in the particular application of it to yourself. You, you must, like the bee, go down into the bell of the flower yourself, and fetch out its nectar. "I will say of the Lord, He is my" — then come three my’s, as if the psalmist could grasp the Triune Jehovah, — "my refuge, my fortress, my God; in him will I trust." What a grand word that is, "My God"! Can any language be loftier?

Can any thought be more profound? Can any comfort be surer?

Psalms 91:3. Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler,

If you, you dwell near to God, you, you will not be deceived by Satan. In the light of the Lord you, you will see light; and you, you will discover the limed twigs and the nets and the traps that are set to catch you, you: "He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler."

Psalms 91:3. And from the noisome pestilence.

The pestilence is something that you, you cannot see. It comes creeping in, and fills the air with death before you, you perceive its approach; but "He shall deliver you from the noisome pestilence." There is a pestilence of dangerous and accursed error abroad at this time; but if we dwell in the secret place of the most High, it cannot affect us; we shall be beyond its power. "Surely," oh, blessed word! there is no doubt about this great truth, Surely, he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence."

Psalms 91:4. He shall cover you with his feathers,

The psalmist uses a wonderful metaphor when he ascribes "feathers" to God, and compares him to a hen, or some mother-bird, under whose wings her young find shelter. Yet the condescension of God is such that he allows us to speak of him thus: "He shall cover you with his feathers."

Psalms 91:4. And under his wings shall you trust:

God is to his people a strong defense and a tender defense. "His wings" and "his feathers" suggest both power and softness. God hides not his people in a casing of iron; their shelter is stronger than iron, yet it is soft as the downy wings of a bird for ease and comfort. As the little chicks bury their tiny heads in the feathers of the hen, and seem happy, and warm, and comfortable under their mother’s wings, so shall it be with you if you dwell with your God: "He shall cover you with his feathers, and under his wings shall you trust."

Psalms 91:4. His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

Twice is he armed who has God’s truth to be his shield and buckler.

Psalms 91:5. You shall not be afraid for the terror by night;

Nervous as you, you are, and naturally timid, when you, you dwell near to God, your fears shall all go to sleep. That is a wonderful promise: "You shall not be afraid." If it had said, "You shall have no cause for fear," it would have been a very comforting word; but this is even more cheering, You shall not be afraid for the terror by night."

Psalms 91:5. Nor for the arrow that flies by day;

Both night and day you shall be safe. Your God will not leave you in the glare of the sun, nor will he forsake you when the damps of night-dews would put you in peril. We, dear friends, may have secret enemies, who shoot at us, but we shall not be afraid of the arrow. There may be unseen influences that would ruin us, or cause us dishonor, or distress; but when we dwell with God, we shall not be afraid of them.

Psalms 91:6-7. Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.

When God takes his people to dwell in nearness to himself, and they have faith in this promise, I make no doubt that, literally, in the time of actual pestilence, they will be preserved. It is not every professing Christian, nor every believer who attains this height of experience; but only such as believe the promise, and fulfill the heavenly condition of dwelling in the secret place of the most High. How could cholera or fever get into the secret place of the most High? How could any arrows, how could any pestilence, ever be able to reach that secure abode of God? If you, you dwell there, you, you are invincible, invulnerable, infinitely secure.

Psalms 91:8-10. Only with your eyes shall you behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, your habitation; there shall no evil befall you,

"There shall no evil befall you." It may have the appearance of evil; but it shall turn out to your good. There shall be but the appearance of evil, not the reality of it: "There shall no evil befall you."

Psalms 91:10-11. Neither shall any plague come near your dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.

You, you remember how the devil misapplied this text to Christ. He was quite right in the application; but he was quite wrong in the. quotation, for he left out the words "in all your ways." God will help us in our ways if we keep in his ways. When we meet with trouble and accident, we ought to inquire whether we are in God’s way. That famous old Puritan, holy Mr. Dodd, having to cross a river, had to change from one boat into another, and being little used to the water, he fell in, and, when he was pulled out, in his simplicity and wisdom he said, "I hope that I am in my way." That was the only question that seemed to trouble him. If I am in my way, then God will keep me. We ought to ask ourselves, "Now, am I in God’s way? Am I really moving today and acting today as divine providence leads me, and as duty calls me?" He who travels on the king’s business, by daylight, along the king’s highway, may be sure of the king’s protection. "He shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways." Come here, Gabriel, Michael, and all the rest of you, you," says the great King of kings to the angels around his throne; and when they come at his call, he says, "Take care of my child. Watch over him today. He will be in peril;

suffer no evil to come near him."

Psalms 91:12. They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

What royal protection we have, a guard of angels, who count it their delight and their honor to wait upon the seed-royal of the universe, for such are all the saints of God!

Psalms 91:13. You shall tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shall you trample under feet.

Strength and mastery may be united. The young lion and the dragon, but the child of God shall overcome them. Talk of St. George and the dragon! We ought to think more of the saint and the dragon. It is he who dwells in the secret place of the most High, who, by God’s help, treads upon the lion and adder, and of whom it is written, "The young lion and the dragon shall you trample under feet."

Psalms 91:14. Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him:

Does God take notice of our poor love? Oh, yes, he values the love of his people, for he knows where it came from; it is a part of his own love; the creation of his grace!

Psalms 91:14. I will set him on high, because he has known my name.

Does God value such feeble and imperfect knowledge of his name as we possess? Yes; and he rewards that knowledge: "I will set him on high."

Psalms 91:15. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him:

Notice, that it is, "He shall," and I will." The mighty grace of God "shall" make us pray, and the Almighty God of grace "will" answer our prayer: "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him." How I love these glorious shalls and wills!

Psalms 91:15. I will be with him in trouble;

"Whatever that trouble is, I will be with him in it. If he be dishonored, if he be in poverty, if he be in sickness, if that sickness should drive his best friend away from his bed, still, ‘I will be with him in trouble.’"

Psalms 91:15. I will deliver him, and honor him.

God puts honor upon us, poor dishonorable worms that we are. One old divine calls a man "a worm six feet long"; and it is rather a flattering description of him. But God says, "I will deliver him, and honor him."

Psalms 91:16. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

He will live as long as he wants to live. Even if he should have but few years, yet he shall have a long life; for life is to be measured by the life that is in it, not by the length along which it drags. Still, God’s children do live to a far longer age than any other people in the world; they are on the whole a long-lived race. They who fear God are delivered from the vices which would deprive them of the vigor of life; and the joy and contentment they have in God help them to live longer than others. I have often noticed how long God’s people live. Some of them are speedily taken home; still this text is, as a rule, literally fulfilled, "With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation." He shall see God’s salvation even here; and when he dies, and wakes up in the likeness of his Lord, he will see it to the full. May that be the portion of each of us! Amen.

 

Chapter 92

 

Verses 1-15

 

Psalms 92:1. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto your name, O most High:

It is good in itself; it is good for those who hear it; but it is especially good for our own hearts to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto the name of the Most High. Sometimes, when we are very heavy in spirit, if we would take care not to defraud the Lord of the revenue of praise that is due unto him, we should find that the readiest way to bring comfort to ourselves is to sing praises unto his holy name. Brother and sisters in Christ, it is not very notable work to praise God when all things go well with us; it is far grander work to praise him when everything seems to be against us. It is because the nightingale does sing by night that he has such excellence among the birds, and if you, you and I can praise God in the dark, then we shall find that it is a good thing for ourselves to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto the name of the Most High.

Psalms 92:2. To show forth your loving-kindness in the morning, and your faithful every night,

Begin the day by setting forth the Lord’s loving-kindness. It was his loving-kindness that watched over you, you when you, you lay unconscious and defenseless, and could not therefore protect yourself; it was his loving-kindness that drew wide the curtain of the night, that touched your eyelids, and awoke you, you out of that sleep which was the image of death, and bade you, you look out upon the rising sun. Therefore take the key of the morning to open the day, and let it be the golden key of praise; show forth the Lord’s loving-kindness in the morning.

And when night comes again, let us then sing of God’s faithfulness. We have experienced it through another day, let us praise him for it. Now we see how he has borne with us, pardoned us, preserved us, supplied our needs, and continued to educate us throughout another day; let us therefore praise and bless his holy name, and so close the day, and commit ourselves to sleep again under his divine protection.

Psalms 92:3. Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.

Under the old dispensation, instrumental music seemed more congruous than it does now with the spiritual worship into which we have been introduced. If we must ever have instrumental music in our worship, let it be the same the very same as David had; and then I for one, though I should still think it be going back to the old dispensation long since superseded, would put up with it. I could never get much further than that, I think, for what instrument is there that is equal to the human voice, what music can be compared with it? All other sound is but the poor attempt of man to rival the creation of his God; but the human voice is full of charming melodies and harmonies, and if it be controlled by a true heart, there is nothing like it even to our ears, while it seems to me that it must be far more acceptable to God than the product of mere mechanism.

Psalms 92:4. For you, Lord, have made me glad through your work: I will triumph in the works of your hands.

There is a blessed verse to come from the heart and mind of a happy man who is praising God, and who looks on all the works of the Lord, in creation, providence, and redemption, and makes them all the subject of his joyous doing.

Psalms 92:5. O Lord, how great are your works! and your thoughts are very deep.

There is little that we know of the thoughts of God except as we gather them from his works or learn them from his Word, " for what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him ? Even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God." It is by divine revelation that we must know the thoughts of God, and the more we know of them, the more shall we realize that they are very deep.

Psalms 92:6. A brutish man knows not; neither does a fool understand this.

He looks at nature, and as he sees its varied operations, he observes certain eternal law as he calls them, but he does not see the power at the back of those laws which makes the laws potent for the government of the world. Nay, he lives and walks where God has displayed his power to the full, yet he fails to see him. It would be a strange proceeding for anyone to go into an artist’s house, and look at his picture and his sculpture, and yet never to think of him, but this is what the brutish man does with regard to the works of God, and with regard to God himself.

Psalms 92:7. When the wicked spring as the grass, —

Numerous, fresh, vigorous, —

Psalms 92:7. And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed forever:

That is the end to which they will surely come, no matter how much they boast, nor how they grow and flourish until they seem, like the grass in the meadow, to cover everything, that you, you can go nowhere without seeing them. Yet "they shall be destroyed forever."

Psalms 92:8. But you, Lord, are most high for evermore.

The psalmist began by calling the Lord most high, and now he says that he is "most high for evermore." Yes, this is our joy that God never passes away; he abides forever. Myriads of the ungodly have come and gone, empires of wickedness have risen to great power, and in due time have passed away like dreams, but we can still say, with the psalmist "You, Lord, are most high for evermore."

Psalms 92:9-10. For, lo, your enemies, O Lord, for, lo, your enemies shall perish all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. But my horn halt you exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.

The believer, though he is very weak in his own consciousness, and utterly insignificant in his own esteem, shall receive fresh power from God; and when the wicked melt away, he shall grow stronger and stronger.

Psalms 92:11. Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ear shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise by against me.

The translators put in the words my desire in both cases they are printed in italics to show that they are not in the original. No doubt the psalmist means that his eye should see the end of his enemies, and his ears should hear of their total overthrow.

Psalms 92:12. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

The palm tree flourishes amidst the desert sunshine, growing straight upright towards Heaven without a branch that deviates to the right or the left, and bearing its great masses of fruit as near Heaven as ever it can. It is a fine type of Christian life and growth and fruitfulness A Christian should also be "like a cedar in Lebanon," firmly rooted in his appointed place, and defying the winter’s snows which threaten to bury him out of sight.

Psalms 92:13. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our Lord.

Like trees planted in the courtyard, screened and protected, such are true believer; God is their defense, and they are screened within the court of the Lord’s house.

Psalms 92:14. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;

When worldlings decay, they shall still be fruitful. They shall not feel, as so many others do, that their age is a curse; it shall be to them a blessing, ripening them for eternity, and it shall be a blessing to all by whom they are surrounded.

Psalms 92:15. To show that the Lord is upright: he is my rock,

Can each one of you, you say that concerning the Lord, " He is my rock, my foundation, my refuge, my shelter "?

Psalms 92:15. And there is no unrightousness in him.

Say that when you, you have lost the dearest one you, you ever knew. Say that when your property has melted like the hoar frost in the morning. Say that when every bone in your body is aching, and some fell disease is hastening you, you to an early grave. . There is no unrighteousness in him." How long have you, you known him? If it be seventy years or more than that, he has never been unfaithful to you, you, nor suffered a single promise of his to fail. Write this down as the testimony of the experience of all God’s people, "There is no unrighteousness is him."

 

Chapter 93

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 94

 

Verses 1-23

 

This is the prayer of a man of God in great trouble, standing out for God in an evil day, when the Lord’s people were greatly oppressed, and the honor of God was being trampled in the mire. The prayer wells up from an oppressed heart struggling against great difficulty.

Psalms 94:1. Lord God, —

" O Jehovah, El." Men of God in trouble delight to call upon the name of the Lord. His very name is a stronghold to them; the infinite Jehovah, the strong God, EL: "O Lord God,"-

Psalms 94:1. To whom vengeance belongs; O God, to whom vengeance belongs, show yourself.

Vengeance does not belong to us; it is not right for any private individual to attempt to avenge himself; but vengeance belongs to the just Judge, who will mete out to all the due reward of evil or of good. Hence, my appeal is to the Court of King’s Bench, or higher still, to the King himself: "O God, to whom vengeance belongs, show yourself." When false doctrine abounds, only God can put it down. All the efforts of the faithful will be futile apart from him.

Psalms 94:2-4. Lift up yourself, you judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and Speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?

That expression, " How long?" repeated three times, is very sorrowful; it seems to get into a kind of howling or wailing; but a child of God, when he sees things going wrong with his Lord’s kingdom must grow somewhat impatient, and he vies out to his God, "How long ? How long ? How long will you bear it ?" The very triumphs of the wicked, and the hard things they say, with which they seem to bubble over like fountains, ( for that is the forge of the term "utter and speak" used here, ) stir the heart of the man of God to its very depths. He gets by himself alone, and grieves before God of, and out of a full heart he thus cries to him, How long shall they utter and speak hard things ? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves ?"

Psalms 94:5. They break in pieces your people, O Lord, —

There is a strong plea. Hear that declaration, for the Lord of hosts says to his people, "He who touches you, you touches the apple of mine eye." In days of persecution the saints earnestly pray in this fashion, "They break in pieces your people, Jehovah,"

Psalms 94:5-6. And afflict your heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.

This made the appeal still stronger, for God’s is "a Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widows."

Psalms 94:7. Yet they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.

Yet this very God of Jacob came to the troubled patriarch at Jabbok, and blessed him there, and he said to heathen kings, "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm," so can it be true that he does not see and regard what the wicked I do to his people? They dare to say so, and render themselves the more brazen in their sin because of this their infidelity.

Psalms 94:8. Understand, you brutish among the people:

Here the pleader turn into a prophet, and, after having spoken to God, he now speaks to men. Understand, you boors," for so the word may be rendered, "you swine among the people:"

Psalms 94:9. And you fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, shall he not hear? he who formed the eye, shall he not see?

You, you say that God does not see, that he does not regard; but how can that be? You, you are mad to talk so. He who gave men the sense of hearing, cannot he himself hear? He who gave them sight, cannot he see

"Shall he who, with transcendent skill,

Fashioned the eye, and formed the ear;

Who modell’d nature to his will,

Shall he not see ? Shall he not hear ?

"Vain hope! His eye at once surveys

Whatever fills creation’s space;

He sees our thoughts, and marks our ways,

He knows no bounds of time and place."

Psalms 94:10. He who chastises the heathen, shall not he correct?

He judges are nations, read the Book of Providence, and see how he deals out justice to nation after nation, so shall he not also correct the individual man :

Psalms 94:10. He who teaches man knowledge,

If you, you look at your Bibles, you, you will see that the translators have put in here the words "shall not he know " They are printed in italics because they are not in the original. The original is very abrupt, it is as if the psalmist had said, "There, I am tired of arguing with you, you. You, you can draw your own inference; I will leave you, you to do that for yourselves. Fools as you, you are, I need not draw the inference for you, you." "He that teaches man knowledge." Does man really know anything unless God teaches him ? Adam was taught of God at the first, and every particle of true science that man knows has been imparted by God. I do not say that God is the author of the science of today; much of that evidently comes from man; but all true knowledge is imparted to us by God. "He who teaches man knowledge," do you, you think, do you, you dream that he does not himself know everything?

Psalms 94:10-11. Shall not he know? The Lord knows the thought of man, that they are vanity.

He knows that men are vanity, that they are, according to one translation, a vapor. The men themselves are but a vapor; but as for their thoughts, their intellect, their power to think, that of which many men are most proud, what does God think of this? What a wonderful thing "modern thought" seems to be ! But listen to this, "The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are nothing." Vanity is a negation, it is a bubble, a thing poked up, that has no substance in it: "The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity."

Psalms 94:12. Blessed is the man whom you chasten, O Lord, and teach him out of your law;

These are two things that go well together, — a rod and a book; no man ever learns much without both rod and book. "Blessed is the man whom you chasten." The book is never properly understood without some touches of the rod, but the book must be there also: "and teaches" him out of your law, "for, if it were all rod and no book, there would be plenty of sores, but there would be no learning. Have you, you got the two together, my dear friend ? Have you, you been of late very much with the book in a nook, and very much with the rod upon your bed ? Well then you, you are a blessed man, for the psalmist says, "Blessed is the man whom you chasten, O Lord, and teaches" him out of your law."

Psalms 94:13. That you may give him a rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be dug for the wicked.

In these days, the quiet virtues are not prized as much as they ought to be. Men are always busy, they must be ever on the trot; but blessed is the man who is so taught by the book and by the rod that he comes to a holy quietism, and learns to rest. The best rester is the best worker. He who knows how to sit at Jesus’ feet knows how to work for Jesus better than if he were continually running about, and getting cumbered with much service. We never learn the secret of this rest by the book alone, or by the rod alone; but the rod and the book together teach us to rest from the days of adversity; they teach us not to lay the present too much to heart, not to fret because of things as they are today, but to think of what is to be in that day when the righteous shall be rewarded, and when the mighty Hunter shall have trapped his adversary and ours, when the pit shall be dug for the wicked, and Satan’s power shall be forever destroyed

Psalms 94:14. For the Lord will not cast off his people,

He may cast them down, but he will never cast them off.

Psalms 94:14. Neither will he forsake his inheritance.

Even men will not give up their inheritance. This is especially the case among the Jews; you, you remember how Naboth would not sell his inheritance, he would sooner die. And the Lord will not forsake his inheritance, there is a sacred entail upon his people that never can be broken; and he will never give them up.

Psalms 94:15. But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.

The wicked may be the upper spokes of the wheel just now, but they will be the lower spokes before long. Truth may be in the mire today, but she shall be upon them tomorrow. The revolutions of the wheels of providence produce strange changes. Wait; work; watch; for the Lord will set things right in his own good time.

Psalms 94:16. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

The psalmist appeals for helpers, but he gets no response from man; and sometimes the man of God will have to stand alone, and that is an education for him. Blessed is he who has learned to hang on the bare arm of God; he is better off without his earthly friends than he was with them.

Here is the answer to the psalmist’s question: —

Psalms 94:17. Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.

You, you may be one of the best of God’s servants, and yet that may be your experience. Here is another piece of testimony in which many of us can join: —

Psalms 94:18. When I said, My foot slips; your mercy, O Lord, held me up.

"My foot had slipped from under me, I was down; and then, even then, you did put underneath me your everlasting arms. ‘Your mercy, O Lord, held me up.’"

Psalms 94:19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me your comforts delight my soul.

"My thoughts" — so some read this verse, — "seem intertwisted and interlaced like the many boughs of a tree. I cannot make them out myself, they are in such a tangle." But the bird has learned to sit among the boughs, and sing: "Your comforts delight my soul." There are thoughts of grief, thoughts of fear, thoughts of disappointment, thoughts of desertion, thoughts of a broken heart, all sorts of thoughts, but God’s comforts come in, and delight the soul. You, you know what it is — do you, you not? — to be cast down, but not destroyed, to be troubled, and yet to be happy. "As sorrowful," says Paul, "yet always rejoicing;" whereupon an old divine remarks that it is "as sorrowful" — quasi sorrowful; but it is not "as always rejoicing." There is no "quasi" to that, but there is a real joy in the midst of a seeming sorrow. "In the multitude of my thoughts within me your comforts delight my soul."

Psalms 94:20. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with you, which frames mischief by a law?

Lord, are you on their side? Oh, no, and as you are not on their side, I care not who is. So long as you will not aid iniquity or help wrong-doing, I will fight the battle through.

Psalms 94:21-22. They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. But the Lord is my defense; and my God is the rock of my refuge.

He gets away unto his God as he had been accustomed to hide in the cave of Adullam out of reach of his foes; and then he sits down in peace to sing.

Psalms 94:23. And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yes, the Lord our God shall cut them off.

Chapter 95

 

Verses 1-11

 

Psalms 95:1-2. O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

There must be, there should be, joy in our worship, it is the very juice, the wine that flows from the trodden grape. It is the cream of the soul when the heart takes delight in God and joys in him. To worship as if it were mere duty would be but the reverence of slaves before one who is dreaded, but to worship with delight, this is the adoration of children who come to whom they love. God grant us that joy while we adore the Lord. Let us, however, mingle great reverence with joy.

Psalms 95:3. For the Lord is a great God, and a great king above all gods.

"For the Lord is a great God." Jehovah is a great God, "and a great King above all gods," above all that are ever called gods, whether they be kings or magistrates, or whatever they may be.

Psalms 95:4. In his hand are the deep place of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.

Low and high, mysterious, sublime, the dominion of God encompasses all nature.

Psalms 95:5. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.

Creation is the best ground for possession: what he made is his own, the great freeholder, the sovereign lord of all.

Psalms 95:6-7. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God;

"For he is our God." Oh, that is the sweetest of it all, — "he is our God." Let lords and lands have what masters they will, let us obey and worship our own God still.

Psalms 95:7. And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

He is the shepherd, leading, feeding, protecting, guarding us every day.

Psalms 95:7-10. To day if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation.

Was not that enough? Is there any need to grieve him again. Think with sympathy of what God endured from one generation, and let not another generation follow in their evil footsteps.

Psalms 95:10. And said, It is a people that do err in their heart,

Not merely through ignorance, but "in their heart." They were not alone with their feet and their tongue, but in their hearts.

Psalms 95:10. And they have not known my ways:

They have seen them but not understood them. He says, "They saw my work," but you, you may see and yet not know, for what is merely seen with the eye but not understood by the heart is not known; they were a willful, erring people, and an ignorant people.

Psalms 95:11. Unto whom I swore in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

Ah me!

 

Chapter 96

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 97

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 98

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 99

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 100

 

Verses 1-5

 

May the Spirit of God, by whose inspiration David penned these Psalms, bless them to us as we read them! This is entitled "a Psalm of Praise." Note here that this is the only Psalm which bears that title; there are others which have titles very much like it, but this one is singled out from all the rest to be, in a very special sense, "a Psalm of Praise." Martin Luther was very fond of it, and it has even been said that he composed the tune which are have just sung, and which is commonly called "the Old Hundredth"; though others attribute it to a German named Franc.

Psalms 100:1. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all you lands.

Do you, you notice the missionary spirit here? The Jews looked upon God as the God of Israel, and they had but very faint desires for the conversion of other nations; but the Holy Spirit speaks more by David than David himself may have known: Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah, all you lands." We ought to express the praise of God, not merely to feel it, and to express it by what is here called "a joyful noise"; and all our songs to God should have in them a measure of joyfulness. The gods of the heathen were worshiped with dolorous noises, with sorrowful sounds, and cries of misery, but the God of Heaven is to be worshiped with a joyful noise: "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all you lands." Oh, that the day were come when China, and India, and all Asia, Africa, America, and Europe, would take up the gladsome note of praise to Jehovah!

Psalms 100:2. Serve the Lord with gladness:

What a text that is!" Serve the Lord, "obey him, yield to him your homage; but serve him "with gladness." He wants not slaves to grace his throne, he loves willing worship, happy worship, for he is "the happy God." "Serve the Lord with gladness."

Psalms 100:2. Come before his presence with singing.

Singing is delightful, but singing in God’s presence is heavenly. Do not the spirits that are made pure and holy come before his presence, and come before it with singing? I wish that whenever we sing, we would sing as in the presence of God. I am afraid that we sometimes go through the tune mechanically, and the words languish on our lips: "Come before his presence with singing."

Psalms 100:3. Know you that the Lord he is God:

One says, "Man, know yourself," and another says, "The proper study of mankind is man." Not so; man, know your God; the proper study of mankind is God. He who knows God knows himself; that is, he knows himself to be nothing. "Know you that Jehovah, he is God." There is but one God, it is the same God in the Old Testament as in the New, Jehovah, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Psalms 100:3. It is he who has made us, and not we ourselves;

Note the negative, as if to deny that we had any hand in our own making, and this is also worthy of notice spiritually. It is the Lord who has made us Christians, and not we ourselves; he has created us in Christ Jesus. There are some who lay such stress upon the human will, and I know not what besides in man, that it is necessary to put in the negative as well as the positive: "It is he who has made us, and not we ourselves."

Psalms 100:3. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Praise him, then. Praise him because he is your Maker; praise him more sweetly because he is your Shepherd. If we are his people, here is his electing love, here is his effectual calling, here is the grace of his Spirit that made us so. "We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture." He leads us, he feeds us, he protects us, he has bought us with his precious blood. Truly, this is good reason why we should make a joyful noise unto God, and serve him with gladness: "We are his people and the sheep of his pasture." Are you, you his people? O my dear hearer, ask yourself, are you one of the sheep of his pasture?

Psalms 100:4. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Gratitude is that oil which makes the wheels of life revolve easily; and if anybody ought to be grateful, surely we are the men and women, for whom the Lord has done so much: "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise."

Psalms 100:5. For the Lord is good;

Should we not praise so good a God?

Psalms 100:5. His mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations.

"His truth", — that is to say, his truthfulness, his faithfulness to his people. This is a blessed Psalm, and it seems to me to reach the highest point of praise when it tells us that "The Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations."

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALM 100. and 101.

 

Chapter 101

 

Verses 1-8

 

Psalms 101. The last Psalm was a Hymn of Thanksgiving, this one is a Psalm of Thanksgiving. I suppose it to have been written by David just when he assumed the throne, when he was about to become king over all Israel and Judah. Its title is, "A Psalm of David." This is what he said to himself, —

Psalms 101:1. I will sing —

That is right, David. In the one hundredth Psalm, he had exhorted other people to sing, now, in the hundred and first, he declares what he will himself do: "I will sing" —

Psalms 101:1. Of mercy and judgment:

It is a mingled theme; there are the treble and the bass notes: "mercy and judgment." There are some dear friends who, if they sing at all will have to sing this way, for they have a heavy sorrow on their heart, and yet great mercy is mixed with it. Oh, you, you who are troubled, and bow your head in grief, say, "I will sing of mercy and judgment." Mix the two together.

Psalms 101:1. Unto you, O Lord, will I sing.

A second time the psalmist says, "I will sing." It is well to make this firm resolve: "Unto you, O Lord, will I sing." Winter or summer, "I will sing;" poverty or riches, "I will sing;" sickness or health, "I will sing;" life or death, "I will sing." "I will love you in life, I will love you in death And praise you as long as you lend me breath." "I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto you, O Lord, will I sing."

Psalms 101:2. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way.

This was a good resolve; but David did not carry it out to the full. There were evil times when he was not wise, and there were sad times when he was not perfect. Still, it is well to make such a resolve as this declaration of David when he came to the throne, especially when you, you are newly married, or just opening a business. Oh, that every young man and young woman would commence life with such a holy resolution as this, "I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way "I but notice the prayer that follows the resolve, —

Psalms 101:2. O when will you come unto me?

For I shall be neither wise nor holy without you. "O when will you come unto me?"

Psalms 101:2. I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

There is a great deal in the way in which a man walks in his house. It will not do to be a saint Abroad and a devil at home; there are some of that kind. They are wonderfully sweet at a prayer-meeting, but they are dreadfully sour to their wives and children. This will never do. Every genuine believer should say, and mean it, "I will walk within my house with a perfect heart." It is in the home that we get the truest proof of godliness.

"What sort of a man is he?" said one to George Whitefield, and Whitefield answered, "I cannot say, for I never lived with him." That is the way to test a man, to live with him.

Psalms 101:3. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes:

"I will not look at it, for if I do, I may long for it." It is the tendency of things that are gazed at to get through the eyes into the mind and the heart, therefore is it wise to say with the psalmist, "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes."

Psalms 101:3. I hate the work of them that turn aside;

He means all those who practice dodges, the "policy" people, those who never go straight. Kings usually like such people as these. Do not men say that an ambassador is a gentleman who is paid to live abroad, and to lie for the benefit of his country? I suppose that is what diplomatists in David’s day generally did, but David resolved that he would have none of that sort of folk about him: "I hate the work of them that turn aside."

Psalms 101:3. It shall not cleave to me.

"If I touch it, I will not let it stick to me. Pitch defiles, so I will keep clear of it, and if any man tries to practice a trick for my advantage, I will have nothing to do with him."

Psalms 101:4. A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.

"For, if I come to know him, one of these days I may be known myself to be a wicked person." "Evil communications corrupt good manners." No man can afford to be the friend of a man who is not a friend of God. If he does not love God, quit his company, for he will do you, you no good. Say with David, "I will not know a wicked person."

Psalms 101:5. Whoever privily slanders his neighbor, him will I cut off:

David was a king, and he meant to study the peace of his people by putting down slander. Oh, what mischief is wrought by backbiting tittle tattle! If we could have a race of men, — and for the matter of that, of women, too, — with no tongues, it might be of advantage, for there are some who use their tongues for very sorry purposes. David says, "Whoever privily slanders his neighbor, him will I cut off."

Psalms 101:5. Him that has an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.

High looks and proud hearts are generally the characteristics of cruel, tyrannical, domineering persons; and King David would not have any such near him.

Psalms 101:6. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me:

Oh, that masters had more of an eye to the piety of their servants than they often have! They want "clever fellows." Whether they are honest or not, is generally a secondary question. So long as they are profitable to their masters, they will not mind what they are to their customers; but David would not have servants of that sort.

Psalms 101:6-7. He who walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that tells lies shall not tarry in my sight.

He was a king, and he could choose his company, and he meant to select the truthful and upright. Now mark this. If David would not let a man who lies tarry in his sight, you, you must not expect that God will let such tarry in his sight. "All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone," says the Scripture. God grant us to have clean, truthful tongues!

Psalms 101:8. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.

What a practical Psalm this is! I have heard of a prince of Saxe Gotha, years ago, who, whenever he thought that one of his ministers or judges was not what he ought to be, used always to send him the hundred and first Psalm to read. It was commonly said of such a man, "He will get the hundred and first Psalm before long;" and, after reading it, if he did not mend his manners, the prince sent him his dismissal, and he had to go about his business. Oh, that all who profess and call themselves Christians would act according to the tenor of this straight Psalm, which is like a line drawn by the hand of God, without a crook or a turn in it!

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALM 100. and 101.

 

Chapter 102

 

Verses 1-28

 

Psalms 102:1-2. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto you. Hide not your face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline your ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.

Sincere suppliants are not content with praying for praying’s sake, they desire really to reach the ear and heart of Jehovah: "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto you." When prayer is intensified into a cry, then the heart is even more urgent to have audience of the Lord.

Psalms 102:3-7. For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.

The psalmist gives us here a very graphic description of his sorrowful condition at that time. He was moved to grief by a view of the national calamities of the chosen people, and these so wrought upon his patriotic soul that he was wasted with anxiety, his spirits were dried up, and his very life was ready to expire.

Psalms 102:8. Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.

Their rage was unrelenting and unceasing, and vented itself in taunts and insults. With his inward sorrows and outward persecutions, the psalmist was in as ill a plight as may well be conceived.

Psalms 102:9-11. For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, because of your indignation and your wrath: for you have lifted me up, and cast me down. My days are like a shallow that declines; and I am withered like grass.

This is a telling description of all-saturating, all-embittering sadness; and that was the portion of one of the best of men, and that for no fault of his own, but because of his love to the Lord’s people.

Psalms 102:12. But you, O Lord, shall endure forever; and your remembrance unto all generations.

All things else are vanishing like smoke, and withering like grass; but, over all, the one eternal, immutable light shines on, and will shine on when all these shallows have declined into nothingness.

Psalms 102:13-14. You shall arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, yes, the set time, is come. For your servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof.

They delight in her so greatly that even her rubbish is dear to them. It was a good omen for Jerusalem when the captives began to feel a homesickness, and began to sigh after her.

Psalms 102:15-17. So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth your glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

He will not treat their pleas with contempt; he will incline his ear to hear, his heart to consider, and his hand to help.

Psalms 102:18. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.

A note shall be made of it, for there will be destitute ones in future generations, — "the poor shall never cease out of the land," — and it will make glad their eyes to read the story of the Lord’s mercy to the needy in former times.

Psalms 102:19-23. For he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from Heaven did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death; to declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem; when the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord. He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.

Here the psalmist comes down again to the mournful string, and pours forth his personal complaint.

Psalms 102:24-27. I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: your years are throughout all generations. Of old have you laid the foundations of the earth: and the heavens are the work of your hands. They shall perish, but you shall endure: yes, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shall you change them, and they shall be changed: but you are the same, and your years shall have no end.

God ever lives on; no decay can happen to him, nor destruction overtake him. O my soul, rejoice you in the Lord always, since he is always the same!

Psalms 102:28. The children of your servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before you.

 

Chapter 103

 

Verses 1-22

 

One’s heart naturally turns to this passage when one desires to magnify the Lord. It is specially suitable for a New Year’s meditation.

Psalms 103:1. Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Come, my soul, wake up! Bestir yourself! You have great work to do, such work as angels do forever and ever before the throne. Let no power or faculty exempt itself from this divine service. Come, my memory, my will, my judgment, my intellect, my heart, all that in me is, be stirred up his holy name to magnify and bless. "Bless the Lord, O my soul," — for the music must begin deep down in the center of my being; it must be myself, my very self, that praises God.

Psalms 103:2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

This shall be the first note: "We love him because he first loved us." We have not to go abroad for materials for praise, they lie at home. Forget not all his benefits to you, my soul, his overwhelming, his innumerable benefits, which have to be summed up in the gross as "all his benefits" —forget them not.

Psalms 103:3. Who forgives all your iniquities;

Come, come, my soul, can you not praise God for sin forgiven? That is the first note, and it is the sweetest note, in our song of praise. "Who forgives all your iniquities," — not some of them but the whole mass the blessed Scapegoat has carried into the "No man’s land of oblivion."

Psalms 103:3. Who heals all your diseases;

He is the Physician for you, my soul: your diseases are the worst of all diseases, for they would drag you down to Hell if they were not cured. But Jehovah Rophi heals all your diseases.

Psalms 103:4. who redeems your life from destruction;

Oh, my soul, praise God for redemption! If you can not sing about anything else, sing of free grace and dying love. Keep on ringing those charming bells.

Psalms 103:4. Who crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies;

What! can you, you wear a crown, and not praise him who placed it on your head? Can you, you wear such a crown as this, made up of loving-kindness and tender mercies, and not bless the Lord? Oh, let it not be so, let us each break forth in spirit in one song tonight, and say, "My soul does magnify the Lord."

Psalms 103:5. Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Heavenly feasting on heavenly bread; divine satisfaction from the finished work of Christ. Oh, my soul, pray to God to give you new life tonight, so that your youth may be renewed, so that your wing feathers may grow again, and that you may mount as eagles do! Surely, dear friends, this little list of mercies, so small for number, contains an immensity of mercy. Let us bless the Lord for every one of them.

Psalms 103:6. The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

Let the poor and the down-trodden sing unto the Lord. He will take care of you, you, he is the Executor of the needy and the Executioner of the proud. "The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed."

Psalms 103:7. He made known his ways unto Moses his acts unto the children of Israel.

Therefore, let us bless him, the God of revelation, who does not hide himself from his creatures; but who makes known his ways and his acts unto his people. An unknown God is an unpraised God; but when he shows himself to his people, they cannot refrain from blessing his name.

Psalms 103:8. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

Praise him for this. Bless his name at every single mention of his divine attributes; let your hearts beat to the music of praise tonight.

Psalms 103:9. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger forever.

Let the afflicted praise him; let the downcast and the despondent sinner praise him; if he cannot sing about anything else, let him bless the name of the Lord that he will not keep his anger for ever.

Psalms 103:10. He has not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

Let us thank God we are not in Hell; we are yet on praying ground, and on pleading terms with him. Some of us will never go into perdition, for he has saved us with an everlasting salvation. Truly, if we did not bless him, every timber in this house, and every iron column beneath this roof, might burst out in rebukes for our ingratitude; we must bless his name.

Psalms 103:11. For as the Heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

Look up into the blue sky, up, up beyond the stars, and say to yourself. "So great is his mercy." Let us therefore praise him accordingly.

"Loud as his thunders shout his praise,

And sound it lofty at his throne."

Psalms 103:12. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

There is neither latitude nor longitude for praise. God’s grace is boundless; let us therefore unstintedly praise him.

Psalms 103:13. Like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear him.

He has a tender heart: he never strikes without regret, but his love always flows freely. No father or mother is half so mild and loving as is the Lord of hosts.

Psalms 103:14. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

Our bodies are but animated dust, and even our souls might be compared to dust in his sight. Not iron or granite, but mere dust are we. It is a wonder that men live so long when there are such mighty forces, even in nature, arrayed against them. Who can control earthquakes and volcanoes? And when men cross the sea in times of storm, it is a wonder that they come to land again.

Psalms 103:15. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

You, you are like the primrose by the river’s brim, or the buttercup and the daisy in the field that is visited with the scythe. That is all we are, not cedars, not oaks, not rocks, but flowers of the field.

Psalms 103:16. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

Some of the hot winds of the East come over a meadow, and it is burned up immediately. I have seen the fairest and loveliest flowers look, in a short time, as if they had been burned with a hot iron when the Sirocco had blown across from Africa: and such are we. We speak of the breath of the pestilence; it is but a puff of wind, and we are gone.

Psalms 103:17-18. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

"But", — and this is a blessed "but." "But the mercy of the Lord" — that is not a fading flower, that is not a withering wind, — "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting." Here are ten thousand blessings in one. You, you have everlasting mercy, covenant mercy. Oh, if we do not praise God when we think of the covenant, what has happened to us? We must be possessed with a dumb devil if we do not praise the name of him whose mercy is from everlasting to everlasting.

Psalms 103:19. The Lord has prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom rules over all.

Now, children of a King, will you, you go mourning all your days? You, you that dwell in the light of his throne, will not you, you be glad? Rejoice, O Zion, for your King lives and reigns forever! "The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice."

Psalms 103:20. Bless the Lord, you his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

"Bless the Lord, you his angels." We cannot do it well enough yet; help us, then, you angels that excel in strength; put out all your strength when you praise him, "you that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his Word." Your actions are your praises, O you angels! Would God that we had learned to do his commandments as you do them! We are praying for this, even as our Lord taught his disciples to say, "Your will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven."

Psalms 103:21. Bless you the Lord, all you his hosts; you ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

All living things, and all the forces and powers of nature, are calling upon men to praise the Lord; and all the hosts of God, the organs of Omnipotence, ring out the grand chorus, "Bless you the Lord."

Psalms 103:22. Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul.

I must not go grumbling up to Heaven, nor stumbling among the works of God, I must gratefully come to him, and myself praise him, so with the psalmist I cry, "Bless the Lord, O my soul."

 

Chapter 104

 

Verses 1-35

 

I trust that we have already felt something of holy enjoyment while our hearts and voices have been praising the Lord our God. Perhaps this Psalm may help to keep us in a praising state of mind. First of all, David sang of the majesty of God in his works; then it seems as if the spirit of praise within him became like a strong-winged angel, and, mounting into the sky, he began to soar aloft over the varied landscapes of the world until the sun went down; and even then, he continued scudding along through the darkness until the sun arose again, and found him still praising his God. We will note, as we read the Psalm, this strange, mysterious flight of the spirit of praise.

Psalms 104:1. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

There is the key-note. Strike it, my brethren, each one of you, you!

Psalms 104:1-3. O Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with honor and majesty. Who covers yourself with light as with a garment: who stretches out the heavens like a curtain: who lays the beams of his chambers in the waters:

Or, as we may read it from the Hebrew, "who makes his halls in the waters;" those mysterious waters above the firmament are here pictured as being the cool, retired dwelling-place of the awful Deity.

Psalms 104:3. Who makes the clouds his chariot: who walks upon the wings of the wind:

A masterly picture, as if the Lord stood erect upon the two wings of the wind, and as if the wind, like a mighty spirit, went flying round the world, with the great Jehovah standing upon its wings, and so riding along.

Psalms 104:4-5. Who makes his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever.

Now comes a very graphic description of Noah’s flood.

Psalms 104:6. You covered it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.

What a splendid act of divine energy, when the waters which, before, like tamed lions, slept in their dens, came hungry and fierce, and swallowed up the whole earth!

Psalms 104:7-8. At your rebuke they fled; at the voice of your thunder they hastened away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which you have founded for them.

At the sound of God’s voice, those mighty deeps went back in a great hurricane. Anyone who has seen water when it is traveling at a great rate, lashed with tempests, will have seen it tossed as into mountains, and then having huge holes like vast valleys in it; so, the waters rose up like mountains, and fell down like valleys, until they found the channels of the deep which God had founded for them.

Psalms 104:9. You have set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

Jehovah puts the bit of sand into the mouth of the sea, and it comes no farther than its appointed bounds. Now you, you must suppose the psalmist is leaving the crowded streets, and the dingy, dusty, smoky haunts of men, and flying, on the wings of his gratitude and praise, away into the quiet of the fertile country.

Psalms 104:10-12. He sends the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild donkeys quench their thirst. By them shall the birds of the Heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.

I know of no place that seems to bring out one’s joy and praise better than when standing by the side of some rippling brook that tumbles down the fissure among the rocks, and seeing the animals come to drink, and hearing the birds blithely sing among the branches, or hang over and dip into the very stream. Even the reading of this Psalm may be like a cool and refreshing breeze to you, you at this time, and your soul may in imagination fly away with David, as you, you also praise and bless your God.

Psalms 104:13. He waters the hills from his chambers:

From those watery halls above the firmament he pours down the showers.

Psalms 104:13-15. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; and wine that makes glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengthens man’s heart.

The spirit of praise is flying over the fields ploughed and tilled by man, over the fruitful vineyards red with clusters of grapes, and over the olive gardens and other places where man’s handiwork has made the earth fertile. Now the psalmist mounts still higher, and gets into the woods.

Psalms 104:16-17. The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted; where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.

Flying along over the tops of the trees, he looks down among them, and he notices the beasts as well as the birds

Psalms 104:18. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the comes.

So that there is not any part of the earth which is not full of God’s goodness; even the rocks, which yield nothing to the plough, furnish a refuge for the comes, and the high hills are a home for the wild goats, while the fertile earth beneath makes man’s heart glad. As the spirit of praise flies over the tops of the mountains, the sun goes down. The psalmist witnesses that grand sight, an Eastern sunset.

Psalms 104:19-20. He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knows his going down. You make darkness, and it is night:

Will he cease from his song now? No, for God does not cease to work.

Psalms 104:20-21. Wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.

So that even night has its mysterious music, and the roaring of the young lions is a tribute to the providence of the good God who cares even for the beasts that perish.

Psalms 104:22. The sun arises, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.

You, you see, the psalmist does not cease his praise, but finds a theme for music even in the rest of the beasts.

Psalms 104:23-24. Man goes forth unto his work and to his labor until the evening. O Lord, how manifold are your works! in wisdom have you made them all: the earth is full of your riches.

The psalmist has made a long journey, flying along just where he could see everything upon the face of the earth, but he bethinks himself that he has not seen the half of God’s works yet, for yonder is the Mediterranean, glistening in the morning sunbeams, so he takes another flight.

Psalms 104:25-26. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships:

That is, above the water; while in it-

Psalms 104:26. There is that leviathan, whom you have made to play therein.

Some mighty fish leaps out of the sea; the psalmist’s eye catches a glimpse of it, and he puts even that monster into his hymn of praise.

Psalms 104:27. These wait all upon you; that you may give them their meat in due season.

My brethren, what an idea we have here of God thus supplying all the creatures of the earth and the sea! They are all waiting upon him; they can go to no other storehouse but his, no other granary can supply their needs. Surely, we need not be afraid that he will fail us. If he feeds leviathan with his great wants, and the many birds with their little wants, he will not forget his children; he will never withhold any real good from them that walk uprightly.

Psalms 104:28. That you give them they gather: you open your hand, they are filled with good.

That is all he has to do, you, you see, just to open his hand. If that hand were once fast closed, they would all die; but, in order to supply the wants of all the creatures he has made, he has only just to open his hand.

Psalms 104:29. You hide your face,

As if he did but put his hand before the brightness of his countenance,-

Psalms 104:29-30. They are troubled: you take away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. You send forth your spirit, they are created: and you renew the face of the earth.

When God takes away the genial light of the summer’s sun, what multitudes of creatures die; and then, when the soft breath of spring blows upon the earth, how soon the multitudes of insects come teeming forth! Christian, here is comfort for you, you! Has God withheld his Spirit from you, you for a little while, and have many of your joys and comforts fallen dead? He has only to speak, and he can in a moment renew all your comforts.

Psalms 104:31-35. The glory of the Lord shall endure forever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works. He looks on the earth, and it trembles: he touches the hills, and they smoke. I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord. Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more.

It seems as if the spirit of praise had bred in the psalmist a spirit of indignation against sin, he could have no patience any longer with those who would not adore so great and so good a God, and therefore he utters this imprecation upon their heads, which is rather a prophecy of what will be their doom: "Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more."

Psalms 104:35. Bless you the Lord, O my soul. Praise you the Lord.

Thus the psalmist, like a good musician, ends with th

 

Chapter 105

 

Verses 26-38

 

Psalms 105:26-28. He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen. They showed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word.

So cowed were they by that awful darkness, that for a time they seemed to repent of their rebellion against the Lord.

Psalms 105:29-30. He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings.

Though the fish could not live, the frogs could. When good was taken away, evil came. What a strange succession of miracles was this, — the fish slain, but the frogs multiplied!

Psalms 105:31-34. He spoke, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts. He spoke, and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number,

There is great sublimity in this expression. God had only to speak, and whole battalions of devouring locusts and caterpillars seemed to leap out of the earth, or to drop from the clouds: "He spoke, and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number."

Psalms 105:35-37. And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.

It was a notable miracle that, after all the oppression they had endured, they should be in such a state of health that "there was not one feeble person among their tribes." When God makes his people march, he puts them into marching trim.

Psalms 105:38. Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them.

Yet this was the mighty nation whose proud king had defied the Lord. At last, they had had enough of the combat; they were glad that the people of God should retire out of their land, and they themselves bowed low before him. May we be taught humility of heart, so that we can sing the hymn I have chosen! "Sovereign Ruler, Lord of all, Prostrate at your feet I fall; Hear, oh, hear my earnest cry; Frown not, lest I faint and die!"

This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 10:1-20; and Psalms 105:26-38.

 

Chapter 106

 

Verses 1-48

 

Psalms 106:1. Praise you the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good: for his mercy endures forever.

In this Psalm we have the history of God’s people turned to practical account. I have heard of some very unwise persons, who have said, "I do not care about the histories of Scripture. I do not profit by them." Tell me, dear friends, what other Bible had David but the history — the first five books? And what more wonderful teaching can there be than is contained in this Psalm, which is the essence of the history, "Praise you the Lord" —or Hallelujah to Jah? Hallelujah is praise to God.

Psalms 106:2-5. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? who can show forth all his praise? Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he who does righteousness at all times. Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that you bear unto your people: O visit me with your salvation; That I may see the good of your chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.

If I may fare as God’s people fared, I will be well content, and if God himself will come and bring me salvation, I shall have all that I want. Is that your thought now, dear hearer? Then utter the prayer, and may the Lord answer it while you, you are yet in your seat.

Psalms 106:6. We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.

Three time is the confession of sin here made. It is a good beginning when we can begin with confessing sin. I wish that some people had begun there, when they took up with religion; but they too often jump into it, and I am afraid that they will jump out of it again. That harvest which does not come of ploughing is one which will never fill a barn, and that salvation which does not come from a sense of sin will never come to much.

Psalms 106:7. Our fathers understood not your wonders in Egypt;

They saw them; they were surprised by them; but they could not make them out, could not tell what God was at when he smote the Egyptians. A want of understanding of divine truth is a very fatal want.

Psalms 106:7. They remembered not the multitude of your mercies;

What we do not understand we soon forget.

Psalms 106:7. But provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.

They had not been long out of Egypt; they had scarcely eaten the bread that they brought out of their ovens, but they began to doubt God. They provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

Psalms 106:8. Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.

He could not save them for their own sake, but he saved them for his own name’s sake.

Psalms 106:9. He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through depths, as through the wilderness.

The bottom of the sea was made as dry and as easy for their feet as the plains of the wilderness, and God led them through.

Psalms 106:10-12. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left. Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.

It is almost a sarcasm. They believed when they saw. When the promise was fulfilled, then they believed it. Ah! my dear hearers, are there not some of you, you of whom the same might be said — I mean some people of God? You, you believe as far as you, you can see; and that is not believing at all. Let us trust God, whether or no. Red Sea or no Red Sea, let us believe the promise of God, and make sure that it will be true. Then believed they his words; they sung his praise.

Psalms 106:13. They soon forgot his works:

They were in a hurry to forget.

Psalms 106:13-15. They waited not for his counsel: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.

They had quails to eat. They had the food that they begged for, but their hearts were starved; their souls were famished. Ah! me, what people they were!

Psalms 106:16. They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the Lord.

They began to pick holes in their character. Good men that lived for them, and were ready to die for them — they began to spit upon them.

Psalms 106:17-20. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burnt up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eats grass.

See! they had been in Egypt. They had seen the Egyptians worship the God Apis in the form of a bull, so that they must needs have a bull too. I daresay that they said, "The bull is an emblem of strength. We do not worship the image; the image is only used to help us to think of the power of God." But God forbids us to worship him under any image of any sort. "You shall not make unto yourself any graven image, nor the likeness of anything that is in the Heaven above, nor in the earth beneath. You shall not bow down to them, nor worship them." All images, pictures, crucifixes — the whole (rut) of them are abhorrent and abominable to God. We must have nothing to do with them as helps to worship, for they are not helps. They are destroyers of the worship of God. But, you, you say to me, "You, you tell us that it was a bull." Yes, and, in contempt, the man of God here calls it a calf. You, you cannot be too disrespectful to objects of idolatrous worship. They may be esteemed by others, but do not show any kind of respect to them yourself; but if there be a name that you, you can give them that is full of sarcasm, let them have it.

Psalms 106:21-23. They forgot God their Savior, which had done great things in Egypt; Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea. Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

They had found fault with Moses, yet Moses stood forward as intercessor, and through his pleading their lives were preserved. You, you see, again, what a sinful people they were. Ah! indeed they were! Look in this looking-glass and see yourself.

Psalms 106:24-25. Yes, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: But murmured in their tents, and harkened not unto the voice of the Lord.

This murmuring in your tents is a very obnoxious thing to God. Always grumbling and complaining. "It is an Englishman’s privilege," says one. Mind it does not turn out to be an Englishman’s ruin, for God cannot endure that we should be always murmuring at his providence.

Psalms 106:26-28. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifice of the dead.

They tried to practice necromancy — to have communion with spirits; they tried to learn the dark science and the black are; and this also God abhors.

Psalms 106:29-30. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them. Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.

In his hot zeal he ran the spear through two who were rebelling against God. He did it with all his might, and sometimes it is a kindness to a people to deal severely with them. Sin is not to be treated with white kid gloves. It has to be dealt with sometimes with a heavy hand. Phineas did this.

Psalms 106:31-32. And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore. They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:

Poor Moses who loved them, and lived with them, yet lost his temper.

Psalms 106:33. Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips

What a people to have to do with! Who would wish to be Moses, and who would wish to be a minister?

Psalms 106:34-35. They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the Lord commanded them: But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.

They did not keep themselves separate. They would go and join this lot and that lot. They mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.

Psalms 106:36-39. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

"What a dreadful people," say you, you. These were God’s chosen people, Israel; the best people in the world at that time; and yet how could they be much worse? Oh! what a God of mercy God is to deal with such people at all!

Psalms 106:40-43. Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen: and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.

Listen to this.

Psalms 106:44-45. Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

You, you would have thought that he would have been provoked beyond endurance, but, after all he had smitten, he still had a tender heart towards them.

Psalms 106:46-48. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto your holy name, and to triumph in your praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting; and let all the people say, Amen. Praise you the Lord.

 

Chapter 107

 

Verses 1-22

 

Psalms 107:1. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endures forever.

In the heading of this Psalm we are reminded that the psalmist here exhorts the redeemed, in praising God, to observe his manifold providence over travelers, prisoners, sick men, seamen, "and in divers varieties of life;" but, inasmuch as the exhortation is specially addressed to the redeemed of the Lord, I shall endeavor to cast the red ray of redemption over it, and to explain these various circumstances as relating to the spiritual experience of God’s people, and to their deliverance out of divers perils to which their souls are exposed. "O give thanks unto the Lord." This seems to imply that we are so slow to praise God that we have to be stirred up to this sacred duty. This exhortation looks as if we needed to be entreated to give thanks unto the Lord. Yet this ought not to be an uncongenial or disagreeable task. It ought to be our pleasure to praise the Lord; we should be eager to do it; and yet it is to be feared that we are often silent when we ought to be giving thanks unto his holy name. He deserves them, "for he is good: for his mercy endures forever."

Psalms 107:2-3. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy; and gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

Whenever God’s people are redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered unto himself, it is always by his grace and power. They are not only gathered to him, but they are gathered by him; and therefore let them all praise his holy name.

Psalms 107:4. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.

This is the experience of all God’s redeemed and gathered ones; they were, at one time, all lost, and wandering to and fro in the wilderness, as God’s ancient people did.

Psalms 107:5-6. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

This is the point to which a true spiritual experience sooner or later brings all God’s elect ones; they cry unto the Lord in their trouble. The end, the design of their trouble is that they may cry unto him; and when they do so, it is absolutely certain that they shall be delivered out of their distresses.

Psalms 107:7-11. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:

All God’s people, all his redeemed have been made to feel, in a greater or lesser degree the agony of their spiritual bondage. They have been like captives sitting in darkness, dreading death, realizing that they are utterly unable to deliver themselves. They have been rebellious against the words of God, and have despised his counsel, so that it is absolutely needful that they should be brought to their right position, and be made to kneel before the Lord in true humility of heart.

Psalms 107:12-16. Therefore he brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bards in sunder. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he has broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

Is any child of God thus shut up in the dark? Those of you, you who have ever been lost in a London fog know what a depression of spirit it brings upon you, you while you, you are in the impenetrable darkness, out of which you, you cannot see any way of escape. All that you, you can do is to stand still and cry out for help. Well, try what crying to God will do for you, you in your spiritual depression. Your spirit is cast down into the very deeps; then, out of the depths cry unto the Lord, as Jonah did; rest in him, trust in him, and see whether he will not bring you, you up into the light of his countenance.

Psalms 107:17-18. Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhors all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.

All God’s redeemed people have suffered from soul-sickness, and some of them have suffered from it so acutely that they have lost all appetite for spiritual comfort. "Their soul abhors all manner of meat;" they cannot bear the sight or the thought of it. A man in this condition says, "Do not bring me any food; I loathe it." The very nourishment that might have restored him he rejects because of the nausea which soul-sickness brings.

Psalms 107:19-20. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saves them out of their distresses. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

He healed them with his Word; and there is a specific, in God’s Word, for every form of spiritual malady. What we need to know is where the particular remedy for our special form of soul-sickness is to be found; and this the Holy Spirit will teach us if we will but ask him.

Psalms 107:21-22. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

 

Verses 1-32

 

The psalmist exhorts the redeemed, in praising God, to observe the different forms of his mercy. He views the chosen people as travelers, captives, sick men, and seamen, and in each of these classes he exhorts them to praise the Lord.

Psalms 107:1. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good:

He is essentially good. His name God is only a shorter form of good. Yet, if we were to lengthen it, there could be no more goodness found in it than is found in the three letters, "God."

Psalms 107:1. For his mercy endures forever.

That is the form which his goodness takes in relation to us, his sinful creatures; as we deserve nothing, everything that he gives us is a gift of mercy, and what a range his mercy takes! "His mercy endures forever."

Psalms 107:2. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

If nobody else will say that God is good, let his redeemed ones say it. If others are silent, let them speak to his praise, if others are doubtful, let them declare positively that the Lord is good, and that his mercy endures forever.

Psalms 107:3. And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

We were scattered in various directions by our own folly and sin;-" Each wandering in a different way, but all the downward road;-and he gathered us unto that blessed Shiloh of whom Jacob said, "Unto him shall the gathering of the people be."

Psalms 107:4. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way;

Ah, the way of a sinner, convinced of sin, is indeed a solitary way; he has a sorrow which he cannot tell to anybody else, a stranger intermeddles not with his grief

Psalms 107:4. They found no city to dwell in.

There are no cities in the wilderness for people to dwell in. We look for a city that is out of sight at present, " a city which has foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God." Here, in this fleeting world, we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

Psalms 107:5-6. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

They were a long while before they prayed to the Lord, but it was not a long while before he answered their prayer. When they were brought to that then, that is to say, when they were so hungry, and so thirsty, and so faint that they could do nothing else but cry, then, the moment that they cried unto the Lord, " he delivered them out of their distresses."

Psalms 107:7. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

"He led them . . . that they might go." The leadings of divine grace do not destroy the activities of the human will. God does not treat us as if we were blocks of wood or stone, but he treats us as reasonable beings.

Psalms 107:8-9. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.

We hardly looked for that verse to follow the preceding one. We might have thought that the psalmist would have written, "for he brings them to a city of rest." God always exceeds our expectations. He not only brings his wandering people home, but he feeds them bountifully when they are there. He holds high festival within Zion’s gates, and the citizens of the new Jerusalem are fed with the finest of the wheat. Surely souls so blessed must praise Jehovah for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Now comes another picture, the picture of the captives:-

Psalms 107:10-11. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the most High:

They "sit in darkness and in the shadow of death," for they have lost all energy. They sit down in dumb despair, for at last their sins have found them out. They rejected God, and he has left them to suffer the consequences of their sin: " being bound in affliction and iron "

Psalms 107:12-13. Therefore he brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble,-

This seems to be always the last thing that people in trouble do; until they hunger, and thirst, and their soul faints, as in the former case, or until they fall down utterly helpless, as in this case, they will not pray. But "then they cry unto Jehovah in their trouble,"-

Psalms 107:13-16. And he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he has broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

All glory be to the great Liberator’s name! Now comes the picture of sick men, which is also the portrait of ourselves:-

Psalms 107:17. Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.

Perhaps affliction comes to their bodies, but more especially it attacks their hearts,-they have heart disease, a mortal tremor within, or a terrible fever of fear.

Psalms 107:18. Their soul abhors all manner of meat;

You, you cannot comfort them, they cannot or will not receive the truth that would sustain them, they have lost all appetite for spiritual food.

Psalms 107:18. And they draw near unto the gates of death.

They seem to come close to those great iron gates that shut out all hope forever, they can hear them grind upon their massive hinges; they begin to realize what the wrath of God means.

Psalms 107:19. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble,

Fools though they are, they have sense enough to do this.

Psalms 107:19. And he saves them out of their distresses.

So that a true prayer from one who is near unto the gates of death is a prevailing prayer. We earnestly urge all to repent long before they come to a dying bed, but if they are on a dying bed, if they are literally near unto the gates of death, here is evidence that, if they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, he will not close his ears or his heart to their prayer.

Psalms 107:20. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

The Word of God has a sort of omnipotent power in it. By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and by the Word of the Lord are sick souls healed. That Word can do anything that God purposes. "Where the word of a king is, there is power;" but where the Word of God is, there is omnipotence.

Psalms 107:21-22. Oh that man would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

Now we come to the seafaring men:-

Psalms 107:23-24. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.

These words apply not only to seamen literally, but also to others who are called to endure great storms while sailing across the sea of this mortal life,

Psalms 107:25-26. For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves thereof. They mount up to the Heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.

For even he who has his " sea legs " on finds them of little use to him when such a storm as this is tossing everything in a dreadful hurly burly. "They mount up to the Heaven, they go down again to the depths," and this experience is repeated, perhaps, hundreds of times, day and night, sometimes for weeks together.

Psalms 107:27. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end.

But, oh! when souls are caught in a storm of conviction of sin, this is a true description of their spiritual distress,-they are at their wits end, and do not know what to do. Everything about them is shaking, and they themselves are reeling to and fro, sometimes this way and sometimes that;-staggering, scarcely able to believe anything, seeing some things double, and everything out of place.

Psalms 107:28. Then they cry-

Yes, then, when they are reeling and staggering; that is a queer condition-is it not?-in which to be praying, reeling to and fro, and staggering like a drunken man: "Then they cry."-

Psalms 107:28. Unto the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses.

Then God will hear the prayer of a staggering man, and the prayer that has not any sense in it because the man who prays is at his wit’s end. By "sense" I mean not following the consecutiveness of an orderly petition; the prayer itself seeming to reel to and fro. The suppliant is so overpowered by sorrow that he might be thought to be drunken, as she was to whom Eli so harshly spoke bidding her put away her wine from her, whereas she was overcome by sorrow. God hears us when we cannot hear ourselves pray, and when we cannot put the words of our supplication in proper order, God knows what we mean to say, and gives us what we really need.

Psalms 107:29. He makes the storm a calm,-

What a change! And what a blessing it is to get into one of God’s calms, for they are far beyond the ordinary calm of nature; then do we enjoy " the peace of God, which passes all understanding."

Psalms 107:29-32. So that the wave thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he brings them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

 

Verses 23-32

 

Psalms 107:23-24. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters ; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.

The Jews were never given to navigation. To "go down to the sea in ships," seemed a very extraordinary thing to them; they looked upon it as a going down, as it were, into a dreadful abyss. We, who are more accustomed to going to sea than they were, talk of "the high seas;" but they spoke of going "down to the sea." They never went to sea except on business. King Solomon had no pleasure yacht. There was never one of that ancient race who cared to trust himself upon the sea except as a matter of sheer necessity, and those who did so were looked upon with wonder by their land-loving friends. "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord;"—that is, his greatest works, both in the sea and on it. They know what storms are, and they see what omnipotence can do, and they come back to tell of the wonders of God upon the mighty deep. This verse may be read spiritually as well as literally. God calls some of his servants, as it were, to go down to the sea in ships. They are tried with poverty, with personal sickness, with temptation, with inward conflicts, with fierce persecutions; and God never calls them to these trials out of mere caprice, there is always a reason for it. They go down to the sea in ships to "do business in great waters." There is something to be gained from their trials, and something to be learned from them. They "do business in great waters;" and "these see the works of the Lord." Others hear about them, and believe what they are told concerning them; but these see them. They see what God has done in their case,—how he sustains, how he delivers, how he sanctifies trial, and overrules it for his own glory, and his people’s good: "These see the works of the Lord." And they also see the wonders of the economy of grace. They are made to experience the heights and depths, the lengths and breadths, of that love which; passes knowledge; they see "his wonders in the deep." You, you and I need not desire to have trouble, as though we put out to sea for our own pleasure; but, if God calls us to sail upon a sea of troubles, if he sends us there upon his business, we may depend upon it that he means that business to end to our profit and his own glory.

Psalms 107:25-27.—For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves thereof. They mount up to the Heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end.

Here we learn something of what sailors see, and of what tried Christians experience. These great storms arise by God’s commandment;—not as many say, nowadays, "by the laws of nature." The wind, which had been quiet, heard God’s voice, and raises itself up, like a wild beast from its lair: "He commands, and raises the stormy wind;" and no sooner does the great wind begin to blow than the white crests of the waves are seen, and the white horses fly before the blast which lifts up the waves on high. Then the ship, however staunch it be, seems to have no greater power of resistance than a frail sea bird; and it is tossed up and down, up and down, from the trough of the sea to the billows’ crown: "They mount up to the Heaven, they go down again to the depths;" and their very soul begins to melt. Brave men as they are, it only needs a sufficient amount of storm to make their hearts turn to water and their spirits dissolve into the turbulent element that is all round them: "their soul is melted because of trouble." Then they cannot keep their standing: "they reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man." What is worse, they cannot control their brains; they "are at their wit’s end." What can they do in such a case as that? There is an end to all human wit and wisdom when the great storms are out upon the sea. You, you who have ever had deep spiritual trials know the analogy of all this. There may come times—there have come times to some of us—when, at the command of God, or by divine permission, there has been a fierce blast of temptation or a fiery trial, and then all that was peaceful round about us before suddenly turns into a whirlpool of tempestuous billows, and we are tossed to and fro at the mercy of the winds and the waves. Sometimes we ascend in presumption, and then we go down into the very depths of despair. At one moment, we are joyous with hope; and, a moment later, we seem ready to give all hope up, our courage fails us, and our soul dissolves within us, If you, you never have known this experience, I pray that you, you never may know it; but some of us have had stormy times when we have seemed to have no foothold, when we have reeled to and fro like drunken men,—when the best faith we have had has been little better than staggering. Still, it is better to stagger on the promise than to stagger at it; and we did still stand though we staggered, and we were at our wit’s end. We could not see what to do, and we could not tell what to do, and we could not have done it if we had known what to do; we were brought to such an extremity that we seemed to have neither wit nor wisdom left.

Psalms 107:28. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses.

This shows that, although they were at their wit’s end, they had wit enough or wisdom enough to pray. Their souls were melted, so they let them run out in prayer. It is a good thing to get the soul melted, for then it will flow out like water before the Lord. Note that these sailors cried to God when there was no one else to whom they could cry: "Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble." Learn from this sentence that, when your soul is melted because of trouble, you, you can still pray. When you, you reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, you, you can still pray and when you, you are at your wit’s end, you, you can still pray. Prayer is never out of season; it is a fruit of grace that is acceptable to God in autumn and in winter, in spring and in summer. Long as you, you live, and even when the worst comes to the worst, cry mightily unto God, for he will surely hear you, you. Was it not so with us when we were in spiritual trouble, and could do nothing else but cry unto the Lord? It was a poor prayer that we offered, but it was a real prayer that we presented when we cried unto God. Mark how quick God is to hear such prayer as this: "Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses." He brought them into them, and therefore he brought them out of them. It was God who took Jacob into Egypt; and, therefore, though it took four hundred years to bring Israel out of Egypt, God brought them out at last. He kills, and he makes alive; he wounds, and he heals. Rest you, you in this truth as a matter of absolute certainty.

Psalms 107:29. He makes the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

At the first, God made everything out of nothing, so he can easily make a calm out of a storm; and he can make the storm a calm for you, you whenever he pleases to do so. Your troubled feelings, your tossings to and fro, may soon subside into "the peace of God, which passes all understanding," which "shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Psalms 107:30. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he brings them unto their desired haven.

And there is no music that is sweeter to the mariner’s ears than the rattle of the chain as the anchor grips the bottom of the harbor, and the ship rests from all her tossings. The Lord will give you, you grace, my brother, my sister, to let down your anchor;—or, rather, to throw it up "into that within the veil," for that is the way that your anchor goes; and then you, you shall be glad because you, you will be quiet. I believe that there is often, a greater, fuller, deeper joy in being quiet than there is in making a noise. There are times when it is good to praise the Lord with the high-sounding cymbals and with the harp of a solemn sound; but, in the deepest joy of all, we are still before God, and praise is silent before God in Zion.

Psalms 107:31. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Should they not do so? Those who have survived the storms at sea, or the still greater storms within their own souls, should surely take care to praise the Lord. If we know how to pray, we ought also to know how to praise. Prayer and praise ought to form the two covers of the book of our life, and our life is not well bound unless these are the two covers to it, with a good stiff back of faith to bind the two covers firmly together, and to hold every leaf in its proper place.

Psalms 107:32. Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

Let them not only praise the Lord in private, but let them also sound out their song of gratitude to God where the graybeards are gathered together, and let the men of experience, the officers of the church, the leaders of the Lord’s people, help them in the expression of their gratitude.

Verses 33-43

 

Psalms 107:33-34. He turns rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

Hearken unto this, you who are men of understanding. God can soon take away from any people the privileges which they cease to prize. He sent barrenness upon the earth in the days of our first father, Adam; and he has long cursed with barrenness the very land in which this Psalm was written. He can give us what he pleases, and he can take it all away when he pleases. And, spiritually, God can easily turn a fruitful land into barrenness. The means of grace, the ministry of his Word which was once very rich and fertile to you, you, may suddenly lose all its savor and all its fruitfulness. Ay, even his own Word, which may be compared to water-springs, may suddenly seem to you, you to be but as dry ground; and your secret devotions, your reading of godly books, your conversation with gracious men and women, all of which were like wells of water, may seem to be dried up. If you, you walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to you, you. "He turns a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein." When the people of God fall from their steadfastness, when they wander from the paths of holiness, it is easy for God to let them know that the best means are only means, and that the best earthly supplies are barrenness itself apart from him. God grant that it may never be so with any of us! But now see what happens when the Lord turns his hand the other way:—

Psalms 107:35. He turns the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.

He can make the sandy desert into a lake of water, he can make that which was barren as the desert of Sahara to become as fruitful as the garden of the Lord. And if you, you are just now mourning your barrenness, believe in the omnipotence of his grace which can work such wonderful transformations as these for you, you. "All my fresh springs are in you," said the psalmist; and so they are with us; therefore, why should not those fresh springs now flow into our nature so as to make the dry ground into water springs?

Psalms 107:36-37. And there he makes the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; and sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.

See, brothers and sisters, when God blesses us, then we begin to work for him. When he works, we work. He blesses the barren land with fruitfulness, and then we sow the fields, and plant vineyards. We do not sit still because God is at work; nay, rather, we obey the apostolic injunction, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which works in you, you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

Psalms 107:38-39. He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffers not their cattle to decrease. Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.

God has a great many rods, and we get a great many smarts because of our many sins. If we were but saved from our sins, we should not need all these rods, "oppression affliction, and sorrow," — tribulation, and anguish, and pain, and distress. I will not tell you, you the names of all of them, but they are very many, and their strokes are very painful. May God grant that we may be quit of sin, for only so shall we be quit of many of these sorrows.

Psalms 107:40. He pours contempt upon princes, and causes them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.

God makes very little of earth’s biggest men: "He pours contempt upon princes." He has wonderful ways of making very poor those who are very rich in themselves. He makes those who were lords of all the fields to be exiles and wanderers in the wilderness, where there is no way. Do not get proud, brethren, or else that may be your lot. He who is so near perfection that he need not pray, "God be merciful to me a sinner," may before long be so near desperation that he will not have to pray even the publican’s prayer. Let none of us become too great, lest we soon be made very little.

Psalms 107:41. Yet sets he the poor on high from affliction, and makes him families like a flock.

God always has an eye of pity for the poor, and especially for the spiritually poor. While "he pours contempt upon princes" with one hand, he is lifting the poor from the dunghill with the other.

Psalms 107:42. The righteous shall see it, and rejoice:

When God’s providence and grace are at work with men, the righteous shall see it, and understand it, and be glad.

Psalms 107:42. And all iniquity shall stop her mouth.

She is generally very noisy and boastful; but, sometimes, when God’s judgments are abroad, she is obliged to hold her tongue. "All iniquity shall stop her mouth." O Lord, stop it speedily, for she is making a great noise just now!

Psalms 107:43. Whose is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.

Those who watch providence will never be without a providence to watch?

 

Chapter 108

 

Verses 1-13

 

Psalms 108:1-5. O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise you, O Lord, among the people: and I will sing praises unto you among the nations. For your mercy is great above the heavens: and your truth reaches unto the clouds. Be you exalted, O God, above the heavens: and your glory above all the earth;

Here, we begin with praise, — the very praise with which we finished the other Psalm, — praise in a very joyous, confident spirit, for the praise which precedes prayer has more of the "Jubilate" note in it than ordinary praise has. The prayer in Psalms 57:1, which preceded the praise, was earnest, and fervent, and confident, yet it did not reach so high a note as this: —

Psalms 108:6-9. That your beloved may be delivered: save with your right hand, and answer me. God has spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my law-giver; Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph.

David is claiming the kingdom which God promised to him by the mouth of Samuel the prophet; — looking first upon the kingdom itself, and then upon the surrounding territories, and laying hold upon them all as his own because God had given them to him.

Psalms 108:10. Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?

In the spirit of a truly courageous leader, he means to fight with that ancient foe of Israel; and wisely appeals to God to lead his army: —

Psalms 108:11-13. Will not you, O God, who have cast us off? and will not you, O God, go forth with our hosts? Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 57:7-11; Psalms 108,

 

Chapter 109

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 110

 

Verses 1-7

 

Psalms 110:1. The Lord said unto my Lord.

Or Jehovah said unto my Adonai.

Psalms 110:1-2. Sit you at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion: rule you in the midst of your enemies.

This is the Messiah, this is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. Where are his subjects?

Psalms 110:3. Your people shall be willing in the day of your power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: you have the dew of your youth.

A willing people shall make up the forces of this great King, and upon them the freshness of the morning shall rest.

Psalms 110:4. The Lord has sworn, and will not repent, You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

King and priest. None other of the house of David save our Lord Jesus Christ could claim the union of these two offices. In Christ we have a King and a priest, as also with Melchizedek of old, a great type of Jesus.

Psalms 110:5-7. The Lord at your right hand, shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

This conqueror shall be refreshed in his journey; therefore, shall he lift up the head.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 110:1-7; Hebrews 7:1-14.

 

Chapter 111

 

Verses 1-10

 

Psalms 111:1. Praise you the Lord.

Or, "Hallelujah," "Praise be unto Jehovah." "Praise you the Lord." I invite all Christians to give good heed to this injunction; whether others praise him, or not, "Praise you the Lord." Do it now: do it always, do it heartily, do it instead of what you, you sometimes do, namely, doubt him, murmur at him, rebel against him: "Praise you the Lord." You who are beginning the Christian life, praise him for your regeneration. You who have long continued in it, praise him for sustaining you, you. You who are the most ripe for Heaven, begin now the praises that will never, never end.

Psalms 111:1. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

It is always well when a preacher practices what he preaches. David does that here: "Praise you the Lord. I will praise the Lord." One of the best ways of enforcing an exhortation is to practically obey it: "Praise you the Lord. I will praise the Lord." But when a man becomes an example to others, he should be very careful to set a good example. Hence, the psalmist not only says that he will praise the Lord, but that he will do it heartily, yes, with his whole heart. Such a God as Jehovah is, is worthy of all the praise we can give him. We ought to praise him with all our thought, with all our skill, with all our love, with all our zeal, with all our heart, with our whole heart. David tells us that he would render this praise both among the choice and select company of God’s people, "in the assembly of the upright," and also in the larger congregation, where a more mixed multitude would be found. Brethren, praise, is never out of place, and never out of season. If you, you are with a little company of two or three choice Christian friends, praise the Lord in their midst. Tell them your experience, and bless the name of the Lord for his grace and mercy; but if you, you should be in a larger assembly, where the characters of some may be doubtful, be not abashed, but still continue to praise the Lord.

Psalms 111:2. The work of the Lord are great, —

They are great in number, in size, in purpose, and in effect. Even when God makes a little thing, it is great because of the wisdom displayed in making it. The microscope has taught us the greatness of God in creating tiny creatures of wondrous beauty, yet so small as not to be perceptible to the naked eye: "The works of the Lord are great,"

Psalms 111:2. Sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

If we take pleasure in a man, we also take pleasure in his works, we like to see what he has made; and, in like manner, the saints of God take pleasure in his works. They revel in the beauties of creation; they delight to study his wisdom in providence, but, best of all, they are most charmed with the wonders of divine grace. These works are so marvelous that a mere surface glance at them is not sufficient; you, you need to search them out, to dig deep in the mines of God’s wisdom as seen in his works, to try to find out the secret motive of his everlasting purposes; and, the more you, you study them, the more they will grow. Some things impress you, you at first with greater significance than they do afterwards, but the works of God are so great that, if you, you look at them throughout your whole lifetime, they will continue to grow greater still.

Psalms 111:3. His work —

I suppose the psalmist means God’s chief work, his grand work of grace: "His work" —

Psalms 111:3. Is honorable and glorious: and his righteousness endures forever.

The work of God is full of grace, and it is full of honor and glory to his blessed name; and every single portion of the work of grace is full of that which resounds to the honor and glory of the Triune Jehovah. I hope, dear friends, that you, you delight to study the whole plan of saving mercy, from its initiation in the eternal purpose to its culmination in the gathering together of all the people of God. If you, you do, you, you will see that all through it "is honorable and glorious: and his righteousness endures forever." As it endured Calvary, it may well endure for ever. Though the Lord Jesus Christ purposed so to save his people, he would not do it by sacrificing his righteousness. He fulfilled righteousness to the utmost, by his perfect life, and by his suffering even unto death, and, now, we are quite sure that no further strain will ever be put upon that divine attribute. "His righteousness endures forever."

Psalms 111:4. He has made his wonderful works to be remembered:

Do not be forgetful of God’s wonderful works. They are made on purpose to be remembered; so, treasure them up, for they are worthy of being held in everlasting remembrance.

Psalms 111:4. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.

This is what his people always find to be true whenever they read the history of his works. The thought that strikes them is, "The Lord is gracious and full of compassion." If any of you, you long to be at peace with God, however far you, you may have wandered from him, he is ready to receive you, you if you, you will but return to him, for he "is gracious and full of compassion" — not merely tender-hearted, but full of graciousness. He abounds with thoughts of love towards his people; come, and try him for yourselves.

Psalms 111:5. He has given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.

The needs of all his people are always supplied by him. He finds food both for body and soul, and you, you may rest assured that every promise of his covenant will be faithfully kept. You, you may forget it, but he will not: "he will ever be mindful of his covenant," and mindful of you, you because of that covenant, mindful of your heavy cares, mindful of your bitter griefs, mindful of your weakness and infirmity, because you, you are in his covenant,

and he is mindful of it.

Psalms 111:6. He has showed his people the power of his works,

He showed the Israelites what he could do, what force he could throw into what he did, and he has shown to us, Christians, the same thing in another way, by the power of his gracious Spirit, blessing the preaching of his Word to the conversion of sinners, and maintaining the great fight against the dread powers of darkness: "He has showed his people the power of his works."

Psalms 111:6. That he may give them the heritage of the heathen.

He gave to Israel the land of Canaan, where the heathen dwelt; and he will give to Christ, when he asks for them, the heathen for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. Let us pray God to prove the power of his works in the subduing of the nations unto Christ.

Psalms 111:7. The works of his hands are verity and judgment;

He never acts contrary to truth and righteousness. Even when he puts on his most terrible look, and smites his enemies in his wrath, still, "the works of his hands are verity and judgment;"

Psalms 111:7-8. All his commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.

Whatever God commands, determines, purposes, you, you may rest assured that it will be accomplished; but his purposes are always accomplished, not by caprice, but by "truth and uprightness." God is a Sovereign, doing as he wills; but he never wills to do anything that is inconsistent with justice, truth, and uprightness.

Psalms 111:9. He sent redemption unto his people:

He brought them up out of Egypt with a high hand and a stretched out arm, and he has sent redemption to us, first, by price, when he redeemed us from our guilt upon the tree; and then by power, when the Holy Spirit came and broke our bands asunder, and set us free from the dominion of our sins.

Psalms 111:9. He has commanded his covenant forever: holy and reverend is his name.

His whole character commands our reverence because it is superlatively holy, and his name is to us a word of awe never to be mentioned flippantly, and never to be quoted without earnest thought and prostration of heart before him. I fear that there are some professors who use the name of God far too freely. They do not recollect that "holy and reverend is his name." I can hardly think that any man can be "reverend." There are some who choose to be called by that title; I suppose they mean something less than the word means here: "Holy and reverend is his name," not mine, certainly.

Psalms 111:10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:

It is the A B C of true wisdom. He who has learned to fear God has learned the first part of wisdom. According to some, the word "beginning" here means the chief, the head, the front, just as, often, in Scripture, "beginning" signifies that. "The fear of the Lord" is the chief part of "wisdom," the essence of it.

Psalms 111:10. A good understanding have all they that do his commandments:

Practical goodness is the proof of a good understanding. A man may have an orthodox head, and yet not have a good understanding. A man may be able to talk very glibly about the commandments of God, and even to preach about them with considerable power; but it is the doing of them that is the main point.

Psalms 111:10. His praise endures forever.

 

Chapter 112

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 113

 

Verses 1-9

 

We will read, this evening, two passages in the Word of God; the first will be Psalms 113.

Psalms 113:1. Praise you the Lord. Praise, O you servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.

Three times are you, you stirred up to this duty of praise. Adore the Sacred Trinity with threefold praise. There is a trinity in you, you: let spirit, soul, and body praise the Lord. Let the past, the present, and the future make another threefold chord; and for each of these, "Praise you the Lord. Praise, O you servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord."

Psalms 113:2-3. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’S name is to be praised.

"From the rising of the sun until the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised." In hours of morning light, when the dew is on the grass, and our soul is full of gladness, and in the hours of the setting sun, when the day is weary, and the night seems coming on, still let the Lord have the praise that is his due, for he is always to be praised. There is never an hour in which it would be unseemly to praise God. For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under Heaven; but the praising of God is never out of season. All time and all eternity may be dedicated to this blessed work.

Psalms 113:4-5. The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwells on high,

The loftiness, the majesty, the sublimity of God are attributes that are terrible in themselves; yet they minister much joy to those who love the Lord. For, you, you know, we can never make too much of those whom we love; and if we see them exalted, then is our soul glad. Would you, you wish to have a little God? Would you, you wish to have a God who had but little honor, or little power? No; you, you ascribe to him all conceivable and all inconceivable greatness, and you, you exult as you, you think what a high and mighty God he is.

"Who is like unto Jehovah our God,

who dwells on high?"

Psalms 113:6. Who humbles himself to behold the things that are in Heaven, and in the earth!

It enables us to get some faint idea of the greatness of God when we read that he has to humble himself even to look at the things in Heaven, perfect and spotless though they be. Dr. Watts truly sings, —

"The lowest step around your seat

Rises too high for Gabriel’s feet;

In vain the tall archangel tries

To reach your height with wondering eyes."

All the faculties of all the angels cannot comprehend the Infinite. When the Lord looks down to us, how much he must humble himself! If he humbles himself to see the things in Heaven which are clear and pure, what humility is required that he may look upon the things on the earth!

Psalms 113:7-8. He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the dunghill; that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

Have you, you never noticed that, in all these joyous songs to God, there is almost always one of these notes, that God abases the proud, and exalts the humble? This was the basis of Hannah’s song; and it was the pith and marrow of Mary’s Magnificat: "He has put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree." This wonderful turning of things upside down; this withering of the green tree, and making the dry tree to flourish; this killing that which lives, and quickening that which is dead; this emptying of the full, and filling of the empty; this casting down the mighty from their thrones, and lifting the poor out of the dust; this is always one of the highest reasons for exulting joy. What a truth there is for you, you and for me tonight, if we feel ourselves to be spiritually so poor that the dunghill is no offense to us, because we feel ourselves to be even more offensive than the filthy things that are cast away by men! What a mercy it is that the Lord "lifts the needy out of the dunghill; that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people"!

Psalms 113:9. He makes the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise you the Lord.

Does your soul feel barren? May the Lord grant unto it an abundant fruitfulness! Looking back upon the past year, perhaps you, you have had many barren times, or times that you, you have thought to be barren. If you, you are a minister of the gospel, I should not wonder if those have been your most fruitful seasons. When you, you have been most empty, God has been pleased to feed the people through you, you. O dear brothers and sisters, those very times of spiritual experience which are most humiliating and most painful are often the most soul-enriching to us, and they also bring the greatest glory to God!

Now we will read a New Testament story, in order that we may see how some men did not praise the Lord as they should have done. You, you will find the narrative in the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel according to Luke, at the eleventh verse.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 113, and Luke 17:11-19.

 

Chapter 114

 

Verses 1-8

 

Psalms 114:1-8. When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion. The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs. What ailed you, O you sea, that you fled? you Jordan, that you were driven back? You mountains, that you skipped like rams; and you little hills, like lambs. Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob; which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.

I did not interrupt the reading of the Psalm by any exposition. It is a perfect whole, and could not well be divided without spoiling it. We may admire the poetry as well as the inspiration of this Psalm. It begins with rugged abruptness: "When Israel went out of Egypt." It only gives just a hint of the discomfort of the Israelites while in Egypt, arising from the fact that they did not understand the Egyptians "strange language." No doubt they were often beaten by their taskmasters, for not obeying orders, when they really did not understand what must have seemed to them the barbarous speech of their Egyptian oppressors. But God led them up out of the house of bondage, the tribe of Judah leading the van, and all the people following in due order.

How beautifully the psalmist describes the dividing of the Red Sea! He represents the waters as perceiving the presence of God, and fleeing away, not because Israel came to the bank, but because God was in the midst of his people: "The sea saw it, and fled,"-as if abashed at the presence of its Maker, alarmed at the terror of Jehovah’s might. So was it with the Jordan; that swiftly-flowing river was "driven back" by a very special miracle. The dividing of the Red Sea was a marvelous act of God’s power, but the driving back of that rushing river has some extraordinary points about it peculiar to itself. And all this happened because God was there. The sea flees before him, the river is driven back by him. In like manner, my brethren, if God be in the midst of our church, nothing can withstand its onward march. If the Lord he in any man, that man need not even think or talk of difficulties; for, with God, nothing is impossible.

So mighty was the influence of God’s presence that the mountains themselves began to move, and even to skip like rams, and to leap like lambs. There was some fear there, for they trembled in their solid sockets, "at the presence of the God of Jacob." There was joy, too. We speak of "the everlasting hills," yet the psalmist depicts them as moving as easily as the lambs frisk in the meadows in the springtime: "The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs." How grand is the poetic utterance!

"What ailed you, O you sea, that you fled? you Jordan, that you were driven back?" "You could no longer rush in your accustomed channel, but must needs return to the source whence you did come.

What ailed you, you, O you mountains, that you trembled as if a palsy had seized upon you, you? ‘What ailed you, you, O you little hills?’

Now comes the answer, which yet is not given in the form of an answer.

The inspired poet, in order to heighten the grandeur of his language, kept the name of God out of the Psalm until he came to the end, when he thus answered his own riddle: "Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob; which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters;"-another miracle, for God multiplied his marvels. Having brought his people out of Egypt, and led them through the wilderness, and made the hills to move at his majestic presence, now he performs a converting work, changing the rock into a mere, or lake, so plenteous was the effusion of water, and making the flint to gush into a veritable river, which followed the children of Israel through the wilderness, for, as Paul says, "they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, (the margin is, "that went with them,") and that Rock was Christ."

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 114. and 48.

 

Chapter 115

 

Verses 1-18

 

This is one of the Psalms, which were sung by the Jews at the feast of the Passover. It is highly probable that they were sung by our Lord on that memorable night when he instituted the sacred feast which is to be the perpetual memorial of his death, "until he come." They have, however, a message for us who are now gathered together here.

Psalms 115:1-2. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto your name give glory, for your mercy, and for your truth’s sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?

They talk about what he did when he brought his people up out of Egypt; but they tauntingly ask, "Where is now their God?" You are not dead, O God! Nor are you even waxing weak; will you not let the heathen know that they are resisting you in vain?

Psalms 115:3. But our God is in the heavens:

Where they cannot see him. But that is just where he should be-in his own royal pavilion, seated upon his own throne,-out of gunshot of all his enemies,-where he can survey the whole world, where he is dependent upon none, but absolutely supreme over all: "Our God is in the heavens.

Psalms 115:3. He has done whatever he has pleased.

What a grand sentence that is. After all, his eternal purposes are continually being fulfilled. His decrees can never fail to be accomplished. He is not a thwarted and defeated God,-not one who has to wait upon his creatures to know their pleasure; but "he has done whatever he has pleased." How absolute and unlimited those words are! "Whatever he has pleased." He has willed it, and he has done it. As for the heathen who say, "Where is now their God?" we may ask, in holy derision, "Where are their gods, and what sort of gods are they?" The psalmist gives the answer.

Psalms 115:4. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

Mere metal,-called precious metal, yet, if made into idols, no better than any other metal. This shows the amount that a man will spend upon making to himself a God that is no God; but what a fool he is to do so! How can a man call that a "God", which did not make him, but which he himself made?

"Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands."

Psalms 115:5. They have mouths, but they speak not:

I want you, you to notice how the psalmist seems to have an image before him, and he points first to its head, and mocks at its different parts; and then he points to its hands, and its feet, and he utters scathing sarcasm’s about the whole person of the idol God.

Psalms 115:5-7. Eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.

"They have mouths." To carry out their idea of God, the makers of idols have given them mouths; but they cannot speak through them, they are dumb. Shall a man believe a dumb thing to be a God? The idols cannot communicate anything to him; it is not possible for them to speak any word of encouragement, or threatening, or promise: "They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they." Some idols had precious gems placed in their heads, to appear like eyes; but they cannot see through them, for they are blind. Is it not a solecism,-a contradiction, to speak of a blind God?

What a blind man must he be who worships a blind God! "Eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears." Some Indian idols certainly have ears, for they have elephants’ ears, monstrous lobes; and I think, perhaps, the psalmist was referring to such ears as those. "They have ears," he says, "but they hear not." Then what is the use of their ears? You, you cannot communicate anything to them; so, why do you, you utter prayers to a thing that cannot hear what you, you say? Why do you, you present praises to images that know not what you, you are saying? "They have ears, but they hear not." "Noses have they." I note the grim sarcasm of this remark of the psalmist; it reminds me of Elijah’s taunting words to the prophets of Baal, "Cry aloud: for he is a God; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or perhaps he sleeps, and must be awaked." The ancient Hebrews were not accustomed to treat idolatry with any kind of respect; they poured all sorts of ridicule upon it. Nowadays, we are expected to speak very respectfully concerning all false religions, and some philosophers and divines tell us that there is something good in them all; and they say that modern Papistry, with its gods many, and its rotten rags and cast clouts, which they call relics, is to be treated very delicately. Perhaps someone asks, "Is it not a religion?" Yes, a religion for fools; but not for those who think. "Noses have they, but they smell not." Their devotees fill the room with the smoke of incense; they burn sweet spices before the idols, but their nostrils are not thereby gratified. "They have hands," says the psalmist; their makers give them hands, "but they handle not." They cannot even receive the offerings presented to them. They cannot stretch out their hands to help their votaries. They are without feeling,-so the original tells us; yet they have hands, but they are useless. "Feet have they, but they walk not." They could not even mount to their shrines by themselves, they must be lifted there, and fastened with nails into their sockets. One of the saddest sights to my mind,-too sad to be ludicrous,-is to see a Popish chapel, as I have often seen it, when the verger is up on the top of the altar, taking down the various images, and dusting the dolls. He, of course, pays them no sort of reverence, but dusts them as your servant does the things in your bedchamber or your drawing room. Yet these are the things that will be worshiped when the bell rings in an hour’s time,-these very things that have been dusted, and treated in this fashion, just like ordinary household ornaments. "Feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat." Their priests pretend that, by a kind of sacred ventriloquism, they make an articulate muttering; but the psalmist very properly says, "Neither speak they through their throat." They cannot whisper, they cannot even mutter; they cannot make even as much noise as a beast or a bird can; for they are lifeless and useless.

Psalms 115:8. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusts in them.

That is to say, they are as stupid and doltish as the idols they make. If they can bow down and worship such things as these, surely the worshipers are fitted for the gods, and the gods for the worshipers. Now, brethren, recollect that there is a spiritual idolatry that is very much in vogue nowadays. Certain "thinkers"-as they delight to call themselves, whose religion is known as "modern thought",-do not accept the one living and true God as he reveals himself in the Old and the New Testaments; but they make a God out of what they are pleased to call their own consciousness. Truly, their idols are reason and thought-the work of men’s brains. Their God does not hear prayer, because it would be absurd, they say, to suppose that prayer can have any effect on Deity. Their God has little or no regard for justice; according to them, you, you may live as you, you like, but all will come right at last. They hold out a "larger hope" that the wicked will all be restored to God’s favor; if that should be the case, there would be no justice left upon the face of the earth or in Heaven either. All this is false. A God that a man can comprehend is not really a God at all.

A God that I could excogitate from my own brain must, of necessity, be no God. There can only be the one God who is made known to us by divine revelation. God must be infinitely greater than the human mind; he must be beyond our utmost conception,-of whom we can know but little compared with what he really is, and that little he must himself reveal to us. Beware, I pray you, you, of a God that you, you make for yourself. Take God as you, you find him in this Book, and worship him; otherwise, you, you will find that there may be mental idols as well as idols of silver, and gold, and wood, and stone. "The God of Abraham praise." "The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob," the God of the whole earth shall he be called; "the God that led his people out of Egypt, the God of Sinai is the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ;" and "this God is our God forever and ever." Ours is no new religion; it is the religion of Jehovah worship, and to this we will cling, whoever may oppose.

Psalms 115:9-11. O Israel, trust you in the Lord: he is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield. You that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield.

The first of this set of sentences seems to me to he addressed by way of exhortation, but the second is a sort of soliloquy in which the psalmist, having exhorted others to trust, says, "Well they may trust, for God is both their active and their passive Helper: their help and their shield." O you, you who know him, and love him, you, you who are of the house of Israel, however other men may turn aside to idols, keep yourselves steadfast to Jehovah, and trust in him even when he is mocked and ridiculed! O you who are his ministers, the house of Aaron, specially devoted to his service, you, you know him best, and you, you should trust him most! O all of you, you, proselytes of the gate, who are not of the seed of Israel, still fear Jehovah, and trust in him, for he is your help and your shield!

Psalms 115:12. The Lord has been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.

He had been mindful of Israel, and this guaranteed that he would still bless his people. "The times are dark and cloudy," the psalmist seems to say, "but by his ancient mercies, our faith is established, and our hope encouraged."

Psalms 115:13. He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.

Now little ones, look out for the blessing that is meant for you, you: "He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great." Those who have but little faith, little joy, little grace, little growth, yet still he will bless.

Psalms 115:14-16. The Lord shall increase you, you more and more, you, you and your children. You are blessed of the Lord which made Heaven and earth. The Heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’S: but the earth has he given to the children of men.

This may in part account for the fact that he is not known, and not honored among men. He is himself in Heaven; and, for a while, he has left men to follow their own devices. Hence it is that they have set up false gods. But, whatever others may do, or not do, let us praise the name of the Lord.

Psalms 115:17. The dead praise not the Lord,

No song comes up from that dark charnel house, no praise ascends to God from those that are asleep in the grave. The living among them praise him in Heaven, but "the dead praise not the Lord."

Psalms 115:17-18. Neither any that go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the Lord.

"Praise the Lord," that is "Hallelujah." The Psalm could not end with a better note than that; so may all our lives end, for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen.

 

Chapter 116

 

Verses 1-6

 

Psalms 116:1. I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.

You, you cannot help loving God if he has heard your prayers. Have you, you tried him? If you, you have, you, you can join with David and thousands of others in confessing that he is a prayer-hearing God, and therefore you, you love him. I find the verse might be read, "I love the Lord, because he hears." He is always hearing. I am always speaking to him, and he is always hearing me, and therefore I love him. Can you, you imagine a better reason for love?

Psalms 116:2. Because he has inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

"He has inclined his ear" — stooped down, as it were, as you, you do to a sick person to catch his faintest word. "He has inclined his ear." He has heard my prayer, when I could hardly hear it myself. When it was such a broken prayer, such a feeble prayer, that I was afraid I had not prayed, yet he heard me. He inclined his ear, and "therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." That is, I will never leave off praying, and I will never leave off praising. This is the best gratitude we can show to God. Now, if a beggar were to say to us, "If you, you will help me today, I will beg of you, you as long as ever I live," we should not be very thankful to him; but when we say this to God, he is glad, for he wants us to be thus continually calling upon him.

Psalms 116:3-4. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of Hell got hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord O Lord, I beseech you, deliver my soul.

He felt as if he had been hunted. As in hunting, they sometimes surround the stag with dogs as with a cordon, so he says, "the sorrows of death compassed me. There was no getting away. I was in a circle of sorrow." Worse than that, his pains of conscience and heart were so great that he says, "The pains of Hell got hold upon me" — got the grip of him, as though he were arrested by them — as though those dogs had come so close as to seize and grasp him. "Then," says he, "I called." At the worst extremity he prayed. There is no time too bad to pray in. When it is all over with you, you, still pray. Often the end of yourself is the beginning of your God. He means to get you, you away from every other confidence, that you, you may fling yourself upon him. "Then called I upon the name of the Lord." And what was the prayer? A very short one: "O Lord, I beseech you deliver my soul." God does not measure prayers by the yard. It is not by the length but by the weight. If there is life, earnestness, heart in your prayer, it is all the better for being short. Read the Bible through, and you, you will scarcely find a long prayer. Prayers that come from the soul are often like arrows shot from the bow — quick, short, sharp; and God hears such prayers as these — "O Lord, I beseech you deliver my soul."

Psalms 116:5. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;

Wonderful combination — gracious and yet righteous. And if you, you want to know how this can be, look at Calvary, where Jesus dies that we may live. "Oh! the sweet wonders of that cross, where God the Savior loved and died" — where there was the justice of God to the full, and the mercy of God without bound. "Gracious is the Lord and righteous."

Psalms 116:5-6. Yes, our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple:

Those that have such a deal of wit may take care of themselves, but "the Lord preserves the simple," the straightforward, the plain-minded — those who believe his word without raising questions. "The Lord preserves the simple."

Psalms 116:6. I was brought low and he helped me.

Oh! many of you, you can say this, I trust, and if you, you cannot I hope you, you will before long — "I was brought low, and he helped me."

Verses 1-11

 

It begins well.

Psalms 116:1. I love the Lord,

Can you, you say that? "Yes, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you." "I love the Lord." Love is said to be blind, but not love to God. Love to God can see, and it can give a reason for its own existence, and a good substantial reason too. "I love the Lord."

Psalms 116:1. Because he has heard my voice and my supplications. A good reason for love will be found in the closet where prayer is answered. If you, you have ever been in trouble, and that Divine friend has listened to your feeble cries, you, you do love him, and you, you cannot help loving.

You, you wonder why others do not love him too.

Psalms 116:2. Because he has inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

"Because." He harps on that string. It is so sweet a note that he touches it again: "Because he has inclined his ear unto me": stooped out of Heaven. He has laid his ear down to my lips. He has caught my wandering utterances. He has inclined his ear. My sin had pushed his ear away, but he has brought his head back again, and inclined his ear unto me. "Therefore." You, you see this was given as a reason, but the Psalmist is so full that what was a reason for love now becomes a reason for something else. The flowers in the garden of believers bloom double. Here is a second flower on this stalk. I love him because he has inclined his ear unto me.

"Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." I speed so well in prayer that I will keep on in that blessed business. God heard me once. He shall hear me again.

"Long as we live should Christians pray,

For only while we pray we live."

And as long as we live we shall find out the best way of living — to live from hand to mouth — from God’s hand to our mouth — by continual prayer. Now the Psalmist tells about this wonderful instance in which God heard his cry.

Psalms 116:3. The sorrows of death compassed me,

They were all round me. They made a circle. I could not find a break. They compassed me. Sorrows, deadly sorrows, the very sorrows of death.

Psalms 116:3. And the pains of Hell got hold upon me:

They came inside the circle and they gripped me. I was like one that did lie under the lion. He seemed to bite and tear me. "The pains of Hell got hold upon me." Did you, you ever know that? I did. Oh! I can never forget, for the scars are in my mind to this day when the pains of Hell got hold upon me. They say that there is no Hell. He will never say that who has ever felt the pains of a guilty conscience — the pangs of unforgiven sin to a soul that is made alive by the Spirit of God. "The pains of Hell got hold upon me."

Psalms 116:3. I found trouble and sorrow.

An unexpected find. They were hidden away — these double enemies — hidden away beneath my pleasures, beneath my sins, beneath my self-righteousness. "I found trouble and sorrow."

Psalms 116:4. Then called I upon the name of the Lord

The most canonical hour for prayer is the time of our greatest distress. When you, you can do nothing else but pray, then is the very best time to pray. When you, you seem shut up to prayer, what a blessed shutting up it is! "Then called I upon the name of the Lord." And what was his prayer? Very short: very full: a sort of soldier’s prayer.

Psalms 116:4. O Lord, I beseech you, deliver my soul.

There, dear hearer, if you, you want to begin to pray to God, there is a good beginning for you, you. "Oh! Lord, I beseech you, deliver my soul."

Psalms 116:5. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;

A curious mixture. You, you will never understand it until you, you stand at the foot of the cross.

Psalms 116:5. Yes, our God is merciful.

That is the practical outcome of the holy conjunction of grace and righteousness in the atoning sacrifice of Christ. "Our God is merciful." Sometimes when people cannot read well, they spell the words, and one, I remember, spelt God in this way — "Yes, our God is merciful." That will do — full of mercy — merciful.

Psalms 116:6. The Lord preserves the simple:

You, you clever men take heed of this. "The Lord preserves the simple" — the plain, hearty, honest, sincere, sometimes ridiculed for their want of cunning. God takes care of them.

Psalms 116:6. I was brought low, and he helped me.

What a sweet thing it is when you, you have studied a general doctrine to be able to give yourself as a particular instance of it. "The Lord preserves the simple." That is a grand truth. "But I was brought low, and he helped me." That is an emphatic proof. That is the enjoyable illustration of the grand truth. Can you, you say that, dear friends? Can you, you put that in your diary? "I was brought low, and he helped me."

Psalms 116:7. Return unto your rest, O my soul; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

Come back. He is a good God. Why wander? Return unto your first husband, for it was better with you than now. He has been bountiful. My soul lives on his bounty again.

Psalms 116:8. For you have delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

As I read these words, they seem as if they were written for me. Do they seem, dear hearer, as if they were written for you, you? Have you, you undergone this trinity of salvation — your soul from death, your eyes from tears, your feet from falling? If so, then make this resolve tonight.

Psalms 116:9. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

That is to say, as he has dealt so well with me, I will always deal well with him. I will not care to look to men — to their hope, to their help, to their judgment, to their censure, but I will set the Lord always before me. He shall be everything to me. Beloved, it is one of the best days work a man ever does, when he turns clean away from everything but God. Oh! when you, you have given up all reliance upon the creature, and throw yourself upon the bare arm of the Creator, now you, you have got at it, man; now you, you have come to real life. All the rest is mere play-acting, but this is reality, for God alone is, And all else is but a dream.

Psalms 116:10-11. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars.

And uncommonly near the truth he came, even though he was in a hurry in saying it, for if you, you trust in any men, they must be liars to you, you. They will fail you, you either from want of faithfulness, or else from want of power. There are pinches where the kindest hand cannot support. There are times of sorrow when she who is the partner of your bosom cannot find you, you alleviation. Then you, you will have to come to God, and God alone, and you, you will never find him fail you, you. The brooks of the earth are dry in summer, and frozen in winter. All my fresh springs are in you, my God, and there neither frost nor drought can come. Happy man who has got right away from everything to his God.

Verses 1-19

 

We have read this Psalm many times, let us read it now, not regarding it so much as the language of the psalmist uttered thousands of years ago, as our own language at this moment.

Psalms 116:1. I love the Lord,

Let us go as far as that if we can; let us each one say, "I love the Lord."

Psalms 116:1. Because —

There is a reason for this love. People say that love is blind, but love to God uses her eyes, and can justify herself: "I love the Lord, because" —

Psalms 116:1. He has heard my voice and my supplications.

Can you, you go as far as that? Do you, you recollect answers to prayer, when you, you cried to God with your voice, or when your voice failed you, you, but supplication rose to God from your heart? Surely there is not a man, whose prayers have been answered, who does not love God. He must love the Lord when he recollects what poor prayers his were, what great blessings came in answer to them, and how speedily and how often God has heard his prayers, and granted his requests.

Psalms 116:2. Because he has inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

That is a vow which we may well make, and hope for grace to keep it. It means that, as we have succeeded so well in begging at God’s door, we will keep on begging of him as long as we live. I suppose the psalmist meant that, because Jehovah had heard him, therefore he would never call upon any false God; but, as long as he lived, he would resort to the one living and true God. I hope that you, you and I can say the same. We have tried the fountain of living waters, why should we go to broken cisterns that can hold no water? Prayer to God has always succeeded, why should we not continue it? All you, you who have plied the trade of mendicants at the mercy-seat must have been so enriched by it in your souls that you, you are determined to stand there as long as you, you live." Because he has inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." This is sound reasoning, for even the emotions of believers, when they are most fervent, are based upon solid reasons. We can defend ourselves even when we grow warmest in love to God and most earnest in prayer. Now the psalmist tells one of his many experiences in prayer: —

Psalms 116:3-4. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of Hell got hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord

Dark days are good days for praying; when your eyes cannot see, you, you pray all the better; when there is no earthly prop to lean upon you, you are all the more ready to lean upon God alone. The psalmist was like a poor worm in a ring of fire: "the sorrows of death compassed me." The sheriff’s officer seemed to hold him in his grip: "the pains of Hell got hold upon me." As for his inner experience, he found nothing there but "trouble and sorrow." When the town of Mansoul was besieged, every way of escape was closed except the way upwards, and it was so with the psalmist, and therefore he made use of that way. "Then called I upon the name of the Lord." His prayer was short, earnest, and full of meaning: —

Psalms 116:4. O Lord, I beseech you, deliver my soul.

He did not have to search for a form of prayer, his words were such as came naturally to his mind; and that is the best sort of prayer which arises out of the heart’s sincere desire.

Psalms 116:5. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yes, our God is merciful.

The psalmist was delivered by an act of grace, yet it was an act of righteousness, for God is not unrighteous to break his own promise, and he has promised to help his people. Grace and righteousness both guarantee answers to believing prayers, and mercy comes in to make assurance doubly sure: "Yes, our God is merciful."

Psalms 116:6. The Lord preserves the simple:

Straightforward men, those who cannot play a double part, those simpletons whom others take in and laugh at because they are honest, true, genuine, — the Lord preserves such people.

Psalms 116:6. I was brought low, and he helped me.

Oh, these blessed personal pronouns, are you, you laying hold of them as I read them? Are you, you speaking them out of your own soul?

Psalms 116:7. Return unto your rest, O my soul; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

Come home to him, for you, you have no other friend like him in earth or Heaven; come back to him, my soul, and rest where you, you have often rested before.

Psalms 116:8. For you have delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

An eternity of mercies from the Eternal himself.

Psalms 116:9. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

The best style of living is walking before God, so living in his sight as to be indifferent to the opinions and judgments of our fellow men and only caring to know that God is looking upon us with approval. This is the way to live; and if we have tried it, we have found it to be so pleasant that we are resolved to continue in it.

Psalms 116:10-11. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars.

They have all failed me; some of them could but would not help me, so they were as liars to me; others would but could not, and as I have trusted them, they were as liars to me; but you, my God, are no liar, you are the truth itself! I ask those of you, you who have had a very long and varied experience to look back, and tell me whether you, you can recollect even once when your God has broken his promise. You, you have sometimes been afraid that he would forget it, but has he ever done so? If you, you speak as you, you have found him, you, you must praise and adore the faithful, immutable, all-sufficient Jehovah, who has made your strength to be as your days even to this very hour.

Psalms 116:12. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?

That question contains the essence of true religion. This should be the one object of our lives if we have been redeemed by Christ, and are his servants. Whatever we have done for God, we should endeavor to do much more, and to do it much better.

Psalms 116:13. I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.

This is a curious way of rendering anything, yet you, you know that John Newton’s hymn says, —

"The best return for one like me

So wretched and so poor,

Is from his gifts to draw a plea,

And ask him still for more."

Psalms 116:14-16. I will say my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. O Lord, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, and the son of your handmaid: you have loosed my bonds.

It is a great blessing if we are able to say, as David did, that we are born into God’s house. Some of us had gracious mothers who brought us to the Lord in earnest prayer long before we knew anything. I can say to the Lord, "I am your servant, and the son of your handmaid;" and I have no greater wish than that all my descendants may be the Lord’s.

Psalms 116:17-18. I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people,

Do it, beloved, let your hearts now pour themselves out in silence, and afterwards in grateful song before the Lord. Praise him, magnify him, bless his name, "in the presence of all his people." It is inspiring to be with your brethren and sisters in Christ. Perhaps the devotion which burns low when there is only one brand on the hearth will burn all the better and brighter when we add many blazing brands to it.

Psalms 116:19. In the courts of the Lord’S house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise you the Lord.

Verses 10-19

 

The whole Psalm is one of joyous thanksgiving because of God’s mercy to the singer. He had been in deep waters of trial and affliction, but had not been suffered to sink. He had known fierce assaults of sin that threatened tearful eyes and falling, stumbling stops, but God had upheld and strengthened. As he recalls all this, he longs to make some return by way of praise, and witness to others. Hence he now inquires.

Psalms 116:10-11. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars.

And uncommonly near the truth he came, even though he was in a hurry in saying it, for if you, you trust in any men they must be liars to you, you. They will fail you, you, either from want of faithfulness, or else from want of power. There are pinches where the kindest hand cannot support. There are times of sorrow when she who is the partner of your bosom cannot find you, you alleviation. Then you, you will have to come to God, and God alone, and you, you will never find him fail you, you. The brooks of the earth are dry in summer, and frozen in winter. All my fresh springs are in you, my God, and there neither frost nor drought can come. Happy man who has got right away from everything to his God.

Psalms 116:12. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me?

Here we see gratitude is springing up in this man’s breast. He lives upon God, and he loves God, and now the question comes, "What shall I do for God?" Service is not first. We make a mistake when we begin with that. No: we begin as he did, with "I love the Lord." Tell what the Lord has done for you, you, and then go on to, "What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me?"

Psalms 116:13-15. I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

We do well to notice those deaths, for God notices them. They are among his precious things. And if God thinks so much of dying saints, depend upon it he will not forget the living ones. He will help us. He will help us to the end.

Psalms 116:16. O Lord, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, and the son of your handmaid; you have loosed my bonds.

What a sweet thing to be the servant of God. Well does David say it twice over. Well does he delight to look upon himself as a slave that was born in his Master’s house. "My mother," says he, "was one of your servants. I am the son of your handmaid." Oh! It is a blessed thing to be able to be God’s every way — to feel in looking back, "I am not only his by redemption and by the new birth, but I seem as if I was bound to be his by a long ancestry of men and women, whom his sovereign grace called to himself." Grace does not run in the blood, but it is a great mercy when it runs side by side with it; and when the handmaiden of the Lord is mother of a man who is a child of God as well as her child. "You have loosed my bonds." You, you are never quite free, you, you have never got your bonds all loosed — until you, you can doubly feel the bonds of God. Read that: "I am your servant. I am your servant." That is two blows. "You have loosed my bonds." There is no freedom except in perfect subjection to the will of God. When every thought is brought into captivity to the mind of God, then every thought is free. You, you have heard much of the freedom of the will. There is no freedom of the will until grace has bound the will in fetters of divine affection. Then is it free, and not until then. "I am your servant — your servant; you have loosed my bonds."

Psalms 116:17. I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.

He has been doing it. What a man has done he will do. Oh! it is a blessed thing that the children of God at last catch a habit of devotion. Just as the sinner continues in his sin, so may I venture to say, "Shall the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" If so, then he who has once heartily learned to praise his God may begin to forget to do so. Use is second nature, and the holy use to which God has put us by his grace shall be our nature forever.

Psalms 116:18-19. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people, In the courts of the Lord’S house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise you the Lord.

I see that David liked company. He would have been happy here, though we meet under conditions not wholly pleasant. He would have been glad to be in the midst of a smiling company of grateful saints, who could all say, "That is true, David. What you, you have written of yourself, you, you might have written of each one of us, and we can each one say, ‘I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications.’"

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 116:10-19; Song of Solomon 2:1-7.

 

Chapter 117

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 118

 

Verses 1-29

 

Psalms 118:1. O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good: because his mercy endures forever.

Here is a standing reason for thanksgiving. Although we may not always be healthy, nor always prosperous yet God is always good, and, therefore, there is always a sufficient argument for giving thanks unto Jehovah. That he is a good God essentially, that he cannot be otherwise than good, should be a fountain out of which the richest praises should perpetually flow.

Psalms 118:2-3. Let Israel now say, that his mercy endures for ever. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endures for ever.

These were specially set apart for God’s service, and, therefore, where much is given, much is expected. The house of Aaron, therefore, must have a special note of thanksgiving, and though we who preach the gospel claim no sort of priesthood, yet if any ought to lead the strain of thankfulness, it should be those who minister for God continually.

Psalms 118:4. Let them now that fear the Lord say, that his mercy endures forever.

Let them all say it: let them all say it now: let every one of us say it for himself, "His mercy endures for every."

Psalms 118:5. I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place.

I think many of us could make just such a record as that and not once but many times in our lives, we could say, "I called upon the Lord in distress." We have had many trials, but we have a mercy-seat always to fly to, and a God always ready to hear the cries of his distressed ones.

Psalms 118:6. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

The past always gives us assurance for the future, for we are dealing with the same unchangeable God, and, therefore, we may expect to have the same dealings from him.

Psalms 118:7-8. The Lord takes my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

There is one text which I have never seen put up anywhere. You, you have illuminated texts in your houses and schoolrooms, and so on, but I think I have never seen this, "Cursed is he who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm" or this other one, "Cease, you, from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of?" and I am sure there is no teaching of Scripture more necessary than that, whether it refers to great men or to little men, whether it refers to men of eminence, or to those of your own family circle. "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence, in man."

Psalms 118:9. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.

It is nobler, it is more agreeable to sound reason, it will lead to better results. God better deserves our confidence than the princes of the earth do — even the best of them.

Psalms 118:10. All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them.

This may apply to David, but it applied better to Christ, around whom Jews and Gentiles came, but he won the victory over them.

Psalms 118:11-12. They compassed me about; yes, they compassed me about: but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. They compassed me about like bees, they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

The thorn makes a good blaze and crackle, and sputter, but it is soon out altogether. "For in the name of the Lord will I destroy them." In this way we may meet our spiritual foes, temptations, trials, the world, sin, death, Hell, the name of Jehovah shall be our strength. "In hoc signo vincit," said one of old — "By this sign you conquerest," and so by this sign we also overcome through the blood of the Lamb.

Psalms 118:13. You have thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the Lord helped me.

This will rebut all the attacks of our fiercest foes — "But the Lord helped me."

Psalms 118:14-15. The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.

Where God’s people dwell, there is the voice of joy. Their family prayer sanctifies the house with its joyous notes. Even then there is trouble and sorrow in the house, yet resignation makes joy and rejoicing there still; and if rejoicing for a moment should go, yet salvation never does. "This day is salvation come to your house." If you be now a converted man, it will never go away again. It is an abiding being: it is in the tabernacles of the righteous.

Psalms 118:16-17. The right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.

Some have thought this psalm was composed by Hezekiah after his sickness, and after the destruction of Sennacherib’s host. It may be so. It has been used by many besides Hezekiah, who have not forgotten that these are the words of Wickliffe, used when monks came round his dying bed with prayers, Paternosters, and crucifixes, and urged him to repent, and he said, "I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord." And so, indeed, he did.

Psalms 118:18. The Lord has chastened me sore: but he has not given me over unto death.

Many of his best children can say this, for "whom the Lord loves he chastens." "The Lord has chastened me sore, but he has not given me over unto death." You, you that have recovered from sickness, here is a song for you, you. You, you who above all were not given over to your sins and to the just punishment of them, here is music for you, you, "He has not given me over to the second death, which he might have done."

Psalms 118:19-20. Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord: This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter.

I suppose he who uttered these words has passed through the beautiful gates of the temple.

Psalms 118:21. I will praise you: for you have heard me, and are become my salvation.

Future, past, present — all full of blessing.

Psalms 118:22-24. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord’S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Though this is applicable to the Sabbath, yet it is also applicable to any day, and to every day which God especially makes glorious by delivering many.

Psalms 118:25-27. Save now, I beseech you, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech you, send now prosperity. Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you, you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, which has showed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

It is the king returning from victory and recovered from sickness. He brings his sacrifice with thanksgiving, as every child of God should, and there it is ready bound to the altar horns.

Psalms 118:28-29. You are my God, and I will praise you: you are my God, I will exalt you. O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good: for his mercy endures forever.

 

Chapter 119

 

Verses 1-16

 

The first eight verses of this Psalm, in the Hebrew, begin with the letter A, and the second eight begin with the letter B. The whole Psalm is the good man’s alphabet; the Holy Spirit condescended to use these expedients to help the memory of the readers of Holy Scripture. We should be thankful for this. I have sometimes heard preachers blamed for dividing their discourses in such a way as to help the memory of their hearers. The preacher may well bear that blame without any regret, since the Spirit of God here condescends to alliteration, and to alphabetical arrangement, in order to help the memories of readers. Thus the Psalm begins

Psalms 119:1. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.

If there are any people in the world who are blessed, surely it must be those who are in God’s way, and who take care to keep their garments unspotted from the world. Oh, if one can feel, at the end of every day, "I am undefiled in God’s way, and I have walked in his law," how sweet it is in such a case to fall asleep, not self-righteous and boastful, but yet thankful to have been kept from the iniquity that abounds in the world! Truly, "blessed are the undefiled in the way." Perhaps some of you, you cannot claim this particular blessing; then, remember that there is another Psalm (the thirty-second) which begins, "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered," and that blessing is of the same force and of the same sweetness as this one.

Psalms 119:2-3. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.

And if we walk in God’s ways, he will never require us to do anything which is inequitable or unrighteous. No, that life which is made up of walking in God’s ways, will be full of equity, and free from iniquity.

Psalms 119:4. You have commanded us to keep your precepts diligently.

We are to be as industrious in holiness as grasping men are in business. "You have commanded us to keep your precepts diligently," watchfully, carefully, industriously, with all our might.

Psalms 119:5. O that my ways were directed to keep your statutes!

The psalmist is driven to prayer. His admiration of the godly man makes him aspire to be like him, and then he feels that he cannot attain to that height without divine help; so he cries, "O that my ways were directed to keep your statutes!"

Psalms 119:6. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all your commandments.

That is a wide expression, "respect unto all your commandments." There are many men who are willing to keep a part of God’s commandments; but they must pick and choose for themselves which these shall be. Such are arrant traitors; there lurks in their heart a distinct rebellion against the Lord, for they do really presume to be the judge of God, by taking exception to this or that command in his law. In their great condescension, they are willing to be obedient in certain points, but not in all. Such men have need to be ashamed; but the psalmist could say, "Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all your commandments."

Psalms 119:7. I will praise you with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned your righteous judgments.

"I will not praise myself; if I am enabled to be holy, that holiness is your work, and I will praise you for it."

Psalms 119:8. I will keep your statutes: O forsake me not utterly.

Whenever you, you make a resolve, accompany it with a prayer. Let this be your declaration, "I will keep your statutes:" but pray, "O forsake me not utterly," for, otherwise, your resolution will come to nothing. Now begins the second octave of the Psalm

Psalms 119:9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?

The psalmist has spoken about the holy way; now he would speak about young men running in it. One of the most intense desires of every godly man is that there may be a succession of godly men. Oh, that our young men might be good men, so that, when the old men pass away, the generation following them may be as good as their fathers, nay more, that they may be far better! "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" Within him are strong passions, around him are fierce temptations; wherewithal shall he cleanse his way? There are plenty who would defile him; the youth is compassed about with the temptations of gaiety and the allurements of folly:

"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" Here is the answer

Psalms 119:9. By taking heed thereto according to your word.

There is no keeping a clean way if you, you walk with your eyes shut; you, you must pick your path in such a foul road as this: "By taking heed thereto according to your word." Yes, the greatest heed we can take will not keep us out of the mire unless God’s Word is a continual lamp unto our feet and a constant light unto our path. Oh, that every young man here might cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to God’s Word!

Psalms 119:10. With my whole heart have I sought you:

Can you, you each one say that, "With my whole heart have I sought you"?

Psalms 119:10. O let me not wander from your commandments.

"For, though I have sought you with my whole heart, yet my heart may in the future go astray. Do not permit it, Lord; do not permit it." It is a very sorrowful thought to me, that there are many, who once sat in these seats, and resolved to maintain a holy life, who, nevertheless, are, at this moment, in the seat of the scornful, some perhaps in prison, and many of them where they ought not to be. They determined to be right; but, destitute of divine grace, they have gone astray; therefore, let each of us pray, "O let me not wander from your commandments." You, you know what John Bradford used to say when he saw a man taken out to be hanged, "There goes John Bradford, but for the grace of God." And when you, you see others wander, you, you may say the same about yourself, and then breathe the prayer, "O let me not wander from your commandments."

Psalms 119:11. Your word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against you.

An old preacher, in a sermon on this text, divided it thus: "The best thing: ‘your word.’ In the best place: ‘have I hid in my heart.’ For the best of purposes: ‘that I might not sin against you.’" He thus gave in a few words the very gist of the text.

Psalms 119:12. Blessed are you, O Lord: teach me your statutes.

There is a mixture, you, you see, of prayer and praise. That is the best devotion, which contains a happy combination of these two things, prayer and praise.

Psalms 119:13. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of your mouth.

I must take leave to claim a special property in this text, and there are some among us here, following that same holy craft of preaching the divine Word, who can, each one, lay his hand upon his heart, and say to God, "With my lips have I declared all the judgments of your mouth." This is a happy occupation. If you, you cannot spend all your lives in it, because of other duties, yet, at least in your own family, and as often as you, you have opportunities, use your lips in God’s service.

Psalms 119:14. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, as much as in all riches.

Not only as much as in riches, but as in all riches. David had gathered together a vast sum of money for the building of the house of the Lord; but whatever joy he had in those accumulations (and I daresay he had great gladness when he thought of the purpose to which all would be put) yet, nevertheless, he says, "I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, as much as in all riches."

Psalms 119:15. I will meditate in your precepts, and have respect unto your ways.

Blessed meditation! The lack of meditation is one of the faults of the days in which we live, we are so very busy that we have not time to study God’s Word; but the psalmist said, "I will meditate in your precepts:" that is the secret strength; "and have respect unto your ways:" that is the public result.

If we meditated more, we should live better. God help us so to do!

Psalms 119:16. I will delight myself in your statutes: I will not forget your word.

So may each one of us resolve. Amen.

Verses 1-20

 

It is not easy to see the special subjects that are spoken of by David in each of the short portions of eight verses, yet I do not doubt that if each portion were very carefully examined, we should see that there is some thread running through. We have not here simply a number of pious sentences about the excellency of God’s Word, but we have choice gems set, each of them in a golden ring of spiritual intent and purpose. I think the first eight verses, all of which begin with that letter Aleph, or A, set forth the excellence of abiding in holiness, and walking continually in the way of the Lord. Not so much the restoring and comforting power of the word, as the blessedness of that word in leading us to conduct ourselves in consistency of character at all times.

Psalms 119:1. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.

There is another blessing which comes before this. "Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, .and whose sin is covered." And we can never know the blessing of this 119th Psalm unless we have felt in our own souls that first blessing — the blessedness of forgiven sin. But when, through the forgiveness of sin, we are put upon gospel ground, and are saved, then, not according to the law, but according be the gospel does this blessing come upon us. "Blessed are the undefiled in the way." The men who have kept their garments unspotted from the world — who from the time of their conversion even until now have been under the influence, of the divine Spirit, and so have been enabled to walk in holiness without once defiling their garments with any great and public sin — who walk in the law of the Lord, not occasionally, but always — whose daily walk is in conformity with the divine mind — these are blessed.

Psalms 119:2. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

For he who has most of God, yet needs to seek more. We keep the testimonies — those we know, for we are taught of the Lord according to the promise, "All your children shall be taught of the Lord." Yet do we still seek more. With our whole heart are we pressing on still to something higher and better. Even the undefiled in the way are so, comparatively: they are not absolutely undefiled, so as to be absolutely perfect in the sight of God. Hence they feel their imperfection, and they press after something better. They seek him with the whole heart.

Psalms 119:3-4. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. You have commanded us to keep your precepts diligently.

So that if we do so, we are unprofitable servants. We have done no more than was our duty to do. When his divine grace has renewed us, and has enabled us to walk in all sobriety, and truthfulness, and holiness, even then we have nothing to boast of. "You have commanded us to keep your precepts diligently."

Psalms 119:5. O that my ways were directed to keep your statutes !

"Oh! that I may never defile my garments!" And he who has not defiled his garments still prays the same prayer that he may be kept still and directed still. "Oh! that my ways were directed to keep your statutes!"

Psalms 119:6. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all your commandments.

It gives a man boldness. Integrity of heart before God breeds sacred courage. He has nothing to be ashamed of, and he is not ashamed when he has respect unto all God’s commandments.

Psalms 119:7. I will praise you with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned your righteous judgments.

Not "I will praise myself." Not "I will take credit to myself for my clean walking;" but "When you have taught me, and I learn your ways, then all the praise shall be rendered unto you." This is the fruit of evangelical obedience. Legal obedience, even could it be rendered, would be sure to claim the servant’s wage, and take to itself the praise; but the obedience of a child of God leads to the laying of honor at Jehovah’s feet.

Psalms 119:8. I will keep your statutes: O forsake me not utterly.

Strong resolution, but a deep consciousness of weakness and unworthiness. "I will," but oh’.. how can I do it?

"Oh! for this no strength have I

My strength is at your feet to lie.

Oh! forsake me not utterly."

Now, in the next eight verses it seems to me that the subject is some what different. We have seen the excellence of an undefiled way. Now we have before us one who wants to prove the power of the Word to keep him in that undefiled way; and so he begins with this question.

Psalms 119:9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?

His passions are strong: his experience little. His tempers are many: his friends cannot always be at his side. "Wherewithal shall he cleanse his way?" It is very apt to become miry. The answer is: — -

Psalms 119:9. By taking heed thereto according to your word.

The word will keep him in the cleanly path — will warn him of all the mire into which he would have fallen; and if he take heed to his steps, he shall not trip.

Psalms 119:10. With my whole heart have I sought you: O let me not wander from your commandments.

There is the young man’s fear; and it may be the old man’s fear, too. "I have sought you sincerely and earnestly, but do not permit my weaker passions to get the mastery over me — do not suffer me in some unguarded hour to be carried captive by my lusts. Oh! let me not wander from your commandments. It were better to die than to wander from your way." The true convert dreads sin. He loathes the very thought of the most pleasurable folly. "Oh! let me not wander from your commandments."

Psalms 119:11. Your word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against you.

There is the dread, you, you see — the dread of sinning — the dread of defiling his way; so he says that he has adopted this divine remedy. A good division of this text, if anyone would preach from it, is the best thing, "Your word;" in the best place — "have I hid in my heart"; for the best of purposes — " that I might not sin against you."

Psalms 119:12. Blessed are you, O Lord: teach me your statutes.

As if he said, "Teach me your statutes that I may be blessed, too. You are a happy God. Teach me your way that I may be happy, too. Blessed are the undefiled. Teach me to be so, that as you are blessed, so I may be."

Psalms 119:13-14. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, as much as in all riches.

A man’s walking will be right when his delight is of this kind, for where the heart goes, the life will go. To some people religion is a task. It will never have much power over them. But when it becomes a delight, then will their walk be affected by it. A well-known and renowned infidel of the last generation, traveling in Wales, said to a little girl whom he saw reading her Bible, "Well, my dear," he said, "I see you, you are getting through your task." "Task sir?" she said, "What do you, you mean? I am reading the Bible." He said, "I thought your mother had set you, you a chapter to read." "Oh! no, sir. If my mother wanted to punish me, she would not make me read the Bible. It is the most delightful book in all the world, and it is a great joy to me when I can get a little time alone to read my Bible." It touched his heart. As he confessed afterwards, he was delighted to find something like genuine religion. And where you, you find delight in religion, there it is genuine. True, genuine religion is like some of the German waters. They come up all fresh and sparkling. I like to see the sparkling in it — a little sparking religion — a little flash of joy and of delight. But very much that we get now-a-days is flat, stale, dull, unprofitable. They keep it corked, but badly corked usually, and when we see it there is nothing in it that we should desire it. It is a poor article. God give us delight in himself, for that is tame religion. "I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as in all riches."

Psalms 119:15. I will meditate in your precepts, and have respect unto your ways.

An excellent way of keeping the life clean is to keep the thoughts clean. Our boys .are brought to prison by reading the abominable trash that is poured forth for juveniles; and many and many a crime has been the result of the fiction of the present day. It is often not only light reading, but filthy reading, too. If we would read God’s Word more, and meditate in it better, our hearts would be kept sweet and so would our lives be.

Psalms 119:16. I will delight myself in your statutes: I will not forget your word.

God grant that we never may.

Psalms 119:17. Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live, and keep your word.

Does it want much grace, then, to keep a child of God alive — even to keep him alive? Yes, it does. Little grace will be of no use to us. We must have great grace, for our needs are great. Sometimes our troubles are great: at other times our temptations are great. We are always in great necessity; and you, Lord, must have a large treasury, and you must give it liberally to us, or else we, poor, penniless beggars, must utterly die of want. Merely to live, then, needs the bounty of God. "Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your Word" — for there is no living in truth, except as we keep the Word of God. Those who live in the neglect of God’s Word are not living at all, but they are dead while they live. God deliver us from such life.

Psalms 119:18. Open you mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

They are there, but I cannot see them unless you open my eyes. It is not that your Word is dark, but that my eyes are dim. Yes, by nature they are blinded altogether. Oh! you, who are the great Physician of the blind, open you my eyes.

Psalms 119:19. I am a stranger in the earth: hide not your commandments from me.

Do you, you see the drift of that? He says, "I .am a stranger here. Then, Lord, if you do not become, and continue to be, my acquaintance, I am altogether alone." It is true of the Christian that he cannot find anything here that can satisfy his soul. He must, therefore, have the Lord, or else he is in a very sorry case. Oh! beloved, the more you, you find yourselves strangers in this world, the more are you, you becoming like your God. The Psalmist says elsewhere, "For I am a stranger with you," not "to you," but "with you, like you," for God is a stranger in this world. Men do not recognize him or delight themselves in him. "So, since, Lord, I have no other friend, and can find no other satisfying portion, hide not your commandments from me. On the contrary, let me see the more of you, because I have nothing else."

Psalms 119:20. My soul breaks for the longing that it has unto your judgments at all times.

We cannot always say that, for we sometimes wish that our hearts would break. Sometimes we sing: —

"My heart rejoice or ache: Resolve this doubt for me;

And if it be not broken, break And heal it if it be."

Verses 9-32

 

Psalms 119:9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to your word.

"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" A vital and solemn question. His way is full of temptations, and he himself has strong passions. How shall he make his way clean, and keep it so? "By taking heed thereto according to your word." Without heed he will soon be in the mire, but carefully walking with God’s word as his rule, by the blessing of God’s grace it will keep him out of sin.

Psalms 119:10. With my whole heart have I sought you: O let me not wander from your commandment.

There might be thought in this confession to be some commendation of himself, and therefore he salts it with this prayer: "I have sought you, Lord, sincerely, but still, notwithstanding that, I am very apt to stray away, and I shall sadly wander unless you keep me. O let me not wander from your commandments."

Psalms 119:11. Your word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against you.

The best thing put into the best place for the best of all purposes. There is no antidote against sin like the possession of the Word of God in the soul.

Psalms 119:12. Blessed are you, O Lord: teach me your statutes.

You are blessed, make me blessed. You are the happy God, instruct me in the way of happiness.

Psalms 119:13. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of your mouth.

I am a learner, but I have tried to be a teacher too. I have not kept the Word of God to myself as though it were only a personal treasure for me, but what I have heard in the secret-chamber of fellowship, that have I spoken on the housetops. Have you, you published abroad what you, you know? Then you, you are the person to learn more. When men drop their money into a money box, they have to break it to get it out again, and if they have not need of it they will not do so. God does not care to drop his treasure into a heart that never uses it and imparts it. Let your lips speak what your heart learns.

Psalms 119:14. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, as much as in all riches.

If all sorts of riches were put together, I have found them all, and more than them all, in your testimonies. I am rich in all respects when I have you.

Psalms 119:15. I will meditate in your precepts, and have respect unto your way.

Meditation treads the wine press and gets the juice out of the grapes. A man may read too much if he reads without meditation. "I will meditate." It is the harvesting by reaping of what we have sown by reading.

Psalms 119:16. I will delight myself in your statutes: I will not forget your word.

I will take a deep pleasure in them, and I will find an intense joy in every pondering of them. "I will not forget your word." I will never let it go out of the precincts of my memory: I will recall again and again. I will always have a text of your precious Book ready to my tongue.

Psalms 119:17. Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live, and keep your word.

Give me much of your comfort, royally of yourself: deal bountifully with me: I have great necessities, am a mass of wants, therefore, " Deal bountifully with me that I may live." And I have great tendencies to wander. Great risks and perils. Give me abundance of grace that I may keep your word.

Psalms 119:18. Open you mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

The wonders are there: cause me to behold them. A man may have a fair landscape before him, rich in all beauties of form and color, but if his eyes be closed, what is he better for it?

Psalms 119:19. I am a stranger in the earth: hide not your commandments from me.

"I am a stranger in the earth." I do not belong now to it: I am born and bound for Heaven: I am a pilgrim here: men do not understand me, neither have I any settled business here. "I am a stranger in the earth: hide not your commandments from me." Oh, remember that I am your alien, your banished one: send me love-messages from the old home and loved country.

Psalms 119:20. My soul breaks for the longing that it has unto your judgments at all times.

Broken souls are many: but not on this account! Oh, how few are in danger of breaking, through such a longing as this ! Would God there were many more that did sigh and cry after the Word of God; for longings such as these are sure to lead to an earnest search, and the earnest search will increase knowledge and increase grace.

Psalms 119:21. You have rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from your commandments.

A proud man is surely a sinful man. He may think himself a righteous man, but he cannot be so. He has gone far astray from the very essence of God’s law, which is that he should walk humbly with his God.

Psalms 119:22. Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept your testimonies.

A man that does that is pretty sure to be reproached and to be contemned by man; for they think that one who follows God faithfully "is very old-fashioned, he has not much spirit, he has not drunk in the philosophy of the age, he is a fossilized Christian," and so on. Well, we can bear all such reproach: still are we truly glad when we escape it.

Psalms 119:23. Princes also did sit and speak against me: but your servant did meditate in your statutes.

And a great man’s word goes a long way with some people. They think a prince a great authority. "But your servant did meditate in your statutes." He did not burst out in angry reply, he did not give fierce railing for railing, but he sat himself down as quietly as he could, the more abundantly to meditate in God’s statutes. What calmness there is here, and what wisdom! for if princes should speak against us, and the great ones of the earth should rail, what matters it? If they drive us away from our faith, it would matter, but if they drive us to our Bibles, it is a benefit.

Psalms 119:24-25. Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. My soul cleaves unto the dust: quicken you me according to your word.

Here he prays for quickening. He felt the spiritual death that was so natural to him, the heaviness of his heart, the tendency to sink, the attractions of the world.

Psalms 119:26. I have declared my ways, and you heard me: teach me your statutes.

Open confession is good for the soul, and I have made this confession: you have heard me: now "teach me your statutes."

Psalms 119:27. Make me to understand the way of your precepts: so shall I talk of your wondrous works.

Lord ground me and found me in your knowledge: give me to know fully, firmly, what I do know. I would not be as a man that eats, but thinks not, whence the bread came, but I would wish to understand the way of your precepts: "so shall I talk of your wondrous works."

Psalms 119:28. My soul melts for heaviness: strengthen you me according unto your word.

Will not this prayer suit some that are in this house this morning who are very dull and depressed? Oh, if your soul sinks, still pray and say: "Strengthen you me." You, you want strength, dear friends. If you, you had more strength, your trouble would not crush you, you; your soul would not melt if you, you had more strength and confidence.

Psalms 119:29-30. Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me your law graciously. I have chosen the way of truth: your judgments have I laid before me.

As a captain lays out his chart so as to keep his course correctly and safely, so I try to sail by it. I have chosen your law, and precept, and command as my course, and I would gladly keep to them.

Psalms 119:31. I have stuck unto your testimonies: 0 Lord, put me not to shame.

I am glued to them: there is no separating me, no tearing me apart, from them. "O Lord, put me not to shame."

Psalms 119:32. I will run the way of your commandment, when you shall enlarge my heart.

I will go quicker and faster, I will have more energy, more flaming zeal, in your service — "When you shall enlarge my heart." O Lord, it is very narrow and very contracted, I cannot think great thoughts, nor do great things, nor believe great promises, unless you shall enlarge my heart. Lord, give me a larger heart, stronger to obey, tenderer to love, for your name’s sake!

Verses 17-28

 

Psalms 119:17. Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live, and keep your word.

O Lord, I am your servant; yet, I pray you, do not pay me wages according to my deserts, but according to the greatness of your mercy, "deal bountifully with your servant." Little mercy will not be enough for such great sins and such great needs as mine. Deal very generously with your poor servant who is so full of necessities, "that I may live;" for, if you will only let me live, it will be of your bounty, since I deserve not even that blessing. Only to have my life still spared, shall be regarded by me as a great favor from you. I want not to live to please myself, for that would not be living at all, but "that I may live, and keep your word." A holy life is the only true life, the only life that is really worth having; and he who has it has been dealt bountifully with by his God. I commend this verse to each servant of the Lord as a prayer that may he continually presented to him.

Psalms 119:18. Open you mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

This is one of the first parts of God’s bountiful dealings with us. There is no mercy that is so great as mercy to one’s own person, to one’s own eyes, for instance, which are such essential parts of ourselves. Lord, when you are dealing bountifully with me, I do not ask for riches, but I do ask that my eyes may be opened. I do not ask you to give me more than you have given in your Word, but I do ask for opened eyes with which I may perceive what you have put there, else the beauties of your Word may be useless to me by reason of my blindness. This blessed Book teems with marvels; it is a world of wonders. It records many miracles, but every page of it is itself a miracle, and a mass of miracles; yet we must have them revealed to us, or we shall not discover them. Revelation itself must he revealed to every man individually by the Spirit of God, or else he will never see it.

Psalms 119:19. I am a stranger in the earth: hide not your commandments from me,

Humane men deal kindly with exiles; God has commanded us to be generous to strangers, and he will certainly be so himself. Lord, because of your love, I find myself like an exile among the sons of men; but be not you yourself strange to me. What should I do, in this world, without you, and without your Word? "Hide not your commandments from me."

Psalms 119:20-21. My soul breaks for the longing that it has unto your judgments at all times. You have rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from your commandments.

God cannot bear the proud; it is very seldom that they can bear one another; and if proud men loathe pride as they see it in others, you, you may rest assured that the good and great God will not endure it. How sternly he rebuked it in the angels that kept not their first estate How he rebuked it in Pharaoh! All through history, it may be seen how God has been continually abasing the proud, and giving grace to the humble.

Psalms 119:22. Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept your testimonies.

He had lived honestly and uprightly, and yet men slandered him. Was there ever a man upon earth, who was good and true, who was not slandered? God himself was slandered in paradise by the old serpent, and the Lord Jesus was constantly being slandered by wicked men, so can any of us hope to escape the envenomed tongue of the slanderer? Yet it is very painful, and we may well pray to be delivered from it, especially if we can add, with the psalmist, "for I have kept your testimonies."

Psalms 119:23. Princes also did sit and speak against me: but your servant did meditate in your statutes.

Sometimes, men can bear what the commonalty say; but to have the great ones of the earth speaking against them, is thought by some to be very hard. The psalmist says, "Princes also did sit and speak against me." What did he do under such circumstances? Did he rise up in anger, and answer them? Or did he sit down, and consider how he could defend himself against them? Far from it: "Your servant did meditate in your statutes." He seems to say, "I did not think it was worth my while to leave the Scriptures, even for a moment, so as to speak to them; but I went on studying your Word, and left them to say what they pleased." We shall be wise if we do likewise.

Psalms 119:24. Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.

While these princes were taking counsel against the psalmist, he also went and took Counsel’s advice against them; but that Counsel’s advice was the advice of the Word of God. He stuck to the Scriptures. Little as he had of them, yet that little he greatly prized. The Pentateuch furnished him with five inspired Counselors to whom he resorted in his time of need. Let us imitate his example, especially as we have the complete Canon of revelation to advise and counsel us.

Psalms 119:25-28. My soul cleaves unto the dust: quicken you me according to your word. I have declared my ways, and you heard me: teach me your statutes. Make me to understand the way of your precepts: so shall I talk of your wondrous works. My soul melts for heaviness: strengthen you me according unto your word.

The Word of the Lord is available for quickening, teaching, and strengthening. As Paul wrote to Timothy, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." May that gracious Spirit, who inspired it, ever teach us its inner meaning!

Verses 21-32

 

Psalms 119:21. You have rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from your commandments.

Wherever there is pride in the heart, there is sure to be error in the life. A proud man is wrong, to begin with, and as long as he continues proud, he must be wrong. It is not possible for him to be right. God has rebuked him, and God has cursed him. How wise it would be of him to be humble. Remember we shall have either to be humble or to be humbled; and it is much better to be humble than to have to come under the humbling dispensations of God’s hand.

Psalms 119:22. Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept your testimonies.

O Lord, do not suffer men to believe lies and slanders against me, or if they do let my conscience sustain my courage by the consciousness that I have kept your testimonies.

Psalms 119:23. Princes also did sit and speak against me:

Had they nothing else to do, but talk against God’s servants? No; they sat down to do it with deliberation. "Princes also did sit and speak against me."

Psalms 119:23. But your servant did.

"Go to law with them?" No not so here. "But your servant got in the face and defended himself?" No, no. Look, you, you will not read those words. But "Your servant was broken-hearted about it to have the great men of the earth speaking against him?" No, it is not so either. "But your servant did."

Psalms 119:23. Meditate in your statutes,

Is not that a very blessed and admirable way of enduring slander — simply to take your Bible and read a little more than usual? You, you will cure it so.

Psalms 119:24. Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.

Because I love them and delight in them. I submit my life to their guidance.

I go to your Book to ask what I shall do. I consult it as the oracle of God. I take my doubts, and difficulties, and dilemmas there, and I find that they are all met. "Your testimonies are my delight and my counselors."

Psalms 119:25. My soul cleaves unto the dust: quicken you me according to your word.

Ah! there is a note of sadness here. The Psalmist complains of himself. He found himself very sorrowful, and he could not get out of the sorrow; or he found himself very full of business cares, and he could not get rid of them. "My soul cleaves to the dust" — as though it was stuck to the dust, and the duet to it, and could not rise. Then how sweet the prayer, "Quicken you me." "Did you not first make me of dust, and will you not at the last quicken my mortal body out of the dust? Then, now, my Lord quicken you me according to your Word." See, here is an evil complained of. He finds himself cleaving to the dust. Here is a remedy sought, "Quicken you me." And here is an argument pleaded with God — "according to your Word." There is a promise for it. Lord, fulfill your word.

Psalms 119:26. I have declared my ways, and you heard me: teach me your statutes.

A confession had been made: "I have declared my ways." That confession had been accepted: "You heard me." Then a petition is offered: "Teach me your statutes." "You see that I confess how wrong I was. Now give me grace that I may not go wrong again." May that be our spirit always.

Psalms 119:27-28. Make me to understand the way of your precepts: so shall I talk of your wondrous works. My soul melts for heaviness: strengthen you me according unto your word.

"I am poured out like water," says the Savior. "My heart is like wax. It is melted in the midst of my affections." It is the greatness of pain, the greatness of fear, the greatness of sorrow, until he seems to melt away in the fire like wax. "For heaviness," says he, "my soul melts. Then strengthen you me." Oh! it is so sweet to turn to God when your soul is burdened — to look to him, and say — not "deliver me." Observe that, the child of God is not so anxious to get rid of trouble, as he is to know how to behave worthily under it. "Strengthen you me, according to your Word." How he harps on that "according to your Word." The child of God does not expect God to do otherwise than he has promised to do, and he is quite content if the Lord will act according to his Word, for well does our poet put it: —

"What more can he say than to you, you he has said, —

You, you who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?"

In this book, dear brother, whatever your trouble, there is a promise to meet it. If you, you lose a key and you, you send for the whitesmith, as a general rule, somewhere in that bunch of keys he has a key that will fit your lock. And so here is a bunch of keys, and there is a key here that will exactly fit the lock of your trouble whatever it may be, for God foresaw the circumstances of all his people, and prepared a promise for every circumstance.

Psalms 119:29. Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me your law graciously.

"Take away the evil: give me the good." "The way of lying." Oh! it is a dreadful thing to get into that. There are some that have a way of doing it — some that do it jocosely, some that do it by implication. Some think it shrewd to deceive. "Remove from me the way of lying." If truth should be banished from all the world besides, it ought to find a shelter in the breasts of Christians. The Christian man is forbidden to take an oath, because there should never be any necessity for it. His word — his, "Yes, yes" — his "Nay, nay" should always, be sufficient. Thank God it is, where the grace of God is.

Psalms 119:30-31. I have chosen the way of truth: your judgments have I laid before me.

I have stuck unto your testimonies: O Lord, put me not to shame. Here is, first, choice: "I have chosen the way of truth." Here is his practically carrying it out: "Your judgments have I laid before me." Here is his perseverance in it: "I have stuck unto your testimonies." And then there is his prayer about it: "O Lord, put me not to shame." And it is a prayer which is sure to be answered. "Truth may be blamed, but it cannot be shamed." Truth is God’s daughter, and he will take care of her. If you, you have chosen the way of truth, it is a way in which, though some may censure and slander, your righteousness shall come forth, in due time, as the noonday.

Psalms 119:32. I will run the way of your commandments, when you shall enlarge my heart.

"When I get liberty of heart, then will I take as my choice, your ways." The Christian is never so much at liberty as when he is under law to Christ. He knows the difference between licence and liberty. He has a liberty to do so he wills, because he wills to do as God wills him to do; and herein lies the only freedom which we desire.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 90 and Psalms 119:21-32.

Verses 25-32

 

Psalms 119:25. My soul cleaves unto the dust: quicken you me according to your word.

"I feel heavy, unhappy, dull: ‘My soul cleaves unto the dust.’ Or I feel worldly, lethargic, lifeless: ‘My soul cleaves unto the dust.’ There is nothing but the power of new life that can separate me from that dust: ‘Quicken me according to your word.’" Divine life is the great cure for most spiritual evils. When a man has vigorous life in his constitution, he throws off many diseases; and when the soul is full of spiritual life, it masters a great number of evils. "My soul cleaves unto the dust: quicken you me according to your word." That is good pleading, — "according to your promise, for you have promised to quicken me. It is the nature of your Word to be quick and quickening; therefore, Lord, ‘quicken you me according to your word.’"

Psalms 119:26. if have declared my ways, and you heard me: teach me your statutes.

"I have confessed my wrong; now, O Lord, teach me what is right! I have owned my sin; now, O Lord, lead me in the paths of holiness! ‘Teach me your statutes.’"

Psalms 119:27. Make me to understand the way of your precepts: so shall I talk of your wondrous works.

He who fully understands the way of God’s precepts must talk of his wondrous works. There is a power about that truth in the heart to unloose the most stammering tongue. We are bound to speak of that which God teaches to us: "Make me to understand the way of your precepts: so shall I talk of your wondrous works."

Psalms 119:28. My soul melts for heaviness: strengthen you me according unto your word.

Are any of you, you, dear friends, in that condition? Do your hearts melt within you, you? It is a sore trouble, as I know full well. "The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity;" but when his very soul melts for heaviness, what is he to do then? Why, even then he may pray; nay, then he must pray; and this may be the burden of his prayer, "Strengthen you me according unto your word." Notice, beloved, how the psalmist keeps harping upon that string,-" according unto your word." If your prayer is according to God’s Word, you, you may expect a comfortable answer sooner or later. We know that God will not act contrary to his Word. He who is not a man of his word is despised; and if there could be one who was not a God of his Word, what would be said of him? But, my tried friend, he will make his Word true to you, you to the very letter; therefore still cry to him, "Strengthen you me according unto your word."

Psalms 119:29. Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me your law graciously.

"Lord, let me not be pestered by liars, and let me never fall into any measure of falsehood myself." There is a way of thinking better of yourself than you, you deserve, which is a form of lying. There is a method of supposing that you, you have experienced what you, you never have experienced, and that you, you have attained to what you, you never have attained to; that also is a way of falsehood. May God remove it from us, and may we have the law of the Lord written on our hearts! "Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me your law graciously."

Psalms 119:30. I have chosen the way of truth:

"I want to be true, I want to know the truth, I want to feel the truth, I want to practice the truth: ‘I have chosen the way of truth.’"

Psalms 119:30. Your judgments have I laid before me.

"Like a map, so that I might follow the way of truth as I see it drawn out in letters of light in your Word." The man who spreads out God’s Word before him, like a map of the road, is not likely to make a mistake in his journeying.

Psalms 119:31. I have stuck unto your testimonies : —

I like that word "stuck." "I have stuck unto your testimonies." "I could not be drawn or dragged away from them. They told me of some fine new ideas and modern grand discoveries; but ‘I have stuck unto your testimonies.’ They came before me with something very artistic and scientific; but ‘I have stuck unto your testimonies:’ —

Psalms 119:31. O Lord, put me not to shame.

You, you may rest assured that he never will. If a man clings to God, God will cleave to him. If we are not ashamed of God, he will never put us to shame; but we shall go from strength to strength glorying in his truth and grace.

Psalms 119:32. I will run the way of your commandments, when you shall enlarge my heart.

There is an enlargement of the heart that is very dangerous, but this kind of enlargement of the heart is the most healthy thing that can happen to a man. A great heart, you, you see, is a running heart. A little heart goes slowly, but an enlarged heart runs in the way of God’s commandments. Oh, for a heart full of love to God; and then to have that heart made larger, so as to hold more of God’s love! Lord, enlarge my heart in that sense! Let me feel at home and at liberty with you; let the last link of my bondage be snapped. Amen.

Verses 25-40

 

By the help of God’s Holy Spirit, this psalm may serve for the purposes of self-examination, for we may ask ourselves as we read, "Do I feel in that way? Are my prayers like those of this good man? Is my experience like his: "We may often ask ourselves, "Am I as watchful, and as careful, and as fond of God’s Word as he was?" Such questions will do us good.

Psalms 119:25. My soul cleaves unto the dust: quicken you me according to your word.

He does not like to feel the cleaving of his soul to the dust. There are some that feel it, but they seem content to continue in that condition; but no sooner does David feel it than he cries "Quicken you me." A sense of sin is of small value, unless it leads us to desire to escape out of it. "Quicken you me." I lie as dead as if it were dust to dust. My soul seems cleaving to it, as if it had come to its end, and meant to rest there; but, Lord, give me life. Your Word promises me life. You have ways laid down in your Word for giving life. "Quicken you me, according to your Word."

Psalms 119:26. I have declared my ways, and you heard me: teach me your statues.

I have told you all about myself. Now tell me about yourself. "Teach me your statutes."

Psalms 119:27. Make me to understand the way of your precepts: so shall I talk of your wondrous works.

It is a bad thing to talk of what we do not understand and he who shall preach what he has never experienced is very likely to do so. Yet beloved, there is no understanding Gods precepts except he shall teach them to us. We are void of understanding. He must enlighten. He must instruct. "Make me to understand the way of your precepts." Some are very anxious to understand the doctrines, and some to understand the prophecies. All well and good, but "Make me to understand the way of your precepts", give me practical godliness, help me to live to your praise, "so shall I talk of your wondrous works." I will not talk until you have taught me. But when you have taught me, then my subject shall be your wondrous works. The wondrous work of making me to understand you shall be something to speak about, and all the wondrous works of nature, and providence, and grace shall be the subject of my continual conversation.

Psalms 119:28. My soul melts for heaviness:

For the best of men sometimes suffer the sharpest sorrows. Hearts of stone are not likely to be so sensitive as hearts of flesh. "My soul melted for heaviness."

Psalms 119:28. Strengthen you me according unto your word.

He wants strength, but he does not want to obtain it in any way, but the way of God’s appointment. "According unto your Word." Somewhat like our hymn, which says: —

"He who suffered in my stead,

Shall my physician be

I will not be comforted

Until Jesus comforts me."

"Strengthen you me," but let it be "according to your Word."

Psalms 119:29. Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me your law graciously.

Let me not lie. Let me not be tempted to lie. Let me not be pestered with the falsehoods of others. Remove the way of lying far from me, and oh! by your grace, give me to know the law. That is a remarkable combination of words. "Grant me your law graciously." Has law anything to do with grace? Yes, such a law as he speaks of — the law in the heart — the law in the hand of Christ — the law written in the life of the believer — not the law of merit and of salvation by works, but "grant me your law graciously."

Psalms 119:30. I have chosen the way of truth: your judgments have I laid before me.

As a seaman spreads out the chart before him, that he may follow the right channel, and not miss his track — as a traveler spreads out his map that he may keep to the right way, "I have chosen the way of truth. Your judgments have I laid before me."

Psalms 119:31. I have stuck unto your testimonies:

As if I were glued to them — sealed to them. They said I was very old-fashioned. They said I did not keep pace with the times. They said I was not a man of thought. I did not care about that. "I have stuck unto your testimonies."

Psalms 119:31. O Lord, put me not to shame.

And he never will. If we stick to him, we may be quite sure that we shall came forth out of every difficulty and every opposition triumphantly. "Put me not to shame." And although he thus spoke, yet you, you perceive the activity of his soul.

Psalms 119:32. I will run the way of your commandments, when you shall enlarge my heart.

Give my heart freedom. Knock off my fetters. Take away my heaviness Remove from me my ignorance. Give my soul room, and she will run, but it will be in the ways of your commandments.

Psalms 119:33. Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.

Here is the art of finally persevering. Here is the way of continuing to the end, and the same shall be saved. We must begin with a teachable spirit. He who is not willing to learn has not begun right. We anything to disciple all nations, but he who will not learn is not yet discipled. "Teach me." But the teaching we must have must come from God. "Teach me, O Lord. I am not content to have the Word second-hand. Be you my schoolmaster. Teach me, O Lord. I shall never learn unless you teach me. You who did make me, you who did give me a new heart, you must write that law upon my heart, or it will never be written there. Teach me, O Lord. Teach me the way of your statutes. Teach me practical godliness. So teach it to me that I shall learn it, and put it into practice and if I be taught of you, then I shall keep it unto the end; not else."

Psalms 119:34. Give me understanding, and I shall keep your law; yes, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

A want of understanding is a very great lack. There is little wonder that men turn aside from an outward religion which has never taken possession of their thoughts and minds. If they only subscribe to the creed which they have never studied — if they only carry out a life — the mere shell of a life — the inward principles of which they do not know, they will soon turn aside. "Give me understanding, and I shall keep your law."

Psalms 119:35. Make me to go in the path of your commandments; for therein do I delight.

"Not only teach me the way, but make me to go in it. Take hold of me as a mother does of her little child, and teach me how to walk, and help me in the walking." Make me to go. It is a feeble word — a most expressive prayer. "Make me to go for therein do I delight." When a man delights in God’s way, he will be sure to be made to go in it.

Psalms 119:36. Incline my heart unto your testimonies,

Bend it that way — incline it.

Psalms 119:36. And not to covetousness.

For, naturally, my heart would go after the world, and cleave to its riches and its treasures, and begin to covet, but, Lord, bend it the other way. If you, you do not love God’s testimonies, the tendency will be to become a lover of the world. "Incline my heart unto your testimonies, and not to covetousness."

Psalms 119:37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;

Or "make mine eyes to pass from beholding vanity." I am a runner in the race. Do not let me stop to look at anything, but may my eyes pass by vanity. Let me not be like her in the fable who paused to gather the golden apples in the race, and so lost it and was deceived. If the world’s golden apples are thrown in my way, make my eyes to pass from beholding vanity.

Psalms 119:37. And quicken you me in your way.

More life towards you will deaden me to the world. The more I follow after God, the less shall I care to follow after the world.

Psalms 119:38. Establish your word unto your servant,

Make it fast, firm, sure.

Psalms 119:38. Who is devoted to your fear.

I am established in you. Establish the Word to me. You has bound me fast to your altar. Oh! give me the fast blessings and sure mercies of David.

Psalms 119:39. Turn away my reproach which I fear: for your judgments are good.

I fear lest I bring a reproach upon you, and then upon myself. Oh! suffer me not to do so. I am not afraid of the reproach of the world. I count the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. But, oh! let them never have to charge me with sin, and let me not fall into such financial difficulties or other troubles, that men will be able to make a charge against me out of them. Help me to provide things honest in the sight of all men. "Take away my reproach, which I fear, for your judgments are good."

Psalms 119:40. Behold, I have longed after your precepts: quicken me in your righteousness.

 

Verses 33-40

 

Psalms 119:33. Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes; —

The psalmist is constantly talking about "the way." We have that expression in the 27th verse, then in the 29th, the 30th, and the 32nd; and now again we have it here: "Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes;" —

Psalms 119:33-34. And I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep your law; yes, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

That is not true or right understanding which permits us to go into sin; those who are really wise in heart hate evil and love righteousness.

Psalms 119:35. Make me to go in the path —

Or, say —

Psalms 119:35. Of your commandment; for therein do I delight.

"Make me to go." Not only show me the way, but make me to go, like a nurse does with a child when she puts her hands under its arms, and strengthens its tottering footsteps. This is a very beautiful expression: "Make me to go." Lord, we are very weak; we are like little children; make us to go in the path of your commandments, for therein do we delight.

Psalms 119:36. Incline my heart unto your testimonies, and not to covetousness.

The heart must love something; it will either love that which is good, or that which is evil. "O Lord," the psalmist seems to pray, "incline my heart in the right direction. Make it lean towards that which is good; cause me to count your grace better than all the riches of the world."

Psalms 119:37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;

"Do not let me even look at it, for one may look at an ugly thing until the sense of its deformity gradually disappears, and it becomes attractive. Lord, never let me so fix my eyes upon sin that, at last, I come to reckon it a desirable thing."

Psalms 119:37. And quicken you me in your way.

A man who travels quickly has not time to stop and look at the things in the road. Lord, let me go so fast to Heaven that, when the devil hangs his baubles in his shop-window, I may not have time even to stop and look at them: ‘Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken you me in your way.’

Psalms 119:38. Establish your word unto your servant, who is devoted to your fear.

That is, "Make your word to me real and true. Put away my natural skepticism, my proneness to question, my tendency to doubt." "Establish your word." "Make me to know how firm, how true, how real it is, for I would love it more and more. I do believe it, for I am devoted to your fear, but I long to be still further established in the faith."

Psalms 119:39. Turn away my reproach which I fear:

Are any of you, you fearing reproach? If so, you, you may well fear it, for you, you deserve it; yet, even then, you, you may ask the Lord to turn it away from you, you.

Psalms 119:39-40. For your judgments are good. Behold, I have longed after your precepts:

Some people, whom I know, long after the promises, and others long after the doctrines. I hope that they will all get an equal longing for the precepts, for true believers love the precepts as much as they love the promises or the doctrines: "Behold, I have longed after your precepts."

Psalms 119:40. Quicken me in your righteousness.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 32. and Psalms 119:33-40.

Verses 64-72

 

Psalms 119:64-67. The earth, O Lord, is full of your mercy: teach me your statutes. You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according unto your word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed your commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray: —

Prosperity had been to the psalmist like the gap in the hedge through which the sheep wander from the shepherd; but affliction had been to him like the prickly bushes that often stop the sheep from wandering still further, so he says, "Before I was afflicted I went astray:" —

Psalms 119:67. But now have I kept your word.

What a benefit, then, affliction had been to him; and what a blessing it often is to us! So, instead of dreading it, as we usually do, we ought to welcome it, and be on the look-out for the blessing which is to come to us through it. Many a child of God has joined with Dr. Watts in singing, —

"Father, I bless your gentle hand;

How kind was your chastising rod;

That forced my conscience to a stand,

And brought my wandering soul to God!

"Foolish and vain, I went astray

Before I had felt your scourges, Lord;

I left my guide, and lost my way;

But now I love and keep your Word."

Psalms 119:68. You are good, and do good;

What a delightful description this is of God and his works! Who is good? Our Lord Jesus supplies the answer, "There is none good but one, that is, God." And his works are like himself: "You are good, and do good."

Psalms 119:68. Teach me your statutes.

In the 25th Psalm, David wrote, "Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way;" and here, because the Lord is good, and does good, the psalmist prays, "Teach me your statutes." He will teach us that which is good because he is himself good. What a blessing it is for us to have such a Teacher! How wonderful it is that God should be so condescending as to take us into his school!

Psalms 119:69. The proud have forged a lie against me:

They have kept on hammering away until they have finished the falsehood; they have "forged" it, as one forges a deadly weapon in the fire.

Psalms 119:69. But I will keep your precepts with my whole heart.

"It is no use for me to trouble about them. When they have forged one lie, they will probably forge another, and there is practically no end to that black business. It is no use for me to try to answer them; I will turn to a far more profitable occupation: ‘I will keep your precepts with my whole heart.’"

Psalms 119:70. Their heart is as fat as grease;

Insensible, lifeless; — they have no conscience, no feeling; they are so proud of their prosperity that they are afflicted with fatty degeneration of the heart.

Psalms 119:70. But I delight in your law.

What a blessing it is for us to find our fatness there, — to delight in the marrow and fatness of God’s law!

Psalms 119:71. It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn your statutes.

The psalmist, was so impressed with the benefits which he had derived from his afflictions, that he returned to the subject: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn your statutes." There is much teaching power about God’s rod. He always keeps one in his school, and it is greatly needed for such dull scholars as we are. Many a child of God can repeat the psalmist’s testimony: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn your statutes." "You have whipped a little knowledge into me, and not much has come in any other way."

Psalms 119:72. The law of your mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.

David had a great deal of gold and silver, far more than any of us have; but yet he thought very little of it in comparison with God’s law. Many people despise gold and silver because they have not got any. The fox said the grapes were sour because they were beyond his reach. But here is a case, in which a man had as much gold and silver as he could ever want; yet he says that the law of God’s mouth was better than all of it, and he was wise in saying so. For gold and silver can be stolen; riches often take to themselves wings, and fly away; even great wealth may soon be spent and gone; but God’s law never leaves those who love it, nor lets them lose it. When all our spending money is gone, then is the commandment of God our treasure still. Happy is everyone who can say, with David, "The law of your mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver."

Verses 73-88

 

In this Psalm we have, as it were, notes from David’s pocket book.

Psalms 119:73. Your hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn your commandments.

This is a very instructive prayer; the psalmist does as good as say, "Lord, you have made me once- make me over again. You have made my body; mold my spirit, form my character, give me understanding." If God should make us, and then leave us without understanding, what imperfect creations we should be! A man devoid of understanding is only a blood and bone creation; and therefore the psalmist does well to pray, "Your hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding." But what sort of an understanding is desired? That I may learn to discuss and dispute? No: "that I may learn your commandments;" for holiness is the best of wisdom, and the surest proof of a right understanding is obedience to God’s commandments.

Psalms 119:74. They that fear you will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in your word.

A hopeful godly man is a continual source of joy to other people. When a man can inspire hope in his fellows, and he cannot do that unless he is full of hope himself, he lights a fire of comfort. Bring such a man into a storm, and he helps you, you to be brave. "They that fear you will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in your word."

Psalms 119:75. I knew, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and that you in faithfulness have afflicted me.

We are glad to listen to a man who can tell us that, an old man, a tried man, who can say that God has been faithful in afflicting him, a man who, after having borne the brunt of tribulation, can yet bless God for it. Such testimonies as these are full of joy and gladness to the young folk; they can encounter trial with a joyous heart when they hear what their fathers tell of the goodness of God to them in their troubles.

Psalms 119:76. Let, I pray you, your merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to your word unto your servant.

"Lord," he seems to say, "I have been a comfort to others; be you a comfort to me. You have made others glad to see me; make me glad with the recollection of all my experience of your mercy: ‘Let, I pray you, your merciful kindness be for my comfort.’" If you, you have lost your own comfort, dear friends, see where you, you are to look for it, to the merciful kindness of God. Those are two beautiful words, are they not? "Merciful"-take that to pieces, and it is mercy-full. Is not God full of mercy? Take the next word to pieces-"kindness." That means, "kinned-ness"-that kind of feeling that we have to our own kin when they are very dear to us. "Lord, let your mercy-full kinned-ness be for my comfort, according to your word unto your servant."

Psalms 119:77. Let your tender mercies come unto me, that I may live:

"I am so broken down, my bones are so full of pain, that if you do handle me roughly, I shall die: ‘Let your tender mercies come unto me.’ I am like a poor flower whose stalk is almost broken through, ready to droop and die; let your tender mercies bind me up, that I may live."

Psalms 119:77. For your law is my delight.

God will not let a man die who delights in his law. You, you are the sort of man who shall live. If you, you love the law of God, the Word of God, the will of God, the way of God, he will not let you, you die. There are none too many of your sort in the world, so the Lord will keep you, you alive so long as you, you can serve him here.

Psalms 119:78. Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in your precepts.

That is a delightful turning of the subject: "They dealt perversely with me, without a cause;" but David does not say, "I will envy the proud," or, "I will be spiteful to them," "I will fret myself because of them." No; he seems to say, "They may do what they will; but I will meditate in your precepts." When anyone has treated you, you contemptuously, or dealt perversely with you, you without a cause, instead of resenting it, get to your Bible, meditate in God’s precepts. It is the noblest and at the same time the most successful way of fighting against contempt, so to despise the despising of men as to rejoice in your thoughts of God and his truth.

Psalms 119:79. Let those that fear you turn unto me, and those that have known your testimonies.

"Lord, make me such a man that they who fear you may seek my acquaintance. Of your great mercy grant that, if any of them have turned away from me through hearing slanderous reports about me, they may be inclined now to come back to me, for I love them, and I would not willingly offend them. ‘Let those that fear you turn unto me.’"

Psalms 119:80. Let my heart be sound in your statutes; that I be not ashamed.

When the heart is right with God, there will be no need to be ashamed. Though you, you may make some mistakes and blunders, because you, you are human, yet, if you, you are sincere, shame shall not overtake you, you. What a blessing it is to have a sound heart! But when the heart is spiritually unsound, the profession is always in danger. The other day, a friend of ours was taken from us almost in an instant through heart disease; and when Judas sells his Master, or when Demas turns aside to the silver mines of earth, it is the result of heart disease. There are many who go about in the Christian Church with a ruddy face, and apparently with great strength of religion; but on a sudden they prove apostates. Yes, that is the effect of heart disease. Therefore, pray very earnestly with the psalmist, "Let my heart be sound in your statutes; that I be not ashamed."

Psalms 119:81. My soul faints for your salvation: but I hope in your word.

What! faint and hoping, too? Yes, a Christian man is a wonder and a contradiction to many, and most of all to himself. He cannot understand himself; he faints, and yet he hopes. Two apparently opposite emotions may be at the same time in the Christian bosom. Every man is two men, if he is a man in Christ Jesus; I sometimes think that there is a triplet of characters in every man of God, so that he has three different experiences at the same time. Certainly he can have two, for here we have them: "My soul faints for your salvation: but I hope in your word."

Psalms 119:82. Mine eyes fail for your word, saying, When will you comfort me?

"I look for it until my eyes ache; I strain my eyes to see your word, watching for it until my vision grows dull in waiting: ‘Mine eyes fail for your word, saying."’ Oh, then, his eyes could speak! Yes, eyes can say a great many things; and blessed are the eyes that have learned to say this: "When will you comfort me?" It is a good way of praying, sometimes, to say nothing at all, but to sit still and look up. The eyes can say what lips and tongue cannot, so learn well the language of the eyes, and talk to God with them, even as he talks to you, you with his eyes. "I will guide you," says he, "with mine eye." Be you, you, therefore, able to speak to God with your eyes, as David was when he wrote, "Mine eyes fail for your word, saying, When will you comfort me?"

Psalms 119:83. For I am become like a bottle in the smoke;

An old dried-up skin bottle, that is hung in the smoke of the tent over the fire, until it is wrinkled and cracked, and almost good for nothing.

Psalms 119:83. Yet do I not forget your statutes.

"Beauty is gone, strength is gone, loveliness is gone; but not my memory of your word, O Lord." What a mercy it is that, when the worst comes to the worst with us, still the best remains: "I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget your statutes."

Psalms 119:84. How many are the days of your servant? when will you execute judgment on them that persecute me?

"Lord, I have but a short life; let me not have a long affliction." Does he mean, "Lord, I have lived too long in this miserable state; I wish my days were shortened"? We must not murmur at the length of our days, but we may plead that persecution may come to an end. We may even go so far as to say with David, "How many are the days of your servant? When will you execute judgment on them that persecute me?"

Psalms 119:85. The proud have dug pits for me, which are not after your law.

It is not often that proud men take to digging; but here, you, you see, these children of the pit learn to dig pits for God’s people; and they have not given over the practice yet. Pits were dug in olden times to catch wild beasts; but now, often, the wicked dig pits to try to catch good men, seeking if they can to make a fault where there is none, or to lead us into a line of conduct which they shall be able to represent unfavorably: "The proud have dug pits for me, which are not after your law."

Psalms 119:86. All your commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help you me.

What a prayer that is! Store it up for use, dear friend, carry it home with you, you. That is the kind of prayer to be prayed on the roadside, in a railway carriage, ay, even in an accident: "Help you me." "Help you me," is a wonderful prayer, it seems to turn on a swivel whichever way you, you wish; you, you may use it to ask for anything you, you need in every time of emergency: "Help you me."

Psalms 119:87. They had almost consumed me upon earth;

"They had almost eaten me up; they had almost burned my life out. Blessed be God, they could not consume me anywhere except upon earth! My immortal part would escape the burning of their coals of juniper. They had almost consumed me, but almost is not altogether." When God delivers his people from the lion and the bear, the jaws of the wild beasts may be almost closed, yet they shall be opened wide enough for us to escape: "They had almost consumed me upon earth."

Psalms 119:87. But I forsook not your precepts.

You, you cleave to the right, and God will not turn away from you, you, nor will he let you, you turn away from his precepts.

Psalms 119:88. Quicken me after your loving-kindness;

That is a blessed prayer for us to offer. If any of you, you feel dull and drowsy, if any of you, you are heavy and slow in your movements, cry, to the Lord, "Quicken me after your loving-kindness."

Psalms 119:88. So shall I keep the testimony of your month.

Spiritual life is the root of holiness: "Quicken me after your loving-kindness; so shall I keep the testimony of your mouth." May God bless this reading to our instruction! Amen.

Verses 81-88

 

Psalms 119:81. My soul faints for your salvation: but I hope in your word.

The psalmist was so full of longings, hungerings, thirstings, for God’s salvation that he had come even to faintness through the strength of his desire. Yet, in his faintness, he was not too far gone to hope; and we also have good ground for hoping and believing that God, who gave us his Word, will stand to it, for he is both able and willing to fulfill all that he has promised.

Psalms 119:82. Mine eyes fail for your word, saying, When will you comfort me?

He looked out for a message from God as the watchers of the night looked for the breaking of the morning. His eyes ached to behold the comforts of his God. Oh, blessed state of strong desire! I pray God that we may all experience it

Psalms 119:83. For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget your statutes.

When an empty skin bottle was hung up in one of the smoky dwellings of the East, it became withered, cracked, useless; and the psalmist says, "‘I am become like a bottle in the smoke,’ — I seem to be good for nothing, withered, dried up; — ‘yet do I not forget your statutes.’" A good memory is one of the best of things for us to possess; but a good memory for that which is good is better still.

Psalms 119:84. How many are the days of your servant? when will you execute judgment on them that persecute me?

"I am not going to live here forever, Lord; let me not have to wait to be vindicated until I am in my grave. O my God, hasten the day of my deliverance!"

Psalms 119:85-86. The proud have dug pits for me, which are not after your law. All your commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help you me.

God’s Word is all true; the longer we test and try it, the more shall we find it to be worthy of our fullest confidence. Those who doubt its truth have never really proved its power. Those who mistrust it, in any degree, are as yet like inexperienced mariners who are constantly doubting and fearing what is going to happen; but those who have long done business on the great waters of the ocean of divine inspiration, and who have seen the wonders of the Lord there, will fell you, you that, though Heaven and earth shall pass away, God’s Word shall endure forever. We have seen a thousand things in the course of our earthly pilgrimage, but there is one thing that we have never seen, and that we never shall see, namely, God proving unfaithful to his promise, and deserting his people in their time of need. What a short yet comprehensive prayer the psalmist prayed when he uttered those three words, "Help you me!" "‘Help you me,’ — that I may never be frightened by those who wrongfully persecute me; — that I may never do anything to deserve their persecution; — that I may be able to behave myself wisely while they are plotting against me." If you, you are in business, write this prayer on your shops, your offices, and your ledgers; if you, you are sick, have this petition hanging before your eyes, that you, you may be constantly reminded to cry to the Lord, "Help you me."

Psalms 119:87. They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not your precepts.

Therefore his enemies could not consume him. As long as the believer holds fast to God’s precepts, he is indigestible even to the old dragon himself; and no adversary shall ever be able to devour him as long as the Word of God is in his heart.

Psalms 119:88. Quicken me after your loving-kindness; so shall I keep the testimony of your mouth.

Give me more true spiritual life, inspirit me, revive me, ‘quicken me.’ At this very moment, good Lord, if I am cold, and half frozen, and almost dead, yet since I am like the trees, whose life is in them even when they have lost their leaves, give me a new spring-time: "Quicken me after your loving-kindness." We all need this quickening if we are to hold on and hold out to the end; and, blessed be the name of the Lord, — "New supplies each hour we meet while pressing on to God."

Verses 81-96

 

Psalms 119:81. My soul faints for your salvation: but I hope in your word.

The ship rocks, but the anchor holds; the singer is ready to faint, but he is not ready to despair. He knows where his restoring will come.

Psalms 119:82. Mine eyes fail for your word, saying, When will you comfort me?

What a mercy it is to have our eyes on God’s word, full as it is of blessing to be waiting until the blessing comes out of it! Mine eyes watch your word, that is so full of the rain of comfort; and I say to myself, "When will it descend and refresh me? When will the clouds let fall their silver drops upon my thirsty soul?"

Psalms 119:83. For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget your statues.

I feel dried up, besmeared and besmirched as with soot, my very beauty is gone from me, and my usefulness too. I am not fit to hold anything, but I have become like a skin bottle that is parched up; yet for all that I have a memory of your word: the smoke and the heat have not dried out of me the flavor of that good old "wine on the lees well refined" that once filled my heart.

Psalms 119:84. How many are the days of your servant? when will you execute judgment on them that persecute me?

"How many are the days of your servant;" or rather, how few they are be; not long in coming to me, lest I die while you are still on the road.

Psalms 119:85. The proud have dug pits for me, which are not after your law.

They might make pits for lions and tigers, but not for sheep. These pits were not after God’s law. There are still cruel enemies who would, if they could, entrap the people of God; shall not this make us feel what a great mercy it is we have one to be our guardian and defender who knows where the pitfalls are?

Psalms 119:86. All your commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully;

There is a fine prayer for us every day in the week: "Help you me." Lord, I am helpless if you do not help me. You are the helper of Israel: he who keeps Israel will not slumber nor sleep. "Help you me."

Psalms 119:87. They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not your precepts.

"They had almost consumed me upon earth." They seemed as if they would swallow me up entirely, "but I forsook not your precepts," and therefore they could not consume me; I was invulnerable and invincible because I stuck to rectitude and kept to your precepts.

Psalms 119:88-89. Quicken me after your loving-kindness; so shall I keep the testimony of your mouth. Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in Heaven.

There is not a new divine word, or a new gospel, or a new law; but it is a settled gospel, a settled law, a settled revelation, "settled in Heaven," stereotyped, fixed, made permanent. If perfect, then unalterable, if alterable, then would it be imperfect.

Psalms 119:90. Your faithfulness is unto all generations: you have established the earth, and it abides.

"Your faithfulness is unto all generations." You who were true to Abraham will be true to David; you who were true to David will be true to me. You are ever faithful to your own nature and Godhead. "You have established the earth, and it abides." It would rot out of its place, it would rush into space like a truant planet if you did not hold it where it is. You, therefore, will hold your gospel where it is, and your servants where they are.

Psalms 119:91. They continue this day according to your ordinances: for all are your servants.

The fixed laws of the universe have their analogy in the fixed rules of revelation. Are not all material things your servants, and they are kept; you will therefore keep us.

Psalms 119:92-93. Unless your law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction. I will never forget your precepts: for with them you have quickened me.

We may well keep to that which is our life. If God’s precepts breed life in us and then quicken us, and so renew that life, let us stand to them, be obedient to them, and that at all times.

Psalms 119:94. I am your, save me; for I have sought your precepts.

"I am your, save me." Oh, what a sweet assertion. "I am your," — your creature, your redeemed one, your chosen, your espoused. "I am your, save me; for I have sought your precepts."

Psalms 119:95. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me:

Let them wait.

Psalms 119:95. But I will consider your testimonies.

I will not consider them, they are not worth it, they would only distract or distress me. I will keep my thoughts fixed upon your word, and so shall I be at peace and escape from their malice.

Psalms 119:96. I have seen an end of all perfection: but your commandment is exceeding broad.

Yes: all perfection in the creature! In very deed it is an attribute of the Creator, and whether it be true or false, whether men have the excellence they boast of, or have it not, there must be an end to it all, either as to its extent or its duration; but your commandment has no limit, it covers everything; and it has no termination; it endures forever. "Your commandment is exceeding broad."

Verses 89-104

 

Psalms 119:89. Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in Heaven.

It is not a changeable or vanishing thing: "Your word is settled," settled forever, settled "forever in Heaven." As God changes not, so the Word which he has spoken to his servants changes not. If the foundations of the faith could be removed, what would the righteous do? What would any of us do? But, with an eternally fixed Word of God, we have something solid to build upon, a foundation on which we may confidently rest our everlasting hopes.

Psalms 119:90. Your faithfulness is unto all generations: —

God, who kept his promise to Abraham, keeps it also to us though we are far down the ages, and he will keep it to our children and our children’s children as long as the world endures, and then forever and ever. We need not be afraid to leave the generations to come in his hands. "Your faithfulness is unto all generations:" —

Psalms 119:90-91. You have established the earth, and it abides. They continue this day according to your ordinances: for all are your servants.

This material world whose laws appear to be so fixed, abides only because God has established it; but a day will come in which he will roll these things up like an outworn vesture, and he that sits upon the throne shall make all things new. But, at present, we have, in the fixity of the laws of nature, a type of the fixity of the promises and purposes of God.

Psalms 119:92. Unless your law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.

Notice the love of God’s servant to God’s Word: "Unless your law had been my delights." The word is in the plural, for the psalmist not only took a delight in it, but all his delights were there. It was the sea of happiness wherein he bathed his entire soul. "Unless it had been so," says he, "I should then have perished in mine affliction." One of the best preservatives for the heart in times of trouble is an intense delight in the Word of God. Oh, to get away from this noisy world, from the turmoil of life, and its endless discussions and controversies, and to sit down, and quietly listen to what that Word has to say to us! This is the best way to recuperate drooping and fainting spirits.

Psalms 119:93. I will never forget your precepts: for with them you have quickened me.

Nothing makes a man remember the Word so well as the fact that it has quickened him. If you, you owe your spiritual life and the support of it to the Word of God, you, you will not forget that Word. If you, you feel that, every time you, you come into contact with it, it inspires you, you with fresh life, you, you will be anxious to be often diligently reading it.

Psalms 119:94. I am your, —

That is a grand thing for anyone to be able to say, what a Heaven of bliss lies slumbering in these three words, "I am your," —

Psalms 119:94. Save me; —

That is a good argument: "‘I am your’ by redemption, so do not lose me. ‘I am your’ by a new creation, so let not the enemy steal me away from you. I am your servant, so exercise a master’s rights over me, and protect me from all my foes. ‘I am your, save me;’" —

Psalms 119:94. For I have sought your precepts.

Notice how the psalmist here twice singles out the precepts rather than the promises; even hypocrites may love the promises, but only sincere believers love the precepts. The true servant of God loves the burdens which his Lord and Master lays upon him, and he only wishes that he had more strength to bear still more of them.

Psalms 119:95. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: —

"They have lain in ambush, they have waited to catch me tripping, to ruin my character if possible, so what shall I do, — Counterplot them? No. Watch them night and day? No. ‘The wicked have waited for me to destroy me:’" —

Psalms 119:95. But I will consider your testimonies.

There is something that seems to me calmly defiant about the psalmist’s resolve. He does not say, "The wicked are waiting to destroy me, but I will fight them." No, but he says, "I shall read my Bible, and I shall follow its directions. I shall act in obedience to my God, and in that way I shall baffle them." To be obedient to God is the surest way to be victorious over wicked men. Keep you God’s Word, and God will guard your head in the day of danger.

Psalms 119:96. I have seen an end of all perfection: but your commandment —

"Ah, there I find perfection: ‘Your commandment’" —

Psalms 119:96. Is exceeding broad.

It is so broad that there is no limit to it. One of the early fathers used to say, "I delight in the infinity of Scripture," and well he might, for there is no limit to it. Even one single text might suffice for a man’s meditation for a whole year; if it did not, it would be because of the scantiness of the man’s meditative power, and not because of the exhaustion of the meaning of the verse.

Psalms 119:97. O how love I your law!

The psalmist breaks out into a transport of delight. He does not say how much he loved God’s law, for the simple reason that he could not tell us that; but he says, "O how love I your law!"

Psalms 119:97. It is my meditation all the day.

That is the best proof of the psalmist’s love of God’s law, for love shows itself by its constant familiarity with it’s chosen object. "‘It is my meditation all the day.’ Every day, wherever I may be, I turn my daily experience into instructive meditation upon your Word." One of the best commentaries on God’s written Book is God’s Book of Providence when it is explained to us by his Holy Spirit.

Psalms 119:98. You through your commandments have made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.

David knew how well God’s Word had instructed him, and first he declared that he was wiser than his enemies; and, next, that he was wiser than his former instructors: —

Psalms 119:99. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for your testimonies are my meditation.

The man who rightly meditates upon this wondrous Book is, after all, the truly wise man. His wisdom is that of the heart, received by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and it has a power of understanding in it that will make him wiser than those who are merely book-learned or man-taught.

Psalms 119:100. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep your precepts.

First his enemies, then his teachers, and now his elders, the ancients, —he could excel them all; and he gave the reason for it: "Because I keep your precepts." Take this Book away, and give the man all the human learning that he could ever acquire, and how little he would know, after all! But let him study the Book, and even in the absence of other books, (though that need not be the case with him, such a man will still be wise, — wise for eternity.

Psalms 119:101. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep your word.

The Bible is a very sanctifying Book. If we keep its precepts, it holds us back from many things into which we might otherwise have run. "I have refrained my feet from every evil way." Notice the universality of the obedience of a true saint. He does not say, "I will avoid all sin except a certain one for which I have a great liking." Oh, no: "I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep your word."

Psalms 119:102. I have not departed from your judgments: for you have taught me.

Those who are taught of God are always well taught; they never unlearn what they have learned at the feet of Jesus. Those who backslide and apostatize were never truly taught of the Spirit of God.

Psalms 119:103. How sweet are your words unto my taste!

Have you, you a spiritual taste, dear hearer? It is one thing to hear the Word it is another thing to taste it. Hearing the Word is often blessed, but tasting it is a more inward and spiritual thing; it is the enjoyment of the truth in the innermost parts of our being. Oh, that we were all as fond of the Word as were the old mystics who chewed the cud of meditation until they were fattened upon the Word of the Lord, and their souls grew strong in the divine love! I am sure of this, — the more you, you know of God’s Word, the more you, you will love it. It is ignorance that misses the sweetness of it.

Psalms 119:103. Yes, sweeter than honey to my month!

There is an indescribable sweetness in it. It is sweet to my heart, and when I utter it, how sweet it is to my mouth! I heard one observe, the other day, that he noted a great difference between the preachers of his youth and many of those of the present day. He said, "The old men used to enjoy the Word so much while they were preaching it; they preached it with their eyes beaming with delight in it. You, you could see that, if there was no savor in it for other people, there was a divine savor about it for the preachers themselves." This is the mark of the man who is taught of God, — that the Word is sweet to his mouth when he preaches it to others as well as sweet to his taste when he meditates upon it himself.

Psalms 119:104. Through your precepts I get understanding: —

The practical parts of God’s Word not only appeal to our understanding but they give us understanding. That is a marvelous thing, but it is true. Sometimes, when you, you are arguing with a man who is dull of comprehension, you, you are apt to say, "Well, I can give you, you arguments, but I cannot give you, you an understanding with which to appreciate them;" but this Word can give us understanding: "Through your precepts I get understanding:" —

Psalms 119:104. Therefore I hate every false way.

The best test of a true spiritual understanding is an intense and vigorous hatred of everything that is false. The lover of truth is a follower of the truth, he is not a man of craft and deceit. He keeps to the straight line and in the long run it shall be proved that he is the man who is indeed taught of God.

Verses 89-112

 

Psalms 119:89. Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in Heaven.

Other things come, and go, and change, moons wax and wane, tides ebb and flow, everything earthly is changeable; but "Your word is settled —settled in Heaven," with the eternal settlements. No truth of it can fail, no promise of it can be broken. What a joy this is to our hearts tonight! There is something sure, after all: "Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in Heaven."

Psalms 119:90. Your faithfulness is unto all generations: you have established the earth, and it abides.

That is, God has spoken to nature, and that word has established the earth, and made it to stand securely.

Psalms 119:91. They continue this day according to your ordinances: for all are your servants.

It was God’s word that made the sun, and the moon, and the stars; and it is God’s word that bids creation still exist. And that is the almighty word upon which you, you and I are resting, if we are truly trusting in the living God.

"His very word of grace is strong As that which built the skies;

The voice that rolls the stars along Speaks all the promises."

Psalms 119:92. Unless your law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.

Let us remember how God’s word has kept some of us alive when we had nothing else to live upon. Hope would have quite failed, and we should have been driven to despair, if it had not been for the precious, priceless word of God.

Psalms 119:93. I will never forget your precepts: for with them you have quickened me.

Nothing sharpens the memory like having been quickened. If we have been at death’s door, and the word of God has brought us renewed life, we shall never forget it.

Psalms 119:94-96. I am your, save me; for I have sought your precepts. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider your testimonies. I have seen an end of all perfection:

No matter who it is that boasts of being perfect, "I have seen an end of all perfection."

Psalms 119:96. But your commandment —

There lies the perfection —

Psalms 119:96. Is exceeding broad.

Covering the whole life, covering the thoughts, the intents, the desires of the inner and secret nature.

Psalms 119:97-98. O how love I your law! it is my meditation all the day. You through your commandments have made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.

If we have God’s law always with us, we shall be wiser than the most crafty of our enemies; for, after all, there is nothing that puzzles and baffles cunning men like simple honesty. Do that which is right, and you, you will cut through the nets in which men would entangle you, you. They cannot trip you, you up if your feet are settled in God’s ways.

Psalms 119:99-100. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep your precepts.

There is more wisdom in obeying God than in all the ethics of heathen philosophers. It matters not whence they take their precepts and maxims, there is no wisdom like yielding one’s heart to God.

Psalms 119:101-104. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep your word. I have not departed from your judgments: for you have taught me. How sweet are your words unto my taste! yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

The man who cannot hate does not love; but he who loves that which is right, is by no means indifferent to the wrong and to the false; he hates it, and the more intensely he loves God, and loves right, the more intensely does be hate every false way. Especially does he hate it in himself. Oh, to be delivered altogether from every trace of falsehood!

Psalms 119:105. Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

It shows me the way; it cheers me in the way; it reveals to me the difficulties of the way.

Psalms 119:106-107. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep your righteous judgments. I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O Lord, according unto your word.

Are any of you, you afflicted tonight? I commend this prayer to your use. One would have expected that David would have prayed, "I am afflicted very much: comfort me, O Lord." Or, "Relieve me, O Lord." Instead of praying so, he cries, "Quicken me, O Lord," and he did well. Let us imitate him, for if we get more spiritual light and life, we shall, by that means, get more comfort, and the trouble from which we are suffering will soon cease to vex our spirit.

Psalms 119:108-112. Accept, I beseech you, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me your judgments. My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from your precepts. Your testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. I have inclined mine heart to perform your statutes always, even unto the end.

Oh, that every one of us might be able to make this declaration of the psalmist our own! God grant it, for Christ’s sake! Amen.

Verses 105-115

 

Psalms 119:105. Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

We are walkers through the city of this world, and we are often called to go out into its darkness; let us never venture there without the light-giving word, lest we slip with our feet. Each man should use the word of God personally, practically, and habitually, that he may see his way and see what lies in it. When darkness settles down upon all around me, the word of the Lord, like a flaming torch, reveals my way. We should not know the way, or how to walk in it, if Scripture, like a blazing flambeau, did not reveal it. It is a lamp by night, a light by day, and a delight at all times. David guided his own steps by it, and also saw the difficulties of his road by its beams.

Psalms 119:106. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep your righteous judgments.

Under the influence of the clear light of knowledge he had firmly made up his mind, and solemnly declared his resolve in the sight of God. Perhaps mistrusting his own fickle mind, he had pledged himself in sacred form to abide faithful to the determinations of his God. Whatever path might open before him, he was sworn to follow that only upon which the lamp of the word was shining.

Psalms 119:107. I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O Lord, according unto your word.

According to the last verse he had been sworn in a soldier of the Lord, and in this next verse he is called to suffer hardness in that capacity. Our service of the Lord does not screen us from trial, but rather secures it for us. The Psalmist was a consecrated man, and yet a chastened man. Quickening is the best remedy for tribulation, the soul is raised above the thought of present distress, and is filled with that holy joy which attends all vigorous spiritual life, and so the affliction grows light.

Psalms 119:108. Accept, I beseech you, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me your judgments.

He offers prayer, praise, confession, and testimony — these, presented with his voice in the presence of an audience, were the tribute of his mouth unto Jehovah. He trembles lest these should be so ill uttered so to displease the Lord, and therefore he implores acceptance. When we render unto the Lord our best, we become all the more concerned to do better. If, indeed, the Lord shall accept us, we then desire to be further instructed, that we may be still more acceptable.

Psalms 119:109. My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget your law.

He lived in the midst of danger. He had to be always fighting for existence — hiding in caves, or contending in battles. This is a very uncomfortable and trying state of affairs, and men are apt to think any expedient justifiable by which they can end such a condition, but David did not turn aside to find safety in sin. They say that all things are fair in love and war; but the holy man thought not so: while he carried his life in his hand, he also carried the law in his heart.

Psalms 119:110. The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from your precepts.

Spiritual life is the scene of constant danger. The believer lives with his life in his hand, and meanwhile all seem plotting to take it from him, by cunning if they cannot by violence. We shall not find it an easy thing to live the life of the faithful. Wicked spirits and wicked men will leave no stone unturned for our destruction. He was not snared, for he kept his eyes open, and kept near his God.

Psalms 119:111. Your testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.

He chose them so his lot, his portion, his estate; and what is more, he laid hold upon them and made them so, — taking them into possession and enjoyment. David’s choice is our choice. If we might have our desire, we would desire to keep the commands of God perfectly. To know the doctrine, to enjoy the promise, to practice the command, — be this a kingdom large enough for me.

Psalms 119:112. I have inclined mine heart to perform your statutes always, even unto the end.

He was not half inclined to virtue, but heartily inclined to it. His whole heart was bent on practical, persevering godliness. He was resolved to keep the statutes of the Lord with all his heart, throughout all his time, without erring or ending. He made it his end to keep the law unto the end, and that without end.

Psalms 119:113. I hate vain thoughts: but your law do I love.

The opposite of the fixed and infallible law of God is the wavering, changing opinion of men. David had an utter contempt and abhorrence for this, all his reverence and regard went to the sure word of testimony. In proportion to his love to the law was his hate of man’s inventions. The thoughts of men are vanity; but the thoughts of God are verity.

Psalms 119:114. You are my hiding place and my shield: I hope in your word.

To his God he ran for shelter from vain thoughts, there he hid himself away from their tormenting intrusions, and in solemn silence of the soul he found God to be his hiding-place. When called into the world, if he could not be alone with God as his hiding-place, he could have the Lord with him as his shield, and by this means he could ward off the attacks of wicked suggestions.

Psalms 119:115. Depart from me, you evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.

If we fly to God from vain thoughts, much more shall we avoid vain men. Evildoers make evil counselors. Those who say unto God, "Depart from us," ought to hear the immediate echo of their words from the mouths of God’s children, "Depart from us. We cannot eat bread with traitors."

Verses 105-120

 

We will read tonight two of the stanzas which make up the 119th Psalm, beginning at the 105th verse.

Psalms 119:105. Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

God’s Word is full of brilliance; it is always giving out its blessed light. It casts a light upon all our daily life. It is a light for the house, and a light for the way, and happy is the man who never walks abroad without this lantern to light up his pathway. There are many pitfalls on the road, and many places where the traveler’s garments may soon be besmeared, so he has great need of this light to guide him.

Psalms 119:106. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep your righteous judgments.

I scarcely remember ever hearing of a man swearing, and then approving of it, but this kind of swearing is right enough: "I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep your righteous judgments." We are to determine, with the most vehement resolution, that, God helping us, we will keep his righteous judgments; for, if we have only a weak resolution, we usually fall short even of our own determination. What shall we do then if that determination is itself weak? Some of us have lifted our hands to Heaven, and pledged ourselves to the living God that we will be his faithful people.

"High Heaven, that heard the solemn vow,

That vow renewed shall daily hear."

Psalms 119:107. I am afflicted very much:-

Here is a good man, a better man than most of us, a man who is determined to do right, yet he gets into trouble because he is determined to do right. God’s wheat will be threshed, his gold will be put into the furnace. If you, you were worth nothing to him, God might not take the trouble to afflict you, you; but when you, you are resolved to do right, you, you may expect that resolution to be tried and tested; and if it is worth anything, it will stand the trial. "I am afflicted very much:"-what will be the next words, "Lord, deliver me"? No, no." Lord, bring me out of the furnace"? Nothing of the sort." I am afflicted very much:"-

Psalms 119:107. Quicken me, O Lord, according unto your word.

"Give me more spiritual life; give me more spiritual strength; that is what I most need." Oftentimes, that prayer is answered by the affliction itself. We are afflicted very much, and by that very affliction the Lord quickens our graces, strengthens our souls, drives away many of our wandering thoughts, and brings us nearer to himself.

Psalms 119:108. Accept, I beseech you, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,-"

My prayers, my praises, my testimonies, my ministries, accept them all, O Lord,"-

Psalms 119:108. And teach me your judgment.

He who teaches others needs teaching himself. He who hopes that what he says will be accepted by those who hear it opens his ear to hear what God says to him. There will be no acceptance of what you say to others unless you do accept what God says to you.

Psalms 119:109. My soul is continually in my hand:

David’s life was often in jeopardy. Saul hunted him as a partridge upon the mountains. He was sometimes very sick, and ready to die. Perhaps also, at times, he was in such great sorrow that he felt as if his soul was a thing that he held in his hand. We do not know exactly where our soul is, but we usually think of it as being somewhere in the very center of our being. David says that he had his soul in his hand, where he might at any time lose it; but what else does he say?

Psalms 119:109. Yet do I not forget your law.

"If I have even to die for it, I am willing to die for it. If I have to lay down my life because I will do right, I will do right even while I lay down my life."

Psalms 119:110. The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from your precepts.

"If I had done so, I should have been caught in their snare, but as I kept straight on in the way of your precepts, it little mattered how many snares they laid for me."

Psalms 119:111. Your testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever:-

Some take their own thoughts for their heritage, but it is a poor portion for anyone to have. Some take other men’s philosophies for their heritage, but such a heritage as that is soon gone. But some of us can say, with regard to the eternal and immutable truth of God, that we have got such a grip of it that we cannot give it up. There may come a thousand other changes; but, by God’s grace, there will be no change in this matter: "Your testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever:"-

Psalms 119:111. For they are the rejoicing of my heart.

Well may a man love that which rightly makes him glad. Shall we ever forsake that which is the source of our greatest comfort? If some men had greater gladness in the gospel, they would be more true to it. If they had ever eaten the sweet, and enjoyed the fat things full of marrow, they would never go away from the old old gospel which has made their hearts so glad.

Psalms 119:112-113. I have inclined mine heart to perform your statues always, even unto the end. I hate vain thoughts: but your law do I love.

Notice that the word "vain" is not in the original, the psalmist wrote, "I hate thoughts," yet the word for thoughts includes the idea of mere thoughts. So, if any teaching in the world is the result of human thought alone, you, you may not rely upon it for a moment, for the Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity," and they never will be anything better than that. The thoughts even of the most profound and the best instructed of men will not bear the weight and pressure of an immortal soul’s eternal interests. Revelation is the one reliable thing that we can rest upon. What God has spoken is all true, but as for what men have thought, I have been so often disappointed and deceived that I can say, with the psalmist, "I hate mere thoughts: but your law do I love." In the law of the Lord there are verities, certainties, immutabilities, here may we abide, and rest securely.

Psalms 119:114. You are my hiding place and my shield: I hope in your word.

For you will be sure to do as you have said. Your promises are not like men’s, they cannot be broken, and when I get one of your promises, O my God, I hide behind it, I am protected by it, and I am comforted through it.

Psalms 119:115. Depart from me, you evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.

Holy men often find that, in order to be holy, they have to be solitary. It sometimes happens that the force of evil companionship is too much for the gracious heart to bear, and the Christian man has to say to the ungodly, "Depart from me." Now, if even godly David had to say to evil-doers "Depart from me," you, you need not wonder that the Lord Jesus Christ will one day say to all impenitent men, "Depart from me, you evil-doers." If we keep the commandments of our God, we shall often have to walk in a separate path from the ungodly; and even if we do not keep ourselves to ourselves, we shall keep ourselves to our God.

Psalms 119:116. Uphold me-

I thought we should soon come to that petition. We have been reading about David’s resolutions, and we might have thought that he was too bold in speaking so positively, but now he shows us the modesty of his mind: "Uphold me"-

Psalms 119:116. According unto your word, that I may live:

The Lord upholds us as a nurse holds up a little child, and teaches him to walk. "Uphold me," O Lord, for I cannot stand by myself. My good resolutions will soon evaporate unless you do sustain me. There is a gracious promise which just answers this petition, "I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness."

Psalms 119:116. And let me not be ashamed of my hope.

O my God, never let me have to say that I have hoped in you in vain! I know I never shall, but I trust to you not to disappoint me. "Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength fails me "

Psalms 119:117. Hold you, me up,-

One is fond of that short, simple prayer, first it is, "Uphold me," and then, "Hold me up;" either way it is equally good: "Hold you me up,"-

Psalms 119:117. And I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto your statutes continually.

When God holds us up, there is no fear of our falling down; we have respect unto his statutes when he has respect unto us.

Psalms 119:118-119. You have trodden down all them that err from your statutes: for their deceit is falsehood. You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross:-

Perhaps some of you, you have seen the great heaps of slag lying outside the furnace, that is a picture of the ungodly: "You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross:"-

Psalms 119:119. Therefore I love your testimonies.

What! does love to the truth, and to the God of truth spring out of this putting away of the wicked? Yes, even the stern justice of God makes his people love him, and love his truth. I am of the same mind as the children of Israel were when Pharaoh and his army were swallowed up in the Red Sea, and the emancipated slaves sang unto the Lord who had triumphed so gloriously. Some cannot do that because their sympathy is so entirely with the wicked, but the destruction of all that is evil creates a flow of joy in the heart of the true believer. Still, it is a fearsome joy, full of holy awe and trembling.

Psalms 119:120. My flesh trembles for fear of you; and I am afraid of your judgments.

Well may we also tremble when we see how terrible God is out of his holy places. There is a fear which is akin to love. As there is a fear which perfect love casts out, so is there another fear which love dandles on her knee, and such is the fear which David felt. May we too ever have that holy awe of God in our hearts! Amen.

Verses 113-120

 

The proper way in which to read these verses is to peruse them in the spirit of prayer, turning every verse into a personal supplication to God. I do trust that many of us may be so in the Spirit today, that these words may suit us.

Psalms 119:113. I hate vain thoughts: but your law do I love.

The moralist is quite content to look after his actions, but the Christian is never happy until his thoughts are sanctified. The true believer hates vain thoughts, because they lead to vain words and to vain actions; because vain thoughts nailed his Savior to the tree; because vain thoughts spoil his devotion, mar his communion with God, and, like the birds which came down upon Abraham’s sacrifice, would destroy all his offering. "I hate vain thoughts." The converse of this is, "But your law do I love." There is nothing vain there; nothing in your law to distract me; nothing to give me unhallowed thoughts. But, there is a cure for vain thoughts. When you, you have been assailed of vain thoughts, let your mind be lovingly stored with texts of Scripture, with passages of God’s Word. The Psalmist, while writing these words, is evidently under a sense of danger, so he said: —

Psalms 119:114. You are my hiding place and my shield: I hope in your word.

Here is a hiding-place to escape to from danger, and a shield to protect while in danger. A hiding-place is not enough, because that cannot be moved, but the shield can be carried everywhere. It is buckled, on the warrior’s arm; and into every conflict he can take it. So, at even-time, when I tell my troubles to my God, he is my hiding-place; But all the day long, while I myself abide in, the heat of the conflict, he is my shield. See where the Christian’s hope is, dear friends! It is not in his own integrity, or faithfulness, or sincerity; but "I hope in your word."

"The gospel bears my spirit up;

A faithful and unchanging God

Lays the foundation for my hope

In oaths, and promises, and blood."

Psalms 119:115. Depart from me, you evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.

By which David did not mean that be would not speak with ungodly men. Monkish seclusion would be no advantage to a Christian. We are to be in the world, though not of it, as a ship is in the sea, but the sea is not in the ship, or else soon would she go to the bottom. We are to take care of the world; to hold such society with them as may come from necessity, but as to any nearer communion, "Depart from me, you evildoers; your company I cannot bear; your example pollutes the air: you do me damage; you vex my ears, you dishonor my God; depart from me, you evildoers, for I will keep the commandments of my God." You, you see, it seems as if this was not possible as long as there was an infinite association with the ungodly. I know nothing that is so likely to destroy the purity of a Christian’s life as any intimate association, with ungodly people. You, you cannot run with the have and hold with the hounds, too. It is impossible for you, you to join with the world, and yet be true followers of Christ.

Psalms 119:116. Uphold me according unto your word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.

You, you see, he feels his weakness, and he cries to his God.

Psalms 119:117. Hold you me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto your statutes continually.

The brightest archangel owes all his glory to God, and the perpetuity of that glory depends upon the constant gift of the gracious One. How wise, then, is it of men, conscious of their weakness, to hang constantly upon their God. As the vessel hangs upon the nail, and if the nail can move, the vessel must fall, so must we hang upon God. If he be not faithful, and true, and potent, then must we perish; but, thank God. concerning this we have no doubt.

Psalms 119:118-119. You have trodden down all them that err from your statutes: for their. deceit is falsehood. You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love your testimonies.

You, you see, the Psalmist’s mind is entirely occupied with this spirit of perseverance. He seems to tremble, and to be filled with awe lest he should by any means prove an apostate, and be unworthy to enter into the kingdom. He looks with solemn mind upon God as casting all the wicked of the earth down under his feet, just as men cast out the refuse: as the slag of the furnace is sometimes thrown down to make the footpath: so, he says, "You put away the wicked of the earth like dross; you have trodden them down." Filled with a heavy trembling lest this should be his lot — lest, after he had thought he had known and experienced the happiness of communion with God, he should be found to be reprobate silver and be given over to destruction. Does such a fear as this come upon you, you, my brethren? If it does not, there is room for you, you to fear, for even our holy Apostle had this as his anxiety, "Lest, after having preached to others I myself should he a castaway." It is not as to whether God will be faithful to me, but whether I am really his, whether my conversion has beer genuine, and my union to Christ vital. These are questions which breed a holy anxiety, which is one of the very best means of keeping a Christian in the path of right, and so of guaranteeing the perseverance which God has promised.

Psalms 119:120. My flesh trembles for fear of you; and I am afraid of your judgments.

 

Verses 113-128

 

Psalms 119:1-3. I hate vain thoughts: but your law do I love.

Presumptuous thoughts, erroneous thoughts, wicked thoughts, foolish thoughts,-all three David hated. A good man ought to be a good hater, as well as a good lover. What should he hate? He should hate sin thoughts. What should he love? He should love the law of the Lord. If we do not hate sin in the very egg, we shall not be likely to hate it in its fuller development. The very thought of sin must be detestable to us; and if we do not think of evil, we shall not speak evil, nor do evil. We ought to begin with David at the beginning, and say, "I hate vain thoughts;" yet negative religion is not sufficient, so we should go on to the positive form: "‘Your law do I love;’ and I love it so much that I wish I could always keep it, and never transgress it, and never forget it."

Psalms 119:114. You are my hiding place and my shield: I hope in your word.

"You are my protection against every kind of danger." David had been accustomed to hide in the caves of the mountains, but now he says that he hid himself in his God. When he did not hide, but stood out bravely against the serried ranks of his foes, then God was his shield to cover him in the day of battle.

Psalms 119:115. Depart from me, you evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.

If, by your evil example, you, you would take me off from serving my God, I will make you, you take yourselves off so that I may neither see nor follow your ill example: "Depart from me, you evil-doers: for I will keep the commandments of my God." David puts his foot down firmly, and says, "I will keep the commandments of my God." It is a grand thing to be able to speak of "my God." Another man’s God would be of little use to me, but when he is my own God, my God in covenant relationship, then I may well say, "I will keep the commandments of my God."

Psalms 119:116. Uphold me according unto your word, that I may live:

"Lord, I cannot even live unless you do uphold me according to your promise." The Christian man is so dependent upon God that he owes his life and the continuance of it to upholding grace.

Psalms 119:116. And let me not be ashamed of my hope.

"If your promise could fail me, then I should have cause to be ashamed of my hope. Therefore, O Lord, let me never at any time have the shadow of a doubt concerning the truthfulness of your promises, lest I should begin to be ashamed of my hope!"

Psalms 119:117-118. Hold you me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto your statutes continually. You have trodden down all them that err from your statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.

"They are like salt that has lost its savor, which is neither fit for the land nor yet for the dunghill, but men cast it out, and tread it under their feet; and this is what you do with ungodly men, especially with those ‘that err from your statutes.’ Then tread them beneath your feet, ‘for their deceit is falsehood.’ They try to make it look like truth, but it is falsehood all the while." How much of deceit there is in this world which men gloss and varnish so that the thing looks right enough though all the while it is deception and a sham! May God keep us from all the trickeries and falsehoods and errors of the age!

Psalms 119:119. You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross:

"As the dross is thrown away when the useful metal has been extracted from it, so, O Lord, when you have taken all your saints out of the world you will put the wicked of the earth away like dross."

Psalms 119:119. Therefore I love your testimonies.

What? Does David love God’s testimonies because they are thus severe? Yes, for it is the mark of a true believer that he does not kick against the severities of his God. Worldlings can rejoice in the God of this age, who is said to be nothing but effeminate benevolence, but the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob is the God of justice, who will by no means spare iniquity; and for that very reason a true believer says, with David, "I love your testimonies."

Psalms 119:120. My flesh trembles for fear of you; and I am afraid of your judgments.

This is the man who truly loves God, and this is the kind of fear that perfect love does not cast out. Though we love God supremely, we become for that very reason God-fearing men, and dread to do anything that would cause him anger or sorrow.

Psalms 119:121. I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors.

When a man is conscious of doing right, he has a good ground of appeal to God. If, when it was in your power, you, you did not oppress others, you, you may plead with God that he will not let others oppress you, you. If it has been your habit to act with judgment and justice towards others, you, you may respect that God will defend you, you against all your oppressors.

Psalms 119:122-123. Be surety for your servant for good: let not the proud oppress me. Mine eyes fail for your salvation,-

"I have looked for it so long, I have longed for it so eagerly, that my eyes seem to grow inflamed with watching, a film seems to come over them so that I cannot see out of them: ‘Mine eyes fail for your salvation.’"

Psalms 119:123. And for the word of your righteousness.

"I look for no salvation except in the way revealed in your Word, and I do not wish you to do an unrighteous thing even to save me from my oppressors."

Psalms 119:124. Deal with your servant according unto your mercy,-

He dare not ask to be dealt with by God on any other ground than that of mercy. Though he is innocent of that which the ungodly laid to his charge, he is not innocent before God, and therefore he pleads for mercy. He owns that God is his Lord and Master, and that he is God’s servant, and as a man should deal mercifully with his servant he pleads that God will so deal with him: "Deal with your servant according unto your mercy," —

Psalms 119:124. And teach me your statutes.

He had kept God’s statutes so far as the eyes of men could see; but, before God, he takes a humbler position, and begs to be taught what he is to do, asks to be instructed, like a child, in the statutes of his God.

Psalms 119:125. I am your servant;-

This is the third time in four verses that David mentions this relationship; he seems proud of being God’s servant. Though he were but as a menial, yet would he glory in it: "I am your servant;" —

Psalms 119:125. Give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies.

"Lord, do not merely teach me, but give me understanding." That is what our teachers cannot do. They may put the truth before us so plainly that we ought to understand it, but they cannot give us understanding.

Psalms 119:126. It is time for you, Lord, to work: for they have made void your law.

And surely this is an age in which this prayer is very suitable. On all hands we see God’s law ridiculed, or denied, or travestied, or else hidden under tradition or under the dicta of so-called scientific men, or in some way or other "made void." Oh, that God’s right hand of grace might be stretched out to do some miracle of mercy in the land at this very time!

Psalms 119:127. Therefore I love your commandments above gold; yes, above fine gold.

"Therefore" — because the wicked tasted God’s law, and made it void, David loved it all the more. It is a live fish that swims against the stream, it is a live man of God who can say, "They have made void your law, Therefore I love your commandments above gold; yes, above fine gold."

Psalms 119:128. Therefore I esteem all your precepts concerning all things to be right;-

"Ungodly men think they are wrong; that is an additional proof to me that they are right." When a certain old philosopher had been praised by a bad man, he asked, "What have I done amiss that he should speak well of me?" And there are some men’s mouths out of which the praise of Christ or the praise of the Scriptures would be to God’s dishonor. They tell me that So-and-so spoke blasphemously against Christ; but why should he not do so? It is natural for him to be a blasphemer. When serpents hiss, do they not act according to their nature? I do not read that Christ stopped men’s mouths when they blasphemed him, but I do know that when the demons bore witness to him, he silenced them, for he liked not to be praised by diabolical mouths. Let ungodly men say what they may, we know the value of their speeches, and we are not troubled by them.

Psalms 119:128. And I hate every false way.

Again David mentions his hatred of all falseness. Some men are such "chips in the porridge" that they neither love nor hate; but the believer is a man who has both loves and aversions. He loves the truth, and therefore he hates every false way.

Verses 119-126

 

Psalms 119:119-121. You puts away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love your testimonies. My flesh trembles for fear of you; and I am afraid of your judgments. I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors.

Eastern kings cannot often say as much as this, but David had been a just king. This was for his comfort when he himself came under unjust treatment. "I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors." It is of the same tenor as another prayer: "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." God often deals with men as they deal with others: "With the forward, he will show himself forward"; "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." May our conduct be such that, though we plead no merit, yet we may dare to mention it in prayer.

Psalms 119:122. Be surety for your servant for good: let not the proud oppress me.

As nearly as I remember, this is the only verse which does not mention the law or the Word of God. Here you, you have a "surety," and that is something even better. If the law fails us, the surety stands us in good stead. How I like to think of God the surety of his people! When there is a trial against them, and the oppressor is heavy upon them, they can come to God to be a surety for them in the great action of life. "Be surety for your servant for good: let not the proud oppress me." My Master is surety for his servants; his servant is sure enough.

Psalms 119:123. Mine eyes fail for your salvation, and for the word of your righteousness.

I have looked until I have looked my eyes out: I am weary with waiting, with watching, with weeping: "Mine eyes fail for your salvation." Some do not even look for him. Here is a man who looked until his very eyes gave out.

Psalms 119:124. Deal with your servant according unto your mercy, and teach me your statutes.

He is a just man; he can plead that he has done justly; but he does not ask to be dealt with according to justice: "Deal with your servant according unto your mercy" — as far as any one of us can get. If you, you have been greatly sanctified, have walked very near to God, I would not advise you, you still to go beyond this prayer: "Deal with your servant according to your mercy." Singular is the next sentence: "And teach me your statutes." It is a great mercy to be taught the ways of God, to understand his way, to understand the practical part of it, the statutes. To be made holy is a high honor, a great privilege. When you, you are seeking great favors of God, ask for great holiness.

Psalms 119:125. I am your servant;

He called himself "servant" many times before; and in this wonderful passage this is the third time. He is delighted to be the "servant of God." He says little about being a king; he says a great deal about being a servant: "I am your servant."

Psalms 119:125. Give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies.

You, you know, generally a teacher finds the teaching; the pupil has to find understanding But here is a prayer: "Give me understanding." The last verse he asked to be taught; here he asks to have an understanding given to him. What a God we have to deal with! And when we are taught of the Lord, how effectually we are taught: he not only gives the facts, but gives the understanding with which to get at their meaning.

Psalms 119:126. It is time for you, Lord, to work: for they have made void your law.

When men begin to exercise a destructive criticism upon the Word of God, it is time for God to work. When God’s law is held in small esteem, when men go their own way, call vice by the name of pleasure, "It is time for you, Lord, to work: for they have made void your law."

Verses 129-144

 

Psalms 119:129. Your testimonies are wonderful: therefore does my soul keep them.

It is very wonderful that God should speak to us at all, and still more marvelous that he should write to us such a book as this Bible is. The Book itself is full of wonders, and one of those wonders is that it reveals him whose name is "Wonderful." Observe that the psalmist, having said to the Lord, "Your testimonies are wonderful," does not add, "Therefore do I sit down and wonder at them." No, his appreciation was practical, let ours be the same: "Your testimonies are wonderful: therefore does my soul keep them."

Psalms 119:130. The entrance of your words gives light;

Those who are most ignorant, and have least confidence in their own abilities, will nevertheless become very wise if they study God’s Word.

Psalms 119:130-131. It gives understanding unto the simple. I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for your commandments.

What a wonderful verse that is! The psalmist cannot describe his longing for God’s commandments except by going to the brute creation for a suitable metaphor. He had probably seen the hunted stag stand still, and pant to get its breath, all the while longing for the waterbrooks. So he says, "I opened my mouth, and panted." "I could not put my prayer into words, so I panted. My heart, my breath, my lungs, my very soul panted, for I longed for your commandments."

Psalms 119:132. Look you upon me, —

That is all the psalmist wants, and all that we want, too. If a look from us to God will save us, what must a look from God to us do for us? "Look you upon me," —

Psalms 119:132-134. And be merciful unto me, as you use to do unto those that love your name. Order my steps in your word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep your precepts.

Some of you, you, perhaps, may hardly be able to do as you, you would if you, you were perfectly free to act, for you, you are to a certain extent under the government and power of ungodly persons. Well, here is a prayer for you, you to present to the Lord: "Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep your precepts."

Psalms 119:135. Make your face to shine upon your servant;

That is the best sunshine for us; let us but have the light of God’s countenance, and nothing can put us out of countenance. If the Lord will smile, men may frown as much as they please. So we pray with the psalmist, "Make your face to shine upon your servant."

Psalms 119:135-136. And teach me your statues. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not your law.

The psalmist felt for others as well as for himself. It was not enough for him to be holy; he would have others to be the same. Sin in other men brought sorrow to his heart: "Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not your law."

Psalms 119:137. Righteous are you, O Lord, and upright are your judgments.

After having wept over the sin of men, the psalmist turns with sweet calmness of spirit to the goodness of God.

Psalms 119:138. Your testimonies that you have commanded are righteous and very faithful.

"Very faithful." You, you who have tried and proved God’s promises must have found them so; not only faithful, but very faithful, faithful to the letter, faithful to the moment. God seems rather to exceed his promise than ever to fall short of it.

Psalms 119:139-140. My zeal has consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten your words. Your word is very pure: —

Just now the psalmist said, "Your testimonies are very faithful. Now he says, "Your word is very pure." There is no adulteration in this blessed Book; it is pure truth. You, you cannot add to it or take from it without making it imperfect: "Your word is very pure:" —

Psalms 119:140. Therefore your servant loves it.

It is only a pure heart that loves the pure Word of the Lord; so, if you, you love the Word of God because of its purity, it is an argument that your heart has been renewed by grace.

Psalms 119:141. I am small and despised: yet do not I forget your precepts.

In verse 139, the psalmist complained that his enemies had forgotten God’s words, and he does not complain of the fault in others, and then fall into it himself; but he says, "Yet do not I forget your percepts." There are some people who seem to think that it does not much matter what they do. If they were persons of influence, they think that they would be very careful of their example. "But," says one, "I am only a feeble woman, — a poor mother with a few children." "Oh!" exclaims another, "I am only a child as yet, I cannot influence others." "Oh!" cries a third, "I am simply an ordinary working man, nobody notices me." Listen to what the psalmist says, "I am small and despised: yet do not I forget your precepts." "I do not make all excuse out of my littleness, that I may be careless in my living." Take that message home, dear friends, and learn its lesson, for it applies to many of you, you.

Psalms 119:142. Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, —

What a wonderful sentence! Just now, the psalmist said, "Your testimonies that you have commanded are righteousness." (See the marginal reading of verse 138.) Now he advances another step, and says, "Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness."

Psalms 119:142. And your law is the truth.

That is what I believe this Book of God is, — "the truth." I know of nothing infallible but the Bible. Every man must have a fixed point somewhere; some believe in an infallible pope, and some in an infallible church, but I believe in an infallible Book, expounded by the infallible Spirit who is ready to guide us into all truth: "Your law is the truth."

Psalms 119:143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet your commandments are my delight.

What a curious mixture this verse describes! Here is a man full of trouble and anguish, and yet full of delight at the same time. Little do they understand human nature, and especially gracious human nature, who cannot comprehend this paradox. There are many seeming contradictions in the Christian life, and this is one of them: "Trouble and anguish have taken hold of me:" — as dogs lay hold of their prey, — "yet your commandments are my delights." The apostle Paul pictured another such a case as this when he wrote, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed," and he also described the Christian paradox, "As unknown, and yet well known, as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." May we all understand these paradoxes is our own experiences!

Psalms 119:144. The righteousness of your testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.

Now let us read what the Lord Jesus said to those who professed to reverence the Scripture, but who really made it void by their traditions.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 119:129-144; and Matthew 15:1-13.

Verses 137-152

 

Psalms 119:137. Righteous are you, O Lord, and upright are your judgments.

It is well to be able to say this when you, you are being tried, when the hand of God lies heavy upon you, you; it is hard to kick against the pricks, but it is very sweet to submit, and to say, "Righteous are you, O Lord, and upright are your judgments."

Psalms 119:138. Your testimonies that you have commanded are righteous and very faithful.

"Righteous" for the present, "faithful" for the future. There is no mistake about God’s Word, it will never fail, we may trust it implicitly, and we shall never be disappointed.

Psalms 119:139. My zeal has consumed me,

The psalmist had such zeal for God’s Word that he seemed like a sacrifice consumed with the fire upon the Lord’s altar.

Psalms 119:139. Because mine enemies have forgotten your words.

First, they despised them, then, they neglected them, at last, they got as far as even to forget them. Forgetfulness of God’s Word is a very dreadful stage of disease in the heart.

Psalms 119:140. Your word is very pure: therefore your servant loves it.

To love God’s Word for its purity, is an index of a pure heart. Some love it for its poetry, some love it for its doctrine, some love it for its mercy; but he is an advanced man in the kingdom of grace who loves it for its purity.

Psalms 119:141. I am small and despised: yet do not I forget your precepts.

Others may, but I am not following their example. It is well when a Christian man is a contrast to other men. When they call him a mere nobody, he adopts their words, and says, "Yes, I am nothing, ‘I am small and despised,’ yet I do not forget the Lord’s precepts."

Psalms 119:142. Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is the truth.

Pilate asked, "What is truth?" Here is the best possible answer: "Your law is the truth." Not only does it contain the truth, but it is the truth. The Word of God is not only true, that is its quality; but it is the truth, that is its essence. It is the cream of all truths. "Your law is the truth."

Psalms 119:143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet your commandments are my delights.

"Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me:" like two fierce dogs they had fixed their teeth in him; yet even then he could say, "yet your commandments are my delights." What a riddle is the man who knows God! He has great trouble and is full of anguish, yet he is delighted; how can these things be? The child of God knows what it is to be troubled on every side, and yet not to be troubled within.

Psalms 119:144. The righteousness of your testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.

As if he could not live without it, he did not call it true living except as he understood and enjoyed the precepts of his God.

Psalms 119:145. I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord: I will keep your statutes.

Here we have both a prayer and a resolve; but the resolution grew out of the prayer, and was connected with it. The psalmist prays to God to help him to keep his statutes. Are any of you, you hard put to it just now by strong temptation? I commend this verse to you, you: "Hear me, O Lord: I will keep your statutes." Cry unto God, "Do help me, O Lord; let not strong temptation drag me away from you! I do long to be holy, my whole heart’s desire is to keep Your ways; O help me, I pray you!" This verse begins with "I cried," and the next verse begins in the same way: —

Psalms 119:146. I cried unto you;

It is good when you, you can cry. The living child cries, and it is the man of God whose prayer is a cry of almost inarticulate utterance and grief: "I cried," "I cried." What did he cry?

Psalms 119:146. Save me, and I shall keep your testimonies.

David had no notion of salvation without obedience; so he prays, "Save me, and I shall keep your testimonies." Is that the salvation you, you desire, —salvation from sin? If so, you, you shall have it. God, the Holy One, delights to bestow holiness; and he will speedily hear and answer such a prayer as that.

Psalms 119:147. I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried:

The psalmist was still crying, crying early in the morning; before the sun was up, he was up, and crying unto God.

Psalms 119:147. I hoped in your word.

It is well when hope goes with prayer, when you, you begin to see daylight even before the sun is up. "I hoped in your Word." Not in any enthusiastic impression of his own, but in God’s Word itself, the psalmist placed all his confidence.

Psalms 119:148. Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in your word.

As he was up before the sun, so he was praying before they set the guards for the night-watch; and when they were changing guards, and he heard the cry of the hour from the watchman, he was still crying to God; and at the same time he was meditating: "that I might meditate in your Word." Ah, that is the way to cry! Meditation is very much neglected nowadays; we read, perhaps, too much, we meditate, for certain, too little; and meditation is to reading like digestion after eating. The cows in the pasture eat the grass, and then they lie down, and chew the cud, and get all the good they can out of what they have eaten. Reading snips off the grass, but meditation chews the cud. Therefore, "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest." In this matter we often fail; we shall be wise to imitate David, who devoted the early morning to prayer, and the night watches to meditation.

Psalms 119:149. Hear my voice —

So the psalmist used to pray aloud. It is a very great help in prayer if you, you can do the same. If we pray aloud to be heard of men, it is a sin; but if we pray aloud that we may hear ourselves, so that our devotion may be excited, we shall often find it very profitable, and if people hear us by accident, so much the better; they are not hearing anything that will do them hurt, they are hearing that which may do them good.

Psalms 119:149. According unto your loving-kindness:

That is, do not hear it to judge it, to censure it, to criticize it, but hear it as a father hears his child, loving to hear its little voice speaking in broken accents.

Psalms 119:149. O Lord, quicken me according to your judgment.

Just now, the psalmist prayed, "Hear me, O Lord!" In the 146th verse, he cried, "Save me;" now his prayer is, "O Lord, quicken me!" When God puts more life into us, then we have more strength to bear our burdens, and having more spiritual life, we have more power to resist temptation. Quickening is an essential mercy, containing within itself a multitude of blessings: "Quicken me according to your judgment."

Psalms 119:150. They draw near that follow of after mischief:

He could hear the sound of their feet behind him; they were running after him, and he could detect the pit-pat of their malicious footsteps.

Psalms 119:150-151. They are far from your law. You are near, O Lord

What a comfort that is! They are trying to get near, but you are near. I can hear the tread of their feet behind me, but I can see your face close to me. How comforted is the psalmist in the time of trouble! His adversaries may be as keen of scent as bloodhounds, but God is with him, therefore he fears them not.

Psalms 119:151-152. And all your commandments are truth, Concerning your testimonies, I have known of old that you have founded them forever.

So that this Psalm was written by David when he was an old man. He had known the Lord’s commandments when he was young, and now, in his declining days, he can say, "I have known of old that you have founded them forever." O young men, if you, you want to be happy old men, begin by knowing God’s Word! If you, you have known that God has founded his Word of old, you, you know that which will comfort you, you when you, you grow old. In fact, you, you have found a perpetual spring within your heart, if from your youth up you, you have known in the fullest sense the Word of the Lord. Some are changing their creed every day in the week, as the weather changes, but blessed is that man who has so learned Christ to begin with that he keeps in the old way all his life. He is the man who can truly grow. Transplant a tree six times a year, and you, you will not get any fruit from it; but blessed are they that are planted in the courts of the Lord, for they shall flourish there, and shall still bring forth fruit in old age.

Verses 145-168

 

Psalms 119:145. I cried with my whole heart: hear me, O Lord: I will keep your statutes.

In the time of trouble there is no resort like that of prayer, but it must be intense and earnest. "I cried with my whole heart." And sometimes it should be accompanied with a resolve to profit by the affliction. "I will keep your statutes." As the child under the rod prays to be spared because he hopes in future to be obedient, so does the Psalmist here say, "Hear me, O Lord; I will keep your statutes." This ought to be the effect of every affliction, to make us more careful in our obedience. It is not always so, but so it ought always to be.

Psalms 119:146. I cried unto you: save me, and I shall keep your testimonies.

As if he felt that the force of gratitude would constrain him to obedience. He did not merely promise it, but he prophesied it as a matter of certainty that he should keep the Lord’s testimony.

Psalms 119:147. I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in your word.

Early prayers seem seasonable. Before we have gone into the world, should we not first go to our God? Prayer ought to be the key of the morning to open it, as well as the key of the night to close it. And notice what should always be associated with prayer, namely, hope. "I hoped in your word." There is no prayer like a hopeful prayer, in which a man hopes, believes, expects, that God will send him a blessing.

Psalms 119:148. Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in your word.

Before the watchman can cry the hour of night, mine eyes are upon the Word of God, and I am studying that. Oh! it is well when we prove our love to the Word of God by our meditation upon it, our constant, searching into it.

Psalms 119:149. Hear my voice according unto your loving-kindness:

Not according to my earnestness, much less according to my merit, but "Hear my voice, according to your loving-kindness." Oh! what a large measure this, for who can tell how boundless is the loving-kindness of God? Such be the answer to my prayer, O my Lord.

Psalms 119:149. O Lord, quicken me according to your judgment.

As you do try me, quicken me. Just as you are I have need of it give me more spiritual life.

Psalms 119:150. They draw near that follow after mischief: they are far from your law.

Dogs are at my heels. I have heard them long ago pursuing me, but now they are getting nearer to me than ever.

Psalms 119:151. You are near, O Lord

Is not that a blessed sentence, that, when the adversaries are near, the Friend of friends is near too? What if he be like a hunted stag, and the dogs are at his heels, yet the omnipotent Lord, the Interposer, can come between and save his darling from the power of the dogs.

Psalms 119:151; Psalms 119:159. And all your commandments are truth. Concerning your testimonies, I have known of old that you have founded them forever.

It is an old story with me that your love is without beginning, your covenant from all eternity, your grace immutable, not fickle, changeable as if it were founded yesterday upon the sand, but "You have founded them forever."

Psalms 119:153-155. Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget your law. Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to your word. Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not your statutes.

If they sought that salvation, they would cease to be wicked; they would find salvation; but while they follow out their wicked ways they get further and further away from anything like salvation.

Psalms 119:156-158. Great are your tender mercies, O Lord: quicken me according to your judgments. Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from your testimonies. I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not your word.

It is enough to make any man grieve that the Word of God, which is so right, so just, so good, should be despised. What madness is this which is in the hearts of men, that they despise the best of the best?

Psalms 119:159. Consider how I love your precepts: quicken me, O Lord, according to your loving-kindness.

It is a fair argument; as a friend may say to another, "Consider how I love you, you;" as a child might say to his angry father when he is about to chasten him, "My father, I love you, you, although I have transgressed; look at my heart, and see how I love you, you, notwithstanding all the mistakes of my character, and even the faults that I have committed.

Psalms 119:160-161. Your word is true from the beginning: and every one of your righteous judgments endures forever. Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart stands in awe of your word.

"Princes have persecuted me without a cause; but my heart stands in awe of" — them? No, but "of your Word."

Psalms 119:162-166. I rejoice at your word, as one that finds great spoil. I hate and abhor lying: but your law do I love. Seven times a day do I praise you because of your righteous judgments, Great peace have they which love your law: and nothing shall offend them. Lord, I have hoped for your salvation, and done your commandments.

Present duty, future expectation. It is no use our hoping for great things unless we ourselves cultivate good things. God will make tomorrow bright: let us make today holy.

Psalms 119:167-168. My soul has kept your testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.

I have kept your precepts and your testimonies: for all my ways are before you.

Verses 153-174

 

Psalms 119:153. Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget your law.

As much as if he said, "Lord, I do not forget you; do not forget me." Your grace has kept my memory; let your grace keep me altogether.

Psalms 119:154-156. Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to your word. Salvation is far form the wicked: for they seek not your statutes. great are your tender mercies, O Lord: quicken me according to your judgments.

Oh! how the saints want quickening. They know they do. They feel that they get dull, and they cannot endure it. They are not happy unless they possess vivid grace and true light.

Psalms 119:157-158 Many are my persecutors and mine enemies: yet do I not decline from your testimonies. I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not your word.

The very sight of them gave me sorrow. Even though they tried to be mirthful, I was not amused by them, and beheld them and was grieved, "Because they kept not your word."

Psalms 119:159. Consider how I love your precepts: quicken me, O Lord, according to your loving-kindness.

My heart is right, I do love you; but I feel dull and heavy. Lord, come and quicken me, not according to my love to you, but according to your loving-kindness, come and quicken me. "Your word is true from the beginning" — from the first page of the book of Genesis to the very last —true about everything, true from the first moment it began with me. Every promise has been kept. There has not been a falsehood all the way through.

Psalms 119:160. Your word is true from the beginning: and everyone of your righteous judgments endures forever.

"Princes have persecuted me without a cause." David was a prince and a man expects to be fairly dealt with by his peers; but it was not so in this case.

Psalms 119:161. Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart stands in awe of your word.

When we are in awe of God’s word, we shall not be in awe of princes. The fear of God is the best cure for the fear of men.

Psalms 119:162. I rejoice at your word, as one that finds great spoil.

He had more joy in reading the Scriptures than in winning a great battle, or in being surprised at the finding of a great treasure.

Psalms 119:163. I hate and abhor lying: but your law do I love.

Now the Orientals did not hate lying; they generally tried to be proficient at it. The only fault about lying with them is to be found out. Then they think they must have been very unskillful. David, therefore, was far ahead of his time — far ahead of his fellow-countrymen.

Psalms 119:164. Seven times a day do I praise you because of your righteous judgments.

He could not have enough of praise; he did it often, he did it perfectly —seven times a day — and if he praised God seven times a day because of his righteous judgments how much more ought we to do it because of his abounding grace! Ah! there is a special cause for thanks.

Psalms 119:165-166. Great peace have they which love your law: and nothing shall offend them. Lord, I have hoped for your salvation, and done your commandments,

Two good things to put together — hope in God’s mercy, and obedience to God’s will.

Psalms 119:167-174. My soul has kept your testimonies; and I love them exceedingly. I have kept your precepts and your testimonies: for all my ways are before you. Let my cry come near before you, O Lord: give me understanding according to your word. Let my supplication come before you: deliver me according to your word. My lips shall utter praise, when you have taught me your statutes. My tongue shall speak of your word: for all your commandments are righteousness. Let your hand help me; for I have chosen your precepts. I have longed for your salvation, O Lord and your law is my delight.

Cannot we say that, dear friends, this morning? I hope we can — with all our failings and wandering, yet the law of God is our delight, and if we could have our wish, we would never again go beyond its restraints, nor fall short of its demands.

 

Chapter 120

 

Verses 1-3

 

Psalms 120:1. In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me.

Slander occasions distress of the most grievous kind. Those who have felt the edge of a cruel tongue know assuredly that it is sharper than the sword. Calumny rouses our indignation by a sense of injustice, and yet we find ourselves helpless to fight with the evil, or to act in our own defense. We could ward off the strokes of a cutlass, but we have no shield against a liar’s tongue. Silence to man and prayer to God are the best cures for the evil of slander. It is of little use to appeal to our fellows on the matter of slander, for the more we stir in it the more it spreads, it is of no avail to appeal to the honor of the slanderer, for they have none, and the most piteous demands for justice will only increase their malignity and encourage them to fresh insult. However, when cries to man would be our weakness, cries to God will be our strength. The ear of our God is not deaf, nor even heavy. He listens attentively, he catches the first accent of supplication; he makes each of his children confess, — "he heard me."

Psalms 120:2. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.

Lips are soft; but when they are "lying lips" they suck away the life of character and are as murderous as razors. Lips should never be red with the blood of honest men’s reputes, nor salved with malicious falsehoods. The faculty of speech becomes a curse when it is degraded into a mean weapon for smiting men behind their backs. Those who fawn and flatter, too, and all the while have enmity in their hearts, are horrible beings; they are the seed of the devil, and he works in them after his own deceptive nature. Better to meet wild beasts and serpents than deceivers: these are a kind of monster whose birth is from beneath, and whose end lies far below.

Psalms 120:3. What shall be given unto you? or what shall be done unto you, you false tongue?

The Psalmist seems lost to suggest a fitting punishment. It is the worst of offences — this detraction, calumny, and slander. Judgment sharp and crushing would be measured out to it if men were visited for their transgressions. But what punishment could be heavy enough? What will God do with lying tongues? He has uttered his most terrible threats against them, and he will terribly execute them in due time.

 

Chapter 121

 

Verses 1-7

 

Psalms 121:1. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence comes my help.

It is wise to look to the strong for strength. Dwellers in valleys are subject to many disorders for which there is no cure but a sojourn in the uplands, and it is well when they shake off their lethargy and resolve upon a climb. The holy man who here sings a choice sonnet looked away from the slanderers by whom he was tormented to the Lord who saw all from his high places, and was ready to pour down support for his injured servant. Help comes to saints only from above, they look elsewhere in vain: let us lift up our eyes with hope, expectancy, desire, and confidence. Satan will endeavor to keep our eyes upon our sorrows that we may be disquieted and discouraged, be it ours firmly to resolve that we will look out and look up, for there is good cheer for the eyes, and they that lift up their eyes to the eternal hills shall soon have their hearts lifted up also. The purposes of God; the divine attributes. The immutable promises, the covenant, ordered in all things and sure. The providence, predestination, and proved faithfulness of the Lord — these are the things to which we must lift up our eyes, for from these our help must come.

Psalms 121:2. My help comes from the Lord, which made Heaven and earth.

What we need is help, — help powerful, efficient, constant: we need a very present help in trouble. What a mercy that we have it in our God. Our hope is in Jehovah, for our help comes from him. Help is on the road and will not fail to reach us in due time, for he who sends it to us was never known to be too late. Jehovah who created all things is equal to every emergency; Heaven and earth are at the disposal of him who made them, therefore let us be very joyful in our infinite helper. He will sooner destroy Heaven and earth than permit his people to be destroyed, and the perpetual hills themselves shall bow rather than he shall fail whose ways are everlasting. We are bound to look beyond Heaven and earth to him who made them both: it is vain to trust the creatures: it is wise to trust the Creator.

Psalms 121:3. He will not suffer your foot to be moved: he who keeps you will not slumber.

Though the paths of life are dangerous and difficult, yet we shall stand fast, for Jehovah will not permit our feet to slide, and if he will not suffer it we shall not suffer it. If our foot will be thus kept we may be sure that our head and heart will be preserved also. In the original the words express a wish or prayer, — "May he not suffer your foot to be moved." Promised preservation should be the subject of perpetual prayer; and we may pray believingly; for those who have God for their keeper shall be safe from all the perils of the way. Among the hills and ravines of Palestine the literal keeping of the feet is a great mercy, but in the slippery ways of a tried and afflicted life, the blessing of upholding is of priceless value for a single false step might cause us a fall fraught with awful danger. We should not stand a moment if our keeper were to sleep, we need him by day and by night, not a single step can be safely taken except under his guardian eye. God is the convoy and bodyguard of his saints. No fatigue or exhaustion can cast our God into sleep; his watchful eyes are never closed.

Psalms 121:4. Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The consoling truth must be repeated: it is too rich to be dismissed in a single line. It were well if we always imitated the sweet singer, and would dwell a little upon a choice doctrine, sucking the honey from it. What a glorious title is in the Hebrew — "The keeper of Israel," and how delightful to think that no form of unconsciousness ever steals over him, neither the deep slumber nor the lighter sleep. This is a subject of wonder, a theme for attentive consideration, therefore the word "Behold" is set up as a waymark. Israel fell asleep, but his God was awake. Jacob had neither walls, nor curtains, nor bodyguard around him, but the Lord was in that place though Jacob knew it not, and therefore the defenseless man was safe as in a castle. He keeps us as a rich man keeps his treasure, as a captain keeps a city with a garrison, as a royal guard keeps his monarch’s head. If the former verse is in strict accuracy a prayer, this is the answer to it, it affirms the matter thus, "Lo he shall not slumber nor sleep — the Keeper of Israel." Happy are the pilgrims to whom this psalm is a safe conduct; they may journey all the way to the celestial city without fear.

Psalms 121:5. The Lord is your keeper: the Lord is your shade upon your right hand.

Here the preserving One who had been spoken of by pronouns in the two previous verses, is distinctly named — Jehovah is your keeper. What a mint of meaning lies here: the sentence is a mass of bullion, and when coined and stamped with the king’s name it will bear all our expenses between our birthplace on earth and our rest in Heaven. Here is a glorious person — "Jehovah," assuming a gracious office and fulfilling it in person, — Jehovah is your "keeper," in behalf of a favored individual — my, and a firm assurance of revelation that it is even so at this hour — Jehovah is your keeper. A shade gives protection from burning heat and glaring light. We cannot bear too much blessing; even divine goodness, which is a right-hand dispensation must be toned down and shaded to suit our infirmity, and this the Lord will do for us. When a blazing sun pours down its burning beams upon our heads the Lord Jehovah himself will interpose to shade us and that in the most honorable manner, acting as our right-hand attendant, and placing us in comfort and safety.

Psalms 121:6. The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.

None but the Lord could shelter us from these tremendous forces. There are dangers of the light and of the dark, but in both and from both we shall be preserved — literally from excessive heat and from baneful chills; mystically from any injurious effects which might follow from doctrine bright or dim; spiritually from the evils of prosperity and adversity; eternally from the strain of overpowering glory and from the pressure of terrible events, such as judgment and the burning of the world. Day and night make up all time: thus the ever-present protection never ceases.

Psalms 121:7. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil: he shall preserve your soul.

It is a great pity that our admirable translation did not keep to the word "keep" all through the psalm, for all along it is one. God not only keeps his own in all evil times but from all evil influences and operations, yes, from evils themselves. This is a far-reaching word of covering: it includes everything and excludes nothing: the wings of Jehovah amply guard his own from evils great and small, temporary and eternal. Soul-keeping is the soul of keeping. If the soul be kept all is kept. The preservation of the greater includes that of the less so far as it is essential to the main design: the kernel shall be preserved, and in order thereto the shell shall be preserved also. Our soul is kept from the dominion of sin, the infection of error, the crush of despondency, the puffing up of pride; kept from the world, the flesh, and the devil; kept for holier and greater things; kept in the love of God; kept unto the eternal kingdom and glory. What can harm a soul that is kept of the Lord?

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 5:1-19, and Psalms 121:1-7.

Verses 1-8

 

Psalms 121:1. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence comes my help.

No help comes from anywhere else but from the eternal hills. Let us lift up our eyes, therefore, hopefully expecting help from the hills; it is on the road, it "comes." The psalmist with the eye of faith could see it coming, so he watched its approach.

Psalms 121:2. My help comes from the Lord, which made Heaven and earth.

He would sooner unmake them than desert his people. He who made Heaven and earth could certainly find shelter for us either in Heaven or in earth. He cannot, he will not leave us, he will make room for us in Heaven when there is no room for us here. What a blessed thing it is to look right away from the creature to the Creator! The creature may fail you, you; but the Creator is an ever-springing well of all-sufficient grace.

Psalms 121:3. He will not suffer your foot to be moved:

He will not endure it, he will not suffer it. Many would like to trip you up; but he will not allow it, he loves you too well.

Psalms 121:3. He who keeps you will not slumber.

You may slumber, for you are frail, but he is a Watchman to whose eyes sleep never comes. You, you are always safe. Alexander went to sleep, he said, because Parmenio watched; and you, you may take the sleep of the beloved because Jehovah watches over you, you.

Psalms 121:4. Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

Behold it, that is, mark it; put a nota bene at the side of it, take cognizance of this as a great and sure truth. Jacob went to sleep with a stone for his pillow, but he who kept him did not sleep; he came to him in the night-watches, and revealed to him his covenant.

Psalms 121:5. The Lord is your keeper: the Lord is your shade upon your right hand.

Oh, what a keeper we have! Can you, you not trust him? Will you, you not be at peace in your mind if it be indeed true that Jehovah keeps you, you, and is your guard in the hour of danger?

Psalms 121:6. The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.

Then, when can you get hurt? If you are protected both day and night, these make up all the time. God does not make a new sun for his people, the sun would smite us as well as others, but he takes the sting out of the sun’s excessive brightness: and we have the same sickly moon as others have, with the same influences over us, but God takes care that the moonbeams do not harm his people. Neither the sun of prosperity nor the night of adversity, neither the light of truth nor even the dimness of mystery, shall injure one of the chosen seed.

Psalms 121:7. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil: he shall preserve your soul.

That is the soul of our preservation; if the life, the soul, be kept, then are we kept altogether.

Psalms 121:8. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in —

Your early days of youth, when you are going out into life; and your coming in, when the older days creep over you, and you are coming in to God and Heaven; your going out into business, and your coming in to private devotion.

Psalms 121:8. From this time forth, and even for evermore.

Let us, therefore, feel restful at this time, and even for evermore, having the Lord for our Keeper and Preserver.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 121, 122.

 

Chapter 122

 

Verses 1-9

 

Psalms 122:1. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.

I was glad for their sake, glad to think they were so willing to go. I was glad also for my own sake, for I was glad to go, too.

Psalms 122:2. Our feet shall stand within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Happy men who were citizens of such a city! Happy worshipers coming together to the place whose very name signifies the vision of peace, the metropolis of God, type of the New Jerusalem which is from above!

Psalms 122:3. Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together:

Not a conglomeration of huts, but built as a city with substantial structures; and not a straggling city, like some we read of, that have been called "cities of magnificent distances," but it was "compact together." Happy is the church that is at peace; blessed are the people who are joined together by a gracious brotherly love.

Psalms 122:4. Where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.

The Church is the point of meeting: "Where the tribes go up." The Church is the place of "testimony," and saints go to hear testimony, and they go to bear it. I wish there was more of this bearing testimony among Christian people, and that they looked upon it as a sacred duty to tell to others what God has told to them. "To give thanks unto the name of the Lord" — that is another part of true worship, — praise, joyful thanksgiving, should be one of the saints’ continual avocations; let us not forget it at this time. Some are here who have been sick; let them give thanks unto the name of the Lord. Some are here who are still weak, yet able to come up with God’s people; let us give thanks unto the name of the Lord. We have all some special mercy, some choice favor, for which to praise his name; then let us all give thanks unto the name of the Lord.

Psalms 122:6. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.

If any of the people had been wronged by the petty magistrates, they went up to Jerusalem, and made their appeal to the king. Here may we bring our suit before God, and order our case before him, for he is true and just, and nothing shall go amiss that is left with him.

Psalms 122:6. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

Pray for it now, breathe a silent prayer to God.

Psalms 122:6. They shall prosper that love you.

God loves those who love his Church, and love his cause, and he rewards them with prosperity, as much of earthly prosperity as they can bear, and prosperity to their souls beyond measure.

Psalms 122:7. Peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palace.

The psalmist bade us pray, and now he himself prays. He who bids others do a thing should be prepared to set the example.

Psalms 122:8. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now pray, Peace be within You.

Let us say it, for the sake of beloved ones in Heaven, and dear ones on earth who are on the way thither, "Peace be within you."

Psalms 122:9. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek your good.

Not only pray for it, but work for it, give for it, live for it: "I will seek your good!" God bless to us these two Psalms and put us all in a right state of heart tonight! Amen.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 121, 122.

 

Chapter 123

 

Verses 1-4

 

Psalms 123:1. Unto you lift I up mine eyes, O you that dwell in the heavens.

Our eyes are far too apt to look below, or to look within, or to look around, but it is wisdom on our part to look up. There is always something blessed to see upward, especially when we look up to him who dwells in the highest heavens, — our Father, our Savior, our Comforter. There is little down here that is worth looking at, but there is everything for our comfort when we look up.

Psalms 123:2. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us.

This is what we are looking for, — the mercy of the Lord our God. It comes from his great heart, through his almighty hand. A wave of his hand is sufficient to drive away all our troubles. When he opens his hand he supplies the needs of every living thing, so mighty and so bountiful is he. Let us, therefore, keep our eyes upon our Lord’s hands "until that he have mercy upon us."

Psalms 123:3. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us:

The longing soul does not wait in utter silence without expressing its desires. I have heard of some who have said that their will was so fully conformed to God’s will that they had left off praying to him, but surely that was a satanic delusion, for the will of Christ was perfectly conformed to that of his Father, yet for that very reason he abounded in prayer. We must be in an evil case if we leave off praying. The psalmist says that he and those who were like-minded with him waited until the Lord had mercy upon them, and then he began a sort of litany, "Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us." He uses the same words twice as if to express the greatness of his need, the clearness of his perception of what he needed, the earnestness of his desire, and his expectation that his need would be supplied. In this verse and the previous one, we have the petition, "Have mercy upon us," presented no less than three times, for mercy is the greatest need of the best man who ever lived.

Psalms 123:3. For we are exceedingly filed with contempt.

That is a sharp cutting thing, most trying to the soul that has to endure it; and many have been greatly depressed in spirit by the contempt that has been poured upon them. But, Lord, your mercy is a cure for man’s want of mercy; your thoughtfulness of us will take off the edge from man’s contempt of us.

Psalms 123:4. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.

It does not seem to be a desirable thing to be at ease, for it was such people who were the scorners of the psalmist and his godly companions. Job also said, "He who is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease." In the stagnant air of a life of ease, all kinds of mischiefs breed, and especially that fever of pride which leads ungodly men to have contempt for God’s people.

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 123, 124, and 125.

 

Chapter 124

 

Verses 1-8

 

Psalms 124:1-3. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say; if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then they had swallowed us up quick, —

That is, alive, —

Psalms 124:3. When their wrath was kindled against us:

If it had not been God who had engaged to take care of his people, they would all have perished, but that God must be Jehovah. I wish that our translators had not been carried away by the superstition of the Jews, and that they had used the word "Jehovah" where it is employed in the original. This verse and the previous one would have read, "If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then they had swallowed us up alive," as some beasts, and birds, and fishes swallow their prey and as some men would do with us if they could, that is, swallow us up alive, making a short and speedy end of us, not waiting to tear us in pieces, but swallowing us whole and alive.

Psalms 124:4-5. Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

The figure is varied. We are first likened to the lamb that is liable to be swallowed by the lion, and next we are compared to one who is in danger of being carried away by a devouring flood, which shows no pity to any, but sweeps everything before it down to destruction.

Psalms 124:6. Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth.

Neither to Satan and his legions, nor to wicked men, has God delivered us. We are not to be their prey, for God claims us as his own.

Psalms 124:7. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.

What a joyous song that is for the escaped soul to sing! Whenever a Christian man has fallen into difficulties through not walking uprightly when he has gone astray from the right path, and has been caught in the fowler’s net, and is in such trouble that he does not know what to do, —when God comes, and cuts the net, perhaps with the sharp knife of affliction, and the imprisoned soul again finds freedom from worldly associations, and happy liberty in the service of God, I do not know a sweeter song than this that he and others of God’s rescued birds can sing as they mount up into the clear light of God’s countenance, "Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped."

Psalms 124:8. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made Heaven and earth.

This is a good lesson for us to learn from the past experience of the Lord’s people. God and God alone did deliver his servants in the past and herein is our confidence for the present and the future; — our help is in the name —the revealed and manifested character — of Jehovah, the Creator of Heaven and earth.

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 123, 124, and 125.

 

Chapter 125

 

Verses 1-5

 

Psalms 125:1-3. They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abides forever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even forever. For the rod of the wicked shall not test upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.

By "the rod" is here meant "the scepter." The wicked shall not permanently rule over the righteous; they may have a temporary dominion and sovereignty; but, in due season, their rod shall be broken, and their power shall be scattered to the winds.

Psalms 125:4-5. Do good O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.

May we have faith to lay hold upon that last blood promise, and so enjoy the peace of God which passes all understanding! Amen!

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 123, 124, 125.

 

Chapter 126

 

Verses 1-6

 

Psalms 126:1. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.

We could hardly believe it; we began to talk incoherently, as men do in their sleep. We were so carried away with joyful rapture that we did not know where we were: "we were like them that dream."

Psalms 126:2. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, —

We became Issacs, for he was the child of laughter. We laughed as Abraham did, for very joy of faith. Sometimes, laughter may become the holiest possible expression. It may be one of the meanest utterances of our nature, but it may also be one of the loftiest. These people not only laughed, but their mouth was filled with laughter; they could not laugh loudly enough, there was no expression of articulate speech that sufficed them at all: "Then was our mouth filled with laughter," —

Psalms 126:2. And our tongue with singing:

When they did find their tongue, they could not speak, they must sing. They could not have anything so slow as a mere declaration, they must have a Psalm: "Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing."

Psalms 126:2. Then said they among the heathen, The Lord has done great things for them.

The heathen could not help seeing that it was the Lord who had delivered Israel. No other people except the Jews ever came back from captivity. The Babylonish tyrant never restored any others to their land, but he did restore these people; and the very heathen said, "It is their God, Jehovah, that has done it." And what did God’s own people say?

Psalms 126:3. The Lord has done great things for us; whereof we are glad.

See the difference between the outsider and the insider. The outsider says, "The Lord has done great things for them." Ah! but they who belong to God say, "The Lord has done great things for us." Oh, the privilege of being able to say "for us!" Dear hears, can you, you join with all the saints, and say, "The Lord has done great things for us"? This is what happened to God’s people before, but now they have fallen into another trouble, so hear how they pray.

Psalms 126:4. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south.

"You did it once; do it again. You made us to live; make us to live again. We sang then, O Lord; enable us to sing again, ‘Turn again our captivity.’ As the dry river-beds are suddenly made to be filled with water at the melting of the snow, so come, and fill our hearts, ‘as the streams in the south.’"

Psalms 126:5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

Take that for certain; lay it down as a Scripture proverb. When God sends us a wet time, and we have to sow in the moist foggy atmosphere, never mind; there are brighter days yet to come. We shall reap amid the sunbeams, and carry home our sheaves with joy.

Psalms 126:6. He who goes forth and weeps, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

"He shall doubtless come again with rejoicing." Now, you disconsolate workers, you who have only a handful of seed, you shall come back with an armful of sheaves. You, you shall come back rejoicing though you, you go forth now sorrowing, for the Lord has said it; wherefore be of good courage.

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 126. and 127.

 

Chapter 127

 

Verses 1-5

 

Psalms 127:1-3. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.

It is vain for you, you, to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows for so he gives his beloved sleep. Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

The psalmist had been speaking about house-building, and there is the building up of the house in the sense of a family being built up by children. Some people think children an encumbrance, but they are "a heritage of the Lord," and they are to be looked upon with gladness. One said, "I have twelve sons," and his friend answered, "That is exactly Jacob’s number." "Yes," said the first speaker, "and I have Jacob’s God to enable me to sustain them." There is a comfort in that thought; may God grant that none may be troubled by those whom God sends to us for a heritage!

Psalms 127:4. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

In the case of an arrow, you, you know it all depends which way you, you shoot it. Mind, therefore, that you, you direct your children aright; give them a good start, a true aim from the very first, God helping you, you, and then they shall fly from you, you like the arrows of a mighty archer.

Psalms 127:5. Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them:

That is, when they are like arrows; — not when they are gnarled and knotty, like crooked sticks. When they are unwilling to be tutored and trained, then they become a trial and a trouble; but happy is the man who has a quiver full of arrows; the more the merrier of such children as the psalmist here speaks of.

Psalms 127:5. They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

When there was any suit at law, these sons of his would be there to plead for him; if there was any fighting to be done, they also would be to the front. It was a dangerous thing to attack a man who had a house full of strong, loyal, loving sons. They would be his defense, they would speak, and speak with very considerable emphasis, too, with his enemies in the gate.

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 126. and 127.

 

Chapter 128

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 129

 

Verses 1-8

 

Three Songs of degrees.

Psalms 129:1-2. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.

The trials of some of God’s people begin very early. When first we put on the armor of God, the adversary is usually very bitter against us. Some of our old friends and acquaintances cannot bear to see the change in us, and they bitterly oppose us, so that God’s children may have to say, "From our youth they have afflicted us." But you, you must not think that the beginning of sorrows will be the end of them. Oh, no! "Many a time have they afflicted me." God’s children are often called to pass under the rod, and the rod is frequently held in the hands of the children of men. Your Savior carried the cross, and he expects you, you to carry it, too. He does not tell you, you to take it up now and then, but to take it up always, and to follow him with a constant will, cheerfully bearing it for his dear name’s sake. "Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet"-Is not that sweetly put?-"yet they have not prevailed against me." You, you recollect how Joseph’s brothers envied him, and at last sold him into Egypt; yet from the dungeon he rose to the throne, and he could say. "Yet they have not prevailed against me." If you are of the seed royal, one of the chosen people of God, they shall not prevail against you. Even proud Haman, with all his plotting, was not able to overcome poor Mordecai; and the Lord your God will preserve you from the fury of all your adversaries, and bring good to you out of all the evil they try to do unto you.

Psalms 129:3. The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.

Like one that has been cruelly scourged until each cut of the lash seemed to make a furrow through the quivering flesh: "The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows." How truly could our blessed Lord utter these words when he was delivered up to wicked men to be scourged!

Psalms 129:4. The Lord is righteous: he has cut asunder the cords of the wicked.

"The Lord is righteous." There is our hope and comfort. He takes away from them the scourge, and cuts up the cords of which it is made; and those cords with which they would bind the righteous he cuts into pieces, so that they can do nothing against them: "He has cut asunder the cords of the wicked."

Psalms 129:5. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.

So it seems that the one aimed at, and made to suffer, is the Church of God, "Zion." She has often been scourged and afflicted. Her experience is like that of her covenant Head, and her triumph will be like his triumph.

Psalms 129:6-8. Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withers afore it grows up: with which the mower fills not his hand; nor he who binds sheaves his bosom. Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you, you: we bless you, you in the name of the Lord.

So the adversaries of the Church of God may grow as fast as grass on the roof of a house, but they will perish just as fast, and there will be nothing left of them. They threaten, they bully, they rage, they rave; but it is only for a little while.

Now we will read the "De profundis" Psalm.

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 129, 130, and 131.

 

Chapter 130

 

Verses 1-8

 

I will first read the Psalm through, and afterwards say a few words by way of exposition.

Psalms 130:1-8. Out of the depths have I cried unto you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If you Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

You, you notice that this is one of the Songs of Degrees; that is, Psalms ascending by steps, and it begins at the very bottom: "Out of the depths." But it gradually climbs up to the heights: "He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities." May your experience and mine, beloved, be like a ladder, —upward, always upward, step by step, ever rising, and getting nearer to our God!

The Psalm begins very low: "Out of the depths." The psalmist is in the depths of sorrow and conscious sin, the depths of weakness, the depths of doubt and fear; yet, though he is in those depths, he does not leave off praying: "Out of the depths have I cried." Some of the best prayers that were ever prayed have been offered in the depths. There are some men who never prayed at all until they came into the depths of sorrow, and those sorrows pressed their prayers out of them. The psalmist’s prayer was a cry. That is a child’s prayer; it cries to its mother or its father: "Out of the depths have I cried." But it was not like a child’s cries sometimes are, — cries to itself, or cries to nobody: "Out of the depths have I cried unto YOU, O Jehovah." That is the right kind of prayer which is directed to God as an arrow is aimed at the target.

In looking back over his past experience, the psalmist tells the Lord that he has prayed. Sometimes, it is a good thing to pray over your prayers. "I have prayed, Lord; now I present one more petition, ‘I pray you to remember that I have prayed. I pray you to hear me. Lord, hear my voice.’" What is the good of prayer if God does not hear it? Sometimes we ask God to answer our supplication. That is right, but, at the same time, remember that it may be a greater blessing for God to hear our prayers than to answer them; for if he were to make it an absolute rule that he would grant all our requests, it might be a curse rather than a blessing. At any rate, I should feel it a very dreadful responsibility to have cast upon me; for then, after all, I should have to depend upon my own prayers, and therefore have to order my own way. But when I read that God will hear my prayer, that is much better, for he can do as he likes about answering it; and if I pray an improper prayer, what is better for me than for God to hear it, and then to set it on one side? And, often, mine are such poor feeble prayers that it is much better for me that he should hear them, and then do for me exceeding abundantly above what I have asked or thought. I used to think that we ought to say that he is a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God; but I do not say that now. It is enough that he hears, enough that you, you have presented your petition, and that God has heard it. "Lord, hear my voice: let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications." That is, "Lord, consider my prayer; have respect unto it.

Answer it according to your wise consideration of it; ‘let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.’" Our prayers must usually be supplications; that is the word for a beggar’s pleading when he supplicates and asks for favors. That is what we do when we plead with God; and even if we do not speak, yet there is a voice in our supplications. In the sixth Psalm, David speaks of the voice of his weeping; and there is often a voice in that sorrow which cannot find a voice. God hears the grief that cannot itself speak to him: "Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications."

And now, having put up his petition, notice his confession: "If you, Jehovah, should mark iniquities, O Adonai, who shall stand?" So it should run. If God were to sit like a judge taking notes of the evidence, and putting down against his people all their errors, who would be able to stand in that court? We should all be condemned. Then, does not God mark iniquities? Yes, he does in one sense, but not in another; and, through his infinite love and mercy, he does not deal with us after our sins, nor reward us according to our iniquities. "If he did," David seems to say, "I could not stand." But he says more, "Who shall stand?" Whatever pretensions to perfection any persons may make, they are false. There is no man who can stand in God’s sight when he comes to mark our iniquities; and if we are taught of God’s Spirit, we shall know it to be so. In fact, the more holy a man becomes, the more conscious he is of unholiness.

"But" — and what a blessed "but" this is! — one of the most blessed "buts" in the Word of God: "But there is forgiveness with you;" or, "There is a propitiation with you." There is a readiness to deal with men, not according to their just deserts, but according to free grace and the infinite mercy of God. "There is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared." Is not that a very strange expression? One would have thought that it would have said, "There is judgment with you, that you may be feared." But no, brethren, if there were judgment with God, and no forgiveness, then men would grow despairing, and they would be hardened and rebellious; or else all would be swept away in God’s wrath, and there would be nobody left to fear him. It is mercy that softens the heart, it is the forgiveness of God that leads men to love him and to fear him. The true fear of God — the holy filial fear — never rises out of judgment, but springs out of forgiving love. I hope, beloved, you, you feel that, because you, you are forgiven, you, you fear to offend God; because of so much love, you, you fear to grieve the blessed Spirit of God.

"I wait for Jehovah, my soul does wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waits for Adonai," — the King, the Sovereign Lord, — "more than they that watch for the morning, they that watch for the morning." Our translators put in the words, "I say more than," — I suppose, to make the sense more clear; but, by doing so, they spoiled the beautiful poetic simplicity of the original. "Let Israel hope in the Lord." Until this verse, the psalmist has been talking about himself; now he speaks about all the people of God. True religion is expansive; as your own heart gets warmed, you, you begin to call others in to share your felicity. "Let Israel hope in the Lord." Did not their father Jacob do so? When all night he wrestled at the brook Jabbok, he hoped in the Lord, and so he gained his name Israel, and went away triumphant because he hoped in Jehovah.

"For with Jehovah there is mercy." Believe that, O seeking sinner! "With Jehovah there is mercy." Believe this, O backslider! "With Jehovah there is mercy." Believe this, downcast child of God; "and with him is plenteous redemption." There is enough for you, you, and there is enough for all who come to him. There is not a slave of sin whom God cannot redeem, for "with him is plenteous redemption."

"And he shall redeem." There is the comfort of it; he not only has the redemption, but he will make use of it. "He shall redeem Israel" — the whole of his Israel, all his people — "He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities." Oh, come to him, then, with all your iniquities, and pray to be redeemed from them; and as surely as Jehovah lives, he will fulfill this promise, and redeem you, you from all your iniquities.

 

Chapter 131

 

Verses 1-3

 

Psalms 131:1. Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.

I commend this verse to some who profess to be Christians, but who are always puzzling their poor brains with intricate questions, who want to solve the mystery of where free will and predestination can meet, how man can be responsible, and yet God’s predestination can be fulfilled, and I know not what beside. These are great waters the waves whereof are too big for our little barques. We have quite enough to do, my brother, to attend to the plain things of God’s Word, and to strive after holiness and the salvation of our fellow men, without addicting ourselves to tying knots and trying to untie them. It is an unprofitable business; it genders to pride rather than to anything else, and well did David say, "My heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me."

Psalms 131:2. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.

That is a very blessed thing to be able to do, to quiet yourself when, like a weaned child, you, you are crying under the afflicting hand of God, when you, you feel a proud spirit murmuring, or when you, you want to pierce the darkness that veils divine truth, and want to understand what cannot be understood, and you, you worry because you, you are not omniscient. Oh, it is a blessed thing, then, to say to yourself, "Be quiet, child! Be quiet! " What are you but a child, after all, at your best? What do you know? What can you know? Are you not satisfied to hear your Father say, "What you know not now, you shall know hereafter"? Do you not know that here we know but in part, and see but in part? By-and-by, we shall know even as we are known, but not yet. "I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother:"-as a child who sucks his finger, and goes to sleep sobbing "my soul is even as a weaned child." David did not say, "My soul is even as a weaning child," fretting, worrying, wanting to have its own will. There is no happiness in that state; but when it is not the weaning, but the weaned,-not the present participle, but the past,-then we get into comfort: "My soul is even as a weaned child," who has given up his old comfort, that which he thought was as necessary to him as his life. He finds that, after all, he can live without it, and grow without it, and come to a better manhood without it than with it: "My soul is even as a weaned child."

Psalms 131:3. Let Israel hope in the Lord-

You, you will never be weaned from him if you, you are his; but if you, you are weaned from the world, so as to have all your hope in the Lord, thrice happy are you, you. Now, too, you, you will grow; now you, you will come to the fullness of the stature of a man in Christ Jesus, which you, you could never have done if you, you had not been weaned. I remember that when Sarah weaned Isaac there was a great feast at the weaning, and I believe that God’s children often have a great feast at their weaning from the world. All the while they are but babes, and suck their comforts from the world, they get but little real joy; but when, by divine grace, they outgrow that state of things, then is there a great feast made for them.

Psalms 131:3. From henceforth and forever.

That is real comfort that you, you may always enjoy, hoping in the Lord from henceforth and forever. In life and in death here is a blessed confidence that will never fail you, you. God grant that we may enjoy it now and evermore! Amen.

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 129, 130, and 131.

 

Chapter 132

 

Verses 1-18

 

A Song of Degrees.

Psalms 132:1. Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions.

God had entered into an everlasting covenant with David, " ordered in all things and sure," and in this Psalm either David himself or some of his people or descendants pleaded that covenant in time of affliction and trial: "Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions." The Lord would not forget either David or his people, yet it pleased him for them to come before him in prayer, and to remind him of the covenant that he had made with his servant. Using this prayer in a gospel sense, we bow before the Lord, and cry, "Lord, remember Jesus, the Son of David, and all his afflictions; remember all that he endured as his people’s Substitute, and have pity upon us, for his sake, as we plead that eternal covenant which you have made with him on our behalf." That ancient covenant was made With David and the far more ancient covenant of grace was made with great David’s greater Son," our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Psalms 132:2-5. How he swore unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, norgo up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.

David remembered that he had built himself a palace, but he wished even more ardently to build a palace for his God, a house for the celebration of his worship: " an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob." But where can a worthy house be built for God ? Where can there be made a fit dwelling place for the Most High ? He fills all things, yet all things cannot contain him. There is but one dwelling place of God, it is in Christ Jesus, for " in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Oh ! how we ought to thank God that he has provided himself a fitting dwelling place in the person of his dear Son, in whom all believers also are built together for a habitation of God through the spirit. As for the ark of the covenant, it had long ago in David’s day dwelt in obscurity.

Psalms 132:6. Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood.

God is willing to dwell in the woods. Many a time he does so. In many a cottage far removed from the haunts of men, God is found; and to many a backwoodsman God is as near as he is to those who worship him in temple or cathedral. " We found it in the fields of the wood."

Psalms 132:7. We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool.

This Psalm is called " A Song of degrees." Notice the steps here described. We heard of it, we found it, we will go into it, we will worship in it. It is a good thing when, in our prayers and praises, we ascend step by step,-not on the stepping-stones of our dead selves, which is a piece of rubbish,-but by the living stepping-stones upon which the ever-living Spirit helps us to rise tier above tier, his own almighty hand helping us continually to rise higher and higher.

Psalms 132:8. Arise, O Lord into your rest; you, and the ark of your strength.

Let us pray that the Lord may constantly find rest in the midst of his people. He finds rest in them because they are one with his well-beloved Son. Come, Lord, at this moment, and take your rest in the midst of this assembly, and make us all rest in you.

Psalms 132:9. And let your priests be clothed with righteousness;

This is the best robe for all God’s holy ones, who are priests and kings unto him; this is better than snow white linen or robes bedecked with crimson and gold.

Psalms 132:9. And let your saints shout for joy.

The worship of God should be very gladsome and even demonstrative. We may shout. Sometimes the overflowings of joy demand more than ordinary expression, therefore we pray, " Let your holy ones shout for joy."

Psalms 132:10. For your servant David’s sake turn not away the face of your anointed.

Much more may we ask this for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake. O God, remember your Son, our Lord and our King, and for his sake look in love and pity upon us today !

Psalms 132:11-12. The Lord has sworn in truth unto David, he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne. If your children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon your throne for evermore.

Long did the house of David reign over Israel; but they proved unfaithful, and therefore the scepter passed out of their hands, but it is still in the hand of another Son of David. In a spiritual sense Jesus Christ has a throne and a dominion that shall know no end.

" Jesus shall reign wherever the sun

Does his successive journeys run;

His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,

Until moons shall wax and wane no more."

Psalms 132:13. For the Lord has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation.

The literal Zion was the Lord’s habitation for a time, but the spiritual Zion will be his dwelling place throughout eternity.

Psalms 132:14. This is my rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

God rests in his people; the whole company of the redeemed shall be his abiding place forever.

Psalms 132:15. I will abundantly bless her provision: will satisfy her poor with bread.

God sends the needful provision for his people, and sends his blessing with it. We are so poor that we have not even spiritual bread for our souls to eat unless he gives it to us; but here is his gracious promise, " I will satisfy her poor with bread." This he will do both literally and spiritually.

Psalms 132:16. I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints, shall shout aloud for joy.

In the 9th verse we had a silver prayer, but here, in this 16th verse, we have a golden answer. The prayer of the psalmist was, " Let your saints shout for joy;" the Lord’s answer is, "Her saints shall shout aloud for joy." God always gives good measure, pressed down, and running over. Often, we have not because we ask not, or because we ask amiss. His command to each one of us is, " Open your mouth wide," and his promise is, " I will fill it." If you, you ask great things of him, he will give you, you yet greater things for he is " able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think."

Psalms 132:17. There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.

Oh, that today the horn of David might again bud! May every believer in Jesus feel the life of God reviving within him, and in many a case where there is no spiritual life at all may life divine begin today ! Pray for it, beloved; and then look for it, and you, you shall surely see it.

Psalms 132:18. His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish.

We have no King but Jesus and his crown is always flourishing. It wears well upon a blessed head. Let us crown him once again this day with our gladsome praise and thanksgiving.

 

Chapter 133

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 134

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 135

 

Verses 1-21

 

Psalms 135:1. Praise you the Lord.

Or, "Hallelujah." "Hallelujah" is the key-note of it. So this is one of the Hallelujah Psalms, for so it begins; and if you, you look at the end, you, you will see that so it closes. There is "Hallelujah" again. The whole Psalm is shut in at the beginning and at the end with this which is both our duty and our delight: "Praise you the Lord."

Psalms 135:1. Praise you the name of the Lord

The character, the work, all that is revealed of God, is a subject for praise: and especially that wonderful and incommunicable name Jehovah, — never mention it without praise: "Praise you the name of the Lord."

Psalms 135:1. Praise him, O you servants of the Lord.

Make it a part of your service. Praise him because you, you are his servants. Praise him because he accepts your service. You, you ought to be first in sounding his praises, therefore, "Praise him, O you servants of the Lord."

Psalms 135:2. You that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, —

You, you are permitted to dwell near to him. You, you have a standing and an abode, an office and a work, in the courts of the Lord’s house; therefore take care that you, you begin the strain. Should not the King’s courtiers praise him? Praise him, then, "you that stand in the courts of the house of our God," —

Psalms 135:3. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good:

There is one excellent reason for praising him, and you, you can never praise him too much. He is so good that you, you can never extol him to an exaggeration.

Psalms 135:3. Sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.

That is, singing God’s praises is pleasant; it is a pleasant duty, and the Lord’s name is pleasant, or lovely. The very thought of God brings the sweetest emotions to every renewed heart; there is no pleasure in the world that exceeds that of devotion. As we sing praises unto the Lord, we shake off the cares of the world, we rise above its smoke and mists, and we get there the clearer atmosphere of communion with him.

Psalms 135:4. For the Lord has chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.

There is something for you, you who are the Lord’s chosen to sing about.

"In songs of sublime adoration and praise,

You pilgrims to Zion who press,

Break forth, and extol the great Ancient of days,

His rich and distinguishing grace."

Psalms 135:5. For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.

"I know it," says the writer of the Psalm; "I know it by experience; I know it by observation; I am sure of it. There is no God like unto our God. He is a great Creator, a great Preserver, a great Redeemer, a great Friend, a great Helper. ‘I know that Jehovah is great, and that our Adonai is above all gods.’"

Psalms 135:6. Whatever the Lord pleased, that did he in Heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.

The heathen divided out the universe into provinces, and they had Jupiter to rule Heaven and earth, and Neptune for the sea, and even today many sing, but, oh! how inaccurately, "Britannia rules the waves." It is Jehovah, and no one else, that rules the waves, and the people on either land or sea. He is Lord everywhere, and whatever he pleases to do is done. He is no lackey to wait upon the free will of his creatures: "Whatever Jehovah pleased, that did he."

Psalms 135:7. He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;

That is a very wonderful work; what millions of tons of water are every day turned into vapor, and caused to ascend from different regions of the earth to fall again afterwards in cheerful, refreshing rain! What should we do if this process were suspended? It is the very life-blood of the world.

Psalms 135:7. He makes lightnings for the rain;

It is said that the Bible was written to teach us religion, not science. That is very true, but the Bible never makes a mistake in its science; and I would rather agree with the old writers, who held that the Bible contained all science, than I would go with those who blasphemously pretend to correct the Holy Spirit, and to set him right upon geology, and I know not what besides. In the long run, it shall be proved that the old Book beats all the scientists; and when they have made some wonderful discovery, it will turn out that it was all recorded here long before. "He makes lightnings for the rain." There is an intimate connection between electricity and the formation of rain; and in the East this is very clear, for we are constantly reading in books of travel of heavy downpours of rain almost always accompanied by thunderstorms.

Psalms 135:7. Re brings the wind out of his treasuries.

The wind never comes puffing around us according to some freak of its own; but "He brings the wind out of his treasuries; "counting, and spending it as men do their money, not suffering more wind to blow than is needed for the high purposes of his wise government. Let praise for this be given to the God of nature who is ruling over all, and ever doing as he wills. The psalmist goes on to show that the God of nature is also the God of his people: —

Psalms 135:8. Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.

It was God’s own hand that did it. The firstborn of man and beast could not have died by accident all over the land of Egypt at the same hour of the night; but Jehovah thus punished the guilty nation. Had they not oppressed his firstborn? Had they not cruelly trampled on his people, and refused to hearken to his Word? And when the time came for this last and heaviest blow, the Lord did but act in justice to them, and in mercy to his people.

Psalms 135:9. Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.

"Tokens and wonders;" — not only prodigies which astounded the people, but "tokens" which taught them, for the plagues were directed against their deities, and large books might be written to show how every plague exposed the impotence of someone or other of the false gods which the Egyptians worshiped. Pharaoh and his servants were all involved in the sin, so they were all included in the punishment. How much better was it to be a servant of Jehovah than to be a servant of Pharaoh!

Psalms 135:10. Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings;

Two of them are mentioned, perhaps because they were two of the most powerful kings who blocked the road of Israel.

Psalms 135:11-13. Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan: and gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people. Your name, O Lord, endures forever;.—

He is the same Jehovah now as ever he was. Multitudes of people, nowadays, have made unto themselves new gods; they have imagined a new character for Jehovah altogether, and the God of the Old Testament is ignored and slandered; but not by his chosen people, they still cling to him.

The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob is not the God of the dead, but of the living; and that is true spiritually as well as naturally. Those who are spiritually dead refuse to own him, and set up gods that they have imagined; but those who are quickened by his grace delight in him, and glorify his name. Let this, beloved, be our joyful song, "Your name, O Lord, endures forever; —

Psalms 135:13-14. And your memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations. For the Lord will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.

For they have their dark times, and are often in trouble through their sin. Then the Lord sends chastisement upon them, but when it has answered his purpose, he gladly enough withdraws it. How different are the idols of the heathen from our God!

Psalms 135:15. The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

They can do no works, for they are themselves the result of the work of men. Their handiwork can be nothing, for they are the work of men’s hands.

Psalms 135:16-18. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusts in them.

The original conveys the idea that those who make such gods grow to be like them, they are continually getting to be more and more like them. They become dumb, blind, deaf, dead, as they worship such idols as these.

Psalms 135:19-20. Bless the Lord, O house of Israel: bless the Lord, O house of Aaron: bless the Lord, O house of Levi: you that fear the Lord, bless the Lord.

All of you, you, whether you, you be of the house of Aaron or of the tribe of Levi, to whatever house or tribe you, you belong, bless the Lord; and if you, you are Gentiles, even though Abraham acknowledge you, you not, yet, "you that fear the Lord, bless the Lord."

Psalms 135:21. Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, which dwells at Jerusalem.

Our inmost hearts would bless him. We cannot make him more blessed than he is; we cannot add to his glory; but, oh! we do wish that everything we can do, everything that can be done to his honor, may be done.

Psalms 135:21. Praise you the Lord.

That is, once again, "Hallelujah." Oh, for the spirit of divine grace to set us praising God from the heart, and to keep us at that holy exercise all our days!

 

Chapter 136

 

Verses 1-26

 

Let us make this occasion a time of praise and thanksgiving: let our hearts dance at the name of our God: let our lips give expression thereto, in joyful music.

Psalms 136:1. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endures forever.

That is the beginning of our praise, the essential goodness of God from which all the streams of mercy flow. Oh, deep abyss of infinite love.

Psalms 136:2-3. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endures forever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endures forever.

His greatness, which is beyond that of all potentates on earth or principalities in Heaven, — this also is to be our joyous theme of song. His greatness and his goodness together make us magnify his name.

Psalms 136:4. To him who alone does great wonders: for his mercy endures forever.

Nothing is absolutely wonderful except God, and all other things are dwarfed and diminished in wondrousness as compared with him. The Seven Wonders of the World are trifles compared with the seven-million wonders of God.

Psalms 136:5. To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endures forever.

They boasted of the Colossus that strode across the sea, but what shall we say to the heavens that span not only the earth but all the universe? And in those heavens there is mercy to be seen as well as wisdom, the adaptation of the physical world to the circumstances of man, so that there is a relation between the weight of every dewdrop and the structure of the human body.

Psalms 136:6-9. To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endures forever. To him that made great light: for his mercy endures forever. The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endures forever. The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endures forever.

See how these ancient godly ones loved to dwell upon a thing. When the note was "light" they did not just sing it through and have done with it, but there were choruses and repeats in their music; but the music of today is "rattle through it as fast as ever you, you can, and have done quickly, with it." Our forefathers liked to linger a bit on these sweet praises of God. So did the Hebrews." "Great lights!" Yes, but there must be the sun and the moon and the stars. They could never have enough of it: they rolled these sweet morsels under their tongue and then out upon their lips as they praised God.

Psalms 136:10. To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endures forever:

Yet it was an awful judgment, and it needs a reverent, lowly, saintly spirit to sing over even the judgments of God. Had certain theologians of the present time been present at the Red Sea they would have cried in sentimental sympathy over the Egyptians, but instead of that Miriam took a timbrel and said, "Sing unto the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously." The fates of sinful men are of small moment as compared with the glory of God. Jehovah fills all things, and when the heart is fully taken up with the glory of God, it learns to sing even this stern refrain: "To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endures forever."

Psalms 136:11-15. And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endures forever: with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endures forever. To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endures forever: and made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endures forever: but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endures forever.

See how they prolonged the strain: and what blessed exercise this is, to take mercies to pieces and examine all the details, and have a fresh verse for each particular of God’s goodness to us. Glory be unto his blessed name forever and ever.

Psalms 136:16. To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endures forever.

Therefore he will lead you, you through the wilderness, and bring you, you through great droughts, and your manna shall drop from Heaven, and your waters flow from the rock. Sing then to his name, you that are in the wilderness.

Psalms 136:17. To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endures forever:

That is a terrible and tragic matter, that smiting of kings. Yes, but these singers did not groan over it. There are no less than four notes over this.

Psalms 136:18-23. And slew famous kings: for his mercy endures forever: Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endures forever: and Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endures forever: and gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endures forever: even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endures forever. Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endures forever:

The note descends a little from the martial strain of trumpet, from smitten kings and the drowned chivalry of Egypt; but though it sinks, how it sweetens! What a soft, clear sound there is about it.

Psalms 136:24-26. And has redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endures forever. Who gives food to all flesh: for his mercy endures forever. O give thanks unto the God of Heaven: for his mercy endures forever.

Glorious redemption! That is ever the choicest note of all. Ring that silver bell again.

This is the Christian’s true promised land of great spiritual blessings. May we have faith enough to enter into the full possession of it. It is a very wonderful chapter.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 136, and Ephesians 1.

 

Chapter 137

 

Verses 1-9

 

Psalms 137:1-2. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

Babylon was full of canals and rivers; the captive Israelites sought out lonely places where they might be away front their oppressors, and might in the company of their countrymen pour out the sad stream of their griefs and sorrows. "The rivers of Babylon" seemed congenial to them, and they mingled their tears with the flowing waters. They "sat down" as if they felt they were to be there a long while, and were not soon to go back to their own land; and they "wept " — not simply because of their banishment and their woes, but also because of the mournful condition of their beloved Zion, which had been ravaged by the Chaldeans, ploughed as a field, and given over to desolation. Some of these poor captives had been singers in the courts of the Lord’s house which had been burnt with fire, and others had brought their "harps" with them into their captivity; but they could not find any music in their hearts, and therefore they fetched no melodious, notes out of their harp-strings. They did not break their harps, however, for they might want them someday, so they hung them up on the weeping willows which abounded by the water-courses. Then came one of the sharpest trials they had ever had, — a piece of bitter cruelty on the part of their oppressors, who had no compassion upon the poor prisoners whom they had taken from their own land.

Psalms 137:3. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

As no cups except those that were taken out of God’s holy house would do for Belshazzar when he wanted to make himself drank, so no music would suit these heathen captors of Israel but the songs of God’s house: "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." These poor people were crestfallen and utterly broken down, yet their enemies cried," Make mirthful music for us, sing us one of your sacred songs." They only wanted to laugh at it, or, at the very best, to listen to it simply as a piece of music that they might criticize, so they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." But the captives could not and would not sing for any such purpose. Zion’s songs were not meant to be sung for mere amusement, nor were her chants intended to be made the theme of mockery and ridicule by the ungodly.

Psalms 137:4-5. How shall we sing the Lord’S song in a strange land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

"No," they said, "if we were to make mirth for the Babylonians, we should be doing serious damage to Zion, we should be traitors to Jerusalem;" so the harpers said, "Sooner than we will play a tune to make mirth for you, you, let our right hands become paralyzed."

Psalms 137:6. If I do not remember you, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth;-

They said it each one for himself; they would sooner be dumb than sing these sacred songs for the amusement of the ungodly revelers who had gathered round about them. Instead of a song, they offered a prayer which must have sounded terribly in the ears of those who mocked them; it was a fierce prayer, — a prayer made under a very different dispensation from that under which we live, — a prayer by a patriot who had seen his wife murdered, and his children dashed to pieces, and he prays thus: —

Psalms 137:6-7. If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

These Edomites, who ought to have been like brothers to the Jews, were their most ferocious enemies, and they stirred up the Chaldeans to be more terribly cruel than they otherwise would have been.

Psalms 137:8-9. O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed: happy shall he be, that rewards you as you have served us. Happy shall he be, that takes and dashes your little ones against the stones.

For these people had gone all over the world, wherever they could, murdering and mutilating. Tens of thousands of little children had they brutally killed, multitudes of women had they ravished, a vast number of cities had they destroyed. They were the scourges of all nations; and, therefore, moved to righteous indignation, the Jews felt that anybody who should overthrow that city of Babylon, and put to death its inhabitants, would be doing good service to the rest of mankind. And, mark you, you, all this came to pass in due time. When Cyrus turned aside the waters of the river which had been Babylon’s great protection, and left the river-bed quite dry, he marched his troops right into the center of the city; and when the Babylonians, to defend themselves and a part of the city, were driven to great straits, we are told by historians that they themselves destroyed their own wives and children, calling them useless mouths, that they might be able to defend themselves a little longer from the sword of Cyrus, so that, literally, it came to pass that the man who had destroyed his own children thought himself happy to be rid of them that he might maintain the fight. How dreadful is God when he deals with nations that have been cruel and ferocious! Go you to Babylon this day, and see what ruinous heaps he has made, what desolation he has wrought in that land.

 

Chapter 138

 

Verses 1-6

 

A Psalm of David.

Psalms 138:1. I will praise you with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto you.

Before the heathen gods, however highly exalted — I will sing your praises so in their very teeth; and the magistrates and princes and kings who think themselves gods on earth — I will not fear them or be silenced by them.

Psalms 138:2. I will worship toward your holy temple, and praise your name for your loving-kindness and for your truth: for you have magnified your word above all your name.

For you were far more glorious in revelation than in creation — your promise did greatly transcend every other display of yourself above all we have ever known or conceived of you. You have magnified yourself by your covenant of grace, and your works of grace toward your people. For this worship and praise are forever due!

Psalms 138:3. In the day when I cried you answerered me, and strengthened me with strength in my soul.

That is a thing to make a man King — when in the day of trouble God comes to him, hears his prayer and works his deliverance, when none else can help. God’s rescues demand our grateful songs: his deliverances our new anthems of exultant praise.

Psalms 138:4. All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, when they hear the words of your mouth.

When your gospel is preached, and they know it, they shall count it their honor to honor you. It is ignorance of its glory and grace that makes silence possible: but to hear it as God’s word of caring love is to be compelled to extol.

Psalms 138:5. Yes, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord.

David was a king, and he danced before the ark, and he anticipated the time when other kings should not be ashamed of exuberant rejoicing in the King of kings. Oh, that it were come! May the Lord hasten it in his own time, and the choral hosts of Heaven be swelled by the presence of the crowned monarchs of earth!

Psalms 138:6. Though the Lord be high, yet has he respect unto the lowly:

That is a sweet text. One who was a scoffer met a humble child of God one morning, and he said to him, "Tell me, is your God a great God or a little God," and the poor man said, "Sir, he is both, for, though he is so great that the Heaven of heavens cannot contain him, yet he makes himself so little that he condescends to dwell in my poor heart." Ah, it was sweetly said. He who fills the heavens, nay all things, will be our abiding guest and friend if we will but welcome him.

Psalms 138:6. But the proud he knows afar off.

He has enough of them. He does not want them to come near to him. When they are miles away he knows all about them. They make a fair show, but he sees that it is all a fable and pretense. He knows them — afar off!

Verses 1-8

 

Psalms 138:1. I will praise you with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto you.

"Gods or no gods, whatever they may be, ‘I will praise you with my whole heart,’ I will not be ashamed to declare my confidence in Jehovah, whoever may listen to me."

Psalms 138:2. I will worship toward your holy temple, and praise your name for your loving-kindness and for your truth: for you have magnified your word above all your name.

Now was his time to speak. The gods of the heathen had their worshipers; then, should Jehovah be deserted by his loyal subjects? "No," says David, "I will worship you, and I will praise you, whoever may oppose me."

Psalms 138:3. In the day when I cried you answerered me, and strengthened me with strength in my soul.

What worshiper of idols could ever say that of his God? "Ears have they," but they bear not the cries of their worshipers. "Hands have they," but they cannot deliver those who cry to them. "Feet have they," but they cannot come to the help of their votaries. But David declares that God had heard him in the day of his trouble, and strengthened him with strength in his soul.

Psalms 138:4. All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, when they hear the words of your mouth.

He felt that he had had such good things to say concerning God, such blessed words of God to make known, that even the kings of the earth, when they began to listen to him, would become attentive, and would even become converts, and begin to praise Jehovah with him.

Psalms 138:5. Yes, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord.

Think of that,— kings singing in the ways of the Lord, crowned princes becoming choristers in God’s service. Someone has said that there are few in Heaven who wore crowns on earth; and I am afraid it is true that, of all who are crowned on earth, few ever get to that land where all are kings and priests unto God. To have a crown on earth, and a crown above, is a rare thing; but David says that these kings "shall sing in the ways of Jehovah: for great is the glory of Jehovah;" and they shall be overpowered by that glory,— melted, subdued, wooed, won, converted by its power.

Psalms 138:6-7. Though the Lord be high, yet has he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knows afar off. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me: —

He was a king, yet he expected trouble; and do you, you complain when it comes to your cottage, after it had been to David’s palace? "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me:

Psalms 138:7. You shall stretch forth your hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and your right hand shall save me.

He expected first to be revived, and afterwards to be protected. He believed that God would stretch out his hand, as men do when they make a supreme effort, and put forth all their force: "You shall stretch forth your hand against the wrath of mine enemies." David also expected ultimate preservation: "‘Your right hand shall save me.’ You will do it; dexterously, readily, gladly, will you do it: ‘Your right hand shall save me.’"

Psalms 138:8. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me:

"All that has to do with me — my business, my family, my work, my temporal and my eternal interests,— ‘that which concerns me,’ and that which troubles me, moves my heart with the deepest concern, Jehovah will perfect."

Psalms 138:8. Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever: forsake not the works of your own hands.

And he will not do it; he will carry on unto completion the work which he has begun, blessed be his holy name!

 

Chapter 139

 

Verses 1-18

 

Psalms 139:1. O Lord, you have searched me, and known me.

"You have explored me, as men dig in mines, and make subterranean excavations. You have searched into my secret parts, and known me."

Psalms 139:2. You know my down sitting and mine uprising,

"My simplest acts, those which I scarcely premeditated."

Psalms 139:2. You understand my thought afar off.

"Before I think it, when I think it, and when I forget it, you do understand my every thought."

Psalms 139:3. You compass my path and my lying down,

Making a ring around me, so that I am entirely under your observation. My roving and my resting are both known to you."

Psalms 139:3. And are acquainted with all my ways.

"My habits, and the exceptions from my habits, are all known to you."

Psalms 139:4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, you know it altogether.

"When it is in my tongue, and not spoken, like a seed sown, hidden away, not yet sprouted, you, O Jehovah, know it altogether!"

Psalms 139:5. You have beset me behind and before, and laid your hand upon me.

"I am like a prisoner, with guards before me and behind me, and the officer’s hand upon my shoulder all the while. You have arrested me, O Lord; I can never get away from you."

Psalms 139:6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain up to it.

"I believe it, but I cannot understand it; even my imagination cannot picture it to me."

Psalms 139:7. Wither shall I go from your spirit?

"If I want to do so, if I desire to avoid you, where can I go to escape from your omnipresent Spirit?"

Psalms 139:7-8. Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend up into Heaven, you are there:

The true glory of that bright world.

Psalms 139:8. If I make my bed in Hell, behold, you are there.

"The terror of that place of woe, in the land of death-shadow and darkness, you are living, whoever else is dead. If I make my abode in Hades, in Hell, you are there."

Psalms 139:9-10. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall your hand lead me,

"If the breath of the morning breeze should bear me far away across the pathless sea, you are there before me; if I ride upon a flash of light, you are swifter than the sunbeam: even there shall your hand lead me." The lone missionary in the furthest parts of the earth is led by God. When, he knows not his way, God leads him; and when he has no companion to cheer him Gods hand upholds him. What a comfort to any of you, you who have to journey far away from your kindred! You, you cannot be alone, for God is there; be of good comfort, and go as bravely as if you, you walked the crowded streets of this great city.

Psalms 139:10-12. And your right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yes, the darkness hides not from you, but the night shines as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to you.

It is impossible to conceive that God should need the light in order to see. He can see as well in the midnight shades as in the blaze of noon. Let no man think that he may sin in secret, because he is not seen of the eye of man; God’s eye is on him in the dark as much as in the light.

Psalms 139:13-14. For you have possessed my reins: you have covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise you; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are your works; and that my soul knows right well.

He was no agnostic, he never dreamed of being a know-nothing.

Psalms 139:15-17. My substance was not hid from you, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in your book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are your thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

How sweet to be thought of by God! How charming and how cheering to be the perpetual object of the Lord’s thoughts! The psalmist does not tell us how precious are God’s thoughts; but he sets a note of admiration to them: "How precious also are your thoughts unto me, O God!" He does not try to calculate the total of their value; but he says, "How great is the sum of them!"

Psalms 139:18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with you.

"You have thought of me when I was asleep, and when I wake, I think of you." Happy living, happy dying, to feel that, if we never wake again on earth, we shall wake up with God! How precious it is to think that when good and useful men fall asleep, when they awake, they are forever with the Lord! Our turn will come soon, my brothers and sisters. May it be our portion to die in harness, and to be taken away while yet we have the light of God’s sustenance resting upon our work!

Verses 1-24

 

This is a Psalm we can never read too often. It will be to us one of the greatest safeguards against sin if we have its teaching constantly before our mind’s eye, and the teaching of this Psalm is simply this, "You God see me."

Psalms 139:1. O Lord, you have searched me, and known me.

You have looked into my most secret parse. The most intricate labyrinths of my spirit are all observed of you. You have not searched, and yet been unable to discover the secret of my nature but you have searched me and known me. Your search has been an efficient one, you have read the secrets of my soul,

Psalms 139:2. You know my down sitting and mine uprising, you understand my thoughts afar off.

It is a common enough thing to sit down and to rise up and I myself oftentimes scarce know why I do the one or the other, but you know and understand all. "You understand my thought afar off." My heart forms a thought that never comes to a word or an act, but you not only do perceive it, but you do translate it; you understand my thought.

Psalms 139:3. You compass my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.

I am surrounded by you as by a ring of observers.

Psalms 139:4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, you know it altogether.

Not only the words on my tongue, but those that slumber in my tongue, the unspoken words, you know them perfectly and altogether.

Psalms 139:5. You have beset me behind and before, and laid your hand upon me.

Your presence amounts to actual contact. You do not only see, but touch, like the physician, who does not merely look at the wound, but by-and-bye comes to probe it. So do you probe my wounds, and see the depths of my sins.

Psalms 139:6-7. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Where shall I go from your spirit? or where shall I flee from your presence?

It seems as if the first impulse was to fly away from a God whose attributes were so lofty. ‘Twas but a transient impression, yet David words it so.

Psalms 139:8. Psalms 139:10. If I ascend up into Heaven, you are there: if I make my bed in Hell, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall your hand lead me, and your right hand shall hold, me.

How swift he supposes his flight to be, as swift as the light, for he borrows the wings of the morning, and yet the hand of God was controlling his destiny even then. As Watts rhymes it —

"If mounted on the morning ray,

I fly beyond the western sea,

Your swifter hand should first arrive,

And there arrest your fugitive."

Psalms 139:11-12. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yes, the darkness hides not from you, but the night shines as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to you.

For, mystery of mysteries, and more wondrous still, you not only do observe, but you always have observed, and you have not only observed my well-formed being and my visible life but before I had a being you did observe what I should be, and when I was yet in embryo your all-observing eye watched me.

Psalms 139:13-16. For you have possessed my reins: you have covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise you; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows right well. My substance was not hid from you, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, and in your book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

In so vivid a manner does our holy poet sing of the omniscience of God with regard to our creation. Before we had breath he formed and fashioned us.

Psalms 139:17. How precious also are your thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

How many thoughts has God towards us! We cannot count them, and how kind are those thoughts — we cannot estimate them — how precious, how great!

Psalms 139:18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with you.

I suppose I had finished the tale, had counted up all your thoughts to me, and then fell asleep. I should then but begin to count again, for you continue to thrust out mercies from your hand. My God, my numeration shall never overtake you, much less my gratitude, and the service that is your due!

Psalms 139:19. Surely you will slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, you bloody men.

"Surely" — here is a solemn inference from the omniscience of God — "surely you will slay the wicked, O God." You have seen their wickedness. They have committed their wickedness in your presence. You will need no witnesses, no jury, you are all in one. Are you not the Judge of all the earth, and shall you not do right? "Surely you will destroy the wicked, O God." Then I desire not to have those in my company who are condemned criminals, and are soon to be executed. "Depart from me, therefore, you bloody men." See how this sets David upon purging his company and keeping himself clean in his associations, since God, who sees all, and will surely punish, would hold it to be evil on the part of his servant to be found associating with rebellious men.

Psalms 139:20-22. For they speak against you wickedly, and your enemies take your name in vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate you? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against you? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

We are bound to love our own enemies, but not God’s enemies, since they are haters of all that is good and all that is true, and the essentially good One himself. We love them as our fellow-beings, but we hate them as haters of God.

Psalms 139:23-24. Search me, O God. and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

Chapter 140

 

Verses 1-13

 

To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of David. Very likely this Psalm was written by David while he was being hunted about by Saul, and while all manner of falsehoods were being spoken against him. He therefore comforts himself in his God. He writes this Psalm, and he means to have it sung, and sung well; so he dedicates it "to the chief Musician." There are some parts of our life which are so crowded with urgent necessity, and so full of divine mercy that we feel that, if we ever get through them, we will make a song about our deliverance, and dedicate that song unto God through "the chief Musician."

Psalms 140:1. Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;

He is wicked at heart, and violent in his temper. Whenever we meet with such an adversary, we have good reason to cry to God: "Deliver me: preserve me." Yet, if we must have enemies, we prefer that they should be bad men; we do not wish to have a child of God against us; if we must have an antagonist, we would much rather that he should be one who is "evil" and "violent."

Psalms 140:2. Which imagine mischief’s in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.

It goes hard with a peace-loving man — a man of quiet spirit, — when he is beset by those whose very heart is set on mischief, and who cannot meet one another without conspiring to prepare for some fresh form of battle.

Psalms 140:3. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.

Before a serpent strikes any object, its tongue is in quick motion. If you, you ever see a cobra when he is angry, you, you will notice that his tongue darts to and fro, as if impatient to sting; and the psalmist here, writing of the tongue of the ungodly, remarks how quickly it moves. They seem to have sharpened it — to have prepared it — for all manner of mischief. "Adders’ poison" — the poison of the deadliest known serpent in the East — "is under their lips." Perhaps you, you think that this is a very dreadful description of some remarkably bad man; so it is, but remember that, when Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, wishes to describe us all, both Jews and Gentiles, he quotes this very passage, and says, "The poison of asps is under their lips."

There is poison in our mouths still unless grace has taken it away. We, too, shall soon be speaking evil, and talking slanderously, if the grace of God does not keep our tongues and our lips.

Psalms 140:4-5. Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have planned to overthrow my goings. The proud have hid a snare for me,-

"They have put it where I cannot see it; I do not know where it is, nor what it is; but know that they want to lead me into such sin that they can afterwards turn round upon me, and accuse me for it: ‘The proud have hid a snare for me,’" —

Psalms 140:5. And cords; they have spread a net by the wayside;-

" Close to where I am walking, so that, if I go even an inch out of the way, I shall be caught in it. They seem to be tempting me in my usual course of life: ‘They have spread a net by the wayside;’" —

Psalms 140:5. They have set gins for me. Selah.

As men try to ensnare poor birds in all kinds of traps, so the ungodly sometimes seek the destruction of the righteous by setting many snares for them.

Psalms 140:6. I said unto the Lord, You are my God:

Ah! that was the right thing to do, — to leave the ungodly and their traps, and go straight away to God: "I said unto the Lord, You are my God."

Psalms 140:6-7. Hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord. O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle.

"When the darts flew thick and fast, and when the battleaxe came down with a mighty crash, ‘You have covered my head in the day of battle.’" This Psalm reminds me of that passage in the song of Deborah and Barak: "O my soul, you have trodden down strength." What wonders we also have been enabled to do by the upholding and preserving grace of God!

Psalms 140:8. Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.

If it seemed that God’s providence was helping them against the righteous, they would be too proud to be borne with; they would lift up their heads on high, and say, "See how God is with us, how he permits us to have our way."

Psalms 140:9. As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.

This may be read as a prophecy in the future tense: "The mischief of their own lips shall cover them."

Psalms 140:10. Let burning coals fall upon them :-

Or, "Burning coals shall fall upon them."

Psalms 140:10. Let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again.

The Psalmist doubtless had before his mind’s eye the picture of Sodom, where burning coals fell on the guilty cities, and where men stumbled into the fire, and when they tried to escape, fell into the deep slime pits, and perished. And, truly, it is but just that, if men lie, and slander, and try to tempt the righteous to their destruction, they should fall into the pits that they have themselves dug.

Psalms 140:11. Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth:

Neither shall he be; the man who is glib of tongue, and who uses that facility of speech for the destruction of the characters of godly men, shall never be established.

Psalms 140:11. Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.

His own dogs shall eat him; he was a huntsman against the righteous, and, behold, the evil of his own mouth shall turn upon him to devour him: "Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him."

Psalms 140:12. I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.

We may always leave such matters with the Lord. God is the poor man’s Executor, and the proud man’s Executioner. He will take care of the oppressed, and such as are down-trodden.

Psalms 140:13. Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto your name: the upright shall dwell in your presence.

Now let us read the next Psalm, which is to much the same effect.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 140, 141.

 

Chapter 141

 

Verses 1-10

 

Psalms 141:1. Lord, I cry unto you: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto you.

You, you see how a child of God prays when he is in trouble. David says, "I cry unto you," and then the second time, "I cry unto you." And he cried for God as well as to him: "Make haste unto me." The very best thing you, you can do, when you, you cannot help yourself, is to cry unto God, for he will help you, you.

Psalms 141:2. Let my prayer be set forth before you as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

David was probably far away from the tabernacle, and he could not join in presenting the morning or the evening sacrifice there; but he prayed God to let his prayer be such a sacrifice: "Let it be sweet as the perfume of the smoking spices of the morning; let it be as acceptable as the burning lamb of eventide.

Psalms 141:3. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

Our mouth is a door, and it needs a watchman, and there is no watchman who can keep it except God himself: "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips."

Psalms 141:4. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity : and let me not eat of their dainties.

That last petition is a very proper one; we are neither to think the thoughts of the wicked, nor to practice their ways, nor to enjoy their pleasures: "Let me not eat of their dainties." There are certain amusements which are fraught with sin: "Let me not eat of their dainties." There are some erroneous doctrines, which are very pleasant to the taste of those who believe them: "Let me not eat of their dainties." There are some sins that seem to have a peculiarly sweet flavor, and so are very attractive to men: "Let me not eat of their dainties."

Psalms 141:5. Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness:

You, you see, dear friends, David cries out against slander, he cannot bear that wicked men should lie against his character; but he says, "I do not want to be let alone where I am in the wrong; I do not wish to be flattered: ‘Let the righteous smite me.’ He is the man who ought to do it. When I have done wrong, it is his duty to correct me; and I wish him to do it: ‘Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness.’"

Psalms 141:5. And let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head:

Some people cannot bear to be spoken to about a fault; they feel as if the reprover had broken their head directly, and they are as savage as a bear with a sore head. But the child of God is not so; he looks upon the rebuke of a good man as being like healing, sweet-smelling oil, and he prizes it. Depend upon it, the man who will tell you, you your faults is your best friend. It may not be a pleasant thing for him to do it, and he knows that he is running the risk of losing your friendship; but he is a true and sincere friend, therefore thank him for his reproof, and learn how you, you may improve by what he tells you, you.

Psalms 141:5. For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.

I will try to repay the righteous for their rebukes by praying for them when they are in trouble. I will say to my God, "These good men tried to keep me right, and they smote me when I did wrong; now, Lord, they are in trouble, I pray you to help them, and bring them out of it."

Psalms 141:6. When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.

Wicked men often will not hear the gospel; but when they get into trouble, then they will. When their judges are overthrown in stony places, then they begin to be willing to hear what good men have to say. A bitter world makes a sweet Word; and when providence frowns upon us, it often happens that we love the gospel all the more, and smile upon its messengers, for their words are sweet.

Psalms 141:7. Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, —

"We are like men ready to be put into their graves; or the cause that we advocate seems so totally dead that we seem to be like dry bones that are flung out of a grave."

Psalms 141:7. As when one cuts and cleaves wood upon the earth.

"We feel as if we were like chips out of a tree that has been cut down."

Psalms 141:8. But mine eyes are unto you, O God the Lord: in you is my trust;

"I may be cut to pieces, I may be chopped up, I may seem to be made into a bundle of firewood; but, Lord, my eyes are unto you: ‘O God the Lord: in you is my trust.’"

Psalms 141:8. Leave not my soul destitute.

"If I have you, I am still rich. Even if I lie at the grave’s mouth, I may still live; but if you be gone from me, then am I destitute indeed."

Psalms 141:9-10. Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while that I withal escape.

Amen! So let it be!

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 140, 141.

 

Chapter 142

 

Verses 1-7

 

Maschil of David. A prayer when he was in the cave. This "Maschil of David" is instructive to us, for the experience of one believer is very edifying to another. We are so much alike that, as in water face answers to face, so the heart of men answers to man, and what one believer has felt awakens sympathy in the rest of God’s people.

Psalms 142:1-2. I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I showed before him my trouble.

David mentions that he prayed with his voice. This is an unimportant matter compared with praying with the heart; but when the heart is full of prayer, it is often very helpful to be able to use the voice to give expression to the emotions of the soul. To have a room in which, without disturbing others, and without ostentatiously revealing your private experiences to others, you, you can speak aloud unto the Lord, will be found to be a great advantage in prayer. Some men’s thoughts become more concentrated, and how more freely, and their hearts are better able to pour out their deepest and fullest expressions, when they can pray aloud. So David says that, in the cave, where he would not be likely to disturb anybody, he cried with his voice unto the Lord: "With my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication." You, you can see from verse 2 what was the style of his prayer. "I poured out my complaint." The figure is a very simple one. Just as you, you pour out water from a bottle, so David let his heart’s complaint flow out before the Lord. In pouring out water, it sometimes comes slowly gurgling, and sometimes fast; at times with a rush, followed by a pause. There is no prayer better than that which naturally flows from the renewed heart, without any strain or effort, it was so with David: "I poured out my complaint before him, I showed before him my trouble." Just as a patient shows his wounds to the surgeon, so take away the covering from your broken heart and wounded spirit, and set your trouble before the Lord, who already sees it. It will be no novelty or cause of surprise to him, but he desires you, you to manifest such trustfulness in him as will lead you, you to lay before him your complaint and your trouble.

Psalms 142:3. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then you knew my path.

"My spirit was so overwhelmed within me, that I did not know where I was, or what I was. I could not make head or tail of myself. I seemed to be like a skein of silk or wool in a tangle. My thoughts, as George Herbert would have said, were all a case of knives, sharp to cut and wound. I could not make myself out; I was a puzzle even to myself, but you knew my path even then."

Psalms 142:3-4. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.

This is a terrible condition for anyone to be in, — to have every friend forsake you, you, — to find that those who used to know you, you best, do not want to know you, you any longer, but turn their heads away as if it would be a disgrace to them to be known to have been your friends. This is a grand opportunity for testing the reality of your faith. Can you, you believe God now? Can you, you take him to be your Friend now that you, you have not another friend in the world? Fine weather faith is very cheap, and easily to be obtained; but the faith that can stand fast in the time of the storm and tempest, —that hardy mountaineering faith which hides in God in the coldest winter, and finds its summertime in him alone, — that is the faith that is worth having and worth keeping.

Psalms 142:5. I cried unto you, O Lord: I said, You are my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.

"I left the broken reeds alone, and leaned upon my God. I said, You are my refuge and my portion in the land of the living."

Psalms 142:6-7. Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise your name: the righteous shall compass me about; for you shall deal bountifully with me.

This is a beautiful metaphor, suggesting that, when the saints heard that God brought him out of prison, they would round about him, gaze upon him as a miracle of mercy, and ask him to tell them his wonderful tale. He would be the center of their delighted observation, and their own faith and hope in the Lord would be greatly increased. As a little imprisoned bird might long for emancipation, David says, "O Lord, open my cage-door, and let me fly; and I will sing, as I mount, to the praise of him who gave me my liberty. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise your name: the righteous shall compass me about, for you shall deal bountifully with me.’"

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 51. and 142.

 

Chapter 143

 

Verses 1-12

 

"A psalm of David."

Psalms 143:1. Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications: in your faithfulness answer me, and in your righteousness.

It is a theory held by some persons of skeptical minds that the only benefit of prayer is the good it does to us. That was not David’s theory. Here, three times, he begs to be heard, and to be answered. Oh! do they think us such idiots that we would go on speaking in a keyhole with nobody to hear us? Do they think us brought so low — so destitute of wit — that we think it worth our while to speak out what is in our heart if God does not hear and does not answer? I reckon prayer to be the most idiotic of all occupations unless there be really a God to hear, and a God to answer. And the benefit of prayer is not in itself so much as in the full confidence that it is a real thing, and an effective thing — that God does hear and does interpose on our behalf.

Psalms 143:2. And enter not into judgment with your servant:

"Your servant I am. I am not one of the ungodly, whom you will judge and cast away, but still even your servant though I am, enter not into judgment with me. I know you will not judge me now as a rebel, and condemn me, for you have put away my sin, but even as your servant I fear your chastising rod, if you enter into judgment with me."

Psalms 143:2. For in your sight shall no man living be justified.

I have heard some living that think they would. They have said that the very root and branch of sin have been cut up in them, and that they walk in the fear of God perfectly well, but times must have changed very wonderfully. Ah! but I think they have not, but that these are mistaken, for still it is very true concerning the very best of men that they have need to pray, "Enter not into judgment with your servant, for in your sight shall no man living be justified."

Psalms 143:3-4 For the enemy has persecuted my soul; he has smitten my life down to the ground; he has made me dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.

Children of God, do not expect to be always happy, or else you, you will be disappointed. You, you will have more troubles, if nobody else does. Depend upon it, that adversity is one of the covenant promises. "In the world you shall have tribulation," is your Master’s own word to you, you, and you, you must not expect to find it untrue. You, you will find it true to the letter. And sometimes the troubles of life will penetrate even to your heart, and make you, you feel desolate. When you, you are so, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial as though yours were a new path in which nobody ever walked before you, you. Ah! no; David was there. Many others have been there.

Psalms 143:5-6. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all your works; I muse on the work of your hands. I stretch forth my hands unto you: my soul thirsts after you, as a thirsty land. Selah.

As a child puts out its hand to its mother, so did he stretch out his hands to his God. As a thirsty land chaps — becomes dry — turns to dust in its longing after rain, so did his whole being thirst for his God.

Psalms 143:7. Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit fails: hide not your face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.

"Lest I swoon away — lest I die — lest my hope should utterly expire. Come, Lord: come, Lord, and rescue me."

Psalms 143:8. Cause me to hear your loving-kindness in the morning; for in you do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto you.

Very heavy, but I lift it up. With all my might, as though it were a dead lift, I seek to raise it out of its doubt, and out of its sorrow.

Psalms 143:9-10. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto you to hide me. Teach me to do your will; for your are my God: your spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

Or "lead me in a straight path." So it is rendered by the best scholars.

Psalms 143:11. Quicken me, O Lord, for your name’s sake:

Felt as if he should die, and, therefore, he says, "Quicken me: put new life into me." To whom should we go for life, but to the living God, and who can communicate with us, but the same God who first made us live in his name.

Psalms 143:11-12. For your righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble. And of your mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am your servant.

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALM 142. and 143.

 

Chapter 144

 

Verses 1-15

 

A Psalm of David. No doubt written after some great victory, and also before another severe struggle. The Christian man seldom escapes from one difficulty without falling into another. Thanks be unto God, he who is with us in six troubles will not forsake us in the seventh!

Psalms 144:1. Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teaches my hand to war, and my fingers to fight:

David does not ascribe any honor to himself. Human strength is from within, from the nerves, and sinews, and muscles, but the believer’s strength is from without: "Blessed be Jehovah my strength." Now, if Jehovah be our strength, then nothing can be too difficult for us, for he whose strength is the omnipotence of God can do all things. "Which teaches my hands to war:" just as the young soldier was, as it were, bound apprentice to the old warrior, went out to learn the drill, and afterwards was taken by him into the battle, so does the Lord by providence and by experience train his people’s hands to war, and their fingers to fight.

Psalms 144:2. My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust;

Here are six names, or rather, five titles of God, and then an inference from them: "He in whom I trust." Oh! I know, you people of God, you, you can say of Jehovah, "He is the One in whom I trust." Rely upon anyone else, and your hopes are doomed to disappointment, as a bowing wall shall he be, and as a tottering fence. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his refuge! Mind that you stand to this, and never depart from it.

Psalms 144:2. Who subdues my people under me.

Probably this Psalm was written after the crushing out of the great revolt under Absalom, and well might David ascribe to the divine hand his deliverance from that trial. It seemed as if the kingdom had gone from him; his ungrateful son had stolen the people’s hearts, and yet God was pleased to give him back his kingdom, and to set him upon his throne yet more firmly than before: "Who subdues my people under me." Christian, say that it is God who subdues your troubles, God who conquers your sins, God who enlightens your darkness, God who does all things for you, you; give him all the praise for every deliverance.

Psalms 144:3. Lord, what is man, that you take knowledge of him! or the son of man, that you make account of him!

Have you, you not often felt like this? You, you have said, "Lord, how could you have bestowed such favors upon me, so utterly unworthy, so insignificant, so unknown, so worthless? "What is man, that you take knowledge of him!"

Psalms 144:4. Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passes away.

You, you know that a shadow is nothing; it is rather the absence of something than anything in itself. Shadow is the absence of light; and what is man but, as it were, the absence of light, the absence of anything that is substantial? He is but the fleeting shadow of some earthly object, which soon passes away. Having thus magnified God for the past, and marveled at his loving-kindness, the psalmist now turns to prayer: —

Psalms 144:5. Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.

God did but set one foot upon Mount Sinai, and it became altogether on a smoke. "The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord." Well, believer, you, you have many mountains; but you, you can ask God to "touch the mountains, and they shall smoke." No matter what the mountains may be; high as the heavens your troubles may ascend, until they even seem to block up your pathway to the skies, yet one touch of the divine finger shall make them melt away, like wax before the fire, and you, you shall march on triumphantly to your God.

Psalms 144:6-7. Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out your arrows, and destroy them. Send your hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;

Moses, you, you know, was called "one drawn out of the water", so are all Gods people, they are drawn out of floods of tribulation. They are surrounded by those floods as though deserted, and left there to perish; but keen is the eye that watches over them, strong is the hand that preserves them, and sure is the arm that delivers them.

Psalms 144:8. Whose mouth speaks vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

They swear, but they perjure themselves; they lift up the right hand, but they lie all the while. Rid me, O God, from such men; for, of all enemies, those that can lie are the worst, for you, you never know where you, you are with such people. Snakes in the grass are the most dangerous reptiles and enemies who will do any evil thing in order to ruin you, you, and who will tell any lie in the world in order to injure you, you, are just the hardest to overthrow.

Psalms 144:9-11. I will sing a new song unto you, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto you. It is he who gives salvation unto kings: who delivers David his servant from the hurtful sword. Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaks vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:

You, you see, good men sometimes repeat their prayers; they present the same petition over again, and they thus follow the example of Christ, who prayed three times, "saying the same words."

Psalms 144:12. That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:

Or, rather, "of a temple." This should be the prayer of every parent, that his sons may be bringing forth fruit unto God, that his daughters may be fixed as polished stones in the Church of God, to form a part of the great spiritual temple.

Psalms 144:13. That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store:

When this is the case spiritually, when there is milk for babes, meat for strong men, and not a little of each, but more than enough for all, then are we very happy. Spiritual fertility is a blessed thing, when each Christian, each of the Lord’s sheep, becomes prolific in increasing Christ’s flock.

Psalms 144:14. That our oxen may be strong to labor;

That the ministers of God may be mighty; that Sabbath-school teachers, and all earnest laborers, may have strength given to them.

Psalms 144:14. That there be no breaking in, nor going out;

That there be no wolves to destroy by breaking in; and that there be no sheep to suffer injury by going astray.

Psalms 144:14-15. That there be no complaining in our street. Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yes, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.

May this be our case! And if it is our case, then the Lord is our God even at this day.

Psalms 144:13. That our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:

Spiritual fertility is a blessed thing, when each Christian, each of the Lord’s sheep, becomes prolific in increasing Christ’s flock.

Psalms 144:14. That our oxen may be strong to labor:

That the ministers of God may be mighty; that Sabbath-school teachers, and all earnest laborers, may have strength given to them.

Psalms 144:14. That there be no breaking in, nor going out;

That there be no wolves to destroy by breaking in; and that there be no sheep to suffer injury by going astray.

Psalms 144:14-15. That there be no complaining in our streets. Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yes, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.

May this be our case! And if that is our case, then the Lord is our God even at this day. Now let us read about two interesting incidents in David’s warrior life.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 144, And 2 Samuel 5:17-25.

 

Chapter 145

 

Verses 1-21

 

When you, you get to the 145th Psalm, you, you enter the Beulah Land of the Psalms. Henceforth, the time of the singing of birds is come; and you, you go from one Hallelujah to another. In the Hebrew, this is one of the alphabetical Psalms, but one letter (nun) is omitted, perhaps, as Dr. Bonar suggests, that "we must be kept from putting stress on the mere form of the composition." Those ancient singers sang their way through the alphabet from A to Z, and it is well for us also to begin to praise the Lord while we are yet children, and to keep on praising him until we get to the "Z" in the very hour of death, gasping his praises until we get into eternity.

"My God, I’ll praise you while I live,

And praise you when I die,

And praise you when I rise again,

And to eternity."

Psalms 145:1-3. I will extol you, my God, O king, and I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

Such as the Lord is, such should his worship be. If he were a little God, he would deserve little praise; but the great God is "greatly to be praised." There is no fear of going to any excess in our praises; we must never laud him too highly, however lofty our expressions may be. "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable." David knew what it was to be himself searched by God and he prayed, "Search me, O God;" but he could not search the greatness of his God. There, he was utterly lost, the utmost range of his faculties could not compass the greatness of Jehovah: "his greatness is unsearchable."

Psalms 145:4. One generation shall praise your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.

There is a hallowed tradition of praise; each generation should hand out the praise of God as a precious legacy to the next one. Train up your sons and daughters to praise your God, so that, when your voice is silent in death, another voice, like your own, may continue the strain.

Psalms 145:5. I will speak of the glorious honor of your majesty, and of your wondrous works.

"I will speak." What a powerful speaker David was! Note how he piles up his golden words. He is not content merely to talk of God’s majesty, but he speaks of its "glorious honor." When he talked of God’s works, he calls them "wondrous works."

Psalms 145:6. And men shall speak of the might of your terrible acts:

If they will not speak of anything else, they shall be obliged to speak with awe when the terrors of the Lord are abroad in the earth. If they were as dumb as fishes before, they shall begin to say to one another, with bated breath, when earthquakes, and famines, and war, and pestilence are rife, "What a terrible God he is!"

Psalms 145:6. And I will declare your greatness.

While other men were talking, David did not say, "Now I can be quiet." When they did not speak, he did, and when they began to speak, he still added his quota of praise to Jehovah.

Psalms 145:7. They shall abundantly utter the memory of your great goodness, and shall sing of your righteousness.

What a beautiful expression! "They shall abundantly utter." The original has in it the idea of bubbling up, boiling over, bursting out like a fountain; men’s hearts shall get to be so full of gratitude to God that they shall overflow with the memory of his great goodness. Then they shall sing. Singing is the language of jubilant nature: "The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you, you into singing." Singing is the language of men when they wish to express their highest joys. The saints sing the high praises of their God. Singing is the language of the holy angels; did they not, when they came to Bethlehem, sing concerning the newborn King? Singing is the language of Heaven, and most marvelous of all, singing is the highest language that ever God uses: "He will rejoice over you with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over you with singing." Oh, for more holy singing!

Psalms 145:8. The Lord is gracious, —

That alone is enough to make us sinners sing, for we need grace, and "the Lord is gracious," —

Psalms 145:8. And full of compassion; —

There is no "passion" in him, but there is "compassion" in him; what a mercy that is for us! He is full of compassion;" —

Psalms 145:8. Slow to anger, and of great mercy.

Hear that, you great sinners, and you saints who need great forbearance.

Psalms 145:9. The Lord is good to all:

Even to his enemies. Does not the dewdrop hang upon the thistle as well as upon the rose?

Psalms 145:9. And his tender mercies are over all his works.

He cares for the worm in the sod and for the fish in the sea as well as for men upon the face of the earth.

Psalms 145:10. All your works shall praise you, O Lord; and your saint shall bless you.

Their voices can reach a higher note and a loftier strain than God’s works can ever reach: "your saints shall bless you."

Psalms 145:11. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,

For the saints love God as their King, and they rejoice to remember what the King’s Son said to his disciples, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you, you the kingdom;" so well may they sing of it.

Psalms 145:11-13. And talk of your power; to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

What is the use of preaching if it does not glorify God? What is the use of a tongue that does not speak or sing of the glory of God’s kingdom? But let one of God’s bards have this as the theme of his song, and he feels like a hind let loose, rejoicing in glorious liberty.

Psalms 145:14. The Lord upholds all that fall, and raises up all those that be bowed down.

Does not this seem to be a singular change in the strain? The Lord is a King, and his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; yet what is he doing? Why, he is upholding, propping up those that are ready to fall, and lifting up those that are crushed and oppressed. Earthly kings often glory in the terror of their power, and the splendor of their majesty. What a condescending God is ours, whose glory is a moral glory, and whose chief delight consists in blessing the poor and needy! Let us bless his name for this. Are any of you, you ready to fall? Then praise him for this glorious truth, "The Lord upholds all that fall." Are any of you, you bowed down? Daughter of Abraham, have you, you been bowed down these many years? Oh, that you, you might be made straight this very hour! And you, you may be, for God can lift you, you up, for he "raises up all those that be bowed down."

Psalms 145:15-16. The eyes of all wait upon you; and you give them their meat in due season. You open your hand, and satisfied the desire of every living thing.

What a glorious God we have! How easily can he supply the needs of his people! He has but to open his hand, and it is done! We need not be afraid to come to him, as though our needs would be too great for him to supply. The commissariat of the universe is superintended by this truly Universal Provider, who has but to open his hand to satisfy "the desire of every living thing."

Psalms 145:17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

This is a thing for which many modern divines do not praise God. The attribute of righteousness in the character of God is expelled from a good deal of modern theology. But he, who loves God aright, loves the righteousness of God. I would not care to have even salvation if it were unrighteous salvation. The righteousness of God gleams like a sharp two-edged sword, and it is terrible to those who are at enmity against him; but the true children of the Most High delight to see this sword of state carried in the front of the great King of kings. The seraphim cried, one to another, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts." The redeemed in glory sing, "Just and true are your ways, you King of saints; but the captious critics of the present day care nothing for these attributes of Jehovah.

Psalms 145:18. The Lord is near unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

If you, you read this Psalm through carefully, you, you will notice the great number of "alls" with which the latter part of the Psalm is studded; and this is appropriate, for God is All-in-all, he is the One, the All, so let him have all praise from all.

Psalms 145:19. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

When you, you have respect to God’s will, God will have respect to your will. When you, you fear him, you, you will have no one else to fear, and when you, you make his service your delight, he will make your wants his care.

Psalms 145:20. The Lord preserves all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.

As in a state of sanitary perfection, everything that breeds miasma and disease is banished, so must it be in God’s great universe, when he has completed his works "all the wicked will he destroy."

Psalms 145:21. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

 

Chapter 146

 

Verses 1-10

 

Psalms 146:1. Praise you the Lord.

Or, "Hallelujah." I am sorry to see that great word, Hallelujah, Hallelu-Jah, praise to Jah, Jehovah, become so hackneyed as it is, by talk about "Hallelujah lasses", and Hallelujah — I know not what. The Jews will not even pronounce the word Jah, or write it; it seems a great pity that it should be thus draggled in the dirt by Gentiles. "Praise you the Lord." Whenever you, you make use of the word Hallelujah, let it be with the due reverence which should be given to that blessed name, for remember "the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain."

Psalms 146:1. Praise the Lord, O my soul.

Whatever we exhort others to do, we should be ready to do ourselves; yes, our own soul should praise the Lord most of all, since, if we rightly know our obligations, no one in the world is so much indebted to God as each one of us should feel himself to be. "Praise the Lord, O my soul;" not my lips only, but my innermost spirit, for soul-music is the soul of music: "Praise the Lord, O my soul."

Psalms 146:2. While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

I will lisp his praises when I can do no more; when my being seems to be dried up, in the weakness of the death-throe, still, "I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being."

Psalms 146:3. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

What is the connection here between praising God and not trusting man? Why, this connection, that we never praise God better than by exercising faith in him! Quiet trust is among the sweetest music that reaches the heart of God; and when we put our trust in man, we rob God of his glory; we are giving to others the confidence which belongs alone to him.

Psalms 146:4. His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

What is man, — with a life dependent upon his breath, such a vapory thing, each a thin, unsubstantial thing is human life, — what is he who we should trust in him?

Psalms 146:5. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:

He is the happy man who has learned to trust in the invisible God.

Psalms 146:6. Which made Heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keeps truth forever:

Never did his promise fail. Perhaps, dear brother, you, you have not pleaded the promises enough of late. Then the mercy-seat is the place where promises must be pleaded, with the certainty that then they shall be fulfilled.

Psalms 146:7. Which executes judgment for the oppressed: which gives food to the hungry. The Lord loosens the prisoners:

Souls that are in bondage will never get freedom until the Lord looses them. Oh, that prisoners of hope, who are here this evening, might have grace to look to God! You, you cannot pick the look of your prison yourself, nor forge your way through the iron berg of despair, but, "the Lord loosens the prisoners." Ay, but when they get loose, they are blind, for man by nature is blinded by sin! Therefore the psalmist adds, —

Psalms 146:8. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind:

He can not only give you, you liberty, but understanding, insight into his Word, a knowledge of himself. Ay, but when men get their eyes opened, they see much to make them sorry, and he that increases knowledge often increases sorrow! Yes, but look at the next words, —

Psalms 146:8. The Lord raises them that are bowed down:

He can take away depression of spirit, and relieve the heart of its burdens and, as the woman who was bowed down for many years was made straight by the word of Christ, so can those that suffer from mental infirmity be restored. And best of all, —

Psalms 146:8. The Lord loves the righteous:

He loves them, and his love is wealth and health. The love of God is all a creature wants.

Psalms 146:9. The Lord preserves the strangers;

When our eyes are opened, and we are no more bowed down, but feel we have a sense of God’s love, yet still we know that we are exiles, banished ones, strangers and foreigners, as all our fathers were. It is comforting, therefore, to be assured that "the Lord preserves the strangers."

Psalms 146:9. He relieves the fatherless and widow:

He does so literally: "A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation." He also relieves such spiritually. When any feel themselves to be poverty-stricken, and unable to help themselves, let them look to him who is both able and willing to support them, for "he relieves the fatherless and the widow."

Psalms 146:9. But the way of the wicked he turns upside down.

Where they looked for joy, they experienced disappointment, where they expected success, they met with defeat, and whereas they thought to heap to themselves pleasures according to their lusts, they find that they have only increased their misery.

Psalms 146:10. The Lord shall reign forever, even your God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise you the Lord.

The sovereignty of God should be the delight of his people. God anywhere is blessed, but God on his throne should make his people shout their Hallelujahs with all their heart.

Now let us read in the New Testament about one who glorified God and gave thanks to Jesus.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 146, and Luke 17:11-19

 

Chapter 147

 

Verses 1-20

 

Psalms 147:1. Praise you the Lord:

This Psalm begins and ends with Hallelujah. So may this service, and so may our lives, commence and conclude with Hallelujah!

Psalms 147:1-2. For it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is lovely. The Lord does build up Jerusalem:

Oh, that the Lord would do so here tonight!

Psalms 147:2. He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.

We want that blessing, too. Oh, that some outcasts might be gathered together! It shall make our hearts cry "Hallelujah!" indeed, if there be a building up of the church and an ingathering of the outcasts.

Psalms 147:3. He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.

As we read that, we may well say again, "Hallelujah!"

Psalms 147:4. He tells the number of the stars; he calls them all by their names.

And the Hallelujah is not louder because of that fact than it is for the other truth. What a condescending God: "He heals the broken in heart." How infinite is his mind: "He tells the number of the stars."

Psalms 147:5-6. Great is our lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

The Lord lifts up the meek:

How wonderful it is that the Lord should use the greatness of his power and the infinity of his understanding for the lifting up of those whom men often despise, "the meek"!

Psalms 147:6-11. He casts the wicked down to the ground. Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God: who covers the Heaven with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow upon the mountains. He gives to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. He delights not in the strength of the horse: he takes not pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.

Other kings tell of their cavalry and infantry, they boast of their regiments of horse and foot guards, but our great God finds his delight in them that fear him and even in the feebler sort of these: "those that hope in his mercy." These are the courtiers of Jehovah. These are the forces of our God, through whom he will win great victories.

Psalms 147:12-16. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion. For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; he has blessed your children within you. He makes peace in your borders, and fills you with the finest of the wheat. He sends forth his commandment upon earth: his word runs very swiftly.

Our King’s warrant runs everywhere, all over the world. He has universal power in nature, in providence, and in grace: "His word runs very swiftly."

Psalms 147:16. He gives snow like wool: he scatters the hoarfrost like ashes.

The Hebrews saw God in all the phenomena of nature; let us do the same. Let us attribute every snow-flake to the divine hand, and every breath of frost to the divine mouth.

Psalms 147:17-18. He casts forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He sends out his word, and melts them:

It is just as easy for him to send warm weather as to give us the chill of winter.

Psalms 147:18. He causes his wind to blow, and the waters flow.

His own soft south wind comes, and the fetters of frost dissolve, and the waters flow. It is the Lord that does it all. He is not far from any of us; therefore let us not forget him.

Psalms 147:19. He shows his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.

The rest of the world can only see him in nature, but his own people see him in revelation, in the movements of his Holy Spirit.

Psalms 147:20. He has not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise you the Lord.

Therefore, you who are favored with his special manifestations of love, take you, you up the joyous song even if others do not. Hallelujah! "Praise you the Lord."

Now let us read in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 26, beginning at the sixth verse.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 147, And Matthew 26:6-30.

 

Chapter 148

 

Verses 1-14

 

We will first read a short Psalm inciting all to praise the Lord, and then we will read part of the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel, specially noticing Mary’s song of praise. It is a blessed thing to indulge our holy gratitude, and to let it have speech in sacred psalm and song. Praise is the end of prayer and preaching. It is the ear of the wheat: it is God’s harvest from all the seed of grace that he has sown.

Psalms 148:1. Praise you the Lord.

Hallelujah!

Psalms 148:1. Praise you the Lord from the heavens:

Begin the song, you holy angels before the throne; lead us in praise, O you glorified spirits above!

Psalms 148:1. Praise him in the heights.

Sing aloud, you that sit at God’s right hand in the heavenly places; let the highest praises be given to the Most High

Psalms 148:2-3. Praise you him, all his angels: praise you him all his hosts. Praise you him, sun and moon: praise him, all you stars of light.

Shine out his glory. You are but dim reflections of his brightness; yet, praise you him.

Psalms 148:4. Praise him, you Heaven of heavens, and you waters that be above the heavens.

Stored up there for man’s use and benefit. You clouds that look black to us, and yet are big with blessings, praise you the Lord. See, beloved, how the song comes down from the praises of the angels nearest the throne, to the glorified saints, then to the sun, and moon, and stars, and the clouds that float in the firmament of Heaven.

Psalms 148:5-6. Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created. He has also established them forever and ever: he has made a decree which shall not pass.

Or, pass away. Now the psalmist begins at the bottom, and works up to the top.

Psalms 148:7. Praise the Lord from the earth, you dragons, and all deeps:

Right down there, however low the caverns may be, let the strange creatures that inhabit the secret places in the very bottoms of the mountains and the depths of the seas, — let them send out the deep bass of their praise.

Psalms 148:8-10. Fire, and hail; snow, and vapor; stormy wind fulfilling his word: Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars: Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying bird:

If you, you cannot praise God by soaring up like eagles, if you, you feel more like the creeping things of the earth, still praise him. There is something very pleasant in the spiritual allusion that grows out of this verse. You, you who seem like poor worms of the dust, or insects of an hour, can yield your little need of praise to God.

Psalms 148:11-14. Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth: Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: Let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and Heaven. He also exalts the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him.

They ought to sing best and most sweetly, because they are nearest to his heart. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." If all other tongues are silent, let them praise the Lord.

Psalms 148:14. Praise you the Lord.

The Psalm ends, as it began, with Hallelujah! "Praise you the Lord."

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 148; and Luke 1:5-35; Luke 1:46-56.

 

Chapter 149

 

Verses 1-9

 

Psalms 149:1. Praise you the Lord.

This is a Hallelujah Psalm; it begins with, "Praise you the Lord," and finishes in the same way. It is a complete circle of praise. The long streams of the Psalms end in glorious cascades of hallelujahs. One after another these jubilant notes roll out, as in Handel’s magnificent Hallelujah Chorus.

Psalms 149:1. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.

There was an old song previous to this new one, — in the 148th Psalm, — the Psalm for sun and moon and stars, for deeps and dragons, for old men and maidens, and so on; but this is a Psalm for saints, so it is "a new song" for the new creation. Therefore, let all the new creatures of God sing it from their hearts.

Psalms 149:2. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him:

This is the best and highest form of creation, — the making, not only of men, but of men of God, the making of Israels, the making of prevailing princes.

Psalms 149:2. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

Let them rejoice that their Maker reigns, that he rules over them, and that he rules over all things: "Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King."

Psalms 149:3. Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.

That is, let them repeat the joy of Israel at the Red Sea, when Miriam "took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances; and Miriam answered them, Sing you to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously." So, O you children of God, let the praises of your God and King ring out as with the music of the timbrel and harp.

Psalms 149:4. For the Lord takes pleasure in his people:

Then, should not they take pleasure in him? If he looks upon them with divine delight, should not they look up to him with adoring gratitude? What is there in us to give him any pleasure? But if his delights are with the sons of men, surely the sons of men should have their delights in him: "For the Lord takes pleasure in his people."

Psalms 149:4-5. He will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory:

Let them glory in God, and be joyful in him. Let their spirits seem to rise even beyond grace up to the anticipation of glory: "Let the saints be joyful in glory."

Psalms 149:5. Let them sing aloud upon their beds.

If they be sick, or if they lie awake at night, or if they have enjoyed sweet rest, let them not fail to praise God for it: "Let them sing aloud upon their beds."

Psalms 149:6. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;

But let it be a spiritual sword, that two-edged sword of God’s Word which will cut through coats of mail; and as they wield it, let them ever rest satisfied that victory shall surely be theirs. One of the poetical versions of this Psalm rightly renders this verse, —

"You saints of the Lord; as round him you stand,

His two-edged sword, his word, in your hand,

To sound his high praises your voices employ!

To victory he raises, and crowns you, you with joy."

Psalms 149:7. To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;

So they had to do in those old times: but we, happily, have not to do so now, except it be in a spiritual sense that, with the sword of God’s Word we are to cut down the idols of the heathen, and subdue the nations to our King.

Psalms 149:8. To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

Reading the passage in a gospel sense, we lead men captives in the bonds of love that are stronger than fetters of iron. O soldiers of Christ, army of the living God, this is the battle you, you have to fight; be this your victory, too!

Psalms 149:9. To execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints. Praise you the Lord.

So the Psalm ends upon its key-note, — "Hallelujah." "Praise you the Lord.’ Now let us turn to the 5th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, and see what we have to rejoice in there.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 149.; and Matthew 5:1-12.

 

Chapter 150

 

Verses 1-6

 

Psalms 150:1. Praise you the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary:

Notice how, in this last Psalm, it is praise, praise, praise, all the way through. I think we have the word "praise" some thirteen times in the six verses. It is all "praise him, praise him, praise him." It is not enough to do it once, or twice, we should keep on praising the Lord until we should make the very heavens ring with the music of his praises. "Praise you the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary:" that is, in his holy place where he dwells. Begin, you angels, cherubim, and seraphim, pour forth his praise.

Psalms 150:1. Praise him in the firmament of his power.

Let every star shine forth his praises, and sun and moon cease not to extol him: "Praise him in the firmament of his power."

Psalms 150:2. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. There is a task for us; we shall never attain to that height. We sometimes sing,-"

Wide as his vast dominion lies,

Make the Creator’s name be known;

Loud as his thunder shout his praise,

And sound it lofty as his throne;"

but who can compass such a feat as that?

Psalms 150:3-4. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

So that there were all kinds of music in those days praising God,-the wind and the stringed instruments, the timbrel and the pipe. Everything that can praise God should praise him. The spiritual significance of these verses is this, let men of different orders and different sorts praise the Lord,-men, women, children, those who are deeply taught and those who know but little, those who are great and those who are small. Let every heart regard itself as an instrument of praise, and use itself wholly for the Lord’s praise. Having got so far, the psalmist recollected that there were discs of brass, which were struck together, and gave forth a sound to be heard at a great distance, so he said,-

Psalms 150:5. Praise him upon the loud cymbals:

Crash!

Psalms 150:5. Praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Then came another crash!

Psalms 150:6. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise you the Lord.

A Jewish Rabbi once remarked to me that the name Jehovah was not made up of letters, but only of a series of breathings. (The preacher here uttered the three syllables of the sacred name, Jehovah, as though they were not composed of letters, but only a succession of breathings.) That is the nearest approach to the name of God, three breathings; therefore since all breath comes from him, and his very name can only be pronounced by breath, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise you the Lord." Hallelujah! "THERE IS FORGIVENESS."

 

 

PROVERBS

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

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Chapter 3

 

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Chapter 4

 

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Chapter 5

 

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Chapter 6

 

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Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 8

 

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Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

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Chapter 12

 

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Chapter 13

 

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Chapter 14

 

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Chapter 15

 

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Chapter 16

 

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Chapter 17

 

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Chapter 18

 

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Chapter 19

 

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Chapter 20

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 22

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 23

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 24

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 25

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 26

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 27

 

Verses 1-27

 

Proverbs 27:1. Boast not yourself of tomorrow; for you know not what a day may bring forth.

Let us never boast of future days and years, or what we mean to do when we come to any age, or what shall be our position when we grow gray. Let us never boast of anything in the future, for we cannot tell what even a day may bring forth.

Proverbs 27:2. Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.

For he who praises himself writes himself down a fool in capital letters.

Proverbs 27:3. A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both.

One might endure almost any sort of labor sooner than have to live with one who is perpetually and foolishly angry.

Proverbs 27:4. Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

Envy is a snake in the grass. Christians, beware of envy. You, you will, perhaps, be tempted to have it in your heart when you, you see another Christian more useful than you, you are, or when some Christian brother seems to have more honor than you, you have. Ah, then! cry to God against it. Never let this venomous reptile be spared for a single moment. The best of men will find envy creeping over them at times; it may be envy of the wicked who are rich. We must seek to overcome that at once. And even envy of the best of men, what is it but covetousness and hatred, and a breach of two commandments? God save us from it!

Proverbs 27:5. Open rebuke is better than secret love.

That I should love my fellow-man is a good thing; but to have love enough to be able openly to rebuke his faults, is a very high proof of affection, and far better than secret love that is silent when it ought to speak. And yet, how many persons there are who are very angry with you, you if you, you give them an open rebuke, and how many there are who are foolish enough to prefer secret love to open rebuke, though they have Solomon’s wisdom to teach them better! Our Lord Jesus Christ has a secret love to his people, yet he never spares them the open rebuke when he knows that it will be good for them.

Proverbs 27:6. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Beware of the flattering world, believer; beware of the flattering devil, and of the cozening of the flesh. When things go smoothly with you, you, there may be the greatest danger. Whatever you, you do in times of storm, keep a good look-out when the sea is calm and the sky is clear.

Proverbs 27:7. The full soul loathes an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

"The full soul loathes" (even that luscious thing) "an honeycomb." No true preaching will go down with him who is full of himself, full of his own importance. Unless there shall be many of the flowers of rhetoric in the discourse, he will not listen to sound doctrine. "But to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet." Happy hunger is it when the soul hungers and thirsts after righteousness. Then there are no hyper-critical observations about the minister’s delivery, and no carping at words and phrases. It is spiritual food that the soul seeks, and if it can get that, though it may not be to its taste in every respect, there will be a sweetness in it that will make it like a honeycomb.

Proverbs 27:8-9. As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man that wanders from his place. Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so does the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.

The Orientals were accustomed to smear their faces, and especially their hair with ointment and perfume, and those who came near them were pleased with the scent. When you, you can get a little conversation, especially upon points that help towards godliness, with those of a like frame of mind with you, you, when you, you can have sweet communion and fellowship with the people of God, then it is that your hearts are rejoiced as with ointments and perfumes.

Proverbs 27:10. Your own friend, and your father’s friend, forsake not;

Have but few friends, but stick closely to them. Above all, cleave closely to that "Friend that sticks closer than a brother." If he be your own Friend, and your father’s Friend, never forsake HIM. Forsake all the world for him, but let not all the world induce you to forsake him.

Proverbs 27:10. Neither go into your brother’s house in the day of your calamity: for better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off.

It is very sad that it should be so; but, sometimes, our nearest relatives are the farthest off, and those who ought to help us the most help us least. Many a man has had kindness shown to him by his neighbor, who was but a stranger, when he has had little or no kindness from his own relatives. But there is one Brother into whose house we may always go. So near of kin he is to us, and so loving of heart, that he never thinks a hard thought of us; but, the more we ask of him, the more delighted he is with us, and is only grieved with us because we stint ourselves in our prayers.

Proverbs 27:11. My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproaches me.

A good son is his father’s honor. If any say of such-and-such a man that he is a bad man, yet, if his children walk orderly, he can answer the slander without speaking a word. Would a bad man have brought up his children in that way? Would they be walking in the fear of God if he had not walked in that way himself? So the sons of God ought to seek, by their consistency, to keep the name of their Father clear of reproach. The consistency of our conduct should be the best answer to the accusations of the infidel.

Proverbs 27:12-13. A prudent man foresees the evil, and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished. Take his garment that is surety for a stranger,

He who takes surety is sure, but he who goes surety for another, and especially for a stranger, will smart for it, perhaps to the day of his death.

Proverbs 27:13-14. And take a pledge of him for a strange woman. He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.

There are some men who always use such sweet words; they are so fond of you, you that they are up early in the morning to give you, you their praise, and they continue all day pouring out their flattering unction. Such blessings as these are a curse, and the wise man will loathe these parasitical people who will see no faults, or pretend that they do not see any, but will always be extolling mere trifles as though they were the sublimest virtues. A sensible man is not to be overcome by this flattery.

Proverbs 27:15. A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.

When there is a little leak in the roof, and the rain keeps dropping through, it is very uncomfortable; but it is ten times more comfortable than it is to have to dwell with a contentious woman.

Proverbs 27:16. Whoever hides her hides the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which betrays itself.

That is to say, if a man put sweet ointment on his hand, the smell of it would soon be perceived; so, if a woman be of a contentious, angry, quarrelsome disposition, her contentiousness will be discovered, there is no hiding it.

Proverbs 27:17. Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

Hence the usefulness of Christian association, and hence also the evil of sinful company, for one sinner sharpens another to do mischief, just as one saint encourages another to righteousness.

Proverbs 27:18-19. Whoever keeps the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he who waits on his master shall be honored. As in water face answers to face, so the heart of man to man.

If I look into water, I see the reflection of my own face, not another man’s; and if I look into society, I shall probably see men like-minded with myself. How is it that a drunken man always finds out drunken men? How is it that lascivious men always have a bad opinion of the morality of other people? How is it that hypocrites always think other people hypocrites? Why, because they can see the reflection of their own faces. When a man tells me that there is no love in the Church of God, I know it is because he sees his own face, and knows that there is no love in it. You, you will generally find that men measure other people’s corn with their own bushels. They are sure to mete out to others according to their own measure; and they thus unconsciously betray themselves.

Proverbs 27:20-21. Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied. As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.

Many a man, who can bear adversity, cannot bear prosperity. The world’s censures seldom do a Christian any harm, but it is the breath of applause that often gives us the scarlet fever of pride.

Proverbs 27:22. Though you should bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

No troubles, no afflictions, can of themselves make a fool into a wise man. The sinner remains a sinner, after all providential chastisements, unless sovereign grace interposes.

Proverbs 27:23. Be you diligent to know the state of your flocks, and look well to your herds.

Be not slothful in business; and, above all, let the Christian be diligent to know the state of his own heart.

Proverbs 27:24-27. For riches are not forever: and does the crown endure to every generation? The hay appears, and the tender grass shows itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered. The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of the field. And you shall have goats’ milk enough for your food, for the food of your household, and for the maintenance for your maidens.

Those who are diligent generally prosper, and they who are diligent in spiritual things shall have all that their souls need. They shall be clothed with the robe of righteousness, they shall be well fed, and shall be satisfied. May the wisdom of these proverbs be given to us in daily life, that we may be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves; but, above all, may heavenly wisdom be given to us in all spiritual things, to the praise of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

 

Chapter 28

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 29

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 30

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 31

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

ECCLESIASTES

 

Chapter 1

 

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Chapter 2

 

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Chapter 3

 

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Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Verses 1-10

 

Ecclesiastes 11:1. Cast your bread upon the waters: for you shall find it after many days.

Hoard not your bread; for if you do, it will mildew, it will be of no use to you. Cast it on the waters; scatter it abroad; give it to the unworthy men if need be. Some here have seen an allusion to the casting of seed into the Nile when it overflowed its banks. When the waters subsided, the corn would grow, and be gathered in "after many days."

Ecclesiastes 11:2. Give a portion to seven,

And if that be a perfect number, give beyond it,

Ecclesiastes 11:2. And also to eight;

Give to more than you can afford to give to. Help some who are doubtful, some who are outside of the perfect number, and give them a portion, a fair portion. Our Savior went beyond Solomon; for he said, "Give to every man that asks of you."

Ecclesiastes 11:2. For you know not what evil shall be upon the earth.

You know not what need there may be of your help; nor what need may come to you, and how you yourself may be helped by those whom you help now.

Ecclesiastes 11:3. If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth;

The tree falls the way it is inclined; but when it has fallen, there it must be. God grant that you, you and I may fall the right way when the axe of death hews us down! Which way are we inclined?

Ecclesiastes 11:4-5. He who observes the wind shall not sow; and he who regards the clouds shall not reap. As you know not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so you know not the works of God who makes all.

There are great mysteries which we can never comprehend. God alone knows how the soul comes into the body, or even how the body is fashioned. This must remain with him. We do not know how sinners are regenerated. We know not how the Spirit of God works upon the mind of man, and transforms the sinner into a saint. We do not know. There are some who know too much already. I have not half the desire to know that I have to believe and to love. Oh, that we loved God more, and trusted God more! We might then get to Heaven if we knew even less than we do.

Ecclesiastes 11:6. In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening withhold not your hand: for you know not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

You, you cannot make the gospel enter into men’s hearts. You, you cannot tell how it does enter and change them. The Spirit of God does that; but your duty is to go on telling it out. Go on spreading abroad the knowledge of Christ; in the morning, and in the evening, and all day long, scatter the good seed of the kingdom. You, you have nothing to do with the result of your sowing; that remains with the Lord. That which you, you sow in the morning may prosper, or the seed that you, you scatter in the evening; possibly God will bless both. You, you are to keep on sowing, whether you, you reap or not.

Ecclesiastes 11:7. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun: But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.

Take Christ away, and this is a truthful estimate of human life. Put Christ into the question, and Solomon does not hit the mark at all. If we have Christ with us, whether the days are light or dark, we walk in the light, and our soul is happy and glad; but apart from Christ, the estimate of life which is given here is an exactly accurate one — a little brightness and long darkness, a flash and then midnight. God save you, you from living a merely natural life! May you, you rise to the supernatural! May you, you get out of the lower life of the mere animal into the higher life of the regenerated soul! If the life of God be in you, you, then you, you shall go from strength to strength like the sun that shines unto the perfect day.

Ecclesiastes 11:9. Rejoice, O young man, in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes: but know you, that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

Young man, will you, you dare, then, to follow your passions, and the devices of your own heart, with this ate the back, "God will bring you into judgment?" Oh no, the advice of Solomon apparently so evil, is answered by warning at the end, which is also true, —

Ecclesiastes 11:10. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

"Remove sorrow," or rather, anger, ambition, or anything else that would cause sorrow, "from your heart; and put away evil from your flesh." Let not your fleshly nature rule you; you are in the period when flesh is strong towards evil, when "vanity" is the ruin of many.

This exposition consisted of readings from Ecclesiastes 11-12

Verses 6-10

 

Ecclesiastes 11:6. In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening withhold not your hand: for you know not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

It is our business to sow the good seed of the kingdom, to sow it broadcast, to sow it at all times: "In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening withhold not your hand." The result of our sowing does not rest with us, but with the great Lord of the harvest. Some of the seed may fall by the wayside, some among thorns, some upon a rock, or upon rocky ground with only a thin layer of earth; but if God has called us to be sowers, and we really sow gospel seed, some of it will fall into good ground, and bring forth fruit, thirty-fold, sixty-fold, or even a hundredfold.

Ecclesiastes 11:7. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:

And as it is so pleasant for the natural eyes to behold the natural sun, how much more pleasant is it for the spiritual eye to behold the Sun of righteousness! Sweet as the light of the sun is, the light of the Sun of righteousness is far sweeter.

Ecclesiastes 11:8-9. But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity. Rejoice, O young man, in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes: but know you, that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

Nobody in his sense supposes that Solomon exhorted young men to walk according to their own heart and according to the sight of their eyes. This is a common way of speaking; as we may say to a man who is going to excess in drink, "Well, drink your full, and be drunken; but you, you will have to suffer for it. It will certainly exact a penalty at your hands by-and-by." Nobody would be so foolish as to say that we had exhorted the man to drunkenness. On the contrary, we did, as it were, warn him not to continue in his evil course by reminding him of the penalty which would assuredly follow. So, here, Solomon seems to say, "Do this if you, you will; do it if you, you dare; but remember that there is a judgment day coming, and that God will judge you, you for all these things, and according to these things will he measure out your doom."

Ecclesiastes 11:10. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

There is no doubt that, if we were holy, we should be happy; so, if we advise men to put away sorrow from their heart, we must remind them that they cannot do it except by putting away sin. The roots of evil must be cleared right away; else, to out down the shoots, and leave the roots, may be but to strengthen the evil in the long run. The removal of sorrow can only be effected by going deeper, and clearing the heart of sin; and this can only be accomplished by God’s grace.

This exposition consisted of readings from Ecclesiastes 11:6-10; Ecclesiastes 12.

 

Chapter 12

 

Verses 1-14

 

Ecclesiastes 12:1. Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth:

Now we get on solid ground. There is an irony in the advice, "Rejoice, O young man, in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes." There is no irony here; there is solid, sound advice: "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth." May every young man take this advice, and carry it out!

Ecclesiastes 12:1. While the evil days come not, nor the years draw near, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them; While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble,

These arms and hands of ours shake by reason of weakness.

Ecclesiastes 12:3. And the strong men shall bow themselves,

These limbs, these legs of ours, begin to bend under the weight they have to support.

Ecclesiastes 12:3. And the grinders cease because they are few,

The teeth are gone.

Ecclesiastes 12:3. And those that look out of the windows be darkened,

The eyesight begins to fail.

Ecclesiastes 12:4. And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;

The old man sleeps very lightly; anything awakens him. He hides away from public business. The doors are shut in the streets.

Ecclesiastes 12:5. Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way:

There is none of the courage of youth. Daring is gone; prudence, not to say cowardice, sits on the throne.

Ecclesiastes 12:5. And the almond tree shall flourish,

The hair is white and gray, like the early peach or almond tree in the beginning of the year.

Ecclesiastes 12:5. And the grasshopper shall be a burden,

A little trouble weighs the old man down. He has no energy now. The grasshopper is a burden.

Ecclesiastes 12:5. And desire shall fail: because man goes to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets; or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken,

Before the spinal cord is broken, or the skull becomes emptied of the living inhabitants.

Ecclesiastes 12:6. Or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

The circulation of the blood begins to fail, the heart grows weak, it will soon stop. The man’s career is nearly over.

Ecclesiastes 12:7. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

This will happen to us all, either to return to dust or else return to God. Whether we die, and return to dust, or live until the coming of Christ, our spirit shall return to God who gave it. May the return be a joyous one for each of us!

Ecclesiastes 12:8. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher; all is vanity. And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge;

Yes, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. The words of the wise are as goads, They prick us onward, as the goad does the bullock, when he is trying to stop instead of ploughing in the furrow.

Ecclesiastes 12:11. And as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

The words of the wise are driven home, like nails, and clinched. There is one Shepherd who, by means of his servants’ words, leads his flock where he would have them go.

Ecclesiastes 12:12. And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the duty of man. Or, "this is the whole of man." It makes a man of him when he fears God and keeps his commandments; he has that which makes him "the whole man."

Ecclesiastes 12:14. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Depend upon it that it will be so. At the last great day, there will be a revelation of everything, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Nor need the righteous fear that revelation, for they will only magnify in that day the amazing grace of God which has put all their iniquities away; and then shall all men know how great the grace of God was in passing by iniquity, transgression, and sin.

This exposition consisted of readings from Ecclesiastes 11-12

 

 

ISAIAH

 

Chapter 1

 

Verses 1-9

 

Isaiah 1:1-2. The vision of Isaiah the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord has spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

The good and gracious God, having been treated ungenerously, makes his appeal not to men who themselves are guilty, but to the very heavens and each, calling on the silent stones of the field, and the trees of the wood, and the stars of Heaven, to judge between him and his rebellious children. "I have nourished and brought up children " — taken a nurse’s interest in them, shown a parent’s love to them, "and they have rebelled against me."

Isaiah 1:3-4. The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib: but Israel does not know, my people does not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

More brutish than the brutes are men when they forget their God. The dog follows its master’s heels, but man will not be obedient to his Lord. The ox knows his owner, and gives some sign of recognition when he sees him; but alas! the ungodly sons of men know not the God that made them, feeds them, keeps them alive. Where are you, oh! backslider? Mingling once again with the people of God, let these words come home to you, you. There is a "Thus says the Lord" in the prophets words to them; and thus says the Lord to you, you. You, you have gone away backward, provoking the Holy One of Israel to anger.

Isaiah 1:5. Why should you be stricken any more? you will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

It was of no use chastising these people. They only sinned the worse for all the afflictions that were sent, and when the fire of affliction does not melt the iron heart, what can do it? Why waste the fuel upon them? You will revolt more and more; the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. They had been smitten, they had been afflicted, until the whole nation through and through had been brought low. Their head and heart had been made faint. And, oh! there are some that have passed through many trials and are none the better. They have seen poverty, and yet they go again to the sin that first brought them to it. They feel in their very bones the result of their transgressions, and yet they hug in their bosoms the serpent that has stung them.

Isaiah 1:6. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

The whole land of Israel was so destroyed through sin, it was like a body that is covered with sores that have not been touched by the surgeon’s hand. Yet they do not repent.

Isaiah 1:7-8. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers,

A mere shanty run up during the grape season, wherein the persons who took care of the vineyard found shelter from the rain.

Isaiah 1:8. As a besieged city.

For the same purpose.

Isaiah 1:9. Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

Yet, though they were reduced to this, they kept on with their sins. It really seems as if men would suffer anything for their sins rather than give them up. It is not always the pleasure of sin which seems to fascinate, but the very bitterness of sin seems sweet to some.

Verses 1-20

 

May we be instructed of the Holy Spirit while we read this inspired Scripture!

Isaiah 1:1. The vision of Isaiah the son of Amos, which he saw—

Prophets were called seers, they saw what they were called to say; and every true preacher of Christ must first be a seer of Christ. He must see, that is, realize for himself; and then he must tell to others what he has seen. This Book is about "the vision of

Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw

Isaiah 1:1-2. Concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord has spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

It is an appeal of God to inanimate creation to bear witness to the ingratitude that he had received, as if it was of no use any longer to speak to men. The appeal is stated very solemnly and impressively, "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth for the Lord bath spoken. I have nourished and brought up children," cared for them, loved them, fed them, "and they have rebelled against me." The ingratitude of a child is something shocking; and the ingratitude of man to God is of that character.

Isaiah 1:3. The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib: but Israel does not know, my people does not consider.

Men are more brutish than the beasts that perish. The lower animals, as men contemptuously call them, acknowledge the hand that feeds them; but men receive the bounty of God through long years, and yet live as if there were no God at all, and feel no gratitude to him whatever. Israel was God’s peculiar people, highly favored, and greatly indulged, and this made it all the worse for the Lord to be able to contrast them and the brute creation: "The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib: but Israel does not know, my people does not consider."

Isaiah 1:4. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

Thus the prophet spoke to the people of his day, and we may say much the same to the people of our own time. The professing church of God has gone away backward, forsaken the doctrines of truth, and turned aside from the purity of its life. God have mercy upon the world when the church itself becomes thus defiled!

Isaiah 1:5. Why should you be stricken any more?

What is the use of chastisement to such people? It is supposed that punishment is always healthful, and that we grow the better for it; but God says, "Why should you be stricken any more?"

Isaiah 1:5-6. You will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

The nation had been so beaten that it was covered all over with bruises and sores. It seemed to be of no use to afflict Israel any more; and there are some persons in the world who have been chastened in every conceivable way, and yet they are none the better. There are graves in the cemetery where lie asleep those they love; the house that was their joy has long ago been sold, and they have not a roof to call their own; they have been themselves at death’s door by fever and by other diseases; and yet all that God’s rod has done for them has come to nothing. The old Roman lictors carried an axe bound up in a bundle of rods; and, when the rods had been tried, and had failed, then came the axe. And if the milder forms of chastisement do not bring men to repentance, sooner or later will come the axe of destruction. Thus the prophet says it was with sinful Israel:—

Isaiah 1:7-8. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

The land had been so harried and worried by invaders that it was little better than a poor shanty; the nation was comparable to a poor hut which the Arabs put up in the vineyard just to sleep in: "As a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city." -

Isaiah 1:9. Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

And this is true of London as well as of Jerusalem. If there had not been a remnant of godly ones still left, "we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah."

Isaiah 1:10-11. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? says the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

These people were a very religious people, although a very wicked people; and it is a strange thing that, when nations have become demoralized, and injustice reigns supreme at the same time, Ritualism and outward pomp and external religion come to the front. This is a wretched business, to give to God the husks when the kernel has long ago gone. What cares the Lord for "burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts . . . the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats," when men have left off doing that which is right in his sight? The Lord may well say to those who bring offerings to him under such circumstances, "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?"

Isaiah 1:12. When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

"Who invited you, you to come to my courts?" says God. "Who asked you, you to pretend to worship me, when you, you are living in sin, and your hearts are not reconciled to me?"

Isaiah 1:13. Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

If you, you are hypocrites, if your hearts are not right with God, you, you may multiply your church-goings, and your chapel-goings, and your sacraments; but all these are only a provoking of God to anger. There is nothing in it all that he could possibly accept; he cannot endure it. He says, "It is iniquity, even the solemn meeting."

Isaiah 1:14-15. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you, you: yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

This is plain speaking; but God never sends velvet-tongued men as his messengers. They who are called to testify f or God speak out boldly, and faithfully denounce the sins of the day in which they live. Blessed be God for Isaiah and for men like him! When men are committing crimes, when they are oppressing the poor, when they are living in the daily practice of injustice, when they indulge in secret drunkenness, when their whole life is a lie, they may do what they will, but God will not hear their prayers. While we keep sin in our hearts, it is in vain for us to stretch out our hands unto God. He is a holy God, and he seeks holy hearts and holy lives; and nothing short of these can be acceptable to him.

Isaiah 1:16-17. Wash you, you, make you, you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

This is what God asks for: "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."

18—20. Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land: but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.

May the Holy Spirit make us to be willing and obedient, that we may "eat the good of the land"; and may none of us be found refusing God’s gracious invitation, and rebelling against his authority, lest we perish in our sins!

Verses 2-19

 

Isaiah 1:2-3. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord has spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib: but Israel does not know, my people does not consider.

Heaven and earth might well be called to witness such strange ingratitude as this of which the Lord had to complain.

Isaiah 1:4. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

What a terrible indictment, and every word of it was true!

Isaiah 1:5-9. Why should you be stricken any more? you will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

As the prophet’s vision proceeds, the true state of the people is seen.

Isaiah 1:10-15. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? says the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you, you: yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

They were horribly wicked people, they could hardly have been worse; so bad that even their prayers were not fit for God to hear; yet he says, —

Isaiah 1:16-19. Wash you, you, make you, you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land:

What blessed words of mercy! Oh, that every one of us may prove them true in our own case, for Jesus’ sake! Amen.

This exposition consisted of readings from 2 Chronicles 33:1-20; And Isaiah 1:2-19.

 

Chapter 2

 

Verses 1-22

 

Isaiah 2:1-2. The word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

What grand hopes are kindled in our bosoms by words like these. The church has always been as a city set on a hill that cannot be hid, but still she has not been known in all parts of the world, and she has never been known with that universal eminence which attaches to the things of this world — the things of pomp and show. But the day shall come when she shall be the highest of the high. Her mountain shall be established "on the tops of the mountains," — when she shall be best known of all the known, and shall become what she was always meant to be — the metropolis of the whole world, the center to which all kindreds shall flow. Not the Jews alone shall then possess the oracles of God, but all nations shall flow unto it.

Isaiah 2:3. And many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

In these happy days which have, in a measure, begun, but which in their fullness have not yet dawned upon us, the Spirit of the Lord will work in the hearts of multitudes of men a desire after God. They will be willing to worship him: they will say, "Let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah": they will be anxious to learn what he would teach. This shall be the reason why they go, — "He will teach us of his ways." They shall not only wish to learn, but be quick to practice: "and we will walk in his paths." Sometimes we have to complain of the masses of mankind forsaking the worship of God altogether; and too often those that together with some inferior motive, — not that they may be taught of God; and even some that are, in a manner, taught, are slow to obey. The Lord teaches them by his ministers but they do not walk in his paths. Blessed days when all this shall be reversed, and the multitudes shall flock to the church and to the Christ!

Isaiah 2:4. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

They shall not save their weapons for future use, or believe in the theory that the best way to preserve peace is to be prepared for war; but they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and turn their spears into pruning hooks. The spirit which created war shall be conquered. "Whence wars and fightings among you, you? Come they not hence even of your lusts?" When lust and envy and hatred shall be dethroned and the spirit of Christ shall be dominant over the world, then shall they learn war no more. "O happy day! O long-expected day begin!" Let each one of us labor mightily according as the Spirit works in us to bring about a consummation so devoutly to be wished.

Isaiah 2:5. O house of Jacob, come you, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

The Jew shall come. Long rejecting the Messiah, yet shall he with the Gentile, and walk in the light of Jehovah. Now the theme changes. We are led to see why it is that a happy state of things does not obtain at this moment, and did not obtain in the land of Judah. Sin — sin is the cause of the mischief — idolatry — the setting up of something in the place of God.

Isaiah 2:6. Therefore you have forsaken your people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

The nations then had their soothsayers and fortune-tellers, and the people of God ought not so to have degraded themselves, but they did, and therefore they provoked him, and they sought out foreigners and entered into league with them, whereas the Lord had bidden them be a people separate unto himself. It always goes ill with those who profess to be God’s people when they forget their separated character and join with the world.

Isaiah 2:7-8. Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: Their land also is full of idols;

How these things generally go together. If a nation prospers and gets wealthy, it is so apt to seek for itself external worship of a gaudy kind. It must then have its ritualism and its idols, for if men have their gold and have their chariots, the simple worship of the unseen God seems to be beneath the dignity of their taste.

Isaiah 2:8-9. They worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: And the mean man bows down, and the great man humbles himself: therefore forgive them not.

Mark the indignant spirit of the prophet, as if he had been an Elijah, or had the mind of a John Knox of later days. It seemed as if he could not ask God to forgive such a stupendous folly as the setting up visible objects of worship, and the turning away from the true invisible God. O idolatry, what an accursed sin you are, and how rampant are you in this land at this day!

Isaiah 2:10-12. Enter into the rock, and hide you in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

Whatever God does or does not do, there is one role of his procedure from which he never deviates, namely, to cast down the proud and those who boast themselves, from their high places. He condescends to the humble, and he has a tender eye to the contrite, but wherever man, the creature, dares to think himself great, God will bare his arm to overthrow him, or puff at him — for a puff will do it — and he shall pass away.

Isaiah 2:13-16. And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.

No matter what it is that man sets up, however good or great, if he dares to bring it into competition with God, God’s hand is against him, and he will break it in pieces. Whenever God comes out of his secret place this is always the end of it. He came against Babylon and against Nineveh. Ay, ask the traveler who has wonderingly descended into those vast mounds, "Where are those mighty monarchies now?" Where is the power of Sennacherib and where the might of Nebuchadnezzar? They have gone. The dust is their sole monument. Turn you, in later days to the great power of Rome, and as one walks through Some, that vast mausoleum of an empire, where one treads, at every step, upon an empire’s dust — what think you but that God has broken the iron kingdom, and made what seemed to be an omnipotent power to pass away from off the face of the earth?

Woe unto all that is great and all that is high and all that exalts itself above God. Whether a temporal power, or a spiritual, it shall pass away like a dream of the night, or a vision of the air, for the Lord is, and all else is nothing.

Isaiah 2:17-20. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted is that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

The worshiper of idols shall be ashamed of them. The precious metal shall not save them — the work of are for which so many plead. "It is true the thing is defiling and idolatrous," say come, "but look at the skill, the taste, the handicraft, the precious metal." When God makes bare his arm, they shall fling even gold and silver to the moles and to the bats.

Isaiah 2:21-22. To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake terribly the earth. Cease you from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?"

What a rebuke this is to kingcraft and to priestcraft especially. "Wherein is he to be accounted of?" You may lay what hands you will on him, and you may gird him with what robes you please, and you may pour upon him your anointing oil and your sacred chrisms; but what is he, after all, but a man whose breath is in his nostrils? Cease you from him, "for wherein is he to be accounted of?"

Verses 6-22

 

Isaiah 2:6. Therefore you have forsaken your people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

It was God’s command that they should keep themselves separate, and worship him only; but, in the reign of this man Ahaz, they began to practice all the foul arts of the nations round about them. They had "soothsayers like the Philistines," — men who pretended to divine future events from the flights of birds, or from the entrails of victims, and a thousand other things; they went into witchcraft, and the unhallowed arts of the heathen.

Isaiah 2:7-9. Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: And the mean man bows down, and the great man humbles himself: therefore forgive them not.

The poor men worshiped these idols, and the rich did the same. All over the country the people were bowing before some symbol or other, instead of worshiping the unseen God in spirit and in truth. Therefore the prophet foretold that something terrible would happen to them: -

Isaiah 2:10-16. Enter into the rock, and hide you in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, And upon all the oaks of Bashan, And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.

These people were wealthy through the natural riches of their land, and through commerce with other nations; they were the votaries of are according to the fashion of the times: and now God declares that, because they were proud, all their treasures should be destroyed and the things wherein they boasted should be taken away from them.

Isaiah 2:17-18. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish.

They set them up at every street corner, they put them even before the house of God itself. On every green hill, and in every grove, they worshiped with filthy rites that can scarcely be thought of without a blush; but God declared that he would sweep them all away, and so he did when he visited the land in his fierce anger.

Isaiah 2:19-22. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake terribly the earth. Cease you from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?

Extracted from an exposition covering 2 Chronicles 28:1-5; 2 Chronicles 28:16-27 and Isaiah 2:6-22.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Verses 1-7

 

Isaiah 5:1. Now will I sing to my Well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My Well-beloved has a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

You, you and I, dear friends, are placed in a position where we have very choice opportunities of glorifying our God, we are like "a vineyard in a very fruitful hill," most favorably placed for fruitfulness. The Well-beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: —

Isaiah 5:2. And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

Is that my case? Is it your case, dear friend? Has even our religion been a false thing? Has it been like wild grapes or poisonous berries? Have we been at times right only by accident, and have we never carefully and sedulously sought to serve our Lord, or to bring forth fruit to his praise? O Lord, you know!

Isaiah 5:3-6. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, you, between me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? And now go to; I will tell you, you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: and I will lay it waste:

There is no destruction like that which comes when God destroys the fruitless vineyard. When a human enemy or the wild boar out of the wood lays it waste, it may be restored again, but if, in righteous wrath, the Divine Owner of the vineyard himself lays it waste, what hope remains for it? "It shall be trodden down; and I will lay it waste:" —

Isaiah 5:6-7. It shall not be pruned, nor dug; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

This passage has a special reference to God’s ancient people, and one cannot read it without noting how literally this terrible threatening has been fulfilled.

This exposition consisted of readings from SOLOMON’S Song of Solomon 8:11-14; Isaiah 5:1-7; and Luke 13:6-9.

Verses 1-19

 

Isaiah 5:1. Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My Well-beloved has a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

The Song of the Vineyard is by no means a joyful song. It is, indeed quite the reverse. It is pitched in the minor key and has a painful theme. This suffices to prove that all our hymns need not consist, as some affirm, of direct praise to God. Such a notion is not according to Scripture, for many of the Psalms are not of that character. There are songs that can be sung to the edification of one another, and that is, in part, the design of sacred song. We speak to ourselves, as well as to God, in Psalm and hymns and spiritual songs. "My well-beloved has a vineyard in a very fruitful hill." The members of the Church of God are placed in a position where they have very choice opportunities of glorifying God; they are like a vineyard in a very fruitful hill, most favorably placed for fruitfulness.

Isaiah 5:2. And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

The vineyard was well chosen as to situation, the vine was carefully selected. Everything was done, by walling it, to protect it from intruders. Every preparation wag made for the gathering in of the fruits. The winepress was there; yet, when the time came for grapes sweet and luscious, it brought forth wild grapes. You, you know what that means. Has it been so with us? Have we rewarded the Well-beloved thus ungratefully for all his pains? Have we given him hardness of heart, instead of repentance, unbelief, instead of faith; indifference, instead of love; idleness, instead of holy industry; impurity, instead of holiness? Is that my case? Is it your case, dear friends? Has even our religion been a false thing? Has it been like wild grapes or poisonous berries? Have we been at times right only by accident, and have we never carefully and sedulously sought to serve our Lord, or to bring forth fruit to his praise? O Lord, you know! Let us judge ourselves in this matter that we be not judged.

Isaiah 5:3-4. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, you, between me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

O you, you that profess to be his people, what more could Christ have done for you, you? What more could the Holy Spirit have done? What richer promises, what wiser precepts, what kinder providences, what more gracious patience? "Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?" Whence came this? The stock was good, the husbandry was wise. Whence came these wild grapes?

Isaiah 5:5-6. And now go to; I will tell you, you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: and I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor dug; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

"I will tell you, you what I will do." He does not wait until the men of Judah have given their verdict. There was no need of any. The case was all too sadly clear. "I will take away the hedge thereof. and break down the wall thereof." Those providences which guard men from sin shall be removed. You, you shall be allowed to sin if you, you like — and as you, you like. Your will shall have its freedom to the full. "And it shall be trodden down: and I will lay it waste." There is no destruction like that which comes when God destroys the fruitless vineyard. When a human enemy or the wild boar out of the wood lays it waste, it may be restored again, but if in righteous wrath, the Divine Owner of the vineyard himself lays it waste, what hope remains for it? What fearful words, "It shall be trodden down: and I will lay it waste." "It shall not be pruned, nor dug; but there shall come up briars and thorns." Nothing happens worse to a church or to a man than to be altogether without affliction, — no pruning, no digging, no restraints, no prickings of conscience, no smitings with rod. "I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." That is the worst of all!

Isaiah 5:7. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

Oh, when those who profess to be God’s people live ungodly, dishonest, unchaste, ungracious lives, God is greatly grieved. His anger burns against such a church and against such a people. And well it may. "He looked for judgment," for they professed to be taught of God; "but behold oppression." He looked "for righteousness," for they said they were righteous; "but behold a cry." The passage has a special reference to God’s ancient people, and one cannot read it without noting how literally this terrible threatening has been fulfilled.

Isaiah 5:8-10. Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, until there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

In mine ears said the Lord of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. Yes, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. When men are covetous after the things of this world, God has a way of making them to be filled with disappointment and with bitterness. Woe unto any man who has any God but the living God, or who lives for any object but to glorify the Creator. Upon such a man woes shall come innumerable.

Isaiah 5:11-12. Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, until wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands.

The covetous man was intoxicated with greed. Here is a man intoxicated with strong drink. It is never too early, it is never too late, for men to drink who once are carried away with this passion. They rise up early; they continue until night; and then, when they are inflamed with lust, all sorts of evil pleasures are sought after, and Satan leads them captive at his will. Woe unto such! Now, it was because there were covetous men who were idolaters, because there were luxuriously living men who were drunkards, who had crept into Jerusalem and lived there, and spread evils among the people — it was for this that God declared that he would lay his vineyard waste. Are there none such in the Church of God today? Ah, me! I fear there are professors who do not let it be known openly, but who in secret follow after these things.

Isaiah 5:13-14. Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore Hell has enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he who rejoices, shall descend into it.

What a wonderful description that is of the Church of God when it goes wrong, when there is evil in it. Then evil multiplies itself greatly in the earth, and Hell has to be made bigger, as it were. As one old preacher said, "They go to Hell in droves." There is none to stay them. When the Church itself goes wrong, then the world is like that herd of swine that ran violently down a steep place to perish in the waters. Down, down they go! Oh, dreadful sight! Oh, terrible doom that falls upon the ungodly! Would God the Church were well awake to see the danger of mankind, and that she so lived that God could bless her to the salvation of men.

Isaiah 5:15-16. And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: But the Lord of host shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

For whoever may stain himself with sin, God will not. We may think lightly of sin, but he never does. We may be so foolish as to tolerate iniquity in ourselves and wink at it in others, but God will not do so. Even when sin was laid on Christ he smote him to the death. Though he was not guilty of any sin, yet, when our sin lay there, God turned away his face from his Son, and he died; and, if he spared not sin in his Son, think you, you he will spare it in us? Ah, no! He is a just God, and he will clear his hands of any complicity with iniquity. The sixteenth verse is the song of Hannah, that greatest of ancient poetesses. It is the song of Mary, who copied it from Hannah, "He has put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He has filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he has sent empty away."

Isaiah 5:17. Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

It is ever so. There is always room for the tender, and the gentle, and the weak, when God smites the haughty and the strong.

Isaiah 5:18. Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

"Woe unto them." When we get a woe in this Book of Blessings it is sent as a warning, that we may escape from woe. God’s woes are better than the devil’s welcomes. God always means man’s good, and only sets ill before him that he may turn from the dangers of a mistaken way, and so may escape the ill which lies at the end of it. Perhaps "Woe, woe, woe," though it should sound with a dreadful din in our ear, may be the means of leading us to seek and find our Savior, and then throughout eternity no woe shall ever come near to us. "That draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope." This is a very singular passage. It is not very easy to understand it at first sight. Here are some who are said to draw sin "with cords of vanity," which are slender enough, and yet they also draw it "as with a cart rope," which is thick enough. They are harnessed to sin, and the traces appear to be fragile, insignificant, and soon broken. You, you can hardly touch them, for they are a mere sham, a fiction —vanity. What can be thinner and weaker than cobweb-cords of vanity? Yet when you, you attempt to break or remove them, they turn out to be cart ropes or wagon traces, fitted to bear the pull of horse or bullock. Motives which have no logical forge, and would not bind a reasonable man for a moment, are, nevertheless, quite sufficient to hold the most of men in bondage. Such a slave is man to iniquity, that unworthy motives and indefensible reasons which appear no stronger than little cords nevertheless hold him as with bonds of steel, and he is fastened to the loaded wagon of his iniquity as a horse is fastened by a cart rope.

Isaiah 5:19. That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!

Blaspheming God, and rushing on the bosses of his buckler, defying him to smite them. And all this came from dallying with sin, from drawing iniquity with cords of vanity Beware of the eggs of the cockatrice. Remember how drops wear stones, and little strokes fell great oaks. Do not play with a cobra, even if it be but a foot long. Keep from the edge of the precipice. Fly from the lion before he springs upon you, you. Do not forge for yourself a net of iron, nor become the builder of your own prison-house. May the Holy Spirit deliver you, you. May you, you touch the Cross, and find in it the power which will loose you, you and let you, you go.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 5:1-19, and Psalms 121:1-7.

 

Chapter 6

 

Verses 1-13

 

Isaiah 6:1. In the year that King Uzziah died

You, you remember him, that leprous king, that king who had thrust himself into the priests’ office, and was smitten of leprosy, and shut up in a separate house during the rest of his life. In the year that he died Isaiah saw a greater King, whom no defilement can ever touch, a King that reigns and lives forever, though Uzziah dies.

Isaiah 6:1. I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

Whenever you, you read in the Old Testament that any man saw the Lord, understand it of the Second Person of the Divine Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ. He makes himself as we have said, visible to men, and God in him.

Isaiah 6:2. Above it stood the seraphims: each on had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

There are the spirits that dwell in the presence of God, nearest to him, and as he is a consuming fire they come to be like him, for the seraphims are burning ones, consumers, burning and shining lights, who wait upon God, who is light of life. Notice how humble they are in that presence; they cover themselves before that Infinite Majesty.

Isaiah 6:3-4. And one cried upon another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

And if even the voice of a seraph moved the very foundations of the temple, what will the voice of God do when he shall speak once more? According to that word, he shall shake not only earth, but also Heaven. What awe and trembling should be upon us when we wait upon God, if even the posts of the dove move! "Then said I, woe is me!" All God’s saints do this when they get a view of him. There was never a boastful thought in any man’s mind in the presence of God. They that talk of their own purity have not known God, neither seen him. How could they! This is the cry of all the purified when they come into the presence of God "Woe is me, for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips." What made him think of lips, but the voice of the seraphim as responsively they cried to one another, "Holy, holy, holy"? Then he thought of his own lips. Oh! brothers and sisters, what impurity comes out of our lips, perhaps more there than anywhere else is the impurity of the heart discovered in our idle words, our evil words.

Isaiah 6:5-7. Then said I, 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. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.

Just where he felt the impurity, there he felt the expiation. His lips were unclean, and now a touch of the altar coal, a communication from the great Sacrifice, has taken all his iniquity away, and his sin is buried.

Isaiah 6:8. Also I heard the voice of the lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I, send me.

Observe the unity and the plurality, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Upon what theory, but that of the doctrine of the Trinity can we explain so singular a change from the singular to the plural "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I. send me." This man, so lowly now, so purified with the vision of God, just seen by him, how cheerfully does he spring forward at the word of invitation. "Here am I, send me." Now see what a sorrowful mission God, in these next verses, assured Isaiah that his ministry so far as the conversion of the Jews were concerned, would be altogether fruitless; they would not receive his testimony.

Isaiah 6:9-10. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear you indeed, but understand not; and see you indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

What a ministry, dark with insufferable light! So bright, so clear, that men should have willfully to harden their hearts, and shut their eyes if they did not understand and receive it.

Isaiah 6:11-12. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

So it happened, as you, you know, the people were carried away captive; they still refused, they would not believe even, until Christ came, and then the destruction of Jerusalem, and the sweeping clear of their country was the final stroke of God. "But yet in it shall be a tenth." There is always a gleam of light from God’s grace in the thickest darkness of his justice. God has his tithe.

Isaiah 6:13. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

And, therefore, the Jewish nation is not destroyed, but still exists, and the Church of God is not destroyed, despite all that happens to it. There is a substance in it, according to the election of grace, for which may God be praised.

This exposition consisted of readings from John 12:37-50; Isaiah 6. John 12:37-50.

 

Chapter 7

 

Verses 1-16

 

Isaiah 7:1-2. And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

They were tossed to and fro, bent, thrown down, as the trees of a forest in a tornado. They had already felt the power of these two confederate kings, and they were terribly afraid. David himself would have had confidence in God; but "the house of David" had gone far astray. Ahaz had cast off the fear of God, and he had therefore great fear of men.

Isaiah 7:3. Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, you, and Shear-jashub your son,

Shear-jashub was but a child; and why Isaiah was to take his son with him does not appear, except that his name signifies, "The remnant shall return," and it was part of the prophet’s message that the remnant, the people who had been carried away captive, should return.

Isaiah 7:3. At the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field;

God knows the exact spot where his servants shall meet with the men to whom he sends them. There is a corner where the fuller’s field just juts upon the upper pool; there Isaiah will meet king Ahaz, and there he is to speak to him. Is there any spot just by the Elephant and Castle" where God means to meet with some soul tonight? I pray that it may be so.

Isaiah 7:4. And say unto him,

The prophet is told the word he is to speak as well as the place where he is to deliver the message. Isaiah knew that he was soon to go and deal with men of hard, heart and deaf car. The other day we read the sixth chapter of this prophecy; and we noted the hard task that Isaiah had to perform. Now he is beginning his work with the man whom the Bible calls, "That king Ahaz," as if it could not say anything bad enough of him, but had merely to mention his name, and everybody would know who was meant.

Isaiah 7:4. Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

Their kingdoms were dying out. They were like burnt-out firebrands; they made a little smoke, but within a very short time there would be nothing left of them, and Ahaz need not be afraid of them.

Isaiah 7:5-9. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against you, saying, Let its go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal: thus says the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son.

God did not intend it to grow any bigger. These two little kingdoms of Syria and Ephraim were to keep as they were until they were destroyed.

Isaiah 7:9-12. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established. Moreover the Lord spoke again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask you a sign of the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

He put his refusal very prettily, as men often do when they want to say an evil thing. He refused to accept a sign from the Lord, under the idle pretense that it would be tempting God. We never tempt God when we do what he bids us. There is no presumption in obedience. It was an idle compliment, to conceal the impudence of his heart. The Lord invited him to acknowledge Jehovah as his God: "Ask you a sign of Jehovah your God." But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, neither will I tempt Jehovah." He did not say, "Jehovah, my God"; and his silence meant dissent.

Isaiah 7:13. And he said, Hear you now, O house of David;

Observe, the prophet does not say, "Hear now, O Ahaz as if God would not deal with Ahaz on his own account, but only because he was of the "house of David." The Lord remembered his covenant with David. God sometimes blesses men for the sake of their fathers. He might not hear a word that they had to say; but he remembers their fathers, and the amity and comity which there was between himself and their fathers.

Isaiah 7:13-14. Is it a small thing for you, you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you, you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, A wonderful sign this!

Isaiah 7:14-15. And shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

Whereupon a wise commentator says that, before children are able to learn, their parents should look upon the very feeding of them as a means of making them to know the difference between good and evil.

Isaiah 7:16. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that you abhor shall be forsaken of both her kings.

This was the sign-manual. Judah could not be destroyed, for our Lord was to spring out of Judah; and this was the sign that Judah must stand, because Immanuel must be born of that nation, and the time for this great event was fixed by the Lord. Until a child is some few years of age, he does not distinguish between good and evil; but in a shorter time than it would take a child to come to years of responsibility, God meant to cut off both those kings, and he did so. This was a very wonderful prophecy, and ought to have filled Ahaz with great delight, and with confidence in God; but it did nothing of the kind.

Now we are going to read more of the story of this king Ahaz.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 7:1-16, and 2 Chronicles 28:1-16.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Verses 1-7

 

The last verses of the eighth chapter picture a horrible state of wretchedness and despair: "And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. And they shall look unto the earth, and behold trouble and darkness dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness. But see what a change awaits them !

Isaiah 9:1. Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vacation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

Read the fine translation of the Revised Version: "But there shall be no gloom to her that was in anguish." What a marvelous light from the midst of a dreadful darkness! It is an astounding change, such as only God with us could work. Many of you, you know nothing about the miseries described in those verses, but there are some who have traversed that terrible wilderness; and I am going to speak to them. I know where you, you are: you, you are being driven as captives into the land of despair, and for the last few months you, you have been tramping along a painful road, "hardly bestead and hungry." You, you are surely put to it, and your soul finds no food of comfort, but is ready to faint and die. You, you fret yourself: your heart is wearing away with care, and grief, and hopelessness. In the bitterness of your soul you, you are ready to curse the day of your birth. The captive Israelites cursed their king who had led them into their defeat and bondage; in the fury of their agony, they even cursed God and longed to die. It may be that your heart is in such a ferment of grief that you, you know not what you, you think, but are like a man at his wit’s end. For such as you, you there shines this star of the first magnitude. Jesus has appeared to save, and he is God and man in one person: man that he may feel our woes, God that he may help us out of them. No minister can save you, you, no priest can save you, you — you, you know this right well; but here is one who is able to save to the uttermost, for he is God as well as man. The great God is good at a dead lift; when everything else has failed, the lever of omnipotence can lift a world of sin. Jesus is almighty to save! That which in itself is impossibility is possible with God. Sin which nothing else can remove is blotted out by the blood of Immanuel. Immanuel, our Savior, is God with us; and God with us means difficulty removed, and a perfect work accomplished.

Isaiah 9:2. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined.

Jesus came to Galilee of the Gentiles, and made that country glorious, which had been brought into contempt. That corner of Palestine had very often borne the brunt of invasion, and had felt more than any other region the edge of the keen Assyrian sword. They were at first troubled when the Assyrian was bought off with a thousand talent of silver; but they were more heavily afflicted when Tiglath-pileser carried them all away to Assyria, for which see the fifteenth chapter of the second book of the kings. It was a wretched land, with a mixed population, despised by the purer race of Jews; but that very country became glorious with the presence of the incarnate God. Even so, at this day his gracious presence is the day-dawn of our joy.

Isaiah 9:3. You have multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before you according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

The Revised Version reads, "You have increased their joy." If Christ comes to you, you, my dear hearer, as God with us, then shall your joy be great; for you, you shall joy as with the joy of harvest, and as those rejoice that divide the spoil. Is it not so? Many of us can bear our witness that there is no joy like that which Jesus brings.

Isaiah 9:4. For you have broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.

Your enemy shall be defeated, "as in the day of Midian." Gideon was, in his dream, likened to a barley-cake, which struck the tent of Midian, so that it lay along. He and his few heroes, with their pitchers and their trumpets, stood and shouted, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" and Midian melted away before them. So shall it be with our sins, and doubts, and fears, if we believe in Jesus, the incarnate God; they shall vanish like the mists of the morning. The Lord Jesus will break the yoke of our burden, and the rod of our oppressor, as in the day of Midian. Be of good courage, you that are in bondage to fierce and cruel adversaries; for in the name of Jesus, who is God with us, you, you shall destroy them.

Isaiah 9:5. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

When Jesus comes, you, you shall have eternal peace, for his battle is the end of battles. "All the armor of the armed man in the tumult, and the garments rolled in blood, shall even be for burning, for fuel of fire." This is the rendering of the Revision; and it is good. The Prince of peace wars against war, and destroys it. What a glorious day is that in which the Lord breaks the bow and cuts the spear in sunder, and burns the chariot in the fire! I think I see it now. My sins, which were the weapons of my foes, the Lord pile in heaps. What mountains of prey! But see! He brings the fire-brand of his love from the altar of his sacrifice, and he sets fire to the gigantic pile. See how they blaze! They are utterly consumed forever.

Isaiah 9:6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

How is it that the Lord Jesus becomes glorious in our eyes; And he whose name is Immanuel is now crowned in our heart with many crowns, and honored with many titles. What a list of glories we have here! What a burst of song it makes when we sing of the Messiah: "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace"! Each work sounds like a salvo of artillery. It is all very well to hear players on instruments and sweet singers rehearse these words but to believe them, and realize them in your own soul, is better far. When every fear and every hope, and every power and every passion of our nature fill the orchestra of our heart, and all unite in one inward song unto the glorious Immanuel, what music it is!

Isaiah 9:7. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. If Christ is your Savior he must be your King.

"But know, nor of the terms complain,

Where Jesus comes he comes to reign:

To reign, and with no partial sway;

Lusts must be slain that disobey."

The moment we really believe in Jesus as our salvation we fall before him, and call him Master and Lord. We serve when he saves. He has redeemed us unto himself, and we own that we are his. A generous man once bought a slave-girl. She was put upon the brook for auction, and he pitied her and purchased her; but when he had bought her he said to her, "I have bought you, you to set you, you free. There are your papers, you, you are a free woman." The grateful creature fell at his feet and cried, "I will never leave you, you; if you, you have made me free I will be your servant as long as you, you live, and serve you, you better than any slave could do." This is how we feel towards Jesus. He sets us free from the dominion of Satan, and then, as we need a ruler, we say, "And the government shall be upon his shoulder." We are glad to be ruled by "Immanuel, God with us." This also is a door of hope to us That Jesus shall be the monarch of our hearts is our exceeding joy. To us he shall be always "Wonderful." When we think of him, or speak about him, it shall be with reverent awe. When we need advice and comfort, we will fly to him, for he shall be our Counselor. When we need strength, we will look to him as our Mighty God. Born again by his Spirit, we will be his children, and he shall be the everlasting Father. Full of joy and rest, we will call him Prince of Peace. Are you, you willing to have Christ to govern you, you? Will you, you spend your lives in praising him? You, you are willing to have Christ to pardon you, you, but we cannot divide him, and therefore you, you must also have him to sanctify you, you. You, you must not take the crown from his head; but accept him as the monarch of your soul. If you, you would have his hand to help you, you, you, you must obey the scepter which it grasps. Blessed Immanuel, we are right glad to obey you I In you our darkness ends, and from the shadow of death we rise to the light of life. It is salvation to be obedient to you. It is the end of gloom to her that was in anguish to bow herself before you. May God the Holy Spirit tell of the things of Christ and show them unto us, and then we shall all cry —

"Go worship at Immanuel’s feet!

See in his face what wonders meet!

Earth is too narrow to express His worth, his grace, his righteousness."

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 13

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 14

 

Verses 1-32

 

Isaiah 14:1. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

This promise had a measure of fulfillment when Israel was brought back from Babylon; and still is it true that, when God’s people come to their worst, there is always something better before them. On the other hand, it is equally sure that, when sinners come to their best, there is always something terrible awaiting them. The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, "God has not cast away his people which he foreknew;" and his declaration agrees with this prophecy, "The Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land." I believe that there will be a far grander fulfillment of this prophecy in that day when God shall bring back his chosen people to their own country, and then shall be the fullness of blessing to the Gentiles also: "The strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob."

Isaiah 14:2. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

The chosen people have the worst of it now in many parts of the world, but they shall have the best of it by-and-by; they shall not always be trampled on, their time of uplifting shall come at the last, sad there is nothing after the last; that which is last, lasts forever.

Isaiah 14:3-4. And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear, and from the hard bondage wherein you were made to serve, that you shall take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How has the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

O child of God, you shall by-and-by have a glorious season of rest! Today is your time of labor; you are now under hard bondage; but you shall yet come forth into the fullness of your liberty in Christ Jesus. In that day, Jehovah himself shall give you rest from all your grief’ and fears; you shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. This was a great prophecy for Isaiah to utter, for, in his day, there was no power on earth equal to that of Babylon. That great city abounded in palaces and extraordinary wealth, and its power was such that no kingdom could stand against it. For a while, it broke in pieces all those who fought against it; yet God broke Babylon in his own time; and here is a song of rejoicing in anticipation of its overthrow, "How has the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!"

Isaiah 14:5. Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, and the scepter of the rulers.

No power can ever be permanently strong that is founded upon wickedness; sooner or later, it will have to come to an end. A falsehood may array itself in the garments of wisdom and strength, and go forth to fight hopefully for victory; but, in the end, it must die. The stone of truth will find out the giant’s brow, and lay him headlong in death.

Isaiah 14:6-7. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he who ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hinders. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.

The Babylon, that none could resist, becomes herself destroyed and there is no one to come up to her assistance. Go at this day, and see where the owl dwells, and mark the habitation of the dragons, and say to yourself, "This is Babylon, the great city that was the queen over all nations; but she did evil in the sight of the Lord, and spoke extremely proudly; and, behold, Jehovah has crumbled her in the dust; and, now that Babylon is gone, ‘the whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they breath forth into singing.’"

Isaiah 14:8. Yes, the fir trees rejoice at you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since you are laid down, no fellow is come up against us.

For the cruel kings of Babylon cut down the nations as the woodman with his axe fells the trees of the forest; but when the power of Babylon was broken, peace and quietness reigned everywhere, O brethren, what a blissful day it will be when the modern Babylon is taken away also, for to this hoar she is the troubler among the nations! Wherever the blight of Popery comes, there is evil, there is oppression, there is bondage; and only when Romanism shall be utterly swept sway, and cast like a millstone into the flood, will it be said, "The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing." Here is a very wonderful picture of the king of Babylon going down to the grave.

Isaiah 14:9-10. Hell from beneath is moved for you to meet you at your coming: it stirs up the dead for you, even all the chief ones of the earth; it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto you, Are you also become weak as we? are you become like unto us?

It is a fine pictorial representation of the spirits of departed kings lifting themselves up from their beds of dust, and saying, "Are you, king of Babylon, that slew us, also come here? The mighty conqueror, are you yourself conquered, and brought to the grave?"

Isaiah 14:11-15. Your pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of your viols: the worm is spread under you, and the worms cover you. How are you fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how are you cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet you shall be brought down to Hell, to the sides of the pit.

God hates pride with a perfect hatred. He drives his sword through the very heart of it, and cuts it in pieces. None can be great and mighty, and boast of what they are able to do, without provoking the King of kings to put forth against them some of his great power. Oh, let none of as talk about climbing to Heaven by our good works, or getting there by our merits, lest it should happen to us also that we should "be brought down to Hades, to the sides of the pit."

Isaiah 14:16-18. They that see you shall narrowly look upon you, and consider you, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.

That is, they lie in state, each one in the mausoleum of his family. They went down to death, and they were buried with all the honor and glory that were supposed to be due to their high position.

Isaiah 14:19. But you are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch, and as the clothing of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet.

So total, so terrible, so disgraceful, was the destruction of Babylon, that no honor or glory remained to it.

Isaiah 14:20-22. You shall not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, and slain your people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renouned. Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. For I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts,—

And he has done it. It seemed the most unlikely thing to happen; but the Lord spoke, and it was done; and all the glory of Babylon was swept away. "I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts," —

Isaiah 14:22-27. And cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, says the Lord. I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

And God did this to the Assyrians in the day when Sennaeherib invaded the land, and the angel of destruction slew the whole host in one night. What a striking simile the Lord uses here! "This is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" Conceive in your mind the picture here drawn,— Jehovah himself puts out the hand of his almightiness, and challenges the nations to stand up in opposition to it.

Isaiah 14:28. In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.

About this time, the Philistines had plucked up courage, and had invaded Judah.

Isaiah 14:29. Rejoice not you, whole Palestine, because the rod of him that smote you is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.

Ahaz was defeated, but Hezekiah was raised up to be the leader of the Lord’s people.

Isaiah 14:30. And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill your root with famine, and he shall slay your remnant.

If God’s enemies have a bright day or two, it shall soon be showery weather with them. They may for the moment exult over God’s people, but he knows that their day of reckoning is coming.

Isaiah 14:31. Howl, O gate; cry, O city; you, whose Palestine, are dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.

That is the way the Babylonians would come running down from the north. No one would be able to hide himself from them, not a single person would find a shelter, or escape from their terrible adversaries.

Isaiah 14:32. What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord has founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.

Though the passage seems dark at first, yet it is full of consolation to the people of God, and is of similar import to that other gracious promise: "No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn."

 

Chapter 15

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 16

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 17

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 18

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 19

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 20

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 22

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 23

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 24

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 25

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 26

 

Verses 1-14

 

Isaiah 26:1. In that day —

Or, rather, as we may read it now, "In this day" —

Isaiah 26:1-3. Shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open you the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you.

Here is the song which we are to sing in this gospel day. The theme of it is God, and the city which he has built, and which he has given to us to be our heritage forever. "We have a strong city;" yes, beloved, a very strong one, for, although the devil has exercised all his ingenuity for these thousands of years, he has not been able to destroy it. He has thrown in the bombshell of persecution; he has tried to undermine it with his subtlety and cunning of false doctrine; but he has not been able to do anything effectually against the strong city yet. "We have a strong city;" and she is just as strong now, after all the desperate attacks that have been made upon her walls, as ever she was. Against her, the gates of Hell cannot prevail. The Church of Christ is never in danger. "We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks? After noticing the security of the city, the prophet bids us "open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in." It is the gospel minister’s business to seek to open the gates; it is the Christian’s business, in some sense, to open the gates; yes, we should all of us be endeavoring, if possible, to "open the gates, that the righteous nation " —that is, the righteous people "may enter" into the Church. But, after all, the Lord Jesus Christ is the great Opener of the gates; he opens the gates to let his people in. And, mark you, you, they do not all come in at one gate. The command is, "Open you the gates." Some come in by means of one doctrine, and some by means of another. We are not all converted by the same agency. Some come in at the Sunday-school gate; others come in at the gate which is kept by pious parents; many come in at the gate of the preached Word; but all the gates should be open: "Open you the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in." The prophet next describes the peaceableness of this city. The gates are open, but no enemy ever enters in: for he says to the Lord, "You will keep him in peace, — peace," as the original has it, in double peace. "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you." There is nothing like staying the mind on God. If you, you stay the mind on anything else, you, you cannot have perfect peace, for that something else may fail you, you. If you, you trust in horses and in chariots, horses may tire, and the wheels of the chariots may break; but he who trusts in the Lord shall dwell "in perfect peace." Let the earth be all in arms abroad, the believer dwells "in perfect peace," "because he trusts in you."

Isaiah 26:4-5. Trust you in the Lord forever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength: for he brings down them that dwell on high;

Some of you, you dwell so much "on high" that you, you do not believe the doctrine of original depravity; you, you are very good by nature, according to your own ideas. Well, remember this declaration of the prophet: "He brings down them that dwell on high." Others of you, you boast of your free-will capacity, and you, you think you, you have power to do anything without the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Ah! but "He brings down them that dwell on high." Others of you, you do not know what a doubt or a fear is, but you, you wrap yourselves up complacently in your self-sufficiency, and say, "We are secure," Ah! but "He brings down them that dwell on high."

Isaiah 26:5. The lofty city, he lays it low;

No one can lay God’s city low, but God can lay the lofty city low.

Isaiah 26:5-7. He lays it low, even to the ground; he brings it even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy. The way of the just is uprightness: you, most upright, do weigh the path of the just.

God "weighs the path of the just" in scales. We read elsewhere that God weighs the spirits, and weighs our actions; here we are told that he "weighs the path of the just." Those words, which were used by the prophet when he went to Hezekiah and said, "What have they seen in your house?" would serve for a very striking text. But it is still more important to consider what God has seen in our house and in our hearts, for God weighs our actions; he weighs our private thoughts and our public deeds; he "weighs the path of the just." But, according to the prophet, "the way of the just is uprightness," even after it is weighed. Notwithstanding all the sin that is mixed with it, in the main it is "uprightness" ascending towards God.

Isaiah 26:8-9. Yes, in the way of your judgments, O Lord, have we waited for you; the desire of our soul is to your name, and to the remembrance of you. With my soul have I desired you in the night; yes, with my spirit within me will I seek you early: for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Alas! it is often the case that, when God’s "judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness" for a little while, and then forget it. All too often, they are like the child who merely learns his lesson by rote, and repeats it under the fear of the rod, and then forgets all about it on the morrow. They "learn righteousness," but, soon, the effect of the warning is all gone, and then God sends fresh judgments upon the earth to teach the inhabitants further lessons.

Isaiah 26:10-12. Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord. Lord, when your hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yes, the fire of your enemies shall devour them. Lord, you will ordain peace for us: for you also have wrought all our works in us.

Troubled saint, what a precious passage this is for you! Poor, tempest-tossed soul, what a glorious utterance! "Lord, you will ordain peace for us." There shall come an ordinance from God, that his people shall have peace: "You will ordain peace for us: for you also have wrought all our works in us;" so they must be good works, but those works which God did not work in us are bad ones.

Isaiah 26:13-14. O Lord our God, other lords beside you have had dominion over us: but by you only will we make mention of your name. They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise:

Many of us can look back to the time when we made idols of business and of worldly things; but now these lords are dead, and they shall not live again; they are buried out of our sight, and they shall not rise from their graves.

Isaiah 26:14. Therefore have you visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.

And a blessed thing it is when the memory of our sins does perish, and we have no desire to be enslaved by them again.

Verses 1-21

 

Isaiah 26:1. In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.

God is the great source of song; he "gives songs in the night." He can make the saddest heart to break forth into praise. One part of the prophecy concerning Christ’s coming was, "Then shall the lame man leap as a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing." The Lord might have caused us to utter nothing but groans if he had pleased; but, instead of doing so, he delights to fill our mouths with joyous songs. Let us from our heart sing this ancient song: "We have a strong city." The Church of God is a city which has a heavenly citizenship, and other unique privileges; and it is wondrously protected, for the promise in this passage is now fulfilled: "salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks."

Isaiah 26:2. Open you the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in.

The city is not closed against the righteous; and if we know and love the truth, and especially-, if we know and love him who is the Truth, the gates are always open to us, and we may enter the city, enjoy its privileges, and share its protection.

Isaiah 26:3. You will keep him in perfect peace,—

"Peace, peace,"—that is the form of the Hebrew, and it means a double peace, the perfection of peace,—a great depth of peace, the reality of peace, peace upon peace belongs to the man who trusts in the Lord. Are you, you vexed, and worried, and perplexed, dear friend? Are you, you tossed to and fro as upon a stormy sea? This verse shows you, you the way in which you, you may obtain perfect peace: "You will keep him in perfect peace,"—

Isaiah 26:3-4. Whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you. Trust you in the Lord forever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

Nothing can be too hard for him, for he has "everlasting strength." Nothing can ever happen in the future to overthrow him, for his is not decaying strength, but "everlasting strength." Hold on to that strength, you children of God; you, you may even suck honey out of this "Rock of Ages" (see margin); for there is indescribable sweetness in it: "Trust you in the Lord for ever:"—not only sometimes, but always;—"forever," because there is strength in God forever.

Isaiah 26:5-6. For he brings down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he lays it low; he lays it low, even to the ground; he brings it even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.

You, you see, there is one city which God builds, and another city which he pulls down. Observe this solemn truth:" For he brings down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he lays it low;"—that city which is perched on the hill of self-righteousness, and lifted, as it were, almost to Heaven by the pride of man,—God will pull it down. It is part of God’s glory to lift up that which is down, and to cast down that which is up; for when men exalt themselves, they shall be abased; and when they humble themselves, they shall be exalted. "He brings it even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down." Oh, if there is anyone here who is trusting in himself, depending upon his own good doings, and reckoning that he will be saved by his own merits, you, you will have to come down from that high place, my friend; that fine castle of yours will be; left without one stone upon another, and the poorest child of God in all the world shall set his foot upon the loftiest pinnacle of your grand palace. God will bring it down so that "the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy," shall tread on it.

Isaiah 26:7. The way of the just is uprightness:

Or, as it might be better rendered, "The way of the just is an even path." The righteous shall steadily and safely stand in it, while others find themselves sometimes up and sometimes down, and their path shall be slippery and perilous.

Isaiah 26:7. You, most upright, do weigh the path of the just.

God judges us by weight, not by appearance; not by what we seem to be, but by what we are in the balances of the sanctuary.

Isaiah 26:8-9. Yes, in the way of your judgments, O Lord, have we waited for you; the desire of our soul is to your name, and to the remembrance of you. With my soul have I desired you in the night;

Some poor darkened spirit will, I trust, be able to join in this utterance of the prophet. It is night-time with you, you now; you, you are not enjoying the light of God’s countenance; but be very thankful that you, you can say, "With my soul have I desired you in the right." If you, you are not a child of God, you, you will be able to do without God; but the fact that some of you, you cannot be happy except you, you are living in the light of God’s love, proves that you, you belong to him. A child can be content without a stranger’s smile, but if the one who is looking at him is his father, just because he is his father’s child he must have the assurance of that father’s love, or else he cannot be happy.

Isaiah 26:9-10. Yes, with my spirit within me will I seek you early: for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.

There are none so blind as those who will not see, and there are plenty of such people about. They say that they cannot see this, and they cannot see that; but the truth is that they willfully shut their eyes, and disregard the everlasting light.

Isaiah 26:11. Lord, when your hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yes, the fire of your enemies shall devour them.

You, you know what our Lord Jesus said concerning the rich man, "In Hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his, bosom." He would not look at Lazarus while he was lying at his gates, but now he is obliged to look at Lazarus lying in Abraham’s bosom. He would not relieve him, nor give him even a crumb from his table, but now he begs that Lazarus may be sent, to dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool his parched tongue. "They will not see" now; no, "but they shall, see, and be ashamed for their envy towards the people of the Lord.

Isaiah 26:12. Lord, you will ordain peace for us:

We may be attacked and assailed for a little while, we may be tossed to and fro; but "You will ordain peace for us:"

Isaiah 26:12. For you also have wrought all our works in us.

We have no works in which we can glory; for even if we have an abundance of good works, they are all God’s work in us, and we give him all the praise for them; and because he has thus wrought in us, we expect that he will give us peace.

Isaiah 26:13-15. O Lord our God, other lords beside you have had dominion over us: but by you only will we make mention of your name. They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore have you visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. You have increased the nation, O Lord, you, have increased the nation: you are glorified: you had removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.

The Jews were scattered and diminished. When they sinned against God, they were exiled; but when the Lord returned to them in favor, he multiplied them, and brought them home again.

Isaiah 26:16. Lord, in trouble have they visited you, they poured out a prayer when your chastening was upon them.

And it was well for them that they did so. God’s true child does not get angry against his Father when he whips him; but, being chastened, he begins to pray; and blessed is that chastening that drives us to our knees: "They poured out a prayer when your chastening was upon them."

Isaiah 26:17-18. Like as a woman with child, that draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and cries out in her pangs; so have we been in your sight, O Lord. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

Here is the poor Church of God in sore trouble; she says she has been disappointed, her bitterest pangs have not brought her what she expected. What shall happen then? God will interpose.

Isaiah 26:19. Your dead men shall live,—

We shall rise with all that belong to Christ at the first and blessed resurrection, and all our dead hopes and our dead expectations shall rise too.

Isaiah 26:19. Together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in dust: for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

As the soft showers cause the buried bulbs to spring up, so will God’s gentle grace fall on men’s hearts, and they shall arise, though they seemed to be dead before; and at the last great day, the sound of the archangel’s trumpet shall be like a soft spring shower which brings up the flowers of the earth, and—

"From beds of dust, and silent clay,

To realms of everlasting day,"—

the bodies of the saints shall rise. O blessed hope! let us look for its fulfillment. Let us make this a part of our song. There is a city that has foundations, and there is a resurrection which will enable us to enter into that city, to dwell there forever. Oh, come let us sing of the New Jerusalem, and of the white-robed multitudes that shall dwell therein.

Isaiah 26:20. Come, my people, enter you into your chambers, and shut your doors about you:

Enter into the secret Chambers of communion with your Lord, where you, you shall be shut out from the world. Enter into the chambers of defense, where God will guard you, you. Enter into the chambers of devotion, where God shall meet with you, you.

Isaiah 26:20-21. Hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

 

Verse 20-21

 

We will read a short passage in the Book of the prophet Isaiah, commencing with the twenty-sixth chapter, and the twentieth verse.

Isaiah 26:20. Come, my people, enter you into your chambers, and shut your doors about you: hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

There is never a flood for the wicked without an ark for the righteous. Never shall a storm sweep over the earth until God has prepared a great rock wherein his people may be hidden.

Isaiah 26:21. For, behold, the Lord comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

The earth has often covered up the evidences of human guilt. Blood shed in battle has soaked into the soil, and men have forgotten the violence of tyrants and conquerors, but the earth shall disclose her blood. Sin, though it be sown in the earth, shall spring up like wheat, but to a terrible harvest. "Be sure your sin will find you, you out."

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 26:20-21; and Isaiah 27:1-9.

 

Chapter 27

 

Verses 1-9

 

Isaiah 27:1. In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, That is to say, he will punish those who are like leviathan; the proudest, the greatest, and the most powerful sinners shall not escape divine justice.

God’s laws are not, like cobwebs, meant to catch the little flies while the great ones break through, but he will strike leviathan, he will surely punish the mightiest sinners of the earth.

Isaiah 27:1. Even leviathan that crooked serpent;

Hard to come at, difficult to find, he shall not escape the sword of the Lord.

Isaiah 27:1. And he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

If men should try to hide from God in Hell itself, yet would he find them out; there is no possibility that any offender shall escape his all-seeing eye.

Isaiah 27:2-3. In that day sing you unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.

Thus the Lord reveals the tenderness of his love to his Church. Then follows a remarkable passage in which, it seems to me, we have the plan of salvation plainly set out. First, here is man at enmity with his Maker.

Isaiah 27:4. Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.

Men who are at enmity with God little know how terrific is the force of his strength. They are like dry thorns when the fire catches them, and nothing burns more readily. The bush upon the common, when some wild youth sets light to it, suddenly blazes up, crackles, and is gone; so will it be with the ungodly. God has but to go through them, and they shall be destroyed. But now comes a message of mercy.

Isaiah 27:5. Or let him take hold of my strength,

This is what the repenting and believing sinner does, he lays hold of Christ, he takes the strength of God to be his defense, and then the strong God, instead of being a terror, becomes a comfort to him.

Isaiah 27:5-6. That he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me. He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root:

Taking root should be well looked after by the Christian. Some professors have no root; they are all leaf and flower, but they have no root, and consequently they soon wither and die. Happy is that man who is rooted and grounded in the faith!

Isaiah 27:6-7. Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. Has he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him?

No; God smites his people, but he never smites them as he does their enemies. He smites his people, as old Trapp says, with the palm of his hand, as a man may smite his child; but he smites his enemies with his fist, as one would dash his foe to the ground. There is a great difference between the chastisements of God’s people and the righteous judgments that fall upon the wicked.

Isaiah 27:7-8. Or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him? In measure, when it shoots forth, you will debate with it:

God always chastens his people in measure; he makes a debate about it; he weighs their troubles in scales, and their sorrows in balances.

Isaiah 27:8. He stays his rough wind in the day of the east wind.

He never sends too many troubles at a time; if the east wind is blowing, he does not send his rough wind. We have much to thank God for, that he times our troubles, had they come an hour before, they might have been too much for us; had they been kept back a week longer, they might have overthrown us. God knows when to chasten his people, and he will always chasten them at the right time.

Isaiah 27:9. By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin;

When one of the old Puritans was afflicted with a very painful disease, —perhaps the most painful to which flesh is heir, — he kept crying out, "The use, Lord? The use, Lord? Show me the use of it." This should be the point at which the Christian should always aim.

Isaiah 27:9. When he makes all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.

You, you see, the Israelites had piled up stones, and held them in veneration, but when God brought them back to himself, they counted those stones to be but as common chalkstones of the valley. It is a good thing for us when our sins bring us no pleasure, when they are only like common stones of the street. When we break our images, and dash down our idol-gods, we show that we prize them no longer. The Lord make this to be the issue of all our trials! Then will we bless him for our troubles so for our chief mercies.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 26:20-21; and Isaiah 27:1-9.

 

Chapter 28

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 29

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 30

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 31

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 32

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 33

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 34

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 35

 

Verses 1-10

 

Isaiah 35:1. The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;

They shall be so glad that they shall inspire gladness where all was desolation, and brooding, melancholy batswing, and dragon’s howl. "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them."

Isaiah 35:1. And the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

God’s people are a happy-making people. They are a blessing in themselves, and they shall be a blessing to others, until all shall say, "These are the seed that the Lord has blessed." "The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose."

Isaiah 35:2. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God.

A wonderful sight to see, for there is one of the most lovely sights in the world when the glory and excellency of God are to be seen in the works of his grace in his own people. It is such a sight that it makes men first rejoice in their hearts, and then rejoice with their tongues. They shall "rejoice with joy and singing," which is the double rejoicing of the heart and of the lip. Well, these must be a favored people who, wherever they go, can make others glad after this fashion. Brethren, they must be full or they could not overflow! They must be themselves alive, or else they could not quicken the desert places. They must themselves be in flower, blooming like the rose, or they could not make the wilderness so full of verdure. The Lord grant that we may be in that state that we may be able to go into the wilderness. There are some of God’s people that cannot trust themselves to go where they are wanted, because they have not grace enough. They are so weak that they are like the weak man standing on the river’s brink, who cannot leap in to pull out a drowning man for fear they should be pulled in themselves. But, oh! they are blessed indeed who dare go into wildernesses and into the solitary places, and carry the transforming blessing of Heaven with them until the wilderness changes its dress, and the brown of the sand gives place to the ruddiness of the rose, because God has come there with his people.

Isaiah 35:3. Strengthen you the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

Are there such here tonight? No doubt there are — weak at work, and weak at praying. The two things go together — weak hands and feeble knees. May they both be strengthened.

Isaiah 35:4. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you, you.

It is very singular how salvation and vengeance are so often associated together in Scripture. It is the day of salvation," and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn." Vengeance upon the false is the best consolation to the true. When God smites the sham, even to the heart, then does he bless that in which the truth is found. "He will come and save you, you."

Isaiah 35:5-6. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

See what the presence of Christ does. See what the presence of Christ’s people will do when he comes in them and with them. They make the wilderness rejoice. But, besides that, the dwellers that are found in the wilderness — these lame and deaf people — get the blessing. Oh! may God make us to be a desert to others of this sort.

Isaiah 35:7. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

The greenest spots your eye ever rested upon are just there where the grass is so rooted in the morass that it is always green with a delicate tinge, and the reeds and rushes spring up abundantly. O God, make poor parched hearts to become like this! You, you barren ones, you, you desolate ones, he can give you, you the best verdure that is possible. Your hearts shall be as green and fresh as the spots where there is grass with reeds and rushes.

Isaiah 35:8. And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

Oh! what a blessing that is to us poor fools! We should err anywhere. To err is human, and we seem to have come in for a double share of it. The more we look at our lives the more we see the folly of our hearts. What a mercy it is that when we walk in the way of faith, in the way of Christ, fools as we are, we shall not err!

Isaiah 35:9-10. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Like frightened things. They kept us company part of our road, but, when the Lord appeared they took to themselves wings and fled away. We could not tell where they were gone to. We were surprised to find that they had quite vanished. Oh! for the appearing of the Lord tonight to his mourning people who may be here.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 35. Hebrews 12:1-6.

 

Chapter 36

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

Chapter 37

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 38

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 39

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 40

 

Verses 1-17

 

Isaiah 40:1-2. Comfort you, comfort you my people, says your God. Speak you comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she has receives of the Lord’S hand double for all her sins.

God would have his people happy. He knows that we are not in strong, vigorous state, neither do we honor his name while we are lacking in holy joy. Let the sinners be uncomfortable. Let them be "like the troubled sea that cannot rest"; but as for God’s people, it is his great joy that they should be happy. He bids his servants again and again to comfort them. Sometimes we are in a condition of warfare, and we are under the chastising rod but now the Lord appears graciously to his servants, and he says, "Your warfare is over: your chastisement is ended." Now the Lord returns in mercy, and he grants a sense of forgiven sin.

Isaiah 40:3. The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

You, you know this was John the Baptist coming to proclaim the Savior. That was the best comfort God’s people could have — the coming of the Lord. So it is now. The joy of the Church is the coming of the Lord, and to each one of us the greatest source of joy is the drawing near to us of our Lord. If he appears to us, our winter is over, our summer’s sun has come. If Christ be with us, the time of the singing of birds has come, and our heart is glad.

Isaiah 40:4-5. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.

Wherever Christ comes, it is so. All things are right at his appearing, and if the Lord do but manifest himself to us tonight, each one, we shall find the crooked things made straight. We shall see the mountains of difficulty leveled, and the deep depressions will all be filled up and there will be a causeway along which the Lord triumphantly shall ride to display the greatness of his power. There is nothing that shall hinder the coming of the Lord to us, and when he comes, there is nothing that shall stand against him

Isaiah 40:6-8. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withers, the flower fades: because the spirit of the Lord blows upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand forever.

Now that is a cry that we all need to hear — the death-cry of all creature-confidence for man at his very best is only like grass in the flower. It will be mown down in due time, but if the scythe comes not near it, yet will it fade in its season, for it is a transient thing, and every hope and confidence which is based upon that which is seen must be temporal and must pass away. All the joy that you, you have tonight — all the hope and all the confidence you, you have which is based upon an earthly thing — must by degrees all disappear. Nothing is eternal but that which springs out of the eternal. Unless our hope be in the Lord alone, that hope will at some time or other fail us; and this is a cry we need to hear because, until we are sick of the creature, we shall not turn to the Creator. Until we have done with false confidences, we shall not make God our trust.

Isaiah 40:9. O Zion, that bring good tidings, get you up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

Look away from these fading things and behold your God. Look away from the brightest joy you, you have, though it be, like the meadow, all besprent, with many colored flowers, and look to your God, and to your God alone. "Behold your God" — your God in Christ; your God who has come through the wilderness, making a highway for himself, that he may come to you, you, Rejoice in Christ your Savior, and you, you shall have a joy that never shall be taken from you, you.

Isaiah 40:10-11. Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd:

Do you, you belong to the flock tonight? Then let this comfort you, you. Never mind about the fading flowers. "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd." He has brought you, you into the pasture tonight. Depend upon it, he has not led you, you by a wrong way. And now, though your soul be hungry and thirsty, you, you shall not lack, for "he shall feed his flock like a shepherd."

Isaiah 40:11. He shall gather the lambs with his arm,

The feeblest, first. The most care, for those that want most care. "He shall gather the lambs with his arm."

Isaiah 40:11. And carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Your sorrow is to come, It is to yourself alone known. None can sympathize with you, you. He will gently lead you, you. There is no overdriving with Christ. Sometimes his ministers in order to get God’s people right one way, overdrive them another, and it is possible while rebuking the hypocrite, to cause grief to the sincere believer, but our Lord is a better shepherd than the under shepherds are at their very best. "He shall gather the lambs with his arm, carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." Oh! what a blessed helper we have! Let us rest in him.

Isaiah 40:12-17. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out Heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor has taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he takes up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

Who would not trust such a God as this — this only God? How well may we be content to turn away from the fading creatures to this eternal Lord and put our trust in him! Indeed, the wonder is that we do trust the creature, and the wonder still is that we do not trust the mighty Creator.

Faith, which seems so difficult, after all, is nothing better than sanctified common-sense. It is the most common-sense thing in all the world to trust in Omnipotence — in infinite, unchanging love — in infallible truth. To trust anywhere else needs a great deal of justification, but to trust in God needs no apology. He well deserves it. O my soul, trust you in him.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 40:1-17; Isaiah 25-31. John 1:29-42.

Verses 1-31

 

Isaiah 40:1. Comfort you, comfort you my people, says your God.

"They need it, and they shall have it. Mind, O my servants, that you, you give it to them: Comfort you, comfort you my people, says your God."

Isaiah 40:2. Speak you comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she has received of the Lord’S hand double for all her sins.

The first meaning of these words was that, as Jerusalem had passed through a time of great tribulation, she should have a season of rest, but the grand gospel meaning to you, you and to me is, that our Lord Jesus has fought our battle, and won the victory for us, that he has paid our debt and given to divine justice the double for all our sins, and therefore, our iniquity is pardoned. This is enough to make anyone happy, one would think. It is the best thing that even Isaiah could say, or that God himself could say by the mouth of Isaiah, when his object was to comfort the Lord’s tried people.

Isaiah 40:3-4. The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

When God means to come to men, nothing can stop him or block up his road. He will level mountains, and fill up valleys, but he will come to his people, somehow or other. And when he comes to them, if he finds many crooked things about them, he will make the crooked straight, and the rough places he will make plain.

Isaiah 40:5. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.

And, since he has spoken it, it must come to pass. "Has he said, and shall he not do it? "With him, to say anything is to will its accomplishment.

Isaiah 40:6-8. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withers, the flower fades: because the spirit of the Lord blows upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand forever. Yes, the dearest ones that we have are but flesh, so they wither, and pass away like the green herb. Have you, you been bereaved, my believing friend?

Well, you, you may still say to your Lord, in the words of our hymn, "How can I bereaved be, Since I cannot part from you?" The mower with the sharp scythe cuts down the grass, but he cannot touch the secret source of our hope, and joy, and confidence in God, and, above all, he cannot touch the God in whom we confide.

Isaiah 40:9. O Zion, that bring good tidings, get you up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

If the chief, the best, the holiest city has found her God, if Jerusalem has been thus favored, let her sing the gladsome tidings, over the hilltops, to the most distant cities of the land, and say to them, "Behold your God "If you, you have seen your Lord, beloved, proclaim the good news to those who have well near forgotten that there is a God, say to them, "Behold your God. He is still to be seen, by the eye of faith, working graciously in the midst of the earth."

Isaiah 40:10-11. Behold, the lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

He knows their weakness, their weariness, their pain, and how incapable they are of speedy and long traveling; he is very tender and pitiful, and he will gently lead them.

Isaiah 40:12-14. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out Heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance. Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor has taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?

And yet, beloved, we sometimes act as if we were God’s teachers, as if we had to instruct him what he should do, and because we cannot see our way, we almost dream that he cannot, and because we are puzzled, we conceive that infinite wisdom must be at a nonplus; but it is not so. He was full of wisdom when there was no one with whom he could take counsel, and he is still wise in the highest degree.

Isaiah 40:15. Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket,

Not a bucketful, but just a drop that remains in the bucket after you, you thought it had been completely emptied.

Isaiah 40:15. And are counted as the small dust of the balance:

Remember that this is said of "the nations." China, India, Europe, Africa, with all their teeming multitudes, are only like the small dust of the balance that is blown away by the slightest puff of wind.

Isaiah 40:15-16. Behold, he takes up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon

With all its forests of cedar: "Lebanon" —

Isaiah 40:16. Is not sufficient to burn,

Think of all the cedars of Lebanon as being on a blaze, like some great forest fire, yet not being sufficient to supply the wood for God’s altars.

Isaiah 40:16. Nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

Whether it be the wild or the tame beasts that are on that mountain range, they are not sufficient for a burnt offering unto the Most High.

Isaiah 40:17. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

As if they were the mere shadow of something, and had no more influence over him than as if they did not exist.

Isaiah 40:18. To whom then will you liken God?

This is a strong argument against idolatry, against the worship of God under any visible form whatever: "To whom then will you liken God?"

Isaiah 40:18. Or what likeness will you compare unto him?

The heathen did make these supposed likenesses of God. Here is a description of the process by which they manufactured their idol gods.

Isaiah 40:19.The workman melts a graven image, and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold,

The rough metal is cast in a certain fashion, and then the goldsmith puts on it his thin plates of gold,

Isaiah 40:19. And casts silver chains.

To adorn it.

Isaiah 40:20. He who is so impoverished that he has no oblation —

The poor man, who cannot manage to make a God of gold,

Isaiah 40:20. Chooses a tree that will not rot;

A good piece of heart of oak or enduring elm.

Isaiah 40:20. He seeks unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

Fix it firmly, drive the post down far into the earth, so that it may be an immovable God.

Isaiah 40:21-26. Have you not known? have you not heard? has it not been told you, you from the beginning? have you not understood from the foundations or the earth? It is he who sits upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in: That brings the princess to nothing; he makes the judges of the earth as vanity. Yes, they shall not be planted; yes, they shall not be sown: yes, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will you liken me, or shall I be equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high,

Suppose it to be night time: "Lift up your eyes on high," —

Isaiah 40:26. And behold who has created these things,

These wondrous worlds, these stars that bespangle the firmament.

Isaiah 40:26. That brings out their host by number:

For God knows the number of them all, and the name of every separate world that moves in the vast expanse of space.

Isaiah 40:26. He calls them all by names by the greatness of his might for that he is strong in power; not one fails.

They are not propped up with pillars, nor hung upon some mighty ropes, yet they continue to occupy the spheres appointed to them by God. He hangs the world upon nothing, and keeps it in its place by the perpetual out-going of his power.

Isaiah 40:27. Why say you, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

What! when he has not forgotten one of all those mighty hosts of stars, and when not a sparrow falls to the ground without his notice, how can you, you dream that he has forgotten you, you, or that your way is hidden from him?

Isaiah 40:28-31. Have you not known? have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

 

Verses 9-11

 

40:9-11. O Zion, that bring good tidings, get you up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

This office of Christ makes glad the hearts of those who have to preach it. To lift up our voice and to proclaim to others the good tidings is grateful service. It is the joy of the church that Jesus, the Lord God Almighty, is strong for the defense of his people, and at the same time tender towards their infirmities. Let us rejoice and be glad in him. Now let us hear what our Shepherd says by the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel. After he has been complaining of the hireling shepherds — the false ones who sought the fleece and not the flock, who did not feed the sheep nor care for them, nor had any tenderness toward them; he goes on to show what he will do for his own.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 23, Isaiah 40:9-11, Ezekiel 34:11-25.

Verses 25-31

 

Isaiah 40:25-26. To whom then will you liken me, or shall I be equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who has created these things, that brings out their host by number: he calls them all by names by the greatness of his might; for that he is strong in power; not one fails.

There is no other power that hangs yon lamps of Heaven in their places, and keeps them ever burning, except the power of his Word. This whole round earth of ours hangs on nothing but the bidding of the Most High. I remember how Luther used to console himself in troublous times by saying, "Look at yonder arch of blue. There is not a pillar to hold it up, and yet whoever saw the skies fall?" Nothing but the power of God keeps them up. My soul, if all the worlds were made by his word, can not you hang on that word? If all things do exist but by the will and word of your Father, can he not support you, and can you not trust him? Oh! this confidence in the invisible and eternal ought to be natural to us as God’s children. But alas! here is our great sin — that we frequently trust in an arm of flesh and forget our God.

Isaiah 40:27. Why say you, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

He forgets no star among the myriads, no creature among the multitudes. He has marked in his book the track of every single atom of air, and every particle of dust, and every drop of spray, and how can you be forgotten?

Isaiah 40:28-29. Have you not known? have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He gives power to the faint:

He loves to pour out into empty vessels. He does not give his power to the strong, but "he gives power to the faint," and the more faint you are, the more room for his strength. Trust you in him. If you are burdened that you can not stand, lean on him. The more you do lean, the better will he love you. He delights to help his people. "He gives power to the faint."

Isaiah 40:29-30. And to them that have no might he increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

We sometimes wish that we were as young as some, and that we had all their overflowing spirit — all the effervescence of their juvenile ardor. Ah, well! we need not wish for it, for mere mortal power shall droop and die, and earthly vigor cease, while such as trust the Lord shall find their strength increased. "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall."

Isaiah 40:31. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles;

That is very much when they begin. They are all for flying; and God gives them a glorious flight, land they are so happy and so delighted. But they will do better than that.

Isaiah 40:31. They shall run, and not be weary;

Is that better than flying? Yes it is — a better pace to keep up, but God enables his servants at length to keep along the road of duty and to run in it. But there is a better pace than that.

Isaiah 40:31. And they shall walk, and not faint.

It is a good, steady pace. It is the pace that Enoch kept when he walked with God. Sometimes it is easier to take a running spurt than it is to keep on day by day walk, walk, walk, in the sobriety of Christian conversation.

Many under excitement can run a race, but it is the best of all to be able steadily to walk on, walking with God the Lord. The lord bring us to that pace. "They shall walk and not faint."

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 40:1-17; Isaiah 25-31. John 1:29-42.

 

Chapter 41

 

Verses 1-18

 

God enters into a controversy with those who had fallen into the worship of idols.

Isaiah 41:1. Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.

He challenges them to a debate. He gives them breathing time — bids them prepare themselves, and come with the best arguments that their minds could find.

Isaiah 41:2-3. Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? He gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.

Who was it that raised up Cyrus, and who made him strong to defeat the foe? Did the false gods do it? Could they claim any share therein? He puts it to them.

Isaiah 41:4. Who has wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.

Long before Cyrus was born, God thus spoke of him. It is declared what work he should do. What better proof could there be that God is God? Do the false gods foretell the future? Are their oracles to be depended upon? Yet the Lord’s word is true and stands fast forever. "I Jehovah, first, and with the last, I am he."

Isaiah 41:5-6. The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came. They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.

When men fight against God, they get united. What a very sad thing it is that God’s children should ever fall out. There is one sin that I never heard charged upon the devils namely, the sin of disunity. Of all the evil things we have heard, I have never heard that among the principalities of the pit there has ever been any division into sects and parties. Oh! sad that in this respect we should fall short of them. The enemies of God helped everyone, his neighbor, "and everyone said to his brother, Be of good courage."

Isaiah 41:7. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he who smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.

What a sarcastic description of god-making this is! There is the carpenter, and then the goldsmith to spread the plates of gold over the wood, and then it is soldered, and it has to be fastened with nails. The simple facts about the making of gods are sufficient to pour ridicule upon idolatry. God deliver us from idolatry of any form or shape, whether it comes from Rome or Canterbury. May we have no symbol — no visible object of worship whatever, but get rid of all that, and before the great invisible Spirit let us bow, worshiping him in spirit and in truth. For the least touch of the symbolical soon leads on to the idolatrous, and what at the first seemed harmless soon comes to be harmful so that well does the law say, "You shall not make unto you any graven image for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God." Oh! to keep clear of this great and heinous sin!

Isaiah 41:8-9. But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called you from the chief men thereof, and said unto you, You are my servant; I have chosen you, and not cast you away.

The people of Israel were reserved by God that they might worship him. While other nations went to their idols, the Israelites were to be his servants, chaste in heart towards himself. It is so with the Lord’s believing people. You are elected and selected, chosen and ordained, and set apart. You, you may fear the Lord, and not give your hearts to any other. May God grant that we may be true to this our sacred trust. Notice how very sweetly in this text the Lord alludes to his friendship to Abraham, "The seed of Abraham, my friend." When the Lord makes a friend of a man, he means it, and he keeps up that friendship to his children and his children’s children. Happy are they who have a father who is a friend of God. Just as David did good to Mephibosheth for the sake of Jonathan, so, doubtless, many blessings come to the children for the sake of their parents. The Lord keeps mercy to the third and fourth generation, yes, and throughout all generations to them that keep his covenant.

Isaiah 41:10. Fear you not; for I am with you:

What cause for fear now? If I am with you, you need not fear all the men on earth, nor all the demons of the pit. Fear you not, for I am with you."

Isaiah 41:10. Be not dismayed; for I am your God:

"Your God." Lay the stress there if you, you will, or "your God, therefore your all-sufficient helper — your immutable, faithful, everlasting friend."

Isaiah 41:10-12. I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold all they that were incensed against you shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with you shall perish. You shall seek them, and shall not find them, even them that contended with you: they that war against you shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nothing.

Go on, then, child of God. All your foes that resist your salvation shall disappear before your onward march. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you, you." Advance to meet your cares, and God shall take your cares away. Only be you strong and of a good courage, and rest in the everlasting arm, and you shall be more than a conqueror.

Isaiah 41:13-14. For I the Lord your God will hold your right hand, saying unto you, Fear not; I will help you. Fear not, you worm Jacob,

Poor worm! How can it take care of itself? Even a bird can destroy it. "Fear not, you worm Jacob." You, you know what a worm does for its defense. It is all that it can do: it hides itself in the earth. Hide yourself in your God. Get you into the rock, and there be hidden until the danger be overpast. "Fear not, you worm Jacob."

Isaiah 41:14. And you men of Israel; I will help you, says the Lord, and your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

How many times the Lord puts it, "I will help you"! How again and again, he says, "Fear not"! For despondency is deeply graven in some spirits. There are some minds that seem to gravitate that way again and again, and again; and even the divine assurances have to be given repeatedly before they feel comfort. have any of you, you been troubled because your children do not learn the first time you, you teach them? See how you, you are towards your heavenly Father! how many times he has to teach you, you, line upon line, precept upon precept — here a little, and there a little; and if he has patience with our infirmities, we may very readily have patience with the infirmities of our little ones.

Isaiah 41:15. Behold, I will make you a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth:

He will make poor feeble worms to be like that great corn-drag which they were accustomed to draw over the straw to bruise out the wheat.

Isaiah 41:15-16. You shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff. You shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and you shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Truly, when mountains are beaten into chaff, and blown away with the winnowing fan, there is room for rejoicing and magnifying God. If there were no difficulties, there would be no victories. If we had no trials, we should have no tests of Jehovah’s strength; but out of our afflictions we get our joys. The deeper our sorrows, the higher our exultations when God helps us through them.

Isaiah 41:17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

What a blessed promise that is! God thinks of poor and needy men. When they are in their greatest extremity, with nothing to quench their thirst, and they are ready to die, then he is pleased to make the rocks run with rivers, in order that they may be supplied.

Isaiah 41:18. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

 

Verses 1-20

 

Isaiah 41:1. Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.

God invites people to argue with him. He bids them first "listen" to him, and then speak to him. They had been worshiping idols, so the Lord shows them that the idols are nothing, and that all worship paid to them is a lie. He begins by asking a question:?

Isaiah 41:2. Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his east, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.

These words are supposed to allude to Cyrus, who came "from the east", and conquered "the nations", and then did good to the house of Israel. It was God who spoke of Cyrus long before he was born. What idol God has been able to utter any prophecy? Only the Most High who lives in Heaven can foretell things to come. One of the best proofs of our holy religion is to be found in the prophecies which have been fulfilled to the letter in various countries, and at different periods. Now, when they dig up old stones, that have been hidden for hundreds of years from the eyes of men, they see the proofs of how God saw into the future, and bade his prophets foretell the things that should be hereafter.

Isaiah 41:4. Who has wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he. The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.

They helped every one his neighbor; and ever one said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he who smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.

A very graphic picture of the making of an idol. The people were afraid of Cyrus, so they began to appeal to their gods. A pretty God it must have been that had to be made by a carpenter! Then the wood had to be covered with gold plates by the goldsmith, and the God would not be complete without the help of a man smoothing with a hammer and a smith smiting upon an anvil. When it was made, they had to solder it to keep it together; and they had to get nails to fasten it in its place lest, like Dagon, it should fall down and be broken. This is nothing but literal truth; yet what sarcasm it is upon idolatry! What good can come of idols that are made by men, idols that cannot move, and must be fixed in their places with soldering irons?

Isaiah 41:8. But you, Israel, are my servant,

You, you do not worship idols; you, you worship Jehovah, the living and true God.

Isaiah 41:8. Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.

What a title for God to give to a man, "Abraham my friend"! Could not we also endeavor to get into God’s friendship, where Abraham was; to trust and love God much; to talk with him much, and enjoy high and holy fellowship with him?

Isaiah 41:9. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called you from the chief men thereof, and said unto you, You are my servant; I have chosen you, and not cast you away.

To many here this verse will come home very sweetly. God is your God. and you, you are God’s servants. he has chosen you, you; he will never repent of his choice; his election is never changed. "I have Chosen you, and not cast you away;" and you, you have chosen him, and you, you will not cast him away. By his grace, you, you will never leave your God, nor forsake the ways of Christ. May his mercy keep you, you faithful, even to the end!

Isaiah 41:10. Fear you not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God:

Where God is, there is no cause for fear: "Fear you not; for I am with you." That is a grand argument. "Be not dismayed; for I am your God." Everything we need lies within the compass of those words.

Isaiah 41:10. I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.

Beloved believer, are you, you weak tonight? Claim this precious promise, "I will strengthen you." Have you, you something to do that is quite beyond your strength? Take hold of this comforting word, "I will help you." Are you, you ready to slip? Do you, you feel as if you, you must fall? Lean on this gracious message, "I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness." Do not let these precious pearls lie at your feet to be trodden on; pick them up, and wear them, and beautify the neck of your faith with them.

Isaiah 41:11. Behold, all they that are incensed against you shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with you shall perish.

Your sins, your temptations, everything that would keep you, you out of Heaven, and drive you, you away from God, the Lord will overcome all these enemies of yours, and deliver you, you.

Isaiah 41:12-13. You shall seek them, and shall not find them, even them that contended with you: they that war against you shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nothing. For I the Lord your God will hold your right hand, saying unto you, Fear not; I will help you.

That is the second time that we have had that precious promise to forbid our fear; first in verse 10, and now in verse 13, "I will help you."

Isaiah 41:14. Fear not, you worm Jacob,

You, you are earthly, groveling, weak, like a worm; yet even you, you need not fear:

"Fear not, you worm Jacob."

Isaiah 41:14. And you men of Israel; I will help you,

That is the third time that we have had that promise, "I will help you." "Ring that silver bell again," says the Holy Spirit to Isaiah, "let it comfort my tired ones." "I will help you."

Isaiah 41:14. Says the Lord, and your redeemer, the Holy one of Israel.

I was wonderstruck, as I looked at this verse, to find it put "You worm Jacob, I will help you, says the Lord, and your God," that is the Hebrew word which is translated "Redeemer", "Your next of kin." Is the next of kin to a worm the Almighty God? Does he undertake to be our Brother, to pay the redemption price for us, because he is our Kinsman? So the text says. Let us drink in the comfort of it: "Your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." In order to become our Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel himself became "a worm, and no man."

Isaiah 41:15. Behold, I will make you a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small. and shall make the hills as chaff.

The Easterns drag a wooden machine over the corn to fetch out the grain from the ear. This is called a corn-drag, and they put teeth in it, similar to the teeth of a harrow. God said that he would turn his Church, his people, into a new corn-drag, with teeth sharp and tearing, and that they should go against their difficulties, which were like mountains, and against their trials, which were like hills, and they should thresh them small, and make them to be like chaff.

Isaiah 41:16. You shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and you shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.

All difficulty is gone, torn to pieces small as chaff, and then winnowed away, as the chaff is blown from among the heap on the threshing floor. What a promise this is! You, you who fear God, believe it, go and practice it, and see if God does not make your greatest difficulties utterly to disappear. Now come two sweet verses:?

Isaiah 41:17. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

See what God can do. Men are thirsty, they have no water; and lo! of a sudden, behold rivers, fountains, springs, pools, floods; for God does nothing in halves. He is an all-sufficient, overflowing God. When he gives, he gives like a king. He does not measure his gifts of water by the pint and by the gallon; but here you, you have pools, and springs, and rivers. When he has given waters, he will give trees to grow by the waters. When God gives blessing, he makes other blessings to spring out of it.

Isaiah 41:19. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:

Making a paradise of streams of water and lovely trees, evergreen trees of the most lovely aspect, and of great variety. See what God can do. Where there is a wilderness, where there were hills and valleys, and all was dry and parched, he makes woods and forests, rivers and fountains. He can do all things. Oh, that we had faith in him! But we forget him: we turn not to him; we look everywhere but to God; we try every method except that of trusting in the living God. Have we a God? If so, why do we act as we sometimes do? Martin Luther was a very cheerful man, as a rule; but he had terrible fits of depression. he was at one time so depressed that his friends recommended him to go away for a change of air, to see if he could get relief. he went away; but he came home as miserable as ever; and when he went into the sitting-room, his wise wife Kate, Catherine von Bora, was sitting there, dressed in black, and her children round about her, all in black. "Oh, oh!" said Luther, "who is dead?" "Why," said she, "doctor, have not you, you heard that God is dead? My husband, Martin Luther, would never be in such a state of mind if he had a living God to trust to." Then he burst into a hearty laugh, and said, "Kate, you are a wise woman. I have been acting as if God were dead, and I will do so no more. Go and take off your black." If God be alive, why are we discouraged? If we have a God to look to, why are we cast down? Let us rejoice and be glad together; for God will do all that he has promised, for this reason:?

Isaiah 41:20. That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.

God wants you, you to know that he is at work on your behalf. he wants you, you so to trust him as to see how his promises can be applied to your case, and what his right hand can accomplish even for you, you. Let us trust him tonight with all our hearts.

Verses 8-20

 

Isaiah 41:8. But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom l have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.

Let us, for the time being, forget the people to whom this message was addressed, and see whether it might not be spoken to ourselves. Come, my friend, are you truly God’s servant? Do you delight to do his will, and to walk in his ways? If so, then you are God’s chosen; for, wherever there is the true spirit of obedience to the Lord, it is the result of his grace, and grace never comes except from the well-head of electing love. If you are God’s servant, you are God’s chosen. Then, see to it that you do walk and live as one of the seed of Abraham, whom God calls, "my friend." It was very touching, the other day, to notice how the Queen spoke of one who was her servant, but who had gained the friendship of his royal mistress. So the Lord Jesus Christ said to his disciples, "Henceforth I call you, you not servants; for the servant knows not what his Lord does: but I have called you, you friends." May we so faithfully serve him that it will be fitting for the Lord to speak of us in all three of these terms: "You, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend."

Isaiah 41:9. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called you from the chief men thereof, and said unto you, You are my servant; I have chosen you, and not cast you away.

May the Lord just now say that to each one of you, you who are his servants! Especially, may he say the latter part of it, "I have not cast you away"! Many times, he might have done so if he had dealt with us according to our deserts. "Dismiss me not your service, Lord," is a prayer we ought often to put up, for, in that service, we are far from perfect. I think I speak for all sane Christians; — I do not undertake to speak for certain insane ones that abound at this time, — but I believe that all sane servants of the Lord confess that they are such poor servants that their wonder is that they have not been dismissed from his service. Yet it is sweet to hear him say, "I have chosen you, and not cast you away."

Isaiah 41:10. Fear you not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God:

Oh, the riches of that word, "I am your God"! That is more than "Your Friend, your Helper." "I am your God."

Isaiah 41:10. I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; —

First, "I will give you strength, and then I will use my own strength on your behalf: ‘I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you;’" —

Isaiah 41:10. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.

The poor child of God seems to cry, "Lord, you say, ‘I will help you,’ but I can hardly stand; I am such a babe, I have not yet learned to stand alone." "Well, then," says God, "I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness." Are any of you, you afraid that you, you will slip with your feet? Are you, you put in very perplexing positions, so that you, you hardly know which way to turn? Then rest on this sweet promise, "Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness."

Isaiah 41:11. Behold, all they that were incensed against you shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with you shall perish.

The Lord Jesus Christ will put to rout all the enemies of his people. Their sins and their sorrows, their foes and their woes, shall alike be scattered to the wind.

Isaiah 41:12. You shall seek them, and shall not find them, even them that contended with you: they that war against you shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nothing.

You, you know how it happened to Pharaoh and all his hosts; the Israelites could not find them after the Lord had overthrown them in the Red Sea. The psalmist sang, long afterwards, concerning the Egyptians who were drowned, "There was not one of them left." So shall it be with all those whom you, you now fear and dread; God shall appear, and work such a deliverance for you, you that you, you shall wonder where your trouble is. It shall be drowned, utterly washed away, like the Egyptians whom the children of Israel saw no more.

Isaiah 41:13-14. For I the Lord your God will hold your right hand, saying unto you, Fear not; I will help you. Fear not, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will help you, says the Lord, and your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

You, you must not miss those charming words, dear friends. Let me read them again. Some of you, you will want them, so do not miss them. There is some medicine here that you, you will need, may be, before long: "Fear not, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will help you, says the Lord, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel."

Isaiah 41:15. Behold, I will make you a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff.

You, you know the corn-drag was made rough at the bottom, as though it had sharp teeth, and when it was drawn over the wheat after it was spread out on the threshing-floor, the grain was separated from the chaff. So God tells his people, if they trust him, that he will make them into a threshing instrument having teeth, and they shall thresh, not ordinary harvests, but shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and make the hills as chaff. No task is too hard for God’s people to accomplish when God is with them; difficulties vanish, and their fears are driven before the wind, when God strengthens them.

Isaiah 41:16. You shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and you shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Come, you that are drooping in spirit, here is God’s promise to you, you that you, you shall overcome all your difficulties, and then shall rejoice in God. "Oh!" say you, you, "I could rejoice in God if he enabled me to do that. Put the "if" away, and believe that he is about to help you, you, and anticipate the victory he is going to give you, you by singing the song of faith.

Isaiah 41:17. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst, —

They have come to such a state that they cannot even tell their wants; they do not know how to speak to others about their grief, or even to describe it to themselves. "Their tongue fails for thirst." What then?

Isaiah 41:17. I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

"But, Lord, they could not speak. Did you not say, ‘Their tongue fails’? Yet you say, ‘I the Lord will hear them.’" It shows, dear friends, that a groan is a prayer, a sigh is a prayer, and that, even if we cannot get as far as to sigh or groan, our very hunger and thirst make up a prayer before God: "I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them."

Isaiah 41:18. I will open rivers in high places,-

That is an unusual place to find rivers; but God does strange things when he shows mercy to the poor and needy: "I will open rivers in high places," —

Isaiah 41:18. And fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

There shall be enough and to spare; there shall be an abundance of the water of which before they could not find a single drop. When God is gracious to a soul, he is gracious. When his mercy is made to enter a man’s heart, then he pours floods upon him. No little grace will God bestow, but endless grace, and boundless grace, "and crown that grace with glory, too."

Isaiah 41:19-20. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.

May these gracious promises be fulfilled in you, you and me, that we may praise our faithful covenant-keeping God forever and ever! Amen.

 

Chapter 42

 

Verses 1-6

 

Isaiah 42:1. Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

Truly this prophecy is concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Observe the title which he takes. He is called the servant of God. The Father calls him his servant. Above all others is Christ the servant of the Highest deigning to become the servant of servants, though he is the King of kings. "Whom I uphold" — which may be read two ways. According to some renderings it should be, "Whom I lean upon" — as if God leant the full weight of his glory upon Christ, and gave over the work of grace into his hands, that is, if the passage be read passively. If actively, it runs as in our text, "Whom I uphold." And both are true. God leans upon Christ. Christ draws his strength from God. They co-work, and mutual is the glory. "Mine elect." That is first. "My choice one," for there is none so choice as Christ. "My elected one," for Christ is the head of election. We are chosen in him from before the foundation of the world so that specially does God call him "Mine elect." "In whom my soul delights." The delight of the Father in the Son is infinite. He delighted in his person. Now he delights in the work which he has accomplished. The delight of the Father is in Christ, and he delights in us because we are in him. If, indeed, we are members of Christ, he is well pleased with us for Christ’s sake. "In whom my soul delights." "I have put my Spirit upon him." That was publicly done when he was baptized in the Jordan. The Spirit without measure rests and abides on him, our covenant head. "He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." Rejoice then, you Gentiles. You, you are no longer excluded. At first the word came to the Jews only, but he has given the man, Christ Jesus, who has brought forth judgment to the Gentiles.

Isaiah 42:2-3. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

Jesus was gentle, retiring, meek, quiet. His testimony was a very powerful one, but not a noisy one. He sought no honor among men. He frequently forbade the healed ones to tell of his miracles. He rather retired than came into public notice. He was not contentious. He did not seek to put out the Pharisees, who were like smoking flax. He was never hard towards the tender ones, but always gentle as a nurse among her children. Now it is very often found that, where there is quietness and meekness, there is, nevertheless, great firmness of purpose. Noise and weakness go together, but quietness and strength are frequently combined. So read the next verse.

Isaiah 42:4. He shall not fail He shall not faint.

So it may be.

Isaiah 42:4. Nor be discouraged, until he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

This quiet, gentle Christ goes on pushing on his empire and extending his dominion until these far-off islands of the sea already know his power and the day comes when the whole round earth shall be obedient to his sway. O blessed Christ, how glad we are to think that, when we are discouraged, you are not, and, when we fail and faint, you do not. You hold on forever, like the sun who comes forth from his chamber in the morning, and stays not until he has run his race.

Isaiah 42:5-6. Thus says God the Lord, he who created the heavens, and stretched them out; he who spread forth the earth, and that which comes out of it; he who gives breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the Lord have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

Thus the great God commissions Christ. Thus he declares that the eternal power and Godhead will back him up until the Gentiles shall perceive his light, and the people shall be brought into covenant with God.

Verses 1-17

 

This book might well be called "the gospel according to Isaiah," for it is full of evangelical truth.

Isaiah 42:1. Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

Of whom speaks the prophet this, but of the Messiah — Jesus of Nazareth? He was upheld by the mighty power of God. He was the Lord’s chosen. The Spirit of God rested upon him, and this day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears, for he has brought forth righteousness to the Gentiles.

Isaiah 42:2. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

He shall be no clamorous seeker after applause. He shall not shout as those that seek for the mastery. Now the Savior was quiet, gentle, meek. humble. When he lifted up his voice, it was for God and for the sons of men — not for himself. He was meek and lowly of heart.

Isaiah 42:3. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

How exactly these words describe the Lord Jesus! He was so gentle that he did not break or break off the bruised reeds. We read that he did not answer the Scribes and Pharisees. They were so powerless — such bruised reeds in his esteem — such worthless, smoking flaxes — that he let them alone until bye-and-bye he came to bring forth judgment unto victory. And now the weak, the feeble, the gentle the poor in spirit, shall never find Christ deal hardly with them. "The bruised reed he will not break: the smoking flax he will not quench."

Isaiah 42:4. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, until he have set judgment in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law.

Oh! what a blessed thing it is that we have a Savior to trust, who will not fail, and he is one who will never be discouraged. He will carry out the salvation of his people, and never give it up as a hopeless case. Poor sinner, if he begins with you, you, he will not fail nor be discouraged; nor will be even with the whole earth. He will not take back his hand until surely all flesh shall see the glory of the Lord. He who has undertaken man’s redemption is not feeble of spirit and easily baffled. He shall not fail or be discouraged.

Isaiah 42:5-6. Thus says God the Lord, he who created the heavens, and stretched them out; he who spread forth the earth, and that which comes out of it; he who gives breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the Lord have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

See what God has made his Son, Jesus Christ. If you, you want to get to Christ in the covenant of grace, you, you have only to lay hold on Christ, for fist is given as a covenant to the people. He is the embodiment of the covenant — the sum and substance of it — the seal of it — the surety of it. He is, indeed, the covenant itself. And if you, you want light, you, you have only to get Christ. He is the light of the world, and here we are told that God has given him for a light to the Gentiles.

Isaiah 42:7. To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

Hear this, you, you melancholy ones, you, you that are desponding, you, you that cannot get out of the prison of bad habits, or shake off the chains of sin. Behold a liberator has come — one whose very business it is to open the fast closed cells of sin, and set the captives of Satan free.

Isaiah 42:8-9. I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before their spring forth I tell you, you of them.

One great proof of the truth of the deity of Jehovah is that he can foresee and foretell, so that long before events happen he makes them known. Now Isaiah, by God’s Spirit, told the Israelites concerning Christ hundreds of years before Christ came; and yet the terms are so express that one might almost think that they were written after the event. But does not God know; and is not he God who sees through the mists of ages, and looks upon the things that are to be as though they were? Truly he is God.

Isaiah 42:10-11. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, you that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar does inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.

For the coming of Christ is the coming of music into the world. When he did hang upon the cross, there were lighted up new stars to cheer earth’s night. Nay, what if I say that the sun itself had risen then to chase away the darkness once for all? O Lamb of God. Creation made the angels sing; but redemption makes us fallen men to sing, for it lifts us up to sit among the angels, through your meet precious blood.

Isaiah 42:12. Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands.

Now for his enemies. While God is thus graciously dealing with men, he determines to make an end of the powers of evil.

Isaiah 42:13. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yes, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.

Do not imagine that the gods of the heathen will always sit on their thrones that the powers of and-Christ will always darken the earth. Ah! no. God will bestir himself before long.

Isaiah 42:14. I have a long time held my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.

Oh! what a time will that be when God comes forth in the splendor of his power to put down all the hosts of evil.

Isaiah 42:15. I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.

What a terrible God he is! When he once puts forth his hand for deeds of justice and of vengeance, who can stand before him, but yet how his mercy walks arm-in-arm with his justice?

Isaiah 42:16. And I will bring the blind by way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

Oh! the condescension of God that even when his right arm is bared for war, and thunder girds his cloudy ear, yet still he stoops out of the chariot of wrath to look after poor, blind, helpless souls, and lead them in the way of peace and mercy. But as for his enemies: —

Isaiah 42:17. They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, You are our gods.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 42:1-17; Isaiah 43:18-25; Romans 10:1-19.

 

Chapter 43

 

Verses 1-7

 

In this chapter the Lord comforts his people. By his divine foresight he perceives that there are great and varied trials a little way ahead, and therefore he prepares them for the ordeal. They are to go through rushing waters and flaming fires; and he kindly bids them not to be afraid. How often in God’s word do We read those tender, gracious words, "Fear not!" Should not the trembling ones listen to the voice of their God, and obey it when he says to them "Fear not"? It is not right for you, you who fear God to fear anything else. Once brought to know the Lord, who can harm you, you? Abiding under the shadow of the Almighty, what danger need you, you dread? Nay, rather, be of good comfort, and press forward with peaceful confidence, though floods and flames await you, you. To encourage his people to rise superior to their fears, the gracious God goes on to issue matchless promises: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you." Present good- "I will be with you" absent danger- "they shall not overflow you." God stays his people’s hearts by his own promises. In proportion to their faith those promises must lift them up. If you, you do not believe the promise, you, you shall not be established by it; but if, with childlike confidence, you, you accept every word of God as true, then his word shall be to you, you the joy of your heart, and the delight of your spirit, and you, you shall be a stranger to fear. The Lord proceeds, after giving those promises, to set before them what he himself is, and what he has done for them, and what they are to him. He is speaking, of course, to Israel; and he says of Israel, his chosen nation, "I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for you." What cause for fear now remains? All believers are of the true Israel. Abraham was the father of the faithful. The faithful, or the believing, are therefore Abraham’s seed, according to the promise. The seed was not after the flesh, else would the children of Ishmael have been the heirs of the covenant; but the true seed was born according to promise, and in the power of God; for Isaac was born when his parents were old, by faith in the power of God. Isaac was not the child of flesh, but he was born according to promise, so that we who are not born of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, by his Spirit, and according to the divine promise, are the true children of Abraham. We are the spiritual Israel. Though after the flesh Abraham be ignorant of us, and Sarah acknowledge us not, yet are we the true seed of him who was the father of believers. The literal Israel was the type of those chosen and favored ones who by faith are born again according to promise. To these heirs according to promise the Lord says, "I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for you." Let us now meditate on this passage verse by verse.

Isaiah 43:1. But now thus says the Lord that created you, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; you are mine.

"Fear not," is a command of God, and is a command which brings its own power of performance with it. God, who created and formed us, says to us, "Fear not," and a secret whisper is heard in the heart by which that heart is so comforted that fear is driven away. Observe the tender ties that bind our God to his people;-creation, the formation of them for his praise, redemption, the purchase of them for himself, and the calling of them by their name. The Lord remembers the bonds which unite us to himself even when we forget them; he recollects his eternal love, and all the deeds of mercy that have flowed from it. Though our memory is treacherous, and our faith is feeble, "yet he abides faithful: he cannot deny himself;" blessed be his holy name!

Isaiah 43:2. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you.

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you." The godly have the best company in the worst places in which their lot is cast God’s presence is all that we need even in the deepest floods of tribulation; this he has promised to us. He does not say what he will do for us, but he does tell us that he will be with us, and that is more than enough to meet all our necessities. "When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you." That is a wonderful picture of a man walking through the fire, and yet not being burned; but there was a greater wonder, that was seen by Moses, which may well comfort us. He saw a bush that burned with fire, and yet was not consumed. Now a bush, in the desert, is usually so dry that, at the first application of fire, it flames, and glows, and is speedily gone: yet you, you and I, who are, spiritually, just as dry and combustible as that bush was naturally, may burn, and burn, and burn, and yet we shall not be consumed, because the God, who was in the bush, is also with us, and in us. "Neither shall the flame kindle upon you." You shall come out of the furnace as the three holy children did, with not so much as the smell of fire upon you; for, where God is, all is safe.

Isaiah 43:3. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior: I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for you.

"For I am the Lord your God." This is the grandest possible reason for not fearing. Fall back upon this when you, you have nothing else upon which to rely. If you, you have no goods, you, you have a God. If your gourd is withered, your God is still the same as he ever was: "For I am Jehovah, your God." "I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for you." And he has given infinitely more than that for us who are his people now, for he gave his only begotten Son that he might redeem us with his precious blood. Now that we have cost him so much, is it likely that he will ever forsake us? It is not possible.

Isaiah 43:4. Since you were precious in my sight, you have been honorable, and I have loved you: therefore will I give men for you, and people for your life.

How sweetly this verse comes home to those whose characters have been disreputable! As soon as they are truly converted to Christ, they become "honorable." "Since you were precious in my sight, you have been honorable." God does not call his people by their old names of dishonor, but he gives them the title of "Right Honorable," and makes them the nobility of his Court. "Unto you, you that believe he is an honor;" and you, you have honor in him and from him.

Isaiah 43:5-7. Fear not: for I am with you: I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yes, I have made him.

"Fear not: for I am with you." This is the second time that the blessed words, "Fear not," ring out like the notes of the silver trumpet proclaiming the jubilee to poor trembling hearts: "Fear not, for I am with you." The Lord seems to say to each troubled believer, "My honor is pledged to secure your safety, all my attributes are engaged on your behalf right to the end, yes, I am myself with you, therefore, fear not." "I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, my daughter from the ends of the earth; every one that is called by my name." Whatever happens, God will be with his Church. His own chosen people shall all be gathered in. There shall be no frustration of the diving purpose. From east or west, north or south, all his sons and daughters shall come unto him, even every one that is called by his name. "For I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yes, I have made him." And God will be glorified in his people; the object of their creation is the glory of their God, and that end shall, somehow or other, be answered in the Lord’s good time. The Lord seems to dwell upon that note of the creation of his children for his own glory. This accounts for many of our troubles, and for all our deliverances; it is that God may be glorified by bringing his children through the fires and through the floods. A life that was never tested by trial and trouble would not be a life out of which God would get much glory, but they that do business in the great waters see the works of God, and his wonders in the deep, and they give him praise; and, besides, when they come to their desired haven, then they praise the Lord for his goodness, and God is thereby glorified.

Verses 1-19

 

Isaiah 43:1. But now thus says the Lord that created you, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel,

The Lord reminds us that he first created us, and that he afterwards molded us; we are like Jacob by nature, but he has made us Israel by grace.

Isaiah 43:1. Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; you are mine.

Redemption is a deep well of comfort. If the Lord has indeed bought us with his blood, he will not think lightly of us; and if he has called us by name, and declared that we belong to him, we may rest assured that he will not lose his own property, but that he will preserve it to the end.

Isaiah 43:2. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflowr you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you.

The Lord does not promise us immunity from trial and trouble; we shall have to go through waters and rivers, and shall have to pass through fires and flames; it is through much tribulation that we must enter the kingdom of God; but he does promise that no harm shall come to us from it all. "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God;" — that waters, rivers, fires, and flames bring us benefits and blessings, and that they shall none of them bring a course upon us.

Isaiah 43:3-4. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior: I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for you. Since you were precious in my sight, you have been honorable,

God puts honor upon his beloved ones; they were in themselves dishonorable, for they had nothing of goodness about them until the Lord imparted it to them.

Isaiah 43:4. And I have loved you:

God loved his ancient people Israel; he has always loved his Church; and he loves believers still.

Isaiah 43:4-5. Therefore will I give men for you, and people for your life. Fear not: for I am with you:-

It is enough for a child that his mother is near him, or that his father is with him; then is it not enough for you, you, O child of God, that God is with you, you? Israel was scattered when Isaiah wrote this prophecy, and would be afterwards scattered far and wide over the face of the earth; so God gave this comforting assurance, "fear not: for I am with you:" —

Isaiah 43:5-6. I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;

God’s chosen ones have wandered very far away from him, but the great Shepherd of the sheep, who bought them with his blood, will gather them, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd.

Isaiah 43:7. Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yes, I have made him.

Three expressions are here used concerning the man who is called by God’s name. First, "I have created him," — made him out of nothing. Then, "I have formed him" — fashioned him, made him into his proper shape. The last sentence may be read, "Yes, I have completed him." When God begins his work in us, we are in the rough; as he goes on working in us, we gradually take the form of his dear Son; and by-and-by he will complete us, and then we shall wake up in his likeness. Blessed be his name for this!

Isaiah 43:8. Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.

Some think that the Lord refers here to those who were once blind, but to whom he has given eyes; and to those who were deaf, to whom he has given ears. Many of us are of that order. One thing I know is that, whereas I was once spiritually blind, now I can see; and another thing I know is that, whereas I was once spiritually deaf, now I can hear the voice of God.

Isaiah 43:9. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled:-

As though there was to be a great debate as to who God is, and what God is, he first summons all his people whose blind eyes and deaf ears he has opened, and then he calls for all the nations to be gathered together, and gives them this challenge: —

Isaiah 43:9. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.

Where else have we any true knowledge of God except in his Word and among his people? The myths and mysteries of the heathen, how dark how indistinct and shadowy they are! What true prophecy did their oracles ever give? Ask Greece and Rome, the most polished of the ancient nations, what did their so-called gods ever foretell? Let them bring any holy book of theirs which reveals the future, and which is true.

Isaiah 43:10. You are my witnesses, says the Lord,-

The chosen people of God have become witnesses for Jehovah that he, and he alone, is the true God; that he, and he alone has truly foretold the future. Let the heathen prove that their gods have done the same if they can; we know that they cannot. "You are my witnesses, says the Lord, —

Isaiah 43:10. And my servant whom I have chosen:

That great Servant of God, you, you know his name, even Christ Jesus the faithful and true Witness, bears better witness for God than the whole nation of the Jews, or the Lord’s chosen people in all ages, can bear.

Isaiah 43:10-11. That you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord and beside me there is no Savior.

Look the whole world over, and see where there is any Savior for sinners except Jesus Christ. Does any other religion even profess to have a Savior? Destroyers they have, but where is their Savior?

Isaiah 43:12. I have declared, and have saved,

"I said that I would save, and I have saved."

Isaiah 43:12. And I have showed, when there was no strange God among you, you: therefore you are my witnesses, says the Lord, that I am God.

When, in Hezekiah’s day, the idols had been destroyed, God told Hezekiah that he would deliver him from Sennacherib, and he did so.

Isaiah 43:13. Yes, before the day was I am he;

When there was no day, there was the Ancient of days.

Isaiah 43:13. And there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?

(who shall hinder it?)

"When he makes bare his arm,

What shall his work withstand?

When he his people’s cause defends,

Who, who shall stay his hand?"

14. Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

Up the broad river Euphrates, and down to the Persian Gulf, Babylon and Chaldea gloried in their greatness, but God sent the Medo-Persian power to break them in pieces for the sake of his people, that Cyrus might let them go free.

Isaiah 43:15-17. I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. Thus says the Lord, which makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; which brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

Like the wick of a lamp, soon put out. Here is, probably, an illusion to the overthrowing of Egypt at the Red Sea; they came out with their horses and chariots, but they were made to lie down together in the sea. God overcame his people’s enemies then, and he can and will do the same to the end of the chapter.

Isaiah 43:18. Remember you not the former things, neither consider the things of old.

Do not look merely upon what God has done; but look to the future, and remember that be is able to do the same again.

Isaiah 43:19. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

O dear child of God, have you, you got into the wilderness, and have you, you no comfort there? Are all your wells dried up? God will work a new miracle for you, you, you, you shall have a new manifestation of his gracious power.

Verses 1-25

 

Isaiah 43:1. But now thus says the Lord that created you, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; you are mine.

I cannot pause to comment upon each of the precious sentences here, but every word is full of marrow and fatness. Ask the Lord to enable you, you to feed upon each sentence as it passes before your mind.

Isaiah 43:2-5. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior: I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for you. Since you was precious in my sight, you have been honorable, and I have loved you: therefore will I give men for you, and people for your life. Fear not: for I am with you:

That always seems to me to be the master-consolation: "I am with you." What more does the most troubled heart need than God’s presence?

Isaiah 43:5. I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west;

O Church of God, your elect members shall all, in due time, be fetched in, however far they may have wandered!

Isaiah 43:6-7. I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yes, I have made him.

And that in a double sense, for God’s people are twice made; — made first in creation, but marred by the fall; and then new-made as "new creatures in Christ Jesus."

Isaiah 43:8. Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.

There are plenty of them, for our proverb is true, "There are none so blind as those that will not see, and none so deaf as those that will not hear." But even to such people as these God makes his appeal.

Isaiah 43:9. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and show us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.

God challenges all the false gods and their worshipers to produce a single fulfilled prophecy, — to show one instance in which they have truly and correctly foretold any event or a chain of event; but all Jehovah’s prophecies have been fulfilled, or will be, in due season.

Isaiah 43:10-13. You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord and beside me there is no Savior. I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when there was no strange God among you, you: therefore you are my witnesses, says the Lord, that I am God. Yes, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?

It is a great blessing to know that the Lord is God; and not merely to know that as a matter of fact, but to feel it, to realize it, and to trust in God and act towards him conscious that he, and he alone, is the living and true God.

Isaiah 43:14-17. Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. Thus says the Lord, which makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; Which brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

You, you know what happened to the army of Sennacherib when it came against Jerusalem. Horses and chariots were there in vast numbers, and all the pomp and pageantry of a vast host of armed men; but they slept their last sleep, from which they never rose again, when the angel of the Lord flew through their ranks. So was it with Babylon itself. When the set time came, that long-established empire, with its colossal power, was swept away like a vision of the night. It blazed like tow, and then was quenched forever. What cannot God do for his people when he uplifts his almighty arm?

Isaiah 43:18. Remember you not the former thing, neither consider the things of old..

For something better is going to be done in the future than all that God has done in the past. He will eclipse all his previous achievements, and outdo the mightiest of his own miracles.

Isaiah 43:19-20. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it. I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field shall honor me,

As it slakes its thirst at an unwonted spring, —

Isaiah 43:20. The dragons and the owls:

Alarmed and startled, as God’s people pass by on their way to the land which God would give them, —

Isaiah 43:20-22. Because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise. But you have not called upon me, O Jacob; —

Have any of you, you restrained prayer of late? Has your path to the mercy-seat been but little trodden? Then, listen to God’s gentle rebuke: "You have not called upon me, O Jacob;" —

Isaiah 43:22. But you have been weary of me, O Israel.

Weary of God! Have any of us grown weary of fellowship with him, weary of his truth, weary of his day, weary of his service? Oh, what strange ingratitude this is on our part!

Isaiah 43:23. You have not brought me the small cattle of your burnt offerings; neither have you honored me with your sacrifices.

There are some of God’s people, at any rate, who forget to offer their sacrifices unto God. If they do love Christ at all, their love is not practical, not self-sacrificing; it does not lead them to bring love-gifts unto him.

Isaiah 43:23. I have not caused you to serve with an offering, nor wearied you with incense.

"I have made no irksome tax of it. I have not demanded anything of you, you. I have left it to your own free will to give according as your love suggests."

Isaiah 43:24. You have bought me no sweet cane with money, neither have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices: but —

Alas! instead of good, there has been evil.

Isaiah 43:24. You have made me to serve with your sins,

What! made God our servant, when we ought to have served him? Alas! I fear it is often so even with some of his own people.

Isaiah 43:24. You have wearied me with your iniquities.

O sirs, how sad it is when God’s people are weary of him and he is weary of them! What shall we read after this? Surely the next sentence will be a thunder-clap, and a lightning flash will blaze out of the sacred page! Listen, and be amazed at the mercy of the Lord.

Isaiah 43:25. I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember your sins.

What a blessed God to deal so graciously with his ungrateful erring people!

Verses 14-28

 

Isaiah 43:14-16. Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. Thus says the Lord, which makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty water;

Great events in history all have some connection with the Church of Christ. We may not always be able to see it, but we may rest assured that it is so. The rise and fall of empires have a great deal to do with the chosen people of God. So here he reminds them of what he did in the ancient days when he smote Egypt at the Red sea, and made a path for his people through the mighty waters.

Isaiah 43:17. Which brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

There is a little blaze and a little smoke, and then all is over with the tow. So shall it be with those who set themselves up against the Lord; he shall confound their wisdom, and humble their pride.

Isaiah 43:18-19. Remember you not the former things, neither consider the thing of old. Behold I will do a new thing;

What God has done once, he can do again; but he can also make yet grander and more marvelous displays of his power and grace than he has ever yet given.

Isaiah 43:19-20. Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field shall honor me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters, in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.

If then, O child of God, you are in sore distress; if all around you is comfortless as a waste, howling wilderness; yet do not despair; God can make a way for you even there, and can supply your needs. He can open up a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the midst of the desert; joy and rejoicing may come to you even in the depths of your distress.

Isaiah 43:21. This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise.

He will not be disappointed in his people. He made them that he might get glory out of them, and he will surely have it; none shall be able to prevent it.

Isaiah 43:22-24. But you have not called upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel. You have not brought me the small cattle of your burnt offerings; neither have you honored me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with an offering, nor wearied you with incense. You have brought me no sweet cane with money, neither have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices: but you have made me to serve with your sins, you have wearied me with your iniquities.

Remember that this is the wearied Lord who is speaking, the Lord whose patience seems to be well-near exhausted by the provocations of his people; yet how wonderful is his message to them!

Isaiah 43:25-26. I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember your sins. Put me in remembrance. Let us plead together: declare you, that you may be justified.

"If you have anything to say in your own defense, out with it. Come to me, and let the cause of this quarrel be removed; let me hear your plea if you have one."

Isaiah 43:27-28. Your first father has sinned, and your teachers have transgressed against me. Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.

God justifies himself for his heavy strokes upon Israel, tells them that the reason lay in their own sin.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 43:14-28; and Isaiah 44:1-8.

Verses 18-25

 

Isaiah 43:18-19. Remember you not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing: now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

Do not imagine that what God has done in the past will never be repeated. It will be excelled: he will do yet greater things. Of all the mercy and love which God has shown, we may say that these are only prophecies of what he yet will reveal. There are now things yet to come wherein the splendor of his mercy shall be yet more clearly seen than in all the former things.

Isaiah 43:20-21. The beast of the field shall honor me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise.

However barren may your soul be, and however all your surroundings may seem to be stamped with death, God can come and make you, you happy and blessed, and surround you, you with delights, and he will do it in order that in you, you, whom he has formed for himself, his praise may be seen.

Isaiah 43:22. But you have not called upon me, O Jacob.

Prayer has been neglected: praise has been suspended. There has been an ungracious negligence in the service of God. "You has not called upon me, O Jacob."

Isaiah 43:22. But you have been weary of me, O Israel.

"You, you thought the service long — thought the time for prayer came round too soon — refused to give to my cause, and said it was a tax. You have been weary of me, O Israel."

Isaiah 43:23. You have not brought me the small cattle of your burnt offerings; neither have you honored me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with an offering, nor wearied you with incense.

"I have not taxed you. I have not drawn upon your resources heavily."

Isaiah 43:24. You has bought me no sweet cane with money, neither have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices:

"I left you to give or not to give, that your free will might be seen in all your deeds of love, but nothing has come of it. On the contrary."

Isaiah 43:24. But you have made me to serve with your sins, you have wearied me with your iniquities.

A solemn charge this, which God lays against his people. Now see the next verse and read it with wondering eyes.

Isaiah 43:25. I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember your sins.

He has pointed out the fault: he has shown that he is not forgetful of it; and then he pronounces absolution. The transgression is put away. Blessed be his name! Now let us turn to the New Testament, and read in the Epistle to the Romans, the 10th chapter, and we shall there see the way in which pardon is brought home to the soul.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 42:1-17; Isaiah 43:18-25; Romans 10:1-19.

Verses 18-28

 

Isaiah 43:18-19. Remember you not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing;

It is a very profitable thing to remember the things of old; it is greatly beneficial to us to study what God did in years and ages long gone by; yet God intends to do for us something in the future that shall eclipse all the past. Especially was this true in Isaiah’s day, for the coming of Christ, which was then in the future, was to be such a sun-rising of mercy that all the stars of blessing, that had shone before, would seem to be lost in the brightness of his appearing. Dear friends, do not always dwell on the past. You, you who are getting gray are very apt to say that the former things and former times were better than now. Do not say so, but believe this promise of Jehovah, "Behold, I will do a new thing."

Isaiah 43:19-20. Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field shall honor me, the dragons and the owls.

I have sometimes laid hold of this text, and have been comforted by it concerning the conversion of the very worst of men. Some people say, "What is the good of going among blasphemers and profane persons with the Word of God?" Well, if the beast of the field, and the dragons, and the owls, shall honor him, we need never think of leaving any of the sons of men to perish. It is not what they are, but what God is, that should give us confidence concerning them. Even if they were worse than they are, the omnipotent grace of God would still be able to reach them, and to convert them; let us have no doubt about this matter.

Isaiah 43:20. Because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.

Oh, the wonders of the love of God! Wherever he has a chosen people, there every mercy shall certainly come. If they are in the wilderness, waters shall come to them; if they are in the desert, rivers shall flow to them; but drink they shall have until they come where they can drink to the full at the living fountains of water at God’s right hand.

Isaiah 43:21. This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise.

Here is this same note again. Yet mark what kind of people they had been,-a people whom God had greatly loved, but who had backslidden from him. They had wandered very far away from God, yet still his purpose of love did not change: "This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise." What a blessed "shall" that is, uttered by One who knows how to make it good by deeds of mighty grace!

Isaiah 43:22. But you have not called upon me, O Jacob; but you host been weary of me, O Israel.

They were not much like Jacob, for he prayed at Jabbok, and became Israel, who wrestled until he prevailed, saying to the angel, "I will not let you go except you bless me." Yet here are people who hear the same name,-"Jacob" and "Israel ", yet God has to say to them, "You have not called upon me, O Jacob. You have been weary of me, O Israel."

Isaiah 43:23. You have not brought me the small cattle of your burnt offerings; neither have you honored me with your sacrifices.

Is that true of any of you, you? Have you, you restrained prayer, and have you, you also stinted God in your offering? Whereas he gave his Son for you, you, have you, you refused the small cattle of your burnt offerings?

Isaiah 43:23. I have not caused you to serve with an offering, nor wearied you with incense.

"I have laid no tax upon you, you; I have not demanded so much of your income as the condition of your being members of my Church. I have left it to your love and gratitude to bring your freewill offerings unto me."

Isaiah 43:24. You have bought me no sweet cane with money,

No calamus or incense that should sweeten the temple of God,-

Isaiah 43:24. Neither have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices: but

Oh, this "but-but"!

Isaiah 43:24. You have made me to serve with your sins,

You, you have made a servant of your Master,-treated your Redeemer as if he were your slave!

Isaiah 43:24. You host wearied me with your iniquities.

Oh, what a terrible verse this is about a people whom God had formed for himself, and who shall yet show forth his praise! Alas! this is how they sometimes are still,-indifferent, ungrateful, presenting him no tokens of love; but, on the contrary, disobedient, grieving him, and vexing his Holy Spirit. What will he do with them now? "Cut them off, and reject them," says one. Yes, that is how men would do; but that is not what God will do.

Listen

Isaiah 43:25. I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember your sins.

You, you have forgotten his mercies; but he will forget your sins. You, you have grieved him, but he still has a tender heart towards you, you. He will blot out your sins. Oh, how this ought to melt us! How this ought to encourage us to begin again in better style, and to be much in prayer, and much in holy service, and much in self sacrifice!

Isaiah 43:26-28. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare you, that you may be justified. Your first father has sinned, and your teachers have transgressed against me. Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 43:1-7; Isaiah 43:18-28; and Isaiah 44:1-2.

Verses 21-28

 

Isaiah 43:21. This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise.

But A sorrowful "but"; and the strain sinks from a triumphant shout to a doleful lamentation: "But " —

Isaiah 43:22. But you have not called upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel.

How sad it is that those who have been loved so much, should make such a shameful return for it all!

Isaiah 43:23. You have not brought me the small cattle of your burnt offerings;-

No kids of the goats, or lambs from the fold, —

Isaiah 43:23. Neither have you honored me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with an offering, nor wearied you with incense.

"I have not been a cruel taskmaster, or tyrant, demanding of you more than you could give."

Isaiah 43:24. You have brought me no sweet cane with money, —

"No calamus has sent forth its perfume from mine altar," —

Isaiah 43:24.Neither have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices: but you have made me to serve with your sins, you have wearied me with your iniquities.

These are the people whom God had loved so long and so well, those upon whom he had set his unchanging affection; yet they acted thus shamefully. What will follow upon such conduct as this? their swift destruction? No. Listen to the Lord’s gracious message, —

Isaiah 43:25. I, even if, am he who blots out your transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember your sins.

Here is a great wave of mercy washing away everything that could bear witness against the people of God.

Isaiah 43:26-28. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare you, that you may be justified.Tthy first father has sinned, and your teachers have transgressed against me. Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.

This exposition consisted of readings from ISAIAH 43. 1-7; 21-28; And 44. 1-5.

 

Chapter 44

 

Verse 1-2

 

Isaiah 44:1-2. Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chose: Thus says the Lord that made you, and formed you from the womb, which will help you; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

He comes back to that point again, you, you see: "Israel whom I have chosen, Thus says the Lord that made you." See the deep argument for infinite love. God will not forsake the work of his own hands. "I have formed you, and chosen you; therefore, fear you not, but come to me anew, and serve me henceforth with all your heart."

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 43:1-7; Isaiah 43:18-28; and Isaiah 44:1-2.

Verses 1-5

 

Isaiah 44:1-5. Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus says the Lord that made you, and formed you from the womb, which will help you; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon your seed, and my blessing upon your offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. One shall say, I am the Lord’s; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.

There are different ways of making the same profession of attachment to the Lord. All do not acknowledge in the same way their faith in God, but it is a great blessing when our offspring do acknowledge it. Let us end our reading with that sweet blessing upon our children: "I will pour my spirit upon your seed, and my blessing upon your offspring. May it come to pass in all our families, for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen.

This exposition consisted of readings from ISAIAH 43. 1-7; 21-28; And 44. 1-5.

Verses 1-8

 

Isaiah 44:1-3. Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant and Israel, whom I have chosen. Thus says the Lord, that made you, and formed you from the womb, which will help you; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit upon your seed, and my blessing upon your offspring:

"Think not that I am anxious to punish you, you for your sin. Only return to me, and I will be delighted to bless you, you. I will help you, you out of your troubles; I will supply your needs; and not only so, but I will bless your children generation after generation."

Isaiah 44:4-5. And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. One shall say, I am the Lord’S, and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and, surname himself by the name of Israel.

God still has power over human hearts; he can bring back to himself his wandering children.

Isaiah 44:6. Thus says the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

He gathered up all into himself: as he is the first and the last, where is there space for any other God? He, therefore, would have all our hearts; he would have us love, and adore, and serve him, and him alone.

Isaiah 44:7. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order fore, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show unto them.

If these idols be gods, let them prophesy, and tell what is to happen in the future; but they cannot even speak to one another.

Isaiah 44:8. Fear you not, neither be afraid: have not I told you from that time, and have declared it? you are even my witnesses, is there a God beside me? yes, there is no God; I know not any.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 43:14-28; and Isaiah 44:1-8.

Verses 1-22

 

Isaiah 44:1-2. Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus says the Lord that made you, and formed you from the womb, which will help you; Fear not, O Jacob, my Servant; and you, Jesurum, whom I have chosen.

God cannot bear his people to be sad, he delights to drive away fear, trembling, and mistrust. He loves faith, for faith brings confidence, hope, rest. So he says to us, "Fear not, fear not, be not afraid." It is God himself, who made us, and who chose us, who says to us, "Do not fear." Come, dear hearts, lay aside your disquietude, if God bids you, you cast away fear, will you, you not do it? Nothing hushes a babe to sleep like its mother’s voice. Let God’s voice hush you, you into sweet and blessed calm whenever you, you are troubled and full of fear.

Isaiah 44:3. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground:

God will never do anything by halves. He will not only send rain, but the waters shall pour down from the sky. He will not merely moisten the surface of the dry ground; he will send floods to saturate it. God is great in giving his grace. When once you, you reach the region of grace, you, you have entered the region of plenty, even the riches of God’s unspeakable grace. If, dear friends, you, you have at this time no spiritual power, and unction, and favor, and love, you, you may have it, for here is the Lord’s own promise, "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground."

Isaiah 44:3. I will pour my spirit upon your seed, and my blessing upon your offspring:

Is that your great burden,--trouble about your boy? Does your dear girl grieve you, you? Well, he who blesses the father and the mother will bless the children; the God of Abraham is the God of Isaac. Pray that this promise may be fulfilled to you, you, that your need may get a share of that spirit of grace which has been given to you, you.

Isaiah 44:4. And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.

You, you can track a stream by the willows; standing on a hill, and looking down the valley, you, you can tell where the little brook winds, for there are the willows. So shall it be with your children; they shall spring up by the waters of grace, and be a joy and a blessing.

Isaiah 44:5. One shall say, I am the Lord’s

That is the brave son who comes out boldly, and avows his faith: "One shall say, I am the Lord’s."

Isaiah 44:5. And another shall call himself by the name of Jacob;

That is the one who goes and joins the church, and does not say much about it; but he has united himself with the Lord’s people: "and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob."

Isaiah 44:5. And another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.

He cannot speak much, but he can write; he is not so bold as the others, perhaps, but he is quite as true: "Another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord." It does not so much matter how our children are converted so long as they really are converted, and as to the particular way in which they join the church, we have only to bid them seek the guidance of God’s Word and his Spirit, and follow wherever they lead. Pray earnestly, dear friends, that the Lord will bless your children. I thank God that most of the members of the church, known to me, have their children saved; there are many families that are altogether in the church. There are others which have not that privilege yet, but, dear friends, you, you may have it; ask believingly, act faithfully, watch hopefully, and you, you shall see it joyfully before long.

Isaiah 44:6-7. Thus says the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts, I am the first, and I am the last, and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show unto them.

Jehovah challenges the idol gods to utter a prophecy. Let them tell the future if they can; but they cannot. Prophecy is ever the mark of the one living and true God.

Isaiah 44:8-11. Fear you not, neither be afraid: have not I told you from that time, and have declared it? you are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yes, there is no God; I know not any. They that make a graven image are all of them vanity, and their delectable things shall not profit, and they are their own witnesses, they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. Who has formed a God, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together.

Well they may. Men who pretend to make a God, ought to be ashamed.

Isaiah 44:12. The smith with the tongs both works in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with the strength of his arms:

What irony! God-making, with hammers and bellows!

Isaiah 44:12. Yes, he is hungry,

This god-maker is hungry!

Isaiah 44:12. And his strength fails: he drinks no water, and is faint.

The god-maker is getting faint. There is a sarcasm about this description which ought to convince the most blind devotees of an idol.

Isaiah 44:13. The carpenter stretches out his rule, he marks it out with a line; he fits it with planes, and he marks it out with the compass, and makes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

A God in the house! A God shut up in a room! A God that has been made with compasses and planes! How ridiculous it seems!

Isaiah 44:14. He hews him down cedars, and takes the cypress and the oak, which he strengthens for himself among the trees of the forest: he plants an ash, and the rain does nourish it.

The raw material for a God is an ash, a watery tree: "The rain does nourish it."

Isaiah 44:15-17. Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yes, he kindles it, and baketh bread, yes, he makes a God, and worships it, he makes it a graven image, and falls down thereto. He burns part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eats flesh; he roasts roast, and is satisfied: yes, he warms himself, and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: and the residue thereof he makes a God,

Oh, the folly of idolatry! Perhaps you, you do not see your own folly, you, you who are worshiping yourselves. A man who worships his belly is a worse idolater than the one who worships a God of wood. A man who worships gold and silver, if that gold and silver should take the shape of sovereigns and shillings, is not a bit more justified in his idolatry than if he had made it into the shape of a calf, and had bowed before it in idolatrous homage and reverence.

Isaiah 44:17-20. Even his graven image: he falls down unto it, and worships it, and prays unto it, and says, Deliver me; for you are my God. They have not known nor understood: for he has shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considers in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yes, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feeds on ashes:

Mad people have been known to do even that, they have thrust cinders into their mouths; and this is what everybody does who is not trusting in the living God: "He feeds on ashes."

Isaiah 44:20-21. A deceived heart has turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? Remember these, O Jacob and Israel;

Think of these false gods, and be ashamed of them.

Isaiah 44:21-22. For you are my servant: I have formed you; you are my servant: O Israel, you shall not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sin: return unto me; for I have redeemed you.

These wooden gods have done nothing of the sort. Come back to the true God, and worship him, and be happy in his love.

Verses 1-23

 

Isaiah 44:1-2. Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus says the Lord that made you, and formed you from the womb, which will help you; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

You, you see, the Lord goes on to show his people that, if they were in trouble, they had brought it upon themselves. If the sanctuary had been degraded, it was because both themselves and their teachers had transgressed against God. But, after he has justified his wrath, he still goes on to talk of mercy; and, oh with what plenteousness of love does he address these wandering people of his!

Isaiah 44:3. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon your seed, and my blessing upon your offspring:

Here, O you needy souls, you who thirst after mercy is a rich promise for you, you! How plenteously does God bestow it! "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground." Your needs cannot be so great as the divine supply. All the Lord asks is that you, you should be willing to receive his mercy, willing that your emptiness should be filled out of his fullness.

Isaiah 44:4. And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.

They shall spring up where there were none before, and grow very quickly. These are our young converts, I trust that we shall have many such springing up "as willows by the water courses"?

Isaiah 44:5-6. One shall say, I am the Lord’S, and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. Thus says the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

That is a great truth, always to be kept in mind, that there is no God beside Jehovah. Let us beware of ever attempting to set up, in our own hearts, any God save the one living and true God.

Isaiah 44:7-12. And who, as I, shall call and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show unto them. Fear you not, neither be afraid: have not I told you from that time, and have declared it? you are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yes, there is no God; I know not any. They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. Who has formed a God, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. The smith —

Note how the Lord holds up to mockery and scorn the makers of idol gods. He shows the process of god-making, the making of idol gods but his words may be equally well applied to the making of Virgin Mary and the various saints, crucifixes, and all other lumber of this kind in the idolatry that galls itself Christian: "The smith" —

Isaiah 44:12. With the tongs both works in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with the strength of his arms: yes, he is hungry, and his strength fails: he drinks no water, and is faint.

That is one of these god-makers, you, you see; a man who makes an idol God, yet who himself gets thirsty by reason of the heat of the coals in his forge. A fine God it must be that he makes! Next comes the carpenter.

Isaiah 44:13-14. The carpenter stretches out his rule; he marks it out with a line; he fits it with planes, and he marks it out with the compass, and makes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house. He hews him down cedars, and takes the cypress and the oak, which he strengthens for himself among the trees of the forest: he plants an ash, and the rain does nourish it.

They like some choice wood out of which to make their gods. So we see that these idol gods grow in the woods first, and then, afterwards, they need a carpenter’s rule, and line, and compass, and plane in order to shape them according to his taste, or the order of his customers.

Isaiah 44:15-17. Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself, yes, he kindles it, and baketh bread, yes, he makes a God and worships it; he makes it a graven image, and falls down thereto. He burns part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eats flesh; he roasts roast, and is satisfied: yes, he warms himself, and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: And the residue thereof he makes a God, even his graven image: he falls down unto it, and worships it, and prays unto it, and says, Deliver me; for you are my God.

Did ever sarcasm — truthful and proper sarcasm — go further than this? Idolaters in various lands have frequently been convinced of the absurdity of their worship as they have read this very remarkable piece of inspired writing.

Isaiah 44:18-19. They have not known nor understood: for he has shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considers in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yes, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?

Shall I, an intelligent being, worship gold, silver, wood, or brass, however excellent may be the workmanship of it? Shall I, an immortal being, cast myself down before a piece of bread, and worship that, as some do who first worship, and then eat their God. Oh, what strange infatuation!

Isaiah 44:20. He feeds on ashes: a deceived heart has turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand!

The prophet concludes that madness must have laid hold upon the minds of men, or they never could have fallen into the debasing superstitions which degrade them all over the world. Yet, even in this present century old superstitions have come back to our country; it is strange that here, where so many martyrs were burnt, the sons of these martyrs should actually be willing to go back again to the beggarly elements and superstitions of the olden times. The Lord have mercy upon this land, and deliver it from all forms of idol worship!

Isaiah 44:21-22. Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for you are my servant: I have formed you, you are my servant: O Israel, you shall not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed you.

Out of all the world, God had a chosen people, his own Israel, to whom he revealed himself, but they also turned aside unto idols, yet here he bids them return to him. Even to this day, they bear their protest against idols bravely. I would to God that they also knew the Christ of God, and worshiped him. All believers are the true Israel after the spirit, and are to maintain forever the glory of the one only living and true God.

Isaiah 44:23. Sing, O you heavens; for the Lord has done it: shout, you lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree the therein: for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 43:21-28; and Isaiah 44:1-23.

Verses 1-28

 

In this chapter, God encourages his Church by a promise of the visitation of his Spirit. Oh, that it may be fulfilled to us also!

Isaiah 44:1-3. Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus says the Lord that made you, and formed you from the womb, which will help you; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon your seed, and my blessing upon your offspring:

That is exactly what we need. Oh, that God would thus revive his Church! A little while ago, you, you saw the earth become dry and brown and bare, the very pastures were chapped and parched, and opened their mouths to cry for rain. What could we have done if the clouds had still withheld their nourishment? But at last down came the refreshing showers, and all the face of nature was revived. What we have had upon our fields, we need upon our churches; nothing will do for our souls but a visitation of the Spirit. Let us pray for it. Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly rain, pour out your life-giving treasures upon thirsty souls even as the floods have been poured out upon the dry ground. Here is a divine promise, let us plead it: "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon your seed, and my blessing upon your offspring."

Isaiah 44:4. And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.

You, you must often have noticed how you, you can trace the course of a brook by the willow trees that grow upon its banks. When you, you cannot see the brook from a distance, you, you can see the willows. So, wherever the Spirit of God comes, young people are converted, we see our children growing up in God’s fear, and we know that this is the result of the Spirit’s working.

Isaiah 44:5-6. One shall say, I am the Lord’S and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. Thus says the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

This is spoken in the Lord’s usual majestic style; does it not remind you, you of the words of our Lord Jesus as recorded in the Book of the Revelation? "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." How can he be less than divine who rightly adopts the same style which Jehovah uses in the Prophets: "I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God"?

Isaiah 44:7. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show unto them.

The great God challenges all pretended gods to compete with him, and to show that they have ever prophesied or foretold the future. One of the greatest proofs of the inspiration of Scripture, and that our God is the only living and true God, is that the prophecies hitherto have been literally fulfilled. Go to Bashan, or to Edom, or to Sidon, or to Egypt, and wherever you, you go, you, you will see that whatever the Lord said concerning the ancient nations and peoples and cities has been carried out to the very letter.

Isaiah 44:8. Fear you not, neither be afraid: have not I told you from that time, and have declared it? you are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yes, there is no God, I know not any.

"There is no God" in the world but Jehovah, the one living and true God whom we adore.

Now follows that very wonderful passage descriptive of the making of idols, which we have often read. If there are any of you, you who worship crosses, and crucifixes, or any other visible objects, please to recollect that God’s command is spoken as much to you, you as to any other idolaters. We may not worship anything that can be seen or handled, for this is the law laid down by God himself: "You shall not make unto you any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them." Here, then, is God’s description of idol gods

Isaiah 44:9. They that make a graven image are all of them vanity;

They must be very empty-headed and foolish people, or they would not worship a thing which they have graven with their own hands.

Isaiah 44:9. And their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.

Idolaters are just as wooden and doltish as their idols, or else they would know better than to worship them.

Isaiah 44:10-12. Who has formed a God, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. The smith with the tongs both works in the coals, and fashions it with hammers and works it with the strength of his arms: yes, he is hungry, and his strength fails: he drinks no water, and is faint.

Here is a god-maker, with his tongs, and his coals, and his hammers; yet this god-maker gets hungry and faint! Here comes another.

Isaiah 44:13. The carpenter stretches out his rule; he marks it out with a line; he fits it with planes, and he marks it out with the compass, and makes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

Fancy a god-maker with his rule and his line, his planes and his compasses! What fine irony there is here.

Isaiah 44:14. He hews him down cedars, and takes the cypress and the oak, which he strengthens for himself among the trees of the forest; he plants an ash, and the rain does nourish it.

The forest is growing stuff to make gods with out of ash, and oak, and cedar, and cypress.

Isaiah 44:15. Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself;

He cuts up part of the tree for fuel, and warms himself with it.

Isaiah 44:15-17. Yes, he kindles it, and baketh bread; yes, he makes a God, and worships it; he makes it a graven image, and falls down thereto. He burns part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eats flesh; he roasts roast, and is satisfied: yes, he warms himself, and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: and the residue thereof he makes a God, even his graven image: he falls down unto it, and worships it, and prays unto it, and says, Deliver me; for you are my God.

And have not we seen hundreds of persons adoring a doll, or a little picture said to be a likeness of the virgin, or something of that kind? Ah, me! that even under the garb of Christianity the lowest kind of idolatry should still be common among our fellow men; God grant that none of us may ever fall into this deadly evil!

Isaiah 44:18-20. They have not known nor understood: for he has shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considers in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yes, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feeds on ashes:

As madmen will sometimes devour ashes, so surely men who worship things that they have made or bought must be mad: "He feeds on ashes."

Isaiah 44:20. A deceived heart has turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

If you shall worship the crucifix, or anything else that is visible, you are dishonoring yourself, and you are breaking the law of God. Remember that, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." He will have no similitude. This he abhors with his whole heart, and will hold no one guiltless who worships an idol of any kind. Even though the man has reverentially and sincerely bowed before it, he is transgressing against God. These are the false gods; now we shall read of the one true God

Isaiah 44:21. Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for you are my servant: I have formed you;

"You have not formed me, as these idolaters make their gods; but I have formed you."

Isaiah 44:21. You are my servant: O Israel, you shall not be forgotten of me.

God does not forget his people. If you, you are trusting in him, you, you may forget him through your infirmity, but because of his infinite love, he will never forget you, you.

Isaiah 44:22. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud; your sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed you.

First he pardoned their sins, and then he bade them return unto him. What a wonder of mercy this is-free grace removing sin, and then the sweet constraints of gratitude drawing the forgiven sinner near his God!

Isaiah 44:23. Sing, O you heavens, for the Lord has done it: shout, you lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.

Pardoned sin is enough to make even the rocks sing; mountains, trees, forests, and even the lower parts of the earth, are made to echo with song when sin is blotted out.

Isaiah 44:24. Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb, I am the Lord that makes all things; that stretches forth the heavens alone; that spreads abroad the earth by myself;

God does everything by his own unaided strength. With whom took he counsel when he formed the universe? Who instructed the Ever blessed when he made the heavens and the earth! He did it all by his own wisdom and power.

Isaiah 44:25. That frustrates the tokens of the liars, and makes diviners mad: that turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish;

This is what he does to those who boast and think that they know better than he does. But simple hearts, that will believe his Word, shall know his will, and shall grow wise unto salvation.

Isaiah 44:26-28. That confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers; that says to Jerusalem, You shall be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, You shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: That says to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers: That says of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, You shall be built; and to the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.

This Book of the prophet Isaiah was written long before the days of Cyrus; yet he is here mentioned by name, and the prophecy of what he would do is here given. We know how completely this prophecy was fulfilled; and the Lord who uttered it, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is our God forever and ever. He shall be our guide even unto death, blessed be his holy name! Amen.

 

Chapter 45

 

Verses 1-16

 

Isaiah 45:1-4. Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, which call you by your name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called you by your name: I have surnamed you, though you have not known me.

Long before the period of Cyrus’s birth, this prophecy was written by Isaiah, and surely it must have flashed solemn conviction upon the heart of the king when he came to read words like these, in which his very name was mentioned, and all his exploits and successes, with which he vanquished his enemies, captured their strong places, and cut the gates of brass in pieces. Our God has all things present before him. To him there is no future. All things are in one eternal now with him, and hence he tells to his prophets the things that shall be.

Isaiah 45:5. I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded you, though you have not known me:

It is a wonderful subject — the providential government of God over princes and potentates that know him not — how he raised up Cyrus on the behalf of his people, that they might be delivered; and though Cyrus did not know it, yet was he, as it were, an instrument in the hand of God — moved according to the divine will.

Isaiah 45:6-7. That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness, I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.

It was to correct the Persian mistake into which Cyrus had fallen of a duplicate deity — one power creating light and another power creating darkness. "No," says Jehovah, "I am God alone."

Isaiah 45:8-9. Drop down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it. Woe unto him that strives with his Maker!

As many do in these days. Tongue-valiant men, who dare accuse the Most High and arraign him at their bar.

Isaiah 45:9. Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.

Let them strive with their equals, but who is he who shall come into conflict with the eternal God?

Isaiah 45:9-10. Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it, What make you? or your work, He has no hands? Woe unto him that says unto his father, What beget you? or to the woman, What have you brought forth?

Quarreling with God is waste of time, is audacity and presumption. It must end in disaster to us, for the Lord is Lord of all.

Isaiah 45:11-13. Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command you me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. I have raised him

That is Cyrus.

Isaiah 45:13-14. Up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, says the Lord of hosts. Thus says the Lord, The labor of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto you, and they shall be your: they shall come after you: in chains shall they come over, and they shall fall down unto you, they shall make supplication unto you, saying, Surely God is in you; and there is none else, there is no God.

No other God. The day shall come in which this shall all be true, when men shall relinquish their idols, and believe in that one great invisible God, the maker of all things. For the present we see not this.

Isaiah 45:15. Truly you are a God that hide yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior.

Throughout these long and weary years, man has forgotten or blasphemed his Maker, and God has sat still and borne it in the majestic patience of his infinity.

Isaiah 45:16. They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.

 

Verses 1-25

 

The first paragraph concerns Cyrus, and the great work for which God raised him up.

Isaiah 45:1-4. Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, which call you by your name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called the by your name: I have surnamed you, though you have not known me.

A remarkable prophecy, issued long before the time of Cyrus, foretelling that he should conquer Babylon, and destroy it; and, though for many a day Cyrus knew nothing about the Most High God, yet was he used, in the Lord’s hand, for wonderful purposes. Sometimes, a man may have been used of God for great ends without his own knowledge. When, however, he comes to the discovery of that fact, as he may if he will but think it over, should he not reverently bow before the Most High, and worship him who, though unknown to him, had been his Helper and his Friend?

Isaiah 45:5-6. I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded you, though you have not known me. That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.

Those who believe in idols think that there may be lords many and gods many, but he who is a true follower of Jehovah knows that there can be no other God beside him. He fills all space, and there is no room for another. There is but one Creator, one Preserver, and one God, who alone is to be worshiped.

Isaiah 45:7. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord do all these things.

Cyrus was a believer in two gods, — one the God of light, and the other the God of darkness. Hence this declaration from God’s servant, the prophet, that there was no prince of darkness who was a God, but that all things were made by the one Most High God.

Isaiah 45:8-11. Drop down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it. Woe unto him that strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashions it, What make you? or your work, He has no hands? Woe unto him that says unto his father, What beget you? or to the woman, What have you brought forth? Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command you me.

Note the tone which God uses. He speaks like a God, and claims to be above the questioning of his creatures. These verses remind us of what the apostle Paul wrote: "Nay but, O man, who are you that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me thus? Has not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? "God is the great Sovereign over all, and he claims a sovereign’s place. He does as he wills, but he always wills to do that which is just and right.

Isaiah 45:12-17. I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, says the Lord of hosts. Thus says the Lord, The labor of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto you, and they shall be your: they shall come after you; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto you, they shall make supplication unto you, saying, surly God is in you; and there is none else, there is no God. Truly you are a God that hide yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior. They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: you shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.

If you, you are God’s people, you, you have a God of whom you, you need never be ashamed, and one who will not leave you, you to be ashamed of your confidence and hope. Those that trust to false gods will be ashamed; those that rest upon themselves will be confounded; but stay yourself upon God, O man, and you shall never be ashamed, world without end!

Isaiah 45:18-19. For thus says the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he has established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek you me in vain; I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

Here is the glory of our God, — that his every word is true, and that he has never said, in any place, that which contradicts what he has spoken in public to his people. You, you may safely rest upon the God who is always the same, who never plays fast and loose with his promises, or speaks anything in secret contrary to his pledged word. He is as true as he is sovereign; therefore, stay yourselves upon him.

Isaiah 45:20-21. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a God that cannot save. Tell you, and bring them near, yes, let them take counsel together: who has declared this from ancient time? who has told it from that time? have not I the Lord?

He challenges all the idols to prove that they had uttered any true prophecy, — that they had spoken about Cyrus, or anybody else, from ancient times, so that the prophecy was literally fulfilled. There were dark double-meaning oracles, with which the false priests mocked their votaries, but the true words of God — his ancient prophecies — proved him to be the only real and true God.

Isaiah 45:21-23. And there is no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior. there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

Glory be to God, it will be so in the latter days. It shall come to pass that the truth shall be universally triumphant, and the one God, who made the heavens and the earth, shall be worshiped both by Heaven and by earth, without any discordant note.

Isaiah 45:24-25. Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

 

Chapter 46

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 48

 

Verses 1-22

 

Isaiah 48:1. Hear you this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.

There always were false professors, and I suppose there always will be until Christ comes. A Judas was among the twelve apostles, and we cannot wonder that we find such in every church, but what a dreadful thing it is to wear the name of God, and yet not really to serve him, to be called Christians, and yet not to be like Christ! It must be a very God-provoking thing to be called by his name, and then insult it by not being true to it.

Isaiah 48:2. For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is his name.

They profess to trust him, but they do not love him; "they call themselves of the holy city," but they certainly are not holy citizens. Ah me that God should have to speak to men upon such a matter as this! It is self-evidently wicked, but they will not see it.

Isaiah 48:3. I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.

There is no better proof that God is God than that his prophecies have been fulfilled. Only the eternal can see into the future. He has done so, and every word of his either has been fulfilled, or will yet be fulfilled.

Isaiah 48:4-5. Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow brass; I have even from the beginning declared it to you: before it came to pass I showed it you: lest you should say, Mine idol has done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, has commanded them.

See the care of God towards the most obstinate of men. He knows that they will pervert things, so he prevents them as far as it is possible to do so. He tells them what is to happen, that they may not afterwards say that their idol gods have done it. Ah, dear friends, God has taken great interest in many of us! He has, as it were, laid his plans to keep us out of sin; and yet often we have broken out, and have gone over hedge and ditch in the ways of sin. We have seemed resolved to do evil; we have been desperately set on mischief; hence he speaks of us as being "obstinate." "Your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow brass." Will God ever speak in mercy to such people as these? We shall see as we read on.

Isaiah 48:6-8. You have heard, see all this; and will not you declare it? I have showed you new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them. They are created now, and not from the beginning, even before the day when you heard them not; lest you should say, Behold, I knew them. Yes, you heard not; yes, you knew not; yes, from that time that your ear was not opened: for I knew that you would deal very treacherously, and were called a transgressor from the womb.

What a description! Treacherous, false, yes, very treacherous, beyond the usual degree of treachery; transgressors from our very birth, inured in sin. The very heart is wrong, and all that comes out of us is, therefore, wrong. And now, what follows?

Isaiah 48:9. For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for you, that I cut you not off.

"I cannot spare you for your own sake; but I will spare you for my name’s sake. I cannot spare you because of anything good in you; but I will spare you because of good in myself." If God can glorify himself by your salvation, he finds a blessed motive for saving you, you, and, since there is no desert in you, you, he will fall back upon his own glory, and save you, you for his own name’s sake.

Isaiah 48:10. Behold, I have refined you, but not with silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.

You sinful one, yet one of his own children, he will refine you again and again, and he will glorify himself by saving you.

Isaiah 48:11. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.

This verse ought to ring like music in the ear of one who is seeking mercy, and who cannot find out how mercy can come to him.

Isaiah 48:12-13. Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

What a great God is he whose right hand spanned the heavens, making the arch of the sky, as it were, with the span of his hand!

Isaiah 48:14. All you, assemble yourselves, and hear, which among them has declared these things?

He still dwells upon prophecy. God claims that he is God because he foretold all that happened, which the idol gods could not do.

Isaiah 48:14-15. The Lord has loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. Come you near unto me, hear you this, I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, has sent me. Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. I am the Lord your God which teaches you to profit, which leads you by the way that you should go. O that you had hearkened to my commandments!

God again breaks out in lamentations over his wandering people! Not only is he ready to forgive them; but he grieves to think that they should have brought so much sorrow on themselves.

Isaiah 48:18-19. Then had your peace been as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea: your seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of your affections like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

All manner of possible good would have been yours had you, you not rebelled against God; and as you, you have lost it, God grieves that it should be so.

Isaiah 48:20. Go you forth of Babylon, flee you from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare you, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth, say you, The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.

What a grand message for anyone to tell! Tell it, tell it, tell it everywhere, that Jehovah has redeemed his people.

Isaiah 48:21. And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts:

Neither shall you, you thirst, O redeemed one, when you, you are in the desert!

Isaiah 48:21. He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them:

Most unlikely places shall yield you, you support.

Isaiah 48:21. He cleave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

And yet, to finish up the chapter, stands this remarkable sentence: —

Isaiah 48:22. There is no peace, says the Lord, unto the wicked.

O God, have mercy upon us, and let us not be numbered with them!

 

Chapter 49

 

Verses 1-17

 

In this chapter, we have not merely Isaiah speaking concerning the Christ of God; but it is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who here speaks concerning himself.

Isaiah 49:1. Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, you people, from far;

It is very remarkable how constantly the isles are spoken of in this Book of Isaiah, as if it had been foreseen that, in these far-off islands of the sea, the name of Jesus would be greatly magnified. "Listen," says the Messiah, "O isles, unto me; and hearken, you people, from far."

Isaiah 49:1. The Lord has called me from the womb; from the affections of my mother has he made mention of my name.

Christ Jesus our Lord was spoken of by the spirit of prophecy from his very birth, and long before it; and when he did come into the world, and was born of the Virgin Mary, the stars of Heaven spoke concerning him, and guided the wise men from the East to the place where the young child lay.

Isaiah 49:2. And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword;

There are no words anywhere so piercing as the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you, you are giving quotations from various authors, you, you need never write the name "Jesus" at the bottom of any of his words, for they proclaim their own origin. "Never man spoke like this man."

Isaiah 49:2. In the shadow of his hand has he hid me, and made me polished shaft; in his quiver has he hid me;

The great weapon of God against sin is his Son Jesus Christ. God has no such means of smiting evil, or effecting his purposes of love, as his own dear Son. This is the "polished shaft" which Jehovah delights to use.

Isaiah 49:3. And said unto me, You are my servant,

Above all others, Christ is the servant of God. He is a Son by nature, a servant by his condescension, a servant for our sakes.

Isaiah 49:3. O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

It is very wonderful that the Redeemer should here be called "Israel." It is not more wonderful, however, than that in another place his people should he called by his name. You, you remember those two passages in the prophecy of Jeremiah: "This is his name whereby he shall be called, THE Lord OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS," and "This is the name with which he shall be called, The Lord our righteousness." There, the people of God take their Lord’s name; and here, Christ takes the name of his people, and himself deigns to be called Israel. Nor is this an unsuitable name for him, for it is he who wrestled on our behalf, and prevailed even as Israel did at Jabbok. Jesus is a greater Prince with God than Jacob ever was. Well, then, does Jehovah say to him, "You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified."

Isaiah 49:4. Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.

The Messiah, prophetically looking forward, complained that, during his life on earth, he seemed to labor in vain. The nation was not saved: "he came unto his own, and his own received him not." He wept over the guilty city of Jerusalem; but those tears did not put out the fires of vengeance. He entreated men to turn to God, but they did not and they would not repent. He seemed to labor in vain, and spend his strength for nothing, and in vain.

Isaiah 49:5. And now, says the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.

Even though the Jewish nation be not yet gathered to Christ, his labor was not in vain. God will not suffer his Son to spend his strength for nothing.

Isaiah 49:6. And he said, It is a light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

What a blessed word of cheer this is for us poor Gentiles! The favored children of Israel thought us to be little better than dogs; and, behold, we have been lifted up into the children’s place. If Israel be not gathered, the Messiah has become a light to the Gentiles, and God’s salvation unto the ends of the earth. Yet we cannot help fervently praying, "Oh, that Israel might soon be gathered to Christ!" Her ingathering will be the time of the fullness of the Gentiles.

Isaiah 49:7. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors,

Who is this but our Divine Lord, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God? These words are spoken of him whom man despised, of him who was despised and rejected of men, of him whom the nation abhors, for that favored nation still, alas! abhors the name of Jesus of Nazareth, and will not cherish towards the Christ anything but thoughts of contempt.

Isaiah 49:7. To a servant of rulers,

For, though he was the King of kings, and Lord of lords, he submitted to be a servant to the kings of the earth, and obeyed the rules of human governors. Yet,-

Isaiah 49:7. Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose you.

The day is coming when he who was spit upon shall be the admired of all mankind. No more the crown of thorns, but many diadems of glory shall rest upon his blessed head; and all men, with loud acclaim, shall salute him as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Isaiah 49:8. Thus says the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you; and I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who shall establish all that is good, and cast down everything that is evil. He shall staunch earth’s bleeding wounds, and repair her wilderness wastes. Where he comes, flowers spring up all around his blessed feet.

Isaiah 49:9. That you may say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

When Christ leads his flock, wherever they go they shall feed; and even if he leads them to the very tops of the hills, he shall make the pastures grow there for them. There is never a place where Christ leads us but what it is safe for us to go there. The Shepherd’s feet make pasturage for the sheep that follow him; therefore, be not afraid to go wherever he leads you, you, but rather rejoice that he puts forth his own sheep, and goes before them, for "they shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places."

Isaiah 49:10-11. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he who has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. And I will make all my mountains a way,

Where, naturally, there could not be a way, on those pathless summits of the loftiest Alps, the Lord says, "I will make all my mountains a way,"-

Isaiah 49:11. And my highways shall be exalted.

"I will throw up causeways." God will make a way for you, you to get at him if you, you want to get at him. If you, you are willing to make a way for God, he will make a way for you, you; the gulf shall be bridged, the mountain shall be leveled.

Isaiah 49:12. Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

"The land of Sinim" signifies China. Is it not strange that, in this Book, we should find mention of the land of Sinim, the country of China? But God has a people there, and they shall come to him. I was delighted, last Tuesday, to meet with a brother who had broken bread with us at the Lord’s table; he was a poor Chinaman, so he had helped to fulfill this prophecy:

"These shall come from the west; and these from the land of Sinim."

Isaiah 49:13-15. Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord has comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. But Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yes, they may forget, yet will I not forget you.

Will God ever forget his ancient people, the Jews? Never! They forget their God, but Jehovah never forgets his chosen people: "They may forget, yet will I not forget you."

Isaiah 49:16. Behold, I have graven you upon the palms of my hands;

"I cannot work, I cannot even open the palm of my hand without seeing the memorials of my chosen people: ‘I have graven you upon the palms of my hands.’"

Isaiah 49:16-17. Your walls are continually before me. Your children shall make haste; your destroyers and they that made you waste shall go forth of you.

For God is full of kindness to his people, and cannot forget them. Oh, that they would never forget him!

Verses 1-23

 

Isaiah 49:1-2. Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, you people, from far; the Lord has called me from the womb; from the affections of my mother has he made mention of my name. And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand has he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has he hid me;

Our Lord Jesus, that great Prophet of the Church, was in a special manner the Lord’s in the matter of his birth. A wondrous holy mystery hangs about his birth at Bethlehem, — he was, in that respect, the Lord’s in a very remarkable sense. "He has made my mouth like a sharp sword." You, you know how our Lord’s mouth, or the Word of his gospel that issues from his mouth, is like a sharp sword — how it conquers, — how it cuts its way, — how, wherever it comes, it pierces "even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." "’In the shadow of his hand has he hid me." You, you know how the protecting hand of God ever covered Christ, and how his gospel is ever sheltered by the providence of God.

Isaiah 49:3. And said unto me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

It is wonderful condescension on Christ’s part to take the name of his Church so that he himself is called "Israel" in this passage; and there is another passage, equally remarkable, where the Church is allowed to take one of the names of Christ: "This is the name with which she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness." Such an intermingling of interests, such a wonderful unit is there between Christ and his Church, that these twain are truly one.

Isaiah 49:4. Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.

Our Savior did, in his earthly ministry, to a large extent labor in vain. "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." He was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, yet how few of them recognized him as the good Shepherd. He told his disciples that, after he returned to his Father, those who believed in him should do even greater things than he had done. That promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost; and since then it has been fulfilled over and over again in the history of the Christian Church.

Isaiah 49:5. And now, says the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.

What though the Jews still reject the Messiah, their sin does not affect his honor. His glory is still as great as ever it was in the esteem of the Most High.

Isaiah 49:6. And he said, It is a light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

What a blessed passage this is for you, you and for me, beloved! Strangers to the commonwealth of Israel were we; but, now, we who were afar off are made near by the blood of Jesus, and so are made fellow-heirs with the seed of Abraham, partakers of the self-same covenant blessing as the father of the faithful enjoys. In this let us exceedingly rejoice; and for this, let us praise and magnify the name of the Lord.

Isaiah 49:7. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, —

What a true picture this is of the way in which the Jews still treat the promised Messiah! To this day, they gnash their teeth at the very mention of the name of Jesus of Nazareth; and the bitterest words of blasphemy that are ever uttered by human lips come from the mouth of Israel against the Lord Jesus: "him whom the nation abhors," —

Isaiah 49:7. To a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose you.

The Father has chosen Christ to be the precious corner-stone of the eternal temple, and he has also chosen all the living stones that are to be joined to him forever.

Isaiah 49:8-9. Thus says the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you: and I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; that you may say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

Dear brethren, what honor the Lord has put upon Christ! In proportion as he has been the despised of men, and the abhorred of the Jewish nation, God has made him to be his own delight, his Well-beloved. He displays through him the marvels of his saving power for his own glory. I pray that it may be displayed in our midst just now, and in the way mentioned here: "I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; that you may say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness. Show yourselves." Come, beloved, after you, you receive such a message as this from God’s mouth, what prison can hold you, you? What darkness can conceal you, you? The word of Christ shall break your bonds asunder, and change your darkness into the glory of noonday. May this gracious work be done for any of you, you. who are prisoners here!

Isaiah 49:10. They shall not hunger nor thirst; —

To the woman at the well, Christ said, "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst." That is a parallel to this passage:

"They shall not hunger nor thirst; " —

Isaiah 49:10. Neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

Oh, the wondrous sweetness of these exceeding great and precious promises! They are all concerning Christ, you, you see; undoubtedly, they are given with an eye to us, but yet much more with an eye to him, that he may be glorified in the deliverance and guidance of his people, in the protection of them from danger, and in the abundant provision for the supply of all their needs. It would not be for Christ’s honor to let you, you die of thirst, poor thirsty one; it would not glorify him to lead you, you where there were no springs of water. Be sure, then, that God will always do that which will glorify his Son, and he will therefore deal well with you, you for his sake.

Isaiah 49:11-12. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

From far-away China, they must come to Christ; the result of his death is not left to haphazard. Some say that his death did something or other, which, somehow or other, will benefit somebody or other; but we never speak: in that indefinite way. We know that Christ, by his death, did eternally redeem his people, and we are quite sure that he will have all those for whom he laid down the ransom price. He died with a clear intent, a definite purpose; and for the joy that was set before him, he "endured the cross, despising the shame." "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." The divine intent and purpose of the death of Christ cannot possibly be frustrated. He reigns from the tree, and he shall win and conquer world without end.

Isaiah 49:13. Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord has comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

How? Why, by the very coming of Christ, by his birth at Bethlehem, and all the blessings which come with the Incarnate God, his afflicted ones are consoled, and all his people are divinely comforted. Shall we not, then, rejoice in Christ, who is himself so full of joy that he teaches the very heavens to sing, and the mountains to break forth into praise?

Isaiah 49:14. But Zion said, —

Hear the lament of the poor Jewish Church, like a castaway left all alone, —

Isaiah 49:14. The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.

When we are glad In the Lord, and are singing out our heart’s joy, there is pretty sure to be someone or other who sorrowfully sighs," The Lord has forsaken me." — People say that there never was a feast so well furnished but that somebody went away unsatisfied; but God will not have it so at his festivals; and hence, the rest of the chapter shows how the Lord comforted this poor Zion, whose lamentation and mourning he had heard. Notice how he begins: —

Isaiah 49:15. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?

"Can a woman" — the tenderer parent of the two, — "forget her child," —her own child, her feeble little child that still depends upon her for its nutriment and life, — "her sucking child," — .

Isaiah 49:15. Yes, they may forget, —

It is just possible; there have been such monstrosities: "they may forget," —

Isaiah 49:15. Yet will I not forget you.

"Yet, says the Lord, should nature change,

And mothers monsters prove,

Zion still dwells upon the heart Of everlasting love."

How that gracious assurance should comfort the little handful, the "remnant weak and small" of God’s people among the Jews! How it should also comfort any of God’s servants who are under a cloud, and who have lost for a while the enjoyment of his presence!

Isaiah 49:16. Behold, I have graven you upon the palms of my hands; —

Where they must be seen, and where he can do nothing without touching his people while doing it. When a name is engraved on the hand with which a man works, that name goes into his work, and leaves its impress on the work.

Isaiah 49:16-17. Your walls are continually before me. Your children shall make haste; your destroyers and they that made you waste shall go forth of you.

Jerusalem, the very Jerusalem that is in Palestine, shall be rebuilt. God will remember her walls, and the Church of God in Israel shall yet rise from that sad low estate in which it has been these many centuries; and all God’s cast-down ones shall be comforted, and his churches, that seem to be left to die, shall be raised up again, for our God is no changeling. His heart does not come and go towards the sons of men.

"Whom once he loves, he never leaves,

But loves them to the end."

Isaiah 49:18. Lift up your eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to you.

What are all converted Gentiles doing, after all, but coming to the one Church? It is no longer a matter of Jew or Gentile, but all who believe are one in Christ Jesus. Let poor Zion rejoice that she herself is enriched by the conversion of these far-off sinners of the Gentiles.

Isaiah 49:18. As I live, says the Lord, you shall surely clothe you with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on you, as a bride does.

Converts are the garments of the church, her bridal array, her ornaments and her jewels. I wish that all churches thought so; but many of them think that gorgeous architecture, the garnishing of the material building in which they meet, and the sound of sweet music, and the smell of fragrant incense and choice flowers, make up the dignity and glory of a church; but they do no such thing. Converts are the true glory of a church: "You shall surely clothe you with them all, as with an ornament; and bind them on you, as a bride does."

Isaiah 49:19-20. For your waste and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed you up shall be far away. The children which you shall have, after you have lost the other, —

The children of your childlessness, — so it runs, — the children of your widowhood. It was strange that she should have children then; it is not so among in m, but it is so with the Church of God: "The children which you shall have, after you have lost the other," —

Isaiah 49:20-23. Shall say again in your ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. Then shall you say in your heart, Who has begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet; —

I have heard this passage quoted as a reason why there should be a State Church, — that kings should nourish the Church, — Henry VIII., for instance, and George IV. It was poor milk, I am sure, that they ever gave the Church of God. Yet I have no objection whatever to this text being carried out to the full, — ay, to the very letter, — only mind where the kings are to be put. What place does the verse say that they are to occupy? "They shall bow down to you with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet." There is no headship of the Church here, nothing of that sort; the kings are to be at the feet of the Church, and that is what the State ought to do, submit itself to God, and obey his commands, and give full liberty to the preaching of the gospel. This is all that the true Church of Christ asks, and all she can ever fairly take if she is loyal to her Lord.

Isaiah 49:23. And you shall know that I am the Lord.

"Jehovah." "You shall understand the greatness of your God, his infiniteness, his majesty, his all-sufficiency. ‘You shall know that I am the I AM.’"

Isaiah 49:23. For they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

Glory be to his holy name, none that wait for him shall ever have cause to be ashamed; may we all be of that blessed number, for Christ’s sake! Amen.

Verses 1-26

 

Isaiah 49:1-3. Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken, you people from, far; The Lord has called me from the womb, from the affections of my mother has he made mention of my name. And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand has he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has he hid me; and said unto me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

Our Lord became, by his incarnation,-by his very birth so marvelous and mysterious, He became that servant of Jehovah by whom God would be glorified. He was, as it were, hidden away, like a sword in its master’s scabbard,-concealed and protected, like an arrow hidden in its owner’s quiver,-until the time came for God to use him, and then God did use him both as a sharp sword and as a polished shaft.

Isaiah 49:4. Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.

The Jews, as a nation, were not gathered unto Christ, the highly favored people, as a whole, did not believe in him. He was expressly sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, yet John was obliged to write, "He came unto is own and his own received him not." So few became his personal followers that it really appeared as if his life-work had been a failure; but he did what all God’s true servants must do, he referred his work to the Lord. He said, "Surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work (or, my record) with my God." If we are faithful, that is all that our gracious Master requires of us; we are none of us bound to be successful. If we bear our sincere testimony to the truth, and everybody rejects it, our reward will be none the less in the day when the Lord calls us to give as account of our stewardship. If you, you, my brother or my sister, are loyal to him whose servant you, you are, when your Lord comes again, he will say to you, you, "Well done, you good and faithful servant: .... enter you into the joy of your Lord."

Isaiah 49:5-6. And now, says the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Though Jesus seemed to fall with the Jews, he has succeeded in a far greater measure with the Gentiles, for great multitudes of them have gladly accepted him as their Savior.

Isaiah 49:7-8. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose you. Thus says the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you:

Jehovah will bless his Anointed, he will accomplish his great purposes of love and mercy through him.

Isaiah 49:8-9. And I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages, That you may say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves.

This is Christ’s work today, to call out the forgotten ones who are hidden away in the oubliettes, of the Bastille of Despair. He comes and calls them, "Go forth, .... show yourselves;" and at his bidding they appear, even as Lazarus came forth from the grave at his command. Now listen; this is what becomes of those who come out of sin’s prison at Christ’s call. They become his sheep:-

Isaiah 49:9. They shall feed in the ways,-

On their way to the one great fold on the hill-tops of glory, they shall find suitable and sufficient pasture: "They shall feed in the ways,"-

Isaiah 49:9-10. And their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he who has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

Now recall those verses from the Revelation that we read just now, and note what blessings the good Shepherd has prepared for his sheep even while they are upon this earth.

Isaiah 49:11-13. And I will make all my mountain, a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord has comforted his people,

Well may heavens and earth and mountains sing when they have such a theme for their songs as this,

Isaiah 49:13-14. And will have mercy upon his afflicted. But Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.

Zion said so, but it was not true; hear what the Lord says:-

Isaiah 49:15-16. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb yes, they may forget, yet will I not forget you. Behold, I have graven you upon the palms of my hands;

However unnatural an earthly mother may prove, God will never forsake or forget one of his children.

"’Yet,’ says the Lord, should nature change

And mothers monsters prove,

Zion still dwells upon the heart of everlasting love.’"

Isaiah 49:16-21. Your walls are continually before me. Your children shall make haste, your destroyer and they that make you waste shall go forth of you. Lift up your eyes round about, and behold: all that gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you shall surely clothe you with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on you, as a bride does. For your waste and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed you up shall be far away. The children which you shall have, after you have lost the other, shall say again in your ears, The place is too strait for me, give place to me that I may dwell. Then shall you say in your heart, Who has begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive and removing to and fro? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

Oh, that we might often have such a glad surprise as this, and be made to marvel at the Lord’s gracious dealings with us!

Isaiah 49:22-26. Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet, and you shall know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus says the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contends with you, and I will save your children. And I will feed them that oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

The enemies of the Lord’s people are his enemies too, and he will overthrow them in his own good time, and make the whole world know that he is their Savior and Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

This exposition consisted of readings from Revelation 7:9-17; and Isaiah 49.

Verses 13-26

 

Isaiah 49:13. Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for the Lord has comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

When God blesses his Church, he blesses the world through her. Hence, Heaven and earth are invited to be glad in the gladness of the Church of God. Oh, that God would visit his church; nay, he has already done so, and I feel inclined to cry out, as the text does, "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth: and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord has comforted his people."

Isaiah 49:14. But Zion said, the Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.

We often judge contrary to the truth; and when God is blessing us, we dream that he has forgotten us. Oh, wicked unbelief; cruel unbelief! It robs God of glory; it robs us of comfort. It snatches the song out of our mouth, and fills our soul with groaning: "Zion said, the Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me."

Isaiah 49:15. Can a woman forget the sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet I will not forget you.

The child is in a condition in which it reminds the mother of itself; her sucking child, her own child. Can she forget it? It is not according to nature, —

"’Yet,’ says the Lord, ‘should nature change,

And mothers monsters prove,

Zion still dwells upon the heart Of everlasting love.’"

What is true of God’s Church as a whole, is true of every member of it. If any of you, you think that God has passed over you, you, one of his believing children, you, you think what is untrue. He cannot do it. It would be contrary to his nature. As long as he is God, he must remember his people.

Isaiah 49:16. Behold, I have graven you upon the palms of my hands;

How appropriately Christ can say this when he looks on the nail-prints, "I have graven you upon the palms of my hands"! As I said, this morning, Jesus can give nothing, he can take nothing, he can do nothing, he can hold nothing, without remembering his people: "I have graven you upon the palms of my hands." How I love that verse of Toplady’s hymn that speaks of this blessed truth! —

"My name from the palms of his hands Eternity will not erase;

Impress’d on his heart it remains In marks of indelible grace:

Yes, I to the end shall endure,

As sure as the earnest is given;

More happy, but not more secure,

The glorified spirits in Heaven."

Isaiah 49:16-17. Your walls are continually before me. Your children shall make haste;

There shall be many of them. Converts shall be added to the church in great numbers. They shall hurry up; they shall not be long in coming. Very often they delay too long. The promise is, "Your children shall make haste."

Isaiah 49:17. Your destroyers and they that make you waste shall go forth of you.

I wish this were carried out. If it were, many of the churches of Christ, which are plagued with false doctrines and worldly habits, which are laying them waste, would be delivered from those curses. The enemies outside the walls, however malicious they are, will never be so mischievous as the traitors inside the fortress. Save Troy from the wooden horse, and save Zion from the traitors in her midst, that seek to do her harm.

Isaiah 49:18. Lift up your eyes round about, and behold; all these gather themselves together, and come to you.

There is a great company coming. The church is going to be increased. Have faith in God. We are not going to receive them now by ones and twos; we thank God we receive them by tens and scores. They are coming by hundreds and by thousands; let us expect them. By faith, let us see them even now coming.

Isaiah 49:18. As I live, says the Lord, you shall surely clothe you with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on you, as a bride does.

What an ornament to a church her converts are! These are our jewels. We care nothing for gorgeous architecture or grand music in the worship of God. Our true building is composed of our converts; our best music is their confession of faith. May God give us more of it!

Isaiah 49:19-21. For your waste and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed you up shall be far away. The children which you shall have, after you have lost the other, shall say again in your ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. Then shall you say in your heart, Who has begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? And who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

Sometimes a church is brought very low; there are no additions, there is no unity, everything is breaking up, and going to pieces. When God visits that church, what a change is seen! Then people come flocking to it, and the church wonders whence the converts came. May the Lord make us wonder in that fashion! It will take a great deal to astonish us, after all these years of mercy; yet the Lord can do it. It may be he will make these latter days to be better than the former. Though we have had nearly forty years of blessing together, he may yet increase it, and give us to rejoice yet more and more.

Isaiah 49:22. Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

We do not mind how they are brought if they do but come; some in the arms, and some after the Oriental method of putting the child on the shoulder. When God lifts up his hand, great wonders of mercy and grace are wrought.

Isaiah 49:23. And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers:

It will take a long time before they learn that are, for kings and queens have generally been destroyers of the Church of Christ. Those will be grand days when kings shall be the nourishers of the Church, and queens her nursing mothers.

Isaiah 49:23. They shall bow down to you with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet:

I have heard the first part of this verse quoted as an argument for the union of Church and State: "Kings shall be your nursing fathers, and queens your nursing mothers." I have not the slightest objection, if they will bow down to the Church "with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of her feet." What is proposed to us is that the Church should bow down to the State, with her face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of the feet of the state, by becoming obedient to rules and regulations made by princes and parliaments. This is not according to the mind of God, nor according to the heart of his people.

Isaiah 49:23. And you shall know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

If we wait for Christ, for his coming, for the help which he brings, for the salvation that is wrought by him, we shall not be ashamed.

Isaiah 49:24-25. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus says the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contends with you, and I will save your children.

And I will feed them that oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. The mighty may hold their prey with a strong hand; but there is a stronger hand that will deliver the captive. It is Jehovah, the Savior, the Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob, who says, "I will contend with him that contends with you, and I will save your children." Here is a divine promise for every parent to plead: "I will save your children." May the Lord give you, you grace to claim that promise, even now, for Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen.

Verses 24-26

 

Isaiah 49:24. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?

Yes, this shall happen when God makes bare his arm, and stretches it forth to rescue his captive people.

Isaiah 49:25-26. But thus says the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contends with you, and I will save your children. And I will feed them that oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

This is the promise of Christ to his Church, both the Jewish and the gentile Church. He will deliver her from all her afflictions and distresses, and her enemies shall feed upon their own flesh, or, they shall be overthrown by mutual enmities. As it was, of old when those that were confederate against Israel suddenly fell to quarreling, and slew each other, so is it, sooner or later, in the battle between truth and error. By-and-by, there is a split in the adversaries’ camp, and they devour one another. Let any wrong thing alone, and it will break in pieces of itself. All real and abiding cohesion is gone when men seek to be united against the Lord, and against his Anointed. They shall confute one another, or they shall eat their own words, and so they shall, as it were, feed upon their own flesh.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 49:24-26; Isaiah , 50.

 

Chapter 50

 

Verses 1-11

 

Isaiah 50:1. Thus says the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away?

Sometimes, the headings to the chapters in our Bible give us the meaning of the passage. They are, of course, not inspired, and are merely put there by the translators but, sometimes, they are little comments upon the text. It is so in the heading of this chapter: — "Christ shows that the dereliction of the Jews is not to be imputed to him, by his ability to save, by his obedience in that work, and by his confidence in that assistance," so that the Lord Jesus here speaks to the Jewish Church. The great Redeemer, "the mighty One of Jacob," thus speaks to his chosen people Israel: "Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away?"

Isaiah 50:1. Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you, you? Behold, for your iniquities have you sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

It was sin that caused the alienation between Israel and her God, and it is sin that is the cause of all the estrangement from God in the world. A sinful man, so long as he continues to live in sin, cannot love a holy God.

Isaiah 50:2-3. Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it can’t redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinks, because there is no water, and dies for thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

What a glorious God this is who says that he has not divorced his people!

How mighty he is; yes, almighty! All power is in his hands. Notice who he is, for he goes on to describe himself: —

Isaiah 50:4. The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakens morning by morning, he wakens mine ear to hear as the learned.

Just as scholars learn from their teacher. It was a wondrous stoop for the Omnipotent to become a learner; but he descended lower than that.

Isaiah 50:5. The Lord GOD has opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.

This was another step in the ladder of Christ’s humiliation, but he went lower still. Read the 3rd verse again, and then read the 6th. "I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering."

Isaiah 50:6-7. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord GOD will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded, therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

Even though he had to stoop so low as to endure shame and spitting, he knew that the ultimate result would be glory to God and to himself also. He had no thought of despairing. It had been already written of him, "He shall not fail nor be discouraged." He shall surely accomplish the work which his Father gave him to do. The next verse is probably the one from which Paul took that grand challenge of his, "Who is he who condemns? It is Christ that died," and so on. He takes out of the mouth of Christ his words of confidence and puts them into the mouth of all Christ’s people.

Isaiah 50:8. He is near that justifies me; who will contend with me?

Our Lord Jesus Christ was justified in his resurrection. He took his people’s sin upon him, and therefore he had to die in their place; but his work was so complete that he was himself justified as well as all his people and he challenges anyone to lay anything to his charge.

Isaiah 50:8-10. Let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help me, who is he who shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up. Who is among you, you that fears the Lord, that obeys the voice of his servant, that walks in darkness, and has no light?

It is the Savior still speaking, for he knew what it was to walk in darkness, and to have no light. And what terrible darkness it was, my brethren! What an awful thing it was to him to have so suffer the withdrawal of the light of his Father’s countenance from him! He knows, therefore, what this trial means; and being full of compassion, he offers to us the kindest counsel if we are in a similar condition. What does he tell us to do? Hearken, you, you who do love the Lord, yet who are in the dark.

Isaiah 50:10. Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.

In darkness or in the light, take heed that you do this, when everything about you, you seems contrary to the divine promises, and your spirits are ready to sink, take heed to this good counsel of your Savior: "Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God."

Isaiah 50:11. Behold, all you that kindle a fire,

You who would gladly save yourselves, —

Isaiah 50:11. That compass yourselves about with sparks:

Or, firebrands, —

Isaiah 50:11. Walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks —

Or, flambeaux —

Isaiah 50:11. That you have kindled.

That will be the end of it. This grand illumination of yours, — all your good works, all your glorious intellect, and I know not what, — what will come of it?

Isaiah 50:11. This shall you have of mine hand; you shall lie down in sorrow.

God save us all from such a lying down so that at the last, for Christ’s sake! Amen.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 49:24-26; Isaiah , 50.

 

Chapter 51

 

Verses 1-13

 

Isaiah 51:1-2. Hearken to me, you that follow after righteousness, you that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence you are dug. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you, you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

This is for your comfort, dear friends. If God could make out of Abraham and Sarah so great a nation as that of Israel, what is there that he cannot do? Do you, you say that the cause of God is brought very low in these evil days? It is not so low as when there seemed to be none but Abraham faithful in the whole world; yet God made that one mighty man to be like a foundation upon which he built up the chosen people, to whose keeping he committed the sacred oracles; and if he did that, what can he not do? However low you, you may individually sink, or however weak you, you may feel, look back to Abraham, and learn from his experience what God can do with you, you.

Isaiah 51:3. For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord;

Then what will her gardens be in those glorious days? When her very wilderness is like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord, what will her cultivated places be? Oh, what grand times are yet in store for the Church of the living God! Let us hope on, and pray on, and work on, never doubting; for, as John Wesley said, "the best of all is, God is with us;" and if he is with us, all must be well.

Isaiah 51:3. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

For God’s Church is no prison-house, no den of dragons, or cage of owls: it is a place for joy and gladness, for thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. Come, then, and let us bless the Lord with all our hearts. God is still good to Zion, and he will not desert her. He did much for Abraham; he will do much for us. We may find many precious things in the hole of that pit whence we were dug.

Isaiah 51:4-5. Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.

God will not always be forgotten; man will not always trust to his fellow-man to save him, or put his confidence in the idols he has himself made. The day is coming when the King of Kings shall come to claim his own again, and his loyal people shall see the kingdom spread as it never has done yet. Blessed be his name, this promise shall certainly be fulfilled, "the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust." It is remarkable that there are so many prophecies made concerning the isles; and that it is in islands, at this day, that the gospel seems to have spread so marvelously. In our own British isles, in the isles of the southern seas, and in Madagascar, what wonders of grace have been wrought!

Isaiah 51:6-7. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

What a mercy it is to get a hold of something that will never wear out, and that can never be dissolved, — something against which the tooth of time may fret itself in vain! This abiding, indestructible thing is the eternal salvation — the everlasting righteousness — which the Lord Jesus has wrought out and brought in for his people. Happy people who have this treasure for their eternal heritage!

Isaiah 51:7. Hearken unto me, you that know righteousness, —

In the first verse of this chapter, there is a message for those who follow after righteousness; here is a word for those who know it: "Hearken unto me, you that know righteousness," —

Isaiah 51:7. the people in whose heart is my law; fear you not the reproach of men, neither be you afraid of their revilings.

If you, you are true to God, they will be sure to revile you, you. A Christian should not expect to go to Heaven in a whole skin; it is a part of the nature of serpents and snakes in the grass to try, if they can, to bite at the heel of the child of God, even as that old serpent, the devil, bit at the heel of him who has broken the dragon’s head. "Fear you not the reproach of men, neither be you afraid of their revilings," for your Master suffered in the same fashion long ago.

Isaiah 51:8. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

Let them snarl, and let them bite, if they will; they can do no harm to that righteousness which shall be forever, or to that salvation which is from generation to generation.

Isaiah 51:9. Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.

We long for God to come again upon the stage of action, to interpose in the world’s affairs, and to let men see what he can do. Time was when he was to be found by the burning bush, or on the mountain’s brow, or in the cave, or by the well, and earth seemed then like the vestibule of Heaven. Come again, O Jehovah, great Lord and King, let your goings be seen once more in the sanctuary.

Isaiah 51:9-10. Are you not it that has cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon! Are you not it which has dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that has made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over.

Our prayer is that God may do all this over again; and the answer to our prayer is found in the following verse.

Isaiah 51:11. Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion;-

Just as they came out of Egypt of old, and with singing and with sound of timbrel, marched through the Red Sea, so shall God bring his people "with singing unto Zion; —

Isaiah 51:11. And everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

Just as Pharaoh turned his chariot to flee from Israel, and the depths covered him and all his Egyptians, so sorrow and mourning shall flee away from the redeemed of the Lord.

Isaiah 51:12. I, even I, am he who comforts you, you:

Oh, the beauty and blessing of these glorious words! Let me read them again: "I, even I, am he who comforts you, you."

Isaiah 51:12. Who are you, that you should be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;--

You, you see the grass, cut down by the mower’s scythe, lying in long rows, and withering in the sun; are you, you afraid of that grass? "no," you, you say; "certainly not." then, be not afraid of men, for they shall be cut down after the same fashion.

Isaiah 51:13. And forget the Lord your maker, that has stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and have feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?

Why! in the hand of God, and he can let it out, or hold it in, according to his infinite wisdom and almighty power. Why, then, are you afraid? Is there any might in all the world except the might of the Omnipotent One? Can anything happen but what he permits? Be you still, then, and rest in him: "Who are you, that you should be afraid of a man that shall die, and forget the Lord your Maker?" In your fear there is something of egotism, something of your own self. Lay that aside; and, as a babe does not feel itself wise enough to judge of danger, but sleeps calmly upon its mother’s bosom, so do you. All is well that is in God’s hand; and you also are in God’s hand if you have received his atonement in the person of his dear Son. Wherefore, give up your heart to joy and gladness, and let sorrow and sighing flee from you. Even now, let this be your happy song, as it is also mine,-

"All that remains for me Is but to love and sing,

And wait until the angels come to bear me to the King."

 

Chapter 52

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 53

 

Verses 1-12

 

This is a chapter which you, you have read hundreds of times, perhaps, I am sure it is one that needs no comment from me. I shall read it through with scarcely a sentence of comment.

Isaiah 53:1-9. Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor loveliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he has done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

A strange reason for making his grave with tire wicked, and yet remember if it had not been that he had done no violence, he would not have been fit to be a substitute for sinners, and so he was numbered with transgressions-sots to redeem men.

Isaiah 53:10-12. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief; when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he has poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

How clearly you, you have before you, you here our blessed Redeemer, and how strong are the expressions used by Isaiah to set forth his substitution. If he did intend to teach us the doctrine that Christ suffered in the place and stead of his people, he could not have used more expressive words; and if he did not intend to teach us that truth, it is marvelous that he should have adopted a phraseology so likely to mislead. Yes, we believe and hold it fast, that Christ did take the sins of his people truly and truly upon himself, and did in proper person make a complete expiation for the guilt of all his chosen, and in this we find our hearts’ best confidence: —

"Our soul can on this doctrine live,

Can on this doctrine die."

Have you, you and I an interest in this atonement, or must the complaint be made concerning us: "Who has believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"? While I was reading just now, could you, you say by faith, "Yes, surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows Have you, you an appropriating faith, which takes the sufferings of Christ to be its own? Do you, you now humbly, but yet confidently, look to Jesus Christ, the great Burden-bearer on yonder tree, and know that your guilt was there? If so, rejoice, and walk worthily of your calling. If not, soul, you, you do not know the first letters of the alphabet of religion? May the Lord teach you, you, for his name’s cake.

 

Chapter 54

 

Verses 1-10

 

Isaiah 54:1. Sing, O barren, you that did not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you that did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says the Lord.

In this Western climate, we do not know all the misery which was felt by Eastern women who were childless; they were looked down upon and despised; yet here God bids them sing. And, dear friends, if you, you and I feel as if our hearts have become barren, so that we cannot think of God or raise our thoughts towards him as we would desire; if we feel that we have become useless, and for that reason our spirit is greatly depressed, let us give heed to this sweet, this charming exhortation of Jehovah: "Sing, O barren soul; break forth into singing, and cry aloud;" for God can turn our barrenness into fruitfulness, and make us to rejoice exceedingly before him. If we are now sighing and crying because we are not what we ought to be, or what we want to be, God can, in the richness of his grace, make us all that we desire. Therefore let us begin to be joyful even before the miracle of mercy is wrought; let us have unbounded faith in God, and expect him to bless us, even while we are in our lowest state.

Isaiah 54:2-3. Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habituations: spare not, lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes; For you shall break forth on the right hand and on the left; and your seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

This was good news for the poor Gentiles, who were so long spiritually barren, but whose seed was to spread all over the earth. This prophecy has been already fulfilled in a great measure, and the very wording of it is a direction to us if we desire to see the Church of God increased. Make ready for God’s blessing, you, you who are pining and groaning for greater things than these; God is about to bless you, you. Enlarge your tents; lengthen the cords, and strengthen the stakes; prepare for the coming blessing, for you, you are to have better and brighter days than you, you have ever yet known. Therefore be no more sad, but look forward with joyful anticipation to the good things in store for you, you.

Isaiah 54:4. Fear not; for you shall not be ashamed: neither be you confounded; for you shall not be put to shame: for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more.

I am not going to interpret the passage in its strict connection, but to use it for our comfort and instruction. O you, you that are cast down, you, you poor trembling ones that gladly would be at one with God, but feel as if you, you could not find him, believe in the Lord your God, and trust in his Son, Jesus Christ, for there are glad times coming for you, you! All your former dabs of sadness shall be forgotten, and you, you shall have such joy and delight as you, you can hardly imagine at present.

Isaiah 54:5. For your Maker is your husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

Oh, what a blessing that is! This is a wide-spread mercy: "The God of the whole earth shall he be called." My soul, come and hide beneath the shadow of these earth-covering wings, for there is room for you beneath their welcome shelter; and, once there, you shall not be banished from that sacred spot, for it is written, "Him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out." "Your Maker is your husband," united to you in eternal wedlock; therefore, be of good comfort.

Isaiah 54:6. For the Lord has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were refused, says your God.

Poor rejected one, has the world cast you off? Do its sinful pleasures pall upon you now? Listen: "The Lord has called you." You are divorced from the world that you may be forever united to him.

Isaiah 54:7-8. For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you. In a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on you, says the Lord your Redeemer.

What words of comfort lie here to those of the Lord’s people who have fallen into spiritual darkness, and come upon evil days! God still remembers you, you; his wrath is but for a moment, and will swiftly pass away; but his age-enduring kindness which sweeps across the boundless eternity shall be with you, you forever.

Isaiah 54:9-10. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that would not be wroth with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, says the Lord that has mercy on you.

Oh, for grace, oh, for the help of the Holy Spirit to lay hold upon these precious promises, and to feed thereon!

Verses 1-16

 

Try and suck all the sweetness that you, you can out of this chapter while we read it. The personal application of a promise to the heart by the Holy Spirit is that which is wanted. The honey in Jonathan’s wood never enlightened his eyes until he dipped the point of his rod into it and tasted it. Try and do the same. This chapter is the wood wherein every bough does drip with virgin honey. Sip: taste be satisfied.

Isaiah 54:1-3. Sing, O barren, you that did not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you that did not travail with child; for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says the Lord. Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations: spare not, lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes; For you shall break forth on the right hand and on the left; and your seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Yet, they are called upon to praise God before the mercy comes. "Sing, O Barren," while yet barren. Sing, O desolate one, while yet desolate; and you who are narrowed and confined for space, thank God that he is about to enlarge you, and begin already to stretch your cords and strengthen your stakes. We ought to act upon faith, and sing upon faith. The songs which are made at the sight of mercy are very sweet, but the songs that are sung before the mercy comes are those which are most acceptable to God. We may say of the sonnets of faith, "Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed."

Isaiah 54:4. Fear not; for you shall not be ashamed: neither be you confounded; for you shall not be put to shame: for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more.

The dark past, the dreary past, shall be so obliterated with abounding mercy that they shall forget it. Your memory of it shall not be painful. It shall only be as a foil behind the bright diamond of mighty mercy, if you do remember it at all.

Isaiah 54:5. For your maker is your husband;

Bound to you by the dearest, closest, and most enduring ties.

Isaiah 54:5-7. The Lord of hosts is his name; and your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall be called. "For the Lord has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were refused, says your God. For a small moment"—

Not "a moment," but "for a small moment."

Isaiah 54:7-8. Have I forsaken you: but with great mercies will I gather you. In a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment: but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on you; says the Lord your Redeemer.

This belongs to the whole Church of God. I know we might refer it all to the Church in general, but I invite you, you tonight to remember that what belongs to the Church as a body belongs to every member of that mystical body. Therefore, feast here. Be not afraid. Take these words as spoken to you, you even to you, you — by God the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 54:9-10. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, says the Lord that has mercy on you.

What more can he say than to you, you he has said? What surer pledges can he give? Oh! rest, rest, rest, sweetly rest, on this sure word of covenant love. Then let the mountains move. He told you, you they would. Then let the hills of your comfort sink. He told you, you they would. But even then, when earth itself does reel, and the very pillars of the universe are snapped, he stands still the same. "I have sworn that I would not be wroth with you, nor rebuke you."

Isaiah 54:11. O you afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay your stones with fair colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.

Built with jewels.

Isaiah 54:12. And I will make your windows of agates, and your gates of carbuncles, and all your borders of pleasant stones.

They must be rare sights if the windows are so rare. If the windows be of agate, what are the sights that are seen through them? And if the very gates and doors are carbuncles what must there be in the house of love within? If the very borders and the outside fringes of the royal domains of Heaven be of precious stones, what must it be to be there? Remember that the best thing in this world is trodden under feet in the world to come; for we are told that the streets are paved with gold. Men hunt after it here, and tread on it there, for they have nothing better there than this world can possibly afford them.

Isaiah 54:13. And all your children shall be taught of the Lord

It must be a greater privilege, than windows of agates and gates of carbuncle, to see our children — to see all the children of God — taught by his own Spirit.

Isaiah 54:13. And great shall be the peace of your children.

That is the most precious pearl of all, with its soft radiance, precious to the soul.

Isaiah 54:14-15. In righteousness shall you be established: you shall be far from oppression; for you shall not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near you. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me:

Enemies will come, but God will not be with them.

Isaiah 54:15-16. Whoever, shall gather together against you shall fall for your sake. Behold, I have created the smith that blows the coals in the fire,

For he cannot blow any more than God lets him. He is God’s creature. The maker of the weapons of war is still in the hands of God.

Isaiah 54:16. And that brings forth an instrument for his work: and I have created the waster to destroy.

When he does his worst, he is only doing what I meant he should do. The divine decree of God still, with its mighty circle, does encompass the worst deed of man, and overrules it all for the good of his Church.

Verses 1-17

 

The precious promises, contained in this chapter, belong in the first place to the Church of God; but, as that which belongs to the Church, really belongs to every member of it, we shall not be acting dishonestly with the Scripture if we, who are believers, personally take home to ourselves every drop of comfort that we can find here.

Isaiah 54:1. Sing, O barren, you that did not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you that did not travail with child:

Sing, even though you are barren. Do not postpone your song until God’s promise is fulfilled unto you; but sing even while you are desolate and forlorn, and let faith pitch the key-note. Let me, therefore, entreat any of you, you, who are disconsolate and sad, to give heed to the words of the prophet, and even now begin to sing. Give to God songs in the night; imitate the nightingale, and sing though not a star is to be seen.

Isaiah 54:1. For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says the Lord.

After all, we who have the deepest sorrow have the highest joy, and if we are sometimes desolate, we need not wish to change with those who always keep the even tenor of their way. If we have great downs, we also have great ups; if the valleys be deep, blessed be God the hills are high, and the view from their summits is glorious. Let us be thankful even if our lot is a hard one, if we are the Lord’s, "for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says the Lord."

Isaiah 54:2-3. Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations: spare not, lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes;For you shall break forth on the right hand and on the left; and your seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

This is another act of faith; — not only singing before the mercy comes, but getting ready to receive it before it is in sight, stretching the curtains and the cords in order to have room to house the blessing which has not yet arrived. Carnal reason says, "When we have the children, we will enlarge the tent; when we have gathered the congregation, we will build a house of prayer;" but faith says, "I will enlarge my heart that it may be able to take in the blessing which is sure to come. I will be big with expectation. I will open my mouth wide, — not when I see the blessing, but before I see it, that God may place the blessing in my open, empty mouth." May the Lord graciously give us enlarged expectations; for, according to our faith, so shall it be unto us!

Isaiah 54:4. Fear not; for you shall not be ashamed: neither be you confounded; for you shall not be put to shame: for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more.

Here is a third line for faith to run upon, namely, that of courage. Before you, you are strong, before you, you have been lifted up out of your weakness, be of good courage, and fear not; for, if you, you walk by faith, and trust in the Lord with all your heart, you, you shall never have any cause to be ashamed of having done so. The Lord will always honor your faith because your faith honors him. Be of good cheer, for you, you shall yet have good reason to rejoice; and all those days, that you, you are now ashamed to think of, in which you, you lived without God, and without Christ, your days of sad and terrible widowhood, shall be so completely surpassed by the abundance of mercy which you, you shall receive from the Lord, that you, you shall not remember them any more.

Isaiah 54:5. For your maker is your husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

Oh, how blessed it is that Jehovah, Israel’s God, the Lord of hosts, is the God of the whole earth; so that we poor Gentiles may come and hide under the shadow of his wings; and what a joy it is to all believers that this great God has united us in the sacred bonds of marriage with himself! "Your Maker is your Husband." Oh, what bountiful provision will such a Husband make for us! How well will he comfort us! How abundantly will he bless us! So let our hearts be glad in him.

Isaiah 54:6. For the Lord has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were refused, says your God.

Some of you, you know what it is to have had your affections betrayed, and your hearts broken by unfaithful friends. Now the Lord calls you, you to come close to himself, that you, you may prove his faithfulness, and so forget your past sorrows in your present and future joy.

Isaiah 54:7-8. For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you. In a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on you, says the Lord your Redeemer.

These choice words do not need any explanation, this blessed plaster only needs to be applied to the wounded heart, and it will heal it at once. If the Lord will but speak these sentences into our souls, so that we may know that they are really meant for us, our rapture will be complete. Let me read these verses again: "For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you. In a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on you, says Jehovah your Redeemer," — your God, — your next of kin, — your Advocate and Champion. What a blessed name is this, and what a wonderful combination is this, — Jehovah, your next of kin!

Isaiah 54:9-10. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed;

There is nothing really stable about them; all things that are visible must melt and flow away.

Isaiah 54:10. But my kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, says the Lord that has mercy on you.

What gracious words are these! What majesty there is in such consoling sentences as these! They remind us of Mr. Paxton Hood’s lines, —

"All his words are music, though they make me weep, Infinitely tender, infinitely deep."

Isaiah 54:11. O you afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, —

Where are you? Have you come in here to seek the consolation you can not find anywhere else? Then see how God lays himself out to comfort you; he has put into human language the true sympathy for you that he feels in his heart; and again he says to you, "O you afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted," —

Isaiah 54:11. Behold, I will lay your stone, with fair colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.

You shall have done with the rough tossing of the troubled sea; and you shall come to land, — to a royal city which has foundations of sapphire, — to a king’s palace where even the stones shall be stained with rich vermilion such as only princes use in their costly buildings: "I will lay your stones with fair colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires."

Isaiah 54:12. And I will make your windows of agates, and your gates of carbuncles, and all your borders of pleasant stones.

See what riches belong to the Church of the living God; and, as I have already reminded you, you, everything that belongs to the Church belongs to every member of it. So we expect to see our Lord’s face through a window of agate, and to go through a gate of carbuncle to meet him in the place of communion, which shall itself be enriched with all manner of precious stones. Yes, and everything that has to do with us, — even the very "borders" of our life shall be laid with "pleasant stones." Happy are all you who are the favorites of Heaven, the beloved of the Lord. Blessed are you even in your basket and your store; blessed in the common things of your life, as well as in the choicest parts of your Christian experience.

Isaiah 54:13. And all your children shall be taught of the Lord

Our children are often our greatest care. We ask, "How shall they be educated? Where shall we place our boys and our girls?" Put them under the care of God; for, as Elihu said to Job, "Who teaches like him?"

Isaiah 54:13-14. And great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness shall you be established: you shall be far from oppression; for you shall not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near you.

The man who has the fear of God within his heart need have no fear of anybody else.

"Fear him you saints, and you, you will then Have nothing else to fear;

Make you, you his service your delight.

He’ll make your wants his care."

Isaiah 54:15. Behold, they shall surely gather together,

You, you will have enemies, even if you, you lead the most blameless life that can be lived; for the absolutely blameless One had many cruel enemies who hounded him to death.

Isaiah 54:15. But not by me:

God is not with them, for he is on your side.

Isaiah 54:15. Whoever shall gather together against you shall fall for your sake.

Oh, how often, and how mysteriously, and how terribly God has smitten the enemies of his people! The hand of the Lord has gone out against them as it went out against Sennacherib and his host, in the days of good king Hezekiah.

Isaiah 54:16. Behold, I have created the smith that blows the coals in the fire, and that brings forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

Even over the most wicked and the most powerful of men, there is the supremacy of God; and deep and mysterious though the doctrine is, yet divine predestination applies even to such sinners as Judas Iscariot, and the vilest of the vile in all times; and herein is our confidence, — that God is greater than death, and the devil, and Hell, he is supreme above all the malice and craft and cruelty of the worst and the greatest of men.

Isaiah 54:17. No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; —

"No weapon" of any kind — however cunningly made, or however deftly handled, — "no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper;" —

Isaiah 54:17. And every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn.

The tongue — that worst of weapons, whose wicked words are sharper than swords, — is like a condemned criminal.

Isaiah 54:17. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,

Did I not rightly say that these precious promises belong not only to the whole Church of God as a body, but also to each individual member of that Church?

Isaiah 54:17. And their righteousness is of me, says the Lord.

If, then, your righteousness is found in God, in God you, you shall find everything else that you, you need for time and for eternity. God grant this unto each one of us, for his dear name’s sake! Amen.

 

Chapter 55

 

Verses 1-4

 

It is the language of infinite mercy, speaking to the abject condition of mankind. We have become naked, and poor, and miserable through sin, and God, instead of driving us from his presence, comes loaded with mercy, And thus he speaks to us.

Isaiah 55:1. Ho, every one that thirsts, come you to the waters, and he who has no money; come you, buy, and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

See the freeness of divine love! See how God who knows the wants of souls, provides all things needful for them — water — the water of life; and as if that were not enough, the wine of joy, the milk of satisfaction; and he offers these freely. But, mark, there is no gain for him: the gain is for ourselves, for he says, "He who has no money, buy wine and milk without money and without price." All that you, you want, dear friend, God is ready to give you, you. Do you, you want these good things? Then come and welcome. It is God who bids you, you come.

Isaiah 55:2. Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfies not?

Why do you, you seek to get comfort for your souls where you, you will never get it? Why do you, you try to content your immortal nature upon things that will die? There is nothing here below that can satisfy you, you. Why spend your money then for these things, and your labor for nothing?

Isaiah 55:2. Hearken diligently unto me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

God has real food for your soul — something that will make you, you truly happy. He will satisfy you, you, not with the name of goodness, but with the reality of it, if you, you will but come and have it. You, you shall have fullness —you, you shall have delight — if you, you are but willing to come and receive it.

Isaiah 55:3. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live;

Then who would not hear — who would not give the attention — if by that attention life immortal may be received?

Isaiah 55:3. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, you, even the sure mercies of David.

Will God enter into covenant with sinful men — with thirsty men — with hungry men — with needy men — with guilty men? Ah! that he will. "I will make an everlasting covenant with you, you, even the sure mercies of David."

Isaiah 55:4. Behold, I have given him

That is the Son of David — Jesus the Christ — "I have given him."

Isaiah 55:4. For a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

If you, you want anyone to tell you, you what God is, Jesus Christ is the witness to the character of God. Do you, you want a leader to lead you, you back to peace and happiness — a commander by whose power you, you may be able to fight Satan and all the powers of darkness that hold you, you in bondage? Has all in Jesus Christ that I can need for time and eternity, and this can all be mine for the asking, and receiving. Shall we not ask and receive?

Verses 1-7

 

Isaiah 55:1. Ho, every one that thirsts, come you to the waters,-

To the waters which flowed from that smitten Rock of which we have been reading.

Isaiah 55:1-3. And he who has no money; come you, buy, and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfies not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me:

See, the way of salvation is through Ear-gate. We must hear the gospel, for it is not what we are to do, but what we are to receive that will save us; and we must come to God to hear it before we can receive it. "Faith comes by hearing." Give a very earnest ear, then, to the preaching of the gospel of Christ: "Hearken diligently unto me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." Again the Lord says, "Incline your ear, and come unto me."

Isaiah 55:3. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, you, even the sure mercies of David.

Says someone, "I can understand God making a covenant with David; but will He make a covenant with me?" Yes, and after the same sure tenor, too: "I will make an everlasting covenant with you, you, even the sure mercies of David." God will promise to bless you, you, and save you, you, and keep you, you, and present you, you in glory in the day of Christ’s appearing; and this shall be a covenant which shall never be broken. Though all things else are changed, yet that covenant shall stand secure for ever. It will fill you, you with joy when you, you understand that such a covenant as this is made with you, you; and you, you will say, as David did, "Although my house be not so with God; yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure." Oh, what a blessing it is to have a share in this covenant!

Isaiah 55:4. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

"I have given him;" that is, David’s greater Son, the true David, "I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people."

Isaiah 55:5. Behold, you —

That is, Jesus, the Son of David: "Behold, you" —

Isaiah 55:5-7. Shall call a nation that you know not, and nations that knew not you shall run unto you because of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you. Seek you the Lord while he may be found, call you upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Oh, that many may put this blessed promise to the proof even now, for Christ’s sake! Amen,

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 53; and Isaiah 55:1-7.

Verses 1-11

 

Isaiah 55:1. Ho, every one that thirsts, come you to the waters, and he who has no money; come you, buy, and eat: yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Remark the wonderful condescension of God, that though the gifts of his grace are so precious that all the world could not buy them, yet he condescends to ask his creature to have those gifts. He stands, as it were, like one who has goods to sell, and he cries, "Ho! such and such a passer-by, turn hither: give ear in this way. Ho! everyone that thirsts." If, then, there is any soul that wants God, O soul, God desires you, you infinitely more than you, you desire him; and he invites you, you to come to him. Do not delay.

Isaiah 55:2. Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfies not?

Seeking happiness in a thousand ways with much toil and trouble, but with bitter disappointment.

Isaiah 55:2. Hearken diligently unto me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

God invites his creature to listen to him. "Do," says he "but lend me your ear a little. Do but hearken diligently to what I have to tell you, you." Oh! should not God’s message of love command the attention of all mankind?

Isaiah 55:3. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live;

Salvation does not come to men through the eye, but through the ear. Not what you, you see in the finery of the priest or the altar. That can do you, you no good. But listen to the gospel. It is by ear-gate that God’s mercy comes triumphant into the soul of man. "Incline your ear and come unto me. Hear and your soul shall live."

Isaiah 55:3. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, you, even the sure mercies of David.

Here God will strike hands with the sinner and enter into a compact with him — a covenant of mercy and of grace, through Jesus Christ, the Savior.

Isaiah 55:4. Behold I have given him for a witness to the people,

To bear witness to men of what God is.

Isaiah 55:4. A leader and commander to the people.

For Christ loves the people, and he leads them rightly. He will lead them to glory.

Isaiah 55:5. Behold, you shall call a nation that you know not, and nations that knew not you shall run unto you because of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you.

The promise is to Christ. Today are these words fulfilled in our ears, for, in calling these British Isles to know Christ, God has given to the Lord Jesus a people that knew him not. What did our forefathers know of Jesus when he was here below? And yet in this land he has multitudes of hearts that love his name. Oh! that God would give this whole house full of souls to Christ tonight. What a casket it would make full of jewels! Oh! that the gracious Father would bestow it on his Son!

Isaiah 55:6-11. Seek you the Lord while he may be found, call you upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from Heaven, and returns not thither, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Therefore, we are not at all afraid about the success of the preaching of the gospel. Some will be saved tonight wherever Jesus Christ is preached. My dear unsaved hearer, will it be you, you? I pray it may be. May the Lord grant that this may be the last night of your unregeneracy, and be your spiritual birth-night. Some will be saved. Will you, you be of the number?

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 138.; Isaiah 55:1-11; Romans 8:28-39.

Verses 1-13

 

Isaiah 55:1-2. Ho, every one that thirsts, come you to the waters, and he who has no money; come you, buy, and eat; yes, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfies not?

Why have you, you sought rest where it can never be found? Why have you, you craved delights which can never satisfy you, you? Cease from such folly.

Isaiah 55:2. Hearken diligently unto me, —

Thus speaks the Lord Jehovah: "Hearken diligently unto me, —

Isaiah 55:2-3. And eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, you, —

"With you, you" who have any desire for it, — "with you, you" who hunger and thirst after righteousness, and who have no other recommendation than that, poor as it is, — "I will make an everlasting covenant with you, you" —

Isaiah 55:3-4. Even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him —

The Son of David, — "great David’s greater Son," — and God’s own well beloved and only-begotten Son, even Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. God says "I have given him"—

Isaiah 55:4-7. For a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Behold, you shall call a nation that you know not, and nations that knew not you shall run unto you because of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. Seek you the Lord while he may be found, call you upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Blessed be his holy name!

Isaiah 55:8-13. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from Heaven, and returns not thither, but waters the earth, and making it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall, not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you, you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 23 and Isaiah 55.

 

Chapter 56

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 57

 

Verses 1-21

 

A lament for the death of the righteous — many of them put to death by persecution.

Isaiah 57:1-2. The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.

When there is a storm coming on, you, you may see the shepherds among the hills, gathering their sheep and taking them home, and when good men die in large numbers, and the Church’s ranks are thinned, it is sometimes a token that bad times are coming on, and so God takes away the righteous from the evil to come. Oh! did men know what the world loses when a good man dies, they would regret it far more than the death of emperors and kings who fear not God. But as for those who are made righteous by the grace of God, they need not fear to die. To them it will be a rest — a sleep with Jesus — until the trumpet of the resurrection, and all the evil that will come upon the world will not touch them. They shall rest until the Master comes. Now, the rest of the chapter is a very terrible description of the sin of the people of Isaiah’s day. And at last it contains a very brilliant display of the grace of God.

Isaiah 57:3-4. But draw near hither, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore. Against whom do you sport yourselves? against whom make you a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are you not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood.

Because this people so exalted against God and his gospel, God would not allow that they were the true seed of Israel at all. He makes them out to be a false, degenerate breed- and he asks them how they dare to sport against his prophets, and draw out the tongue, and make a wide mouth against those who spoke for the God of Israel.

Isaiah 57:5. Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?

The Lord had said that they should offer sacrifice only on one altar at Jerusalem, and this to him alone, but they had set up altars under all the ancient oaks to worship all sorts of gods. In addition to this, they had gone so far after the cruel way of the Pagans, that they offered their own children in sacrifice in the valleys, under the cliffs and the rocks.

Isaiah 57:6. Among the smooth stones of the stream is your portion; they, they are your lot: even to them have you poured a drink offering, you have offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these?

They had set up the smooth stones which they had found in the brook, and made them into altars — nay made gods of them, for when man wants to make a God, anything will do, whether it is the fetish of the cannibal, or the round robin of the ritualist. It little matters which. A piece of bread will do for a God, as well as a piece of stone. Anything will man worship, sooner than worship the great, invisible, eternal God.

Isaiah 57:7-8. Upon a lofty and high mountain have you set your bed: even thither went you up to offer sacrifice. Behind the doors also and the posts have you set up your remembrance:

Where they ought to have put up texts of Scripture and the remembrance of God’s law, they had set up memorials of their false gods everywhere, for when men become superstitious and worship falsely, they seem to be far more eager about it than those who worship the true God. They go on all fours at it, and give themselves wholly up to their superstitions.

Isaiah 57:8-9. For you have discovered yourself to another than me, and are gone up; you have enlarged your bed, and made you a covenant with them; you loved their bed where you saw it. And you went to the king with ointment, and did increase your perfumes and did send your messengers far off, and did debase yourself even unto Hell.

When they were in trouble, instead of going to God they went to the king of Egypt, that he might come and help them against the king of Assyria; but they would never turn to God. They loved idols, and so they trusted in an arm of flesh. They forgot the invincible arm which had overthrown Pharaoh at the Red Sea, and wrought such wondrous miracles for the deliverance of his people; and they made gods of the kings of the earth and trusted in them, "and did debase yourself even unto Hell."

Isaiah 57:10. You are wearied in the greatness of your way;

They did so much, and they were so superstitious, that they even wearied themselves with it.

Isaiah 57:10. Yet said you not, There is no hope: you have found the life of your hand; therefore you were not grieved.

So long as they did but live they did not think that there was any hope of anything better, and so they were not grieved for all their sin and all their trouble.

Isaiah 57:11. And of whom have you been afraid or feared, that you have lied, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? have not I held my peace even of old, and you fear me not?

This is the old trouble — that because God does not smite down sinners there and then they take liberties with him. They do not know that his patience — his slackness, as they call it — is long-suffering, because he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, and so he puts up his sword. Yet he says, "Have not I held my peace, even of old, and you fear me not?"

Isaiah 57:12. I will declare your righteousness, and your works; for they shall not profit you.

They said, "Why, we are very righteous. Have not we got a God in every corner? As for our works, we have plenty of them. Have not we temples built everywhere, and altars set up on every hill and in every valley?" "Yes," says God, "such is your righteousness. They shall not profit you."

Isaiah 57:13. When you cry, let your companies deliver you; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he who puts his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;

Oh! what a sarcasm! but how just. You, you that love not God, when you, you are in trouble, let your sins deliver you, you if they can. Let your pleasures comfort you, you.

Isaiah 57:14-15. And shall say, Cast you up, cast you up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people. For thus says the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

We dwell in time, and by and by we are hurried into eternity but God always dwells in eternity. It is a very beautiful thought that he should have two dwelling-places. A blasphemer once met a humble Christian man, and he said, "Pray, is yours a great God or a little God?" "Well," said he, "he is so great a God that the Heaven of heavens cannot contain him, but he condescends to make himself so little that he can dwell in my poor humble heart." God has two temples. The one is the high and holy place: the other is the lowly and the humble place. May we have him in our hearts, and then shall we be in his Heaven before long.

Isaiah 57:16. For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth:

God does not like being angry, and though sin provokes him, yet he feels not at ease when he is wrathful.

Isaiah 57:16. For the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.

It would destroy them. Man could not bear God’s anger ever more.

Isaiah 57:17-19. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips;

God teaches men how to speak words of penitence, and faith, and prayer, and praise.

Isaiah 57:19. Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, says the Lord and I will heal him.

He puts it twice over, because it is such a prodigy of grace that God should heal sinners that are so polluted with sin. He puts it over again. "I will heal him."

Isaiah 57:20. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

"Work up" such is the word — "whose waters work up mire and dirt" continually, as it were, in a work, and bringing up its filthiness from the bottom — bringing it to the shore — taking away the brightness from every wave and the crystal blue from every drop. Its waters cast up mire and dirt.

Isaiah 57:21. There is no peace, says my God, to the wicked.

 

Verses 10-21

 

The prophet has been giving a very terrible description of the sin of the nation. We need not read it all, but at last he says this:

Isaiah 57:10. You are wearied in the greatness of your way;

"You are wearied out with your own way. You have been so zealous in your rebellion against God that you have actually fatigued yourself in the pursuit of evil." That is a true description of those who have worn themselves out in the ways of sin.

Isaiah 57:10. Yet said you not, There is no hope: you have found the life of your hand; therefore you were not grieved.

Though they had hunted for pleasure, and had not found it, and had brought themselves into great distress, yet they would not give up the hope of, after all, succeeding in their rebellion. Oh, how obstinately are men set upon seeking satisfaction where it never can be found,— namely, in the pursuit of sin! These people were still alive, and they were content to be so; but they were not grieved although God had sorely chasteness them.

Isaiah 57:11. And of whom have you been afraid or feared, that you have lied, and have not remembered me,—

"Me, your Maker, your Friend, to whom you must own your very soul, unless that soul shall go down into the pit, ‘You have not remembered me,’" —

Isaiah 57:11. Nor laid it to your heart? have not I held my peace even of old, and you fear me not?

When God is very long suffering, and lets men alone in their sin; then, often, they quite forget him, and have no fear of him.

Isaiah 57:12. I will declare your righteousness, and your works; for they shall not profit you.

If God once takes the self-righteous man’s righteousness, and explains what it really is, he will soon reveal to its owner that it is a mere delusion and sham, that will not profit him at all.

Isaiah 57:13. When you cry, let your companies deliver you;

"When sickness, and depression of spirit, and death itself, shall come to you, you, and you, you begin to dread what is to follow, and cry to those who comforted you, you in your time of health, what will they be able to do for you, you?"

Isaiah 57:13. But the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he who puts his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;

All confidence in men shall be blown away as chaff is driven by the wind; but faith in God wins the day.

Isaiah 57:14-15. And shall say, Cast you up, cast you up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people. For thus says the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

That is a wonderful verse. You, you notice that the prelude to it explains the greatness and the holiness of God; and then, like an eagle swooping out of the sky even down to the earth, we find God coming from his high and lofty place to dwell with humble and contrite hearts. Not with the proud,—not with you, you who think yourselves good and excellent,— does God dwell; but with men who feel their sin, and own it; with men who feel their unworthiness, and confess it. I will read this verse again to impress it upon your memory: "Thus says the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

Isaiah 57:16. For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.

See the tender meaning of God’s message in this verse. He has been encouraging the guilty one, and making him feel the enormity of his ounces; and then he says, "I will not do that any more, lest I should crush him. He is too weak to bear any more punishment or reproof; therefore I will not any longer afflict him, but I will turn to him in mercy, ‘for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.’"

Isaiah 57:17. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.

Here God shows that his chastening does not always produce a good result; for, sometimes, when men are tried on account of sin, they grow worse and worse: "I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart." What does God say of such a great sinner as that?

Isaiah 57:18. I have seen his ways,—

"I have seen that he goes from bad to worse when I afflict him. Now I will try another plan. ‘I have seen his ways,’"

Isaiah 57:18-19. And will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, says the Lord and I will heal him.

It is heart-melting to see the tenderness of God. "I will not further smite him, lest his spirit should fail before me. I will not continue to strikt him, because I can see that he only goes farther away from me the more I chastise him. I will deal with him in abounding love: ‘I will heal him.’" I believe that there is many a sinner who runs away from God thinking that the Lord is his enemy; and as God pursues him, he does not dare look back. He thinks that it is the step of the Avenger that he hears, so he flies faster and farther away from God; but when he does venture to look back, and ends that it is a loving Father’s face that is gazing upon him, oh! how he regrets his folly in running from him! Then he throws himself into the arms of the God of love, and wonders however he could have been the enemy of this his greatest Friend. May such a happy turn as that happen to some whom I am now addressing!

Isaiah 57:20-21. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, to the wicked.

They may have the semblance of peace, or a false peace, but nothing which is worthy of being called peace.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 57:10-21; and Isaiah 58:1-11.

 

Chapter 58

 

Verses 1-11

 

Isaiah 58:1-2. Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily,—

There are many nominally religious people who are full of sin. They have an external religion which allows them to live in rebellion against God. And such people are not easily convinced of sin. Hence the prophet is bidden to lift up his voice like a trumpet; yet, even if he does so, they will not hear him. There are none so deaf as those that will not hear; and these men are not wishful to hear what God has to say to them: "Yet they seek me daily," —

Isaiah 58:2. And delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

They are always in a place of worship if possible; they cannot have too many services and sermons; yet they have no heart towards God. O my dear friends, let us always be afraid of merely external religiousness! Genuine conversion, real devotion to God, true communion with God, these are sure things; but mere outward religiousness is nothing but so much varnish and tinsel, it is indeed but the ghastly coffin of a soul that never was quickened unto spiritual life. This is the way these sham religionists talked about their religion, —

Isaiah 58:3. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and you see not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and you take no knowledge?

When God rejects a man’s religion, what must be the reason of it? Here is the explanation.

Isaiah 58:3. Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labors.

"You, you fast, but you, you make your workmen toil on still; you, you determine that they shall not have one atom of their labor abated; and you, you make an amusement of what you, you call a fast: ‘In the day of your fast you find pleasure.’"

Isaiah 58:4. Behold, you fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: you shall not fast as you do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

The best sort of mere external religion will soon turn sour. If you, you do not worship the Lord in a right spirit, God will loathe the very form of your service. Why, you, you might, by hypocrisy, make even prayer-meetings to be hateful in the sight of God; and the ordinances may be made as abominable to God as the mass itself. You, you can soon degrade sermon-hearing into mere listening to oratory, and the Sabbath-day may easily become an object only of superstitious and formal observance. The heart — the heart is everything; if that be wrong, it sours the sweetest things under Heaven.

Isaiah 58:5. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?

Does God care for the externals of worship only? Is he satisfied with sackcloth and ashes, and the hanging down of the head like a bulrush?

Isaiah 58:6. Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?

Yes, this is true fasting before God; — not to demand your pound of flesh, and declare that you, you will have it; not to grind down the poor man to the last farthing; but "to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free."

Isaiah 58:7. Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh?

That is the kind of fast that the Lord approves,— to deny yourself that you, you may give to those who are in need.

Isaiah 58:8-9. Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your reward. Then shall you call, and the Lord shall answer; you shall cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

That is, if you shall take away all oppression, all wrong-doing to men, all talking of falsehood and speaking vanity: "Then shall your light break forth as the morning."

Isaiah 58:10-11. And if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in obscurity, and your darkness be as the noon day: and the Lord shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and make fat your bones: and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

What promises God gives to those who consider the poor and needy round about them! But if you, you shut your ears to the cry of the distressed, God will shut his ears to your cry.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 57:10-21; and Isaiah 58:1-11.

Verses 1-12

 

Isaiah 58:1-2. Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

And what a strange thing this is, that there are some people who take delight in the ordinances of God, and yet they are living in the most shameful sin. I must confess this remains a mystery to me. But I hear of some who will attend prayer-meetings and seem to enjoy them — who are to be found in the House of God whenever the doors are opened, and yet their characters will not bear the light. One would think that they would not wish to be told of their sins, and to come under a faithful ministry, and yet they do, and the more faithful that ministry is the more they seem to like it, and yet go on in their sins. Oh! what strange blindness is this which loves the light, and yet will not see by it — men that take to themselves water and much soap and yet will not wash — that heap up the bread about them as if they built a house with bread, and yet do not eat of it. Oh! infatuation most strange, to love the gospel apparently, and yet not to receive it into the heart so as to be changed by it. See how God talks to this religious people.

Isaiah 58:3. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and you see not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and you take no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labors.

They fasted, and then they said, "Why did not God accept our fasting?" Why, because they made their poor servants work up to the very last all that they could do. They never gave them any rest. They exacted all their labors, and they themselves, while they pretended to faint, were taking their pleasure,

Isaiah 58:4. Behold you fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: you shall not fast as you do this day to make your voice to be heard on high.

They were fond of getting into religious disputes; and when they had a fast day they fell to loggerheads about different doctrines, and they got angry with one another, until they began to smite with the fist of wickedness, and they thought that a day spent in that manner would be acceptable to God. What kind of a God would he be?

Isaiah 58:5-6. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness,

That is, if by any dishonesty you, you have got a man in your power, set him free — if you, you have oppressed him, give him his rights. This is God’s kind of fasting.

Isaiah 58:6. To undo the heavy burdens,

Not to exact from a man what you, you have no right to have, but what, perhaps, the law may allow you, you to get out of him. This is God’s fasting — "to undo the heavy burdens."

Isaiah 58:6-7. And to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry,

It is God’s kind of fasting to give what you, you would have eaten yourselves, to let other’s feast. "To deal your bread to the hungry."

Isaiah 58:7. And that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him: and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh?

When you, you know that there are poor persons, perhaps of your own kith and kin — and, in one respect, we are all of one flesh — when we know that there are such, and yet refuse to help them, it is idle to talk about fasting. But if we would see to this, then comes this promise.

Isaiah 58:8-9. Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your reward. Then shall you call, and the Lord shall answer; you shall cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger,

That is, the scorning the poor man.

Isaiah 58:9-11. And speaking vanity; And if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in obscurity, and your darkness be as the noon day: And the Lord shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and make fat your bones:

You, you see, by giving comes getting. According to the philosophy of God, it is by watering others that we get watered ourselves. God feeds the man that feeds others. He made fat the bones of the hungry. Now, God says he will make fat his bones. He satisfied the souls of those that were in drought as best he could, and now God will satisfy his soul in drought, and make him: —

Isaiah 58:11-12. And you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of you shall build the old waste places: you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

God help us to obey his precept that we may partake in his promise.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 58:1-12, Jeremiah 30.

Verses 1-14

 

Isaiah 58:1. Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

See, friends, how stolid men are by nature. God’s messengers must not only speak, they must speak very forcibly, they must speak as with the sound of a trumpet, before men will hear them. Among the most stolid of all are those who think themselves God’s people, but who are not really and spiritually so. It is hard to reach the common sinner; but it is harder still to reach the baptized sinner, the man who professes to be a Christian, but who has only the name to live, while he is spiritually dead.

Isaiah 58:2. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways,

They are careful to offer morning prayers, they would not go into their business without bending the knee to God; and they are eager and attentive hearers in the house of the Lord.

Isaiah 58:2. As a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

Is it not strange that men will often continue to take delight in the externals of religion, while they give their heart to their sins? Outwardly, they keep up with great regularity all the observances of religion; yet in heart they are far from God.

Isaiah 58:3. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and you see not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and you take no knowledge?

They could not make out why they did not benefit by their religiousness.

They fasted, but they did not find themselves improved thereby. They afflicted their souls, yet they did not receive pardon for their sins, and they could not make it out. The Lord explained the mystery.

Isaiah 58:3. Behold, in the day of your fast you fled pleasure; and exact all your labors.

It is very easy to abstain from eating food of a certain kind, yet you, you can make another kind of food just as palatable; and while you, you are yourself resting, you, you may be compelling others to work for you, you. What is this but hypocrisy? I think it is a common saying among the Arabs and Egyptians, when a man is very ugly in temper, "One would think that he was keeping a fast," because it often happens in long fasts that men grow irritable; what is the good of fasting when that is the only result?

Isaiah 58:4. Behold, you fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness:

Even in their fasts, they disputed with one another; one said the fast should be on such a day, another would keep it on another day; and no doubt there are some professing Christians who are very zealous, mainly out of spite against other professors; they with as much zeal keep fast days or feast days the wrong way as others do the right way. It is a pity when this sort of party spirit is mixed up with the observances of religion.

Isaiah 58:4. You shall not fast as you do this day,

Some fasted in order to appear very religious. "Oh!" people would say, such a man must be very good, he fasts thrice in the week." That is a kind of fasting to which God has no respect. To feel pride while we fast with the stomach, is a poor way of showing how holy we are.

Isaiah 58:4-5. To make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head us a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?

The mere appearance of sorrow, the outward garb of mortification,-what is there in that to please the Lord?

Isaiah 58:6. Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?

That is the kind of fasting which God cares for,-when a man leaves off oppressing those who toil for him, when he makes their tasks lighter, when he seeks their comfort, when he no longer grinds them between the millstones that threaten to crush the life out of them.

Isaiah 58:7. Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh?

For they are your own flesh and blood. Though they may he total strangers to you, you, yet are they men like yourself. This is the fast that God delights in, when men take care to look after the poor, and to relieve the distressed when this is done,--

Isaiah 58:8. Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your reward.

Do not take those promises out of their connection. Observe that they are made to those that clothe the naked, and feed the hungry, and care for the poor. If you, you have done this, then you, you can ask God to fulfill this promise, but not else. Then, when you have done this,-

Isaiah 58:9. Then shall you call, and the Lord shall answer; you shall cry, and he shall say, Here I am.

If you, you have cared for the needy, God will care for you, you when you, you are needy. Is it not his way to reward the gift of even a cup of cold water to one of his disciples? Has he not promised that he will give back again into our bosoms that which we have given to others for his sake?

Isaiah 58:9. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke,

If you, you do not oppress anybody,-

Isaiah 58:9. The putting forth of the finger,

That is, the finger pointing scornfully to people, and the contemptuous inquiry, "Who are they?" -- looking down upon your fellows, who perhaps are far better than yourself,-you, you must put all that away.

Isaiah 58:9. And speaking vanity;

That constant idle talk of which some are so fond, that utterance of falsehood which many practice, that also must be put away.

Isaiah 58:10. And if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in obscurity, and your darkness be as the noon day

Now mind again what I said just; do not go stealing with this promise without noticing the connection in which it is placed: "If you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in obscurity;" but not until then.

Isaiah 58:11. And the Lord shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and make fat your bones: and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

What rich promises to the generous and the kind! There are some who scatter and yet increase, and there are others who withhold more than is meet, and it tends to poverty. These promises are distinctly made to those who care for the needy and suffering. My brothers and sisters, mind well what the Lord here teaches you, you, for these things are far better than fasting. Better than any outward ordinances whatever are real acts of kindness, for remember that the same God who said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind," made the second table of his law to run thus, "and your neighbor as yourself."

Isaiah 58:12. And they that shall be of you shall build the old waste places: you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

God’s people are to seek to turn wildernesses into paradises. There is no part of the world so full of sorrow but the heart of the believer may bring gladness to it.

Isaiah 58:13-14. If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shall honor him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words: then shall you delight yourself in the Lord

There is no doubt that a reverent, happy, joyful keeping of the Sabbath ministers greatly to spiritual advancement. Here is the promise made to those who delight in the Sabbath,-

Isaiah 58:14. And I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.

God help us to be observant of the precepts of this chapter that its promises may be blessedly fulfilled in our experience! Amen.

 

Chapter 59

 

Verses 16-21

 

59:16. And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.

Man’s extremity was Christ’s opportunity. There was no one left to save poor fallen manhood, no one who could lift a hand or a finger for our rescue; therefore, Jesus came, and fought, and bled, and died, and conquered on our behalf.

Isaiah 59:17-19. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense. So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun.

Christ came once, and he is to come a second time, because he will be again needed here; and when he returns, he will ease himself of his adversaries, and speedily win the victory for truth and righteousness. Then shall the whole earth know what Christ can do.

Isaiah 59:19-21. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. And the redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, says the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord my spirit that is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed’s seed, says the Lord, from henceforth and forever.

The Church of God shall have the Spirit of truth and the Word of truth ever abiding in her midst. God will not break his covenant by withdrawing his Spirit from his Church. The Redeemer has come, and his work of redemption is accomplished. The Spirit also has come, but his work is not as yet done; it is being performed from day to day, and the Spirit will never be withdrawn while any part of his ministry remains unfulfilled. The consequence of all this is the glory of the true Church of the living God. There are better days coming for the cause of Christ and of truth. Listen, and be encouraged, all you that are heavy of heart!

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 103; Isaiah 59:16-21; and Isaiah 60:1-16

 

Chapter 60

 

Verses 1-16

 

Isaiah 60:1-3. Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon you, and his glory shall be seen upon you. And the Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

The Church of God is one, whether it be among Jews or Gentiles. That poor Church seemed left and forsaken; dark days came, and it looked as if the Church must even cease to exist, but it did not. Now, God has brought in many sinners of the Gentiles, and he will bring them in much more numerously in the future times of refreshing. They shall come in armies, in hosts, in nations, and the Church of God shall be exceedingly glorious.

Isaiah 60:4-5. Lift up your eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to you: your sons shall come from far, and your daughter shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see, and flow together, and your heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto you, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto you.

All the strength of the land and of the sea,— the armies and the navies shall come and prostrate themselves before the Church of God. The supreme power on earth shall yet be the Christ in the midst of his Church.

Isaiah 60:6. The multitude of camels shall cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: —

The Easterns shall bow before the King; they that of old had some light shall come to the yet greater light. In those holy lands, which afterwards became so unholy, there shall yet be a return to the truth, and all the false prophets shall be expelled. Where Mohammed’s crescent has cursed the nations, there shall shine again the Sun of righteousness, with healing in his wings.

Isaiah 60:6-7. They shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto you: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

Wandering tribes of wild Arabs shall come and bow before Christ, and lay their wealth at his feet.

Isaiah 60:8. Who are these that fly a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?

The growing Church sees a greater multitude coming to her than even the populous East could muster; whence come they? Listen, brethren, and look around, and see for yourselves.

Isaiah 60:9. Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you.

In ships from these remote islands, and from countries that were dimly spoken of, in the East, as "lands of Tarshish," far away, great multitudes were to come to Christ. Are they not coming today from this Ultimo Thule, this distant land beyond the pillars of Hercules, are they not coming to Christ "as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows"?

Isaiah 60:10-16. And the sons of strangers shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister unto you: for in my wrath I smote you, but in my favor have I had mercy on you. Therefore your gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto you the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto you, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted you shall come bending unto you; and all they that despised you shall bow themselves down at the soles of your feet; and they shall call you, The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. You shall also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shall suck the breast of kings: and you shall know that I the Lord am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

In God’s good time, all this shall come to pass.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 103; Isaiah 59:16-21; and Isaiah 60:1-16

Verses 1-22

 

The subject of this chapter is, "The glory of the Church in the abundant access of the Gentiles, and the great blessings after a short affliction."

Isaiah 60:1. Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

The Church is like the moon, which shines with borrowed light. When God shines upon the Church, then the Church herself shines by reflecting his light. The glory of Jehovah is her glory, if that be withdrawn, she is dark indeed; but when that shines into her, and through her, then her brightness is great indeed.

Isaiah 60:2-3. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon you and his glory shall be seen upon you. And the Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

There is nothing that breaks the darkness except the light from God’s face; and when that falls upon the Church, then the Church immediately begins to shine in the midst of the darkness, and multitudes come to the light, and even the great ones of the earth, the kings, come to the brightness of her rising.

Isaiah 60:4. Lift up your eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to you: your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side.

There is no sign here of the Church of God being deserted, on the contrary, she shall become, through the grace of God, the center of attraction. Men shall come from distant lands to her, however far removed they were, they shall still come: "your sons shall come from far." She shall also be increased by the accession of those near at hand: "and your daughters shall be nursed at your side."

Isaiah 60:5. Then you shall see, and, flow together, and your heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto you, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto you.

O, that we might live to see this happy day, when we shall feel a holy awe because of God’s glory as revealed in his Church! This fear is not a servile dread but a holy awe of God, and then the heart shall be enlarged, we shall deal with great things, wish for great things, attempt great things, do great things, and see great things. "Your heart shall fear, and be enlarged," for the sailor far away upon the sea, and the whole strength of the Gentiles shall come unto you.

Isaiah 60:6-7. The multitude of camels shall cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto you: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

These people had mostly been followers of false prophets, but they too shall forsake their fanaticism and their bigotry, and come to unite with the Church of God. Those least likely and furthest off from hope, shall be brought in by the sovereign grace of God.

Isaiah 60:8. Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?

The Church is astonished; she asks, "Who can they be?"

Isaiah 60:9-10. Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. And the sons of strangers shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister unto you: for in my wrath I smote you, but in my favor have I had mercy on you.

The Church of God is one continuously. At first, it was a Jewish Church, and it has never ceased to comprise within its bounds some members of the chosen race. But now, in these latter days, she has broken the narrow bonds of race, and from Tarshish and the distant isles of the sea, multitudes are already coming to the church of God, and they shall come much more numerously in the years that have not yet arrived.

Isaiah 60:11-14. Therefore your gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night, that men may bring unto you the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish, yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto you, the fir tree, the pine tree and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted you shall come bending unto you;

Or, if they do not themselves come, their children shall; each generation shall include a remnant according to the election of grace; and, in due time, shall come the great ingathering.

Isaiah 60:14-22. And as they that despised you shall bow themselves down at the soles of your feet, and they shall call you, The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. You shall also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shall suck the breasts of kings: and you shall know that I the Lord am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make your officers peace, and your exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in your land, wasting nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. The sun shall be no more your light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto you: but the Lord shall be unto you an everlasting light, and your God your glory. Your sun shall no more go down; neither shall your moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be your everlasting light and the days of your mourning shall be ended. Your people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time.

"Amen! Amen!" so say we, with all our heart.

 

Chapter 61

 

Verses 1-11

 

Isaiah 61:1. The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

You, you know who it is that speaks these words, our Lord Jesus himself.

Isaiah 61:1-2. Because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

The Divine Messiah comes to usher in the true jubilee, the blessed day in which the poor shall have the gospel preached unto them, and in which the broken-hearted shall find their brokenness healed. He comes to bring the captive ones back from the Babylon of sin, and to deliver from prison those who, because of their transgressions, are bound with fetters; in a word, he comes to proclaim that now is the accepted time, now is the day of grace, now is the year of jubilee. As for the adversaries of his people, unto them it shall be "the day of vengeance of our God," for the Lord will deal out to them, measure for measure, as they have dealt unto his oppressed and persecuted people.

Isaiah 61:3. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty —

Or, "a coronet" —

Isaiah 61:3. For ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

When Jesus comes, he brings all things with him, for he is all things to his people, and they find their all in him. There is no sorrow at his coming to those who receive him; it is gladness, gladness repeated, and gladness multiplied. Not only does joy come in one form, but in many, as the verses of this chapter so sweetly remind us, and that which comes is permanent, making those that receive it to be like long-standing trees, for they shall outlive their sorrows, and prove that they were planted of God for his own glory.

Isaiah 61:4. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

Truly, God’s living Church today shall do all this. The Jewish Church became a waste, and God’s glory seemed to be trodden under the foot of his foes; but the true children of the promise, they who are counted for the seed, even as many as believe, who are thus the seed of believing Abraham, shall build up all these wastes, and happy shall they be in such joyous service.

Isaiah 61:5-6. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But you shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you, you the Ministers of our God: you shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves.

Because of the sin of his people, the aliens and the foreigners trample upon them; but if you, you and I are truly of the holy seed, having living faith in Christ, we shall look upon the whole race of men as enduring all their care and toil on our behalf. They shall be our ploughmen and our vinedressers; but we shall be the ministers of God, the priests of the Lord, making use of every new invention, — traveling by steam, speaking by telephone, —using everything for God’s glory, letting men invent all they can, and we ourselves turning all things to account for the honor and glory of our God.

I know that there is another fulfillment of this test for God’s ancient people, but this also is a fulfillment of it to us who are his spiritual people, his real children, born according to the promise.

Isaiah 61:7. For your shame you shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion:

That is a sweet state of heart for any of us to be in, — to rejoice in our portion. Oh, what a wonderful portion we have to rejoice in! How blessed is the lot of God’s chosen people! However small a part of our portion may be visible to the eye here below, yet we can sing, —

"All things are ours; the gift of God,

The purchase of a Savior’s blood;

While the good Spirit shows us how

To use and to improve them too."

Instead of confusion such as once was the lot of the righteous, "they shall rejoice in their portion;"

Isaiah 61:7. Therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.

Here is another choice expression: "everlasting joy." Theirs is not a transient joy, like the mirth of fools, which is as the crackling of thorns under a pot, but "everlasting joy shall be unto them."

Isaiah 61:8. For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

That is why they have everlasting joy. There would be no everlasting joy if it were not for the everlasting covenant. Those gentlemen who want to cut that word "everlasting" out of our Bibles will find that it will be a very long while before we shall agree to be despoiled of it; nay, we shall never consent to give it up. We shall always rejoice that we have God’s everlasting love, and an everlasting covenant, and therefore that we shall have everlasting joy.

Isaiah 61:9. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles,

They shall be discerned and distinguished. Just as surely as you, you may know a Jew anywhere in the world today, so shall men know the people of God. Though they wear no peculiar garb, yet their speech shall betray them. There shall be a something about them which shall bear testimony to the fact that "they are the seed which the Lord has blessed." "Their seed shall be known among the Gentiles," —

Isaiah 61:9-10. And their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord has blessed. I will greatly rejoice —

Not a little, for he is a great God, so "I will greatly rejoice" in him. "The Lord has done great things for us," let us therefore greatly rejoice in him. "I will greatly rejoice" —

Isaiah 61:10. In the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God;

Not only shall my lips be full of joy, but my inmost nature, the very essence of my being, "my soul shall be joyful in my God." "In my God." That is a stage higher than saying, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord." We do greatly rejoice in the Lord, but our very soul is joyful when we can each one call him, "my God." That is a possession that the richest among you, you may well envy if you, you have it not.

Isaiah 61:10. For he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

The loveliest sight in the world is one of God’s people. We sometimes sing, and sadly sing, concerning this earth, —

"Where every prospect pleases,

And only man is vile."

But there is another side to that picture, for when the "man" is a true child of God, we can say, —

"Though every prospect pleases,

Yet man outshines them all."

Well did the psalmist sing, "You have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor." Angels do homage to the renewed man; for the promise is, "They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone." You, you who are children of God need not wish to change places even with an archangel, for you, you are brother to him who sits upon the throne of God; you, you wear a nature that is akin to that of the Only-begotten, indeed, it is the self-same nature as his. Glory, then, in this great truth, that you, you are covered with the robe of righteousness, decked with ornaments, like a bridegroom, and adorned with jewels, like a bride.

Isaiah 61:11. For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

They are sown in the earth at present; but, as the seeds come up in the springtime beneath the genial showers and the shining of the sun, so righteousness and praise shall in due time come up in a golden harvest on every hill and valley of this poor sinful world. Hasten it, O Lord, hasten it in your own good time! Amen.

 

Chapter 62

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 63

 

Verses 1-19

 

Some of you, you will remember that chapter 62 ends with the announcement of the Savior’s coming: "Say you to the daughter of Zion, behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him," The present chapter describes his coming.

Isaiah 63:1. Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?

Who can HE be, this mysterious personage, this friend of God’s people, this destroyer of their enemies? Who can HE be?

"Who is this that comes from Edom,

All his clothing stained with blood;

To the slave proclaiming freedom;

Bringing and bestowing good:

Glorious in the garb he wears,

Glorious in the spoils he bears?"

Isaiah 63:1. This that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.

He who has come to save us is majestic in his person, but he is also mighty in his power to save. When we ask, "Who is this?" the answer comes to us, "I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save)" Listen to this, you, you who feel that you, you are great sinners, you, you who know that you, you need a mighty Savior. Here is one able to do for you, you all that you, you need. He comes from the field of battle, from the place of conquest, where he has fought the fight on your behalf, and won for you, you the victory over sin, and death, and Hell. Who is he?

"’Tis the Savior, now victorious.

Traveling onward in his might;

‘Tis the Savior, oh, how glorious To his people is the sight!

Jesus now is strong to save;

Mighty to redeem the slave."

Isaiah 63:2-3. Wherefore are you red in your apparel, and your garments like him that treads in the wine-vat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me:

In all Christ’s redeeming work he was alone. None could help him to redeem his people. He must alone pay the ransom price. None could help him in his last great battle, when he stood forth as the sole Champion of all whom his Father had given to him.

"Death and Hell will he dethrone,

By his single arm alone."

Isaiah 63:3-4. For I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my clothing. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.

It was the day of vengeance on the enemies of God, vengeance on sin and death, and Hell; and it was the year of redemption for the great host of believers in Christ, for whom his garments were dyed in his own most precious blood. Notice how the great redeemer speaks of his chosen people; "My redeemed."

Isaiah 63:5-6. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and ‘make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.

Dear friends, I will not go into a full explanation of these verses just now; I have often explained them to you, you; but this is the one lesson that they teach, there is a Savior "mighty to save." Nothing can destroy those who put their trust in him; he will overthrow every enemy of our souls if we take him to he our Savior. Now the prophet speaks again

Isaiah 63:7. I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.

It is well to talk of God’s love and God’s mercy, for, if we afterwards speak of our own sin and unfaithfulness, it tends to set our sin in a clearer light, and we are the more ready to confess it, and to mourn over it. God has dealt well with us; and, therefore, that we have dealt ill with him, is the more shameful. See what he did for his ancient people, and behold in his action a picture of what he has done for his spiritual Israel.

Isaiah 63:8. For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Savior.

He thought well of them, he said, "They will be true to me." He loved them; he chose them; he put them in a place of trust and honor; he entered into fellowship and sympathy with them.

Isaiah 63:9. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

This is what he did for them in Egypt, what he did for them in the desert. He was very near them, one with them, very tender to them.

Isaiah 63:10. But they rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit; therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

Hear you this, you people of God! This is what God will do to you, you if you, you rebel against him, and vex his Holy Spirit; he will turn to be your enemy, and will fight against you, you. If God’s people will not yield to his love and his pity, they must suffer from his hand and his rod.

Isaiah 63:11. Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he who put his holy Spirit within him?

God begins to think of the past, and of what he did for his people in the days of old.

Isaiah 63:12-14. That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name? That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble? As a beast goes down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest: so did you lead your people, to make yourself a glorious name.

See what God did for his people in his tenderness and loving-kindness. Is it not strange that, after that, they rebelled against him?

Isaiah 63:15. Look down from Heaven, and behold from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory: where is your zeal and your strength, the sounding of your affections and of your mercies toward me? are they restrained?

If you, you are in trouble tonight, if you, you have lost the light of God’s countenance, here are words for you, you to use in prayer to God.

Isaiah 63:16. Doubtless you are our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: you, O Lord, are our father, our redeemer; your name is from everlasting.

Get a hold of this great truth, believer. Say, "God is my Father. He is my Father still; and though he smite me, though he frown upon me, I will not quit my hold on him; I will still plead his dear Son’s name, and wait for his mercy, trusting in his grace."

Isaiah 63:17-18. O Lord, why have you made us to err from your ways, and hardened our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance. The people of your holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary. We are your: you never barest rule over them; they were not called by your name.

I pointed out to you, you, at the beginning of our reading, that this chapter appropriately follows the preceding one. It is itself most suitably followed by chapter 64. Indeed, the first verse of that chapter belongs to this one, and should not have been separated from it. God’s people, in their low estate, recognized that deliverance must come from the Lord alone, so they prayed, "Oh that you would rend the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might flow down at your presence, as when the melting fire burns, the fire causes the waters to boil, to make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!" God bless the reading of his Word, and give us his presence during the whole of the service, for Christ’s sake. Amen!

 

Chapter 64

 

Verses 1-12

 

Isaiah 64:1-2. Oh that you would rend the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might flow down at your presence, as when the melting fire burns,

Or, much better, "as when the brushwood burns"; for if God does but come to his people, they are ready to catch the flame, like the dry heather which is soon ablaze; and his enemies also shall be like brushwood before the fire.

Isaiah 64:2-3. The fire causes the waters to boil, to make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence! When you did terrible things which we looked not for, you come down, the mountain flowed down at your presence.

O Lord, come again! You did come in the past; repeat your former acts, and let us see what you can do for the avenging of your people.

Isaiah 64:4. For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen, O God, beside you, what he has prepared for him that waits for him.

God is ready to help. He has everything in preparation before our needs begin. He has laid in supplies for all our wants. Before our prayers are presented, he has prepared his answers to them; blessed be his name! You, you remember how Paul uses this passage, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit." The spiritual man is a privileged man.

Isaiah 64:5. You meet him that rejoices and works righteousness, those that remember you in your ways:

God does not wait for us to return to him. He meets us. He comes to us the moment that we turn our feet towards his throne. While we are, like the prodigal, a great way off, he sees us, and has compassion upon us, and runs to meet us.

Isaiah 64:5. Behold, you are wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance ,and we shall be saved.

In your faithfulness, in your love, in yourself, in your ways of mercy there is continuance. This is our safety. What are we? Here is the answer: —

Isaiah 64:6. But 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.

It is not a flattering picture that the prophet draws. Even our righteousnesses are like filthy rags, fit only for the fire; what must our righteousnesses be like? We, ourselves, are like the sere leaves on the trees; and just as the wind carries away the faded leaves of autumn, so our sins, like a mighty blast, carry us away.

Isaiah 64:7-8. And there is none that calls upon your name, that stirs up himself to take hold of you:

That is a wonderful description of prayer. When a man rouses himself from sinful lethargy, and stirs himself up to take hold of God in prayer, he will become an Israel, a prince prevailing with God.

Isaiah 64:8. For you have hid your face from us, and have consumed us, because of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, you are our father;

Adoption does not come to an end because of sin. Regeneration or sonship does not die out; it cannot die out. I am my father’s son, and so I always shall be; and if I am my heavenly Father’s son, I shall never cease to be so.

"Now, O Lord, you are our Father!" This truth must not be perverted into an argument for sinning; it ought rather to keep us from sinning, lest we should grieve such wondrous love.

Isaiah 64:8-12. We are the clay, and you our potter; and we all are the work of your hand. Be not wrath very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity forever: behold, see, we beseech you, we are all your people. The holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Will you refrain yourself for these things, O Lord? Will you hold your peace, and afflict us very sore?

The prophet touches the minor key, and weeps and wails for the sorrows of his people; but he does not neglect to pray. In the next chapter God breaks out, and says, "I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not." How much more quickly is he found of them who do seek him! Truly, God does hear prayer; and he will hear prayer; let us not cease to pray to him as we look round on the sad state of the professing church at this time, and with Isaiah let us cry, "Will you refrain yourself for these things, O Lord? Will you hold your peace, and afflict us very sore?"

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 63-64

 

Chapter 65

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 66

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

JEREMIAH

 

Chapter 1

 

Verses 1-19

 

Jeremiah 1:1-3. The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

Jeremiah was a young man when he was called to the prophetic office; and he was sent of God, as a young prophet, to help the young king, Josiah. His public life, therefore, opened somewhat happily. But, after the death of Josiah, wicked kings sat upon the throne, and it was the painful lot, and yet in some respects the choice privilege, of this weeping prophet to be sent upon his Master’s errand, time after time, to a disobedient and gainsaying people, who wrought him only evil while he sought their good. The Holy Spirit, you, you see, is careful to note important dates in the history of God’s servants; and you, you and I also should keep a record of the times when God sets us to work, and when he gives us special grace for the service to which he has called us.

Jeremiah 1:4-6. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

He was but young, and, when young men are called to be ambassadors for God, it behooves them to feel the weight of the responsibility that rests upon them, and to be conscious of their lack of experience, and of their want of fitness for the work. In that consciousness of unfitness, there often lies the evidence of their fitness for the task entrusted to them. Perhaps, out of weakness they shall be made strong; but if they do not feel their weakness, they are not likely to cry to God for help, or to receive it from him. "Ah, Lord God!" said young Jeremiah, "behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child."

Jeremiah 1:7. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for you shall go to all that I shall send you, and whatever I command you you shall speak.

Now, even a child can often speak anything that has been said to him; to repeat what he is told to say, is not beyond his capacity; and, after all, this is a Christian minister’s principal work. Somebody says, "We want thinkers." Yes, so we do; but we want men whose thoughts shall be subordinate to the thoughts of God, ministers who do not come to utter their own thoughts, but to deliver their Master’s message, to tell to us what he has told to them. Is that sermon merely what you, you think, sir? Then, what do I care what you, you think? What is that to me, anymore than what I think may be to you, you. If, however, you, you can come to me, and say, "Thus says the Lord," I will give diligent heed to your message, and I am bound to receive it; but woe be to that minister whose word shall be other than this!

Jeremiah 1:8. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.

When a king sends an ambassador to a foreign court, he cannot usually go with him; but God’s ambassador always has his King with him. Oh, what courage he ought to have with such a Companion!

Jeremiah 1:9. Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth.

For you, you young brethren who are to be preachers of the gospel, I cannot wish anything better than that the Lord may touch your mouth in this way. In the old times that some of us remember, godly men used to pray that the Holy Spirit would be "mouth, matter, and wisdom" to the preachers of the Word. It was not at all a bad prayer, for it was a petition that he would give to his servants the right subject, the right spirit, and the right utterance, — that he would teach them how to speak, what to speak, and in what spirit to speak it.

Jeremiah 1:9. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

That is a true picture of a Spirit-sent preacher of the gospel, — a man who has God’s words in his mouth. I said before that the minister must not utter his own thoughts, but here we see that he must not even utter his own words. God’s thoughts are best delivered in God’s words; and the more of Scripture there is in our teaching, the more true, the more divine, and the more powerful, will it be.

Jeremiah 1:10. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

What a mysterious power rested on this God-sent messenger! Poor Jeremiah was often in prison, frequently at death’s door, yet he was the master of nations and kingdoms, and the Lord gave him authority to root them up or to plant them, to throw them down or to build them up. What wondrous power God gives to those who faithfully preach his Word! Well might Mary Queen of Scots say that she was more afraid of John Knox’s preaching than of all the armies that came against her.

Jeremiah 1:11-14. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what see you? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, You have well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it. And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What see you? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north. Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

The Chaldeans and the Babylonians were like a great cauldron, boiling and seething, sending forth smoke and steam over the nations, and ready to scald Jerusalem to its destruction.

Jeremiah 1:15-16. For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord and they shall come, and they shall set everyone his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands.

God tells Jeremiah that he was about to destroy Jerusalem because of the people’s sin. He was not merely to foretell their doom, but he was also to tell the reason of it, — that it was the result of their sin, and especially of the sin of idolatry, to which mankind is ever exceedingly prone. It is most difficult to keep men to pure spiritual worship, — the worship of the unseen God in spirit and in truth. They will get away, if they can, to some outward form or another. They will take the very bread of communion, and worship it; or the image of the bleeding Savior, and make an idol of that. Somehow or other, they will have something visible, or tangible, as the object of their adoration. Men will fall into idolatry of one kind or another even to this day; and this is a God-provoking offense, from which may the Lord, in his mercy, graciously preserve all of us perfectly clear!

Jeremiah 1:17. You therefore gird up your loins, —

"You have a hard task before you, Jeremiah, a stern life’s work cut out for you; ‘therefore gird up your loins,’ " —

Jeremiah 1:17. And arise, —

"There must be no waiting, no idleness: ‘Arise,’ " —

Jeremiah 1:17. And speak unto them all that I command you:

"Do not trim it at all, or pare it down, or omit distasteful portions; but ‘speak unto them all that I command you.’"

Jeremiah 1:17. Be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound you before them.

We ought to be so afraid of God that we are afraid of nobody else. "Fear him, you saints, and you, you will then have nothing else to fear." Send all your fears to Heaven, and there let them stop.

Jeremiah 1:18-19. For, behold, I have made you this day a defensed city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you.

 

Chapter 2

 

Verses 1-19

 

Jeremiah 2:1-3. Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says the Lord, I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your espousals when you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the first fruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, says the Lord.

God remembered what Israel used to be in those good days when the Lord alone did lead them and there was no strange God among them. Now he bids them remember from whence they had fallen, and repent and do their first works lest he come unto them in wrath. Oh, beloved, if you, you ever lived near to God — if you, you ever rested your head on Christ’s bosom, and have now wandered away from him and are spiritually cold and dead, begin to chide yourself; for the Lord himself, in the word before us, does chide you, you. He calls you, you to a sorrowful remembrance of the position from which you, you have descended — the heights of grace from which you, you have come down. Breathe the prayer that he would restore you, you again. "Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you."

Jeremiah 2:4-5. Hear you the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: thus says the Lord, What iniquity have your father found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

He asks them whether there was any fault in him — any failure in keeping his promise, — whether he had dealt unjustly or unmercifully with them that they had thus gone away from him and walked after vanity.

Jeremiah 2:6. Neither said they; Where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?

Ought they not always to have remembered the wonderful wilderness journey where God seemed to multiply his miracles in the midst of their great necessities? Some of you, you have passed through a wilderness too, yet have you, you been richly supplied. You, you have had to admire the constancy of the divine goodness. God has not failed you, you ever, even in your worst circumstances. Do not let it be said of you, you that you, you never say, "Where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt." On the contrary, always fly to him when you, you are in time of trouble. Remember that this is the way to glorify God. "He shall call upon me and I will answer him " is one of God’s own promises; and then he adds — "and he shall glorify me."

Jeremiah 2:7-8. And I brought you, you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof but when you entered, you defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

Was not this very shameful that in Canaan, which God had chosen beyond all countries for its fertility that he might give it to his own people forever, there they began to set up idols, and altars to other gods? And the priests, whose lips ought to have kept knowledge, and the prophets who above all men were bound to have spoken in the name of the Lord joined the people in their sin. They even urged them to worship Baal — that dummy deity, unworthy of a moment’s respect who should not have been so much as thought of by God’s people. They ought not even to have taken the name of Baal into their lips. Do you, you not see yourselves here, O backsliders? If you, you ever knew the Lord and have gone back to the world, if you, you have submitted yourselves again to the powers thereof, and sinned with a high hand, have you, you not acted most shamefully towards your God? And ought you, you not, with a blushing countenance and weeping eyes to return to him and ask mercy at his hands?

Jeremiah 2:9-11. Wherefore I will yet plead with you, you, says the Lord, and with your children’s children will I plead. For pass over the Isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. Has a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.

How powerfully this is put! No other nation gave up its gods. Though they were no gods, but mere images of clay or gold, they would not change them. They stuck to their idolatries with wonderful pertinacity; but God’s people gave up the true God to worship the demons of the nations round about. And is it not an unhappy thing that there are now some who at least call themselves God’s people who go back to the world and seem to be more in love with it than ever they were? It is a horrible thing that is done. I have heard of a chieftain of an Indian tribe whose nephew was converted to the faith but who, after a short time, fell into sin and renounced his profession; the old chief used always to answer all the teaching of the missionary with this argument: "My nephew tried it and gave it up. He ought to know." Well, when this was told to the young man it broke his heart, and happily brought him back to the God he had forsaken. Perhaps there are some in the world who are gathering excuses for continuing in sin from the unhappy conduct of such as backslide. "Look at him," say they, "how hot and zealous he was, and see what he is now." Can you, you bear the thought, backslider? If there remains a spark of love to Christ in your soul, you, you will feel bitterly the sorrow that others should make an excuse for blasphemy and for rebellion against Christ, out of your evil conduct. Oh, pray tonight — "Restore unto me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free spirit."

Jeremiah 2:12-13. Be astonished O, you heavens at this, and be horribly afraid, be you very desolate, says the Lord. For my people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

If a man should change for the better, his selfishness might be a little excuse for leaving his old love, but when he changes for the worse —leaves a fountain for a cistern — a flowing fountain for a broken cistern that holds nothing — why, there is madness in his sin. "Be astonished, O you heavens and be horribly afraid."

Jeremiah 2:14-17. Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled? The young lions roared upon him and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant. Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of your head. Have you not procured this unto yourself in that you have forsaken the Lord your God, when he led you by the way?

The people of Israel had got into a dreadful state of poverty and famine and oppression. Their enemies had so destroyed the land that it was full of lions that even yelled in the very streets where once men and women and children abounded. And God says to them, "Is not this the result of your own sin? Was it so when you, you lived near to me? Have you, you not brought this upon yourself by your sin?" So, child of God, if you, you are unhappy tonight — if you, you are mourning — if you, you cannot find comfort in the world — no comfort in God either, "have you not procured this unto yourself? When you did live near to God, when prayer was continual, when you did watch your conduct, when you did go softly asking God to guide you from day to day, was it not better with you then than now. Then your peace was like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. If it be not so now, have you not procured this unto yourself in that you have forsaken the Lord your God when he led you by the way?

Jeremiah 2:18. And now what have you to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what have you to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?

For instead of going to the fountain of living waters, they were hoping to be helped by the Egyptians or helped by the Assyrians. Just as there are some Christians who try to drink the muddy waters of sinful pleasure and of carnal lust, they are beginning to think the muddy river very sweet and to like the taste of it. It is a deadly evil when professing Christians begin to do as others do, and to mix with the world and feel pleasure in it. There will be a blight upon you, you if you, you turn from God! Misery will dog your steps before long, if you, you be indeed a child of God.

Jeremiah 2:19. Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your backslidings shall reprove you: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and that my fear is not in you, says the Lord GOD of hosts.

A very solemn passage. May we lay it to heart. Not only is there guilt in our sin for which we shall have to answer at God’s judgment seat, but there is evil in it which will come swiftly upon our own heads even here, "Be sure your sin will find you out." The thing you think will be your strength, will be your scourge. What you dream of as pleasure will prove to be your plague. If you have ever known the joy of God’s service all this shall be doubly true of you: you shall never be able again to find satisfaction in the world, and God, the God whom you did once delight in, will let your own wickedness correct you, and your backslidings reprove you, because he wishes you to come back again to his side, and to drink again of the living waters which you have so foolishly forsaken.

Verses 1-25

 

Jeremiah 2:1-3. Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem saying, Thus says the Lord: I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your espousals, when you went after me in the wilderness in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the first-fruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon then, says the Lord.

God reminds his people of what they used to be in their first days, when they came out of Egypt. They had very sadly declined from what they then were. They were none too faithful to the Lord then; but they had fallen back even from that condition. Does not this passage come home to some of you, you who are not now what you, you once were? May the Lord graciously speak through these words to your ear, and to your heart, if you, you have backslidden from him in any degree!

Jeremiah 2:4-5. Hear you the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: thus says the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain

What faults have you, you to find with God, that you, you have left him? What fault have you, you seen in the ever-blessed Christ, that your love to him should have grown cold?

Jeremiah 2:6-7. Neither said they, Where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? And I brought you, you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when you entered, you defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.

It is a sad charge against anybody that he forgets the care that God has taken of him in the days of his poverty and affliction. When a man becomes rich, and is surrounded by earthly comforts, it is a terrible thing that he should then forget God; or that, the more God does for him, the less he thinks of God. This is strangely ungrateful conduct, yet the children of Israel acted thus. They were better in the wilderness,-though they were bad enough there,-they were better in the wilderness than they were in Canaan, better on the desert sand than they were in the land that flowed with milk and honey. And there are some, nowadays, who were better in their poverty than they are in their prosperity, and some who were better by a long way in their times of sickness than they now are in their balmy days of health. Alas, that it should be so!

Jeremiah 2:8. The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

It is always ill with the people when the ministers go wrong. If the dogs do not protect the flock, but are dumb dogs that cannot bark, what is to become of the sheep?

Jeremiah 2:9-11. Wherefore I will yet plead with you, you, says the Lord, and with your children’s children will I plead. For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. Has a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit,

God bids them go to the West, across the Mediterranean, to Chittim, that is, probably Cyprus, or to go to the East, away there to Kedar, or Arabia, and see whether any Gentile nation ever changed its gods, which really were no gods. "And yet," says the Lord, "here is a people that knew the one living and true God, but they have turned aside to idols: ‘My people has changed their glory for that which does not profit.’" O friend, if there is no truth in religion, I do not wonder that you, you give it up! But if you, you ever knew its blessed sweetness, if Christ was ever precious to you, you, if you, you did once enjoy the gospel of his grace, how is it that you, you have grown cold towards it, and declined from its ways?

Jeremiah 2:12-13. Be astonished, O you heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be you very desolate, says the Lord. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold-no water.

To go away from the flowing fountain to the stagnant waters of a cistern, is great folly; but to go and hew out broken cisterns that can hold no water, but merely mock your thirst, is madness of the worst kind.

Jeremiah 2:14. Is Israel a servant? is he a home born slave? why is he spoiled?

God made him to be his son, not his slave; but Israel went aside from God, and so became a slave, being carried away into captivity by the very nation whose gods the chosen people worshiped.

Jeremiah 2:15-16. The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant. Also the children of Noph and Tuhapanes have broken the crown of your head.

The Israelites went and worshiped idols, and then the very nations whose gods they worshiped invaded the land, and broke the crown of their head, or made them bald, which was to the Jews a mark of mourning or of disgrace.

Jeremiah 2:17. Have you not procured this-unto yourself, in that you have forsaken the Lord your God, when he led you by the way?

You, you who are depressed in soul, you, you who have grown spiritually poor, you, you who are in great trouble of heart, listen: "Have you not procured this unto yourself?" Did you not make the rod for your own back by going away from your God? It was well enough with you when you did trust in him; but now that you have turned aside from him, all these evils have come upon you. "Have you not procured this unto yourself, in that you have forsaken Jehovah your God, when he led you by the way?",

Jeremiah 2:18. And now what have you to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor?

"The waters of the Nile;" or, as it may be read, "the waters of that muddy river." The Israelites had suffered so much during their long captivity in Egypt, that one would have thought they would never have wanted to go near the house of bondage again: "What have you to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor?"

Jeremiah 2:18. Or what have you to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?

You, you are trying to find pleasure in the world, you, you are going to the resorts of sin, to seek amusement there. If you are a child of God, "What have you to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? Or what have you to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?" What do you there, Elijah? You have lost the comforts of religion by your backsliding; and now you are trying to make up for them by going into the world’s gaiety. It will never do; you can never fill your belly with the husks that the swine do eat. If you were one of the swine, you might do so; but if you are your Father’s son, it is only the bread in his house that will satisfy your hungry soul.

Jeremiah 2:19-25. Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your backslidings shall reprove you: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and that my fear is not in you, says the Lord GOD of hosts. For of old time I have broken your yoke, and burst your bands; and you said, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree then wander, playing the harlot. Yet I had planted you a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then are you turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? For though you wash you with nitre, and take you much hope, yet your iniquity is marked before me, says the Lord GOD, how can you say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see your way in the valley, know what you have done: you are a swift dromedary traversing her -ways; a-wild donkey used to the wilderness, that snufs up the wind at her pleasure: in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst, but you said, There is no hope no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

God compares his erring people, in the delirium of their sin, to these wild creatures that cannot be tamed, but are driven by their ungovernable passions wherever they will. Alas, that men should be so sinful that God can only find a parallel to them in the wild donkeys of the wilderness! See, also, what despair will do for its victims. When a man says, "There is no hope," then he feels that for him there is no repentance. When he believes that God will not forgive him, then he will not turn from his evil ways. "You said, There is no hope: no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go." God save any here present who are getting into the clutches of Giant Despair! May they know the true goodness of God, and may that goodness lead them to repentance! Amen.

Verses 20-37

 

Jeremiah 2:20-26. For of old time I have broken your yoke, and burst your bands; and you said, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree you wander, playing the harlot. Yet I had planted you a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then are you turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? For though you wash you with nitre, and take you much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me, says the Lord GOD. How can you say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see your way in the valley, know what you have done: you are a swift dromedary traversing her ways; A wild donkey used to the wilderness, that snufs up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst: but you said, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go. As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, —

And there are many people whose repentance is of no more value than the shame of a thief, when he is found out. Oh, for something better and deeper than this!

Jeremiah 2:26-27. So is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, Saying to a stock, You are my father; and to a stone, You have brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

Some men never pray except in stormy weather. Their religion is wholly dependent upon their condition and circumstances. If all is going well with them, they bend not their knees before the Lord, but when they are in sore distress, and especially if they think they are likely soon to die, then they cry unto God, "Arise, and save us," with no more true faith than these idolaters had when they cried to their powerless idols.

Jeremiah 2:28-30. But where are your gods that you have made you? let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble: for according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah. Wherefore will you plead with me? you all have transgressed against me, says the Lord. In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

So far from accepting God’s rebukes in the right spirit, and forsaking their idol gods, they even turned upon the Lord’s messengers and put his prophets to death.

Jeremiah 2:31. O generation, see you the word of the Lord.

"If you, you will not hear it, see it."

Jeremiah 2:31. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto you?

"Do you, you not see," says the Lord to these rebellious people, "how much I have done for you, you? Have you, you forgotten the numberless mercies I have lavished upon you, you? I have kept from you, you nothing that was really good for you, you. When you, you worshiped me in sincerity and in truth, you, you prospered exceedingly; but when you, you turned away from me, you, you made a sad mistake. See, then, the sermons which providence itself preached to you, you if you will not hear what my prophets say to you, you in my name."

Jeremiah 2:32. Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

The very beauty of a believer — his glorious dress — is his God. Then can we ever forget him; or all the precious things of the covenant of grace which he so freely bestows upon us? Can we — can we — have fallen so low as to forget the God to whom we owe so much? Alas, he can still say, "My people have forgotten me days without number."

Jeremiah 2:33-34. Why trimmest you your way to seek love? therefore have you also taught the wicked ones your ways. Also in your skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.

God’s ancient people had so completely turned away from him, and wandered so far from him, that they had practiced all manner of evil in order to prove their love for other gods. They even went among the heathen, and taught them to sin yet worse than they had sinned before. This was most shameful backsliding, a horrible evil in the sight of God.

Jeremiah 2:35. Yet you say, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me.

The most guilty people are often the most self-righteous. The sinful nation, which ought to have pleaded guilty, here says, "Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me."

Jeremiah 2:35. Behold, I will plead with you, because you say, I have not sinned.

That is the great abuse of quarrel between God and men. Many a man still says, "I have not sinned," although God’s law condemns him, and the very office of the Savior proves that the guilty one needed to be saved by One who was almighty. Self-righteousness is a thing which God utterly abhors.

Jeremiah 2:36. Why gaddest you about so much to change your way? you also shall be ashamed of Egypt, as you were ashamed of Assyria.

First they trusted to Assyria to save them; and when that broken reed failed them, then they trusted to Egypt; and in a similar fashion, we go from one false hope to another, — from one carnal confidence to another, gadding about to change our way; yet, all the while, refusing to turn unto the Lord.

Jeremiah 2:37. Yes, you shall go forth from him, and your hands upon your head:

You shall go forth as a captive, with your hands bound above your head; or, like one in great pain or sorrow, you shall hold your hands to your head.

Jeremiah 2:37. For the Lord has rejected your confidences, and you shall not prosper in them.

May God, in his mercy, save all of us from false confidences, both now and throughout our whole lives!

Chapter 3

 

Verses 1-23

 

In this chapter, the sin of God’s people is put in the strongest possible light. The figure used may be even said to be a coarse one, but man’s sin is itself a coarse thing. The thoughts suggested in this chapter are not what the delicate might desire; but then there is no delicacy in sin.

Jeremiah 3:1. They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted?

God himself seems here to be at a non plus. His people had gone away from him, they had acted unfaithfully to him, they had joined themselves unto other gods. The case was a very difficult one. If the Lord takes these people back again, will it not look like putting a premium upon sin? That is just the question that is constantly being raised. If God freely forgives great sinners, will it not look as if he treated sin too leniently? Will not free salvation, by faith in Jesus, lead to sin? The world says that it will; and even the Scripture seems to raise the question: "If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? Shall not that land be greatly polluted?" Yet Judah had been worse than the woman here described.

Jeremiah 3:1. But you has played the harlot with many lovers;

Here was an awful depth of sin, a terrible enormity of wickedness.

Jeremiah 3:1. Yet return again to me, says the Lord.

What a splendor of divine love is here revealed! I do not wonder that the question should be put, "How can God act thus, and yet be just?" He can do it, and yet be just, as we have often showed you, you; but, still, it is a very great wonder of grace.

Jeremiah 3:2-3. Lift up your eyes unto the high places, and see where you have not been lien with. In the ways have you sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and you have polluted the land with your whoredoms and with your wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; and you had a whore’s forehead, you refused to be ashamed.

This was very strong, rough language, but oh! how true it was! The people had gone astray from God into all manner of filthiness and pollution; and even when God had chastened them by withholding the showers until they were threatened with famine, they did not turn to him. They seemed to have a brow like adamant, they could not be made ashamed. There may be some persons of that kind in this assembly; if so, let them notice what God says: —

Jeremiah 3:4. Will you not from this time cry unto me, My father, you are the guide of my youth?

Will not you, you come back again? You, you are invited to return unto the Lord, despite your wandering, your perverseness, your abominable iniquity. Will you, you not remember the better days when God was the Guide of your youth? You, you were not always what you, you are now. Will you, you not from this time cry unto the Lord, "My Father, you are the Guide of my youth"?

Jeremiah 3:5. Will he reserve his anger forever? will he keep it to the end?

No, that he will not; there is none so slow to anger as our God, and there is none so ready to be rid of it as he is. He is a God ready to pardon, waiting to forgive, delighting in mercy. Even though the sin should be so foul that, as I read it to you, you, I seem almost to blush in the reading, as you, you may in the hearing, yet, black as it is, God can put it all away in the greatness of his mercy.

Jeremiah 3:5. Behold, you have spoken and done evil things as you could.

You have gone as far in sin as you could go; only lack of power has prevented you from being even worse than you are. Yet this is the kind of people to whom God speaks in mercy, inviting them to return unto him.

Jeremiah 3:6. The Lord said also unto me in the days, of Josiah the king, Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the harlot.

Building temples to false gods on every mountain and in every grove.

Jeremiah 3:7. And I said after she had done all these things, Turn you unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

That made Judah’s sin even worse than that of Israel; she saw this great iniquity in another, and yet went and committed it herself.

Jeremiah 3:8-9. And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

Bowing down before idols made of wood or stone.

Jeremiah 3:10-12. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned unto me with her whole heart, but insincerely, says the Lord. And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words toward the north, —

What must these words be? Must they not be, "You, you have treated me so ill that I will never have anything to do with you, you again; even common decency requires that I should put you, you away from all hope forever"? No; listen to these words, and be astounded: —

Jeremiah 3:12. And say, Return, you backsliding Israel, says the Lord and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you, you: for I am merciful, says the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever.

Oh, the measureless mercy of these gracious sentences! Deep and black as the sin is, and fearful and terrible as is the description of it, how bright, how clear is the immeasurable love which promises to put that sin away, and forget and forgive it once for all!

Jeremiah 3:13. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice, says the Lord.

Confess that sad fact, acknowledge that you, you have thus sinned. Into the ear of God pour out the full confession of your criminality. He cannot ask for anything less than this; surely you, you cannot demur to it. If you, you have thus treated him, come and confess it with your head in his bosom, for he is willing to receive you, you even if you, you be the very biggest sinner out of Hell.

Jeremiah 3:14-15. Turn, O backsliding children, says the Lord for I am married unto you, you: and I will take you, you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you, you to Zion: and I will give you, you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you, you with knowledge and understanding.

When God once begins to pardon men, there is no end to it. He goes on to bless them with all that they need He makes them to be like the sheep of his pasture, who shall be richly and happily fed.

Jeremiah 3:16. And it shall come to pass, when you be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.

You, you know that they had been accustomed to the old ceremonial religion, which was full of outward rites and forms. God says that, when he brings his erring people back to himself, they shall have done with all that mere externalism. They shall come to worship God in spirit and in truth, and to commune with him without the medium of the ark of the covenant or an earthly priest. They shall walk before him in the joy of their spirits; yet these, mark you, you, are some of the people who are described in this chapter as having defiled the house of God, and gone astray from him to their utter disgrace.

Jeremiah 3:17. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem:

Even to that very city that had become like a harlot, and was full of abominations.

Jeremiah 3:17-18. Neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel,

There is no more quarreling when grace comes in. Israel and Judah in the old days fought against each other; but when they alike taste of pardoning grace they shall love each other.

Jeremiah 3:18-19. And they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. But I said, how shall I put you among the children, —

When God had said all this, he appears to have come to a pause, and even in his own heart the question seems to arise, How can he deal with these greatly sinful ones as his children? "I said, How shall I put you among the children," —

Jeremiah 3:19. And give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the host of nations? and I said, You shall call me, My father; and shall not turn away from me.

God knew how to change the character and to change the heart, so that these filthy ones, who went farthest astray, should come back to him, and should become among the most holy, the most loyal, the most obedient of all his children. Oh, that his grace might work that miracle again in our midst! Remember what he did for Saul of Tarsus, that transcendent persecutor, how he made him to be the very bravest of his apostles; and he can at this moment take those who form the chosen body-guard of the devil and so change them that they shall become the soldiers of the cross, nearest to Christ, the great Commander. The Lord, by his servant the prophet, goes over this sad story again: —

Jeremiah 3:20. Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, says the Lord.

But listen —

Jeremiah 3:21. A voice was heard upon the high places,

The places where they had built the altars to the false gods: "A voice was heard upon the high places," —

Jeremiah 3:21. Weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God.

How pleasant to the ears of God is the weeping of his backsliding people! The happy God does not wish men to be sorrowful, but he is glad that they should be sorrowful for sin. Now that they have begun to bemoan their wanderings and their wickedness, they will come back to their God, so he says to them: —

Jeremiah 3:22-23. Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto you; for you are the Lord our God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.

So they come back to him, and find the salvation which they need.

Verses 6-25

 

Let us read part of the 3rd chapter of Jeremiah where God brings a solemn accusation against the two nations of Israel and Judah because they forsook the living God, and went after idols — neglected his pure and holy worship, and followed after the abominable rites of the heathen.

Jeremiah 3:6-7. The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the harlot. And I said after she had done all these things. Turn you unto me.

Depth of mercy that God should bid such a polluted one return to him. "Yet I said, after she had done all these things, Turn you unto me."

Jeremiah 3:7-8. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

Some cannot be kept back from sin by the punishment of others, but they run into the fire in which others have been burnt, and so they aggravate their sin.

Jeremiah 3:9. And it came to pas through the lightness of her whoredom that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

That is to say, she gave her heart to false gods, and worshiped stones and stocks. And how it must anger the living God to see men turn away from him to worship blocks of wood and stone, instead of him and especially a people who have been instructed concerning the living God, and so commit the grossest act of disloyalty to him, and be rebellious to the lot degree.

Jeremiah 3:10-11. And for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned unto me with her whole heart, but insincerely, says the Lord. And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

The one sinned openly and persevered in it. The other pretended to repent and did not, and that pretended repentance was more hateful in the sight of God than even the daring and open sin of Israel. What next?

Jeremiah 3:12. Go and proclaim these words towards the north, and say, Return, you backsliding Israel, says the Lord. And I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you, you: for I am merciful, says the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever.

The offense was foul. It is such a one as stabs at the heart of man’s honor. It is an offense which a man will scarcely ever forgive, But God bids his wandering Israel come back, and proclaims mercy — free mercy — even to such gross transgressors.

Jeremiah 3:13. Only acknowledge your iniquity,

It is all he asks you to do. Confess that you host done wrong. "Only acknowledge your iniquity."

Jeremiah 3:13. That you halt transgressed against the Lord your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice, says the Lord,

It was under the trees that they set up their altars to worship their false gods; so that they turned the graves, which should be full of beauty and sweet with song, into the places of idolatry, whereby God was provoked. But he says, "Only confess it. Come and lament it. Own that you, you have been guilty, and I will put away the sin."

Jeremiah 3:14-16. Turn, O backsliding children, says the Lord: for I am married unto you, you: and I will take you, you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you, you to Zion: And I will give you, you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you, you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when you be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord, neither shall it come to mind neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.

Evangelical repentance, when it brings pardon with it, usually puts a slight upon mere legal ceremonies. We need not the symbol when we get the substance. We need no ark of the covenant nor holy place at Jerusalem when once the Lord appear in plenteous grace to put away our sin.

Jeremiah 3:17-18. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days, the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel,

Nothing unites people like the grace of God. Two men that have been pardoned by the same Savior ought to love one another, and they will.

Jeremiah 3:18-19. And they shall come together out of the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. But I said,

After all this mercy, he seems to come to a pause, "But I said" —

Jeremiah 3:19. How shall I put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations?

Is it possible? Can it be done? These harlot nations that have defiled and polluted themselves with unutterable filthiness — can they be put among the children — the children of God?

Jeremiah 3:19-22. And I said, You shall call me, My father and shall not turn away from me. Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, says the Lord. A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God. Return you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.

Do you, you hear it? Do you, you hear God’s promise? Do you, you hear his command? "Return, you backsliding children. I will heal your backslidings." Now for the answer. God grant that it may well up in your hearts.

Jeremiah 3:22-23. Behold, we come unto you, for you are the Lord our God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains:

We leave all false confidences. We forsake our earthly joys.

Jeremiah 3:23-24. Truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. For shame has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

They have not profited by worshiping idols. They have suffered through it.

Jeremiah 3:25. We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covers us: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.

There you, you see the repentance which the Lord commanded at his people’s hands, and wherever there is such a repentance as that there are sure to be acceptance and salvation. God grant us that repentance, and save us for his mercy’s sake.

This exposition consisted of readings from Jeremiah 3:6-25; Jeremiah 4:1-29.

Verses 12-25

 

Jeremiah 3:12-14. Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, you backsliding Israel, says the Lord and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you, you: for I am merciful, says the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God, and have scattered your way to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice, says the Lord. Turn, O backsliding children, says the Lord for I am married unto you, you:

There is a mixed figure here, but there is no mixed sense: children and yet married unto him. The bond was a double one, they were begotten and betrothed. God cares little about the rules of human oratory and formal eloquence. If his meaning can only be made perfectly plain, he freely breaks through all such rules and regulations as we properly make for our talk. "O backsliding children I am married unto you, you."

Jeremiah 3:14. And I will take you, you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you, you to Zion:

That is, "two of a tribe;" for the word "family" was used in a very large sense in those times, and comprehended perhaps the whole of one of the twelve tribes.

Jeremiah 3:15. And I will give you, you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you, you with knowledge and understanding.

The backsliders when they come back shall not be left outside the fold, but they shall have shepherds to watch over them, and they shall not be left to a lean pasture, but they shall be fed with knowledge and understanding. This is fine fare for the hungry soul! Knowledge is good, but understanding is better. To know may be of little service unless we have the inner and deeper knowledge with it, and understand what we know. These pastors shall feed you, you with knowledge and understanding. They shall not only teach, but teach so that you, you cannot fail to learn.

Jeremiah 3:16. And it shall come to pass, when you be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it, neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.

Ceremonial retreats into the dim background when the spiritual is in full vigor. They have come to God for themselves, and they need not now that saved ark of gopher wood lined within and without with gold. In the present day those that walk near to God think but little of the eternal. That which God commands they obey; but their confidence lies in himself. True religion is not a form, but a life, and the soul. Living near to God, is the main, the really essential thing.

Jeremiah 3:17. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

This is, I believe, yet to be literally fulfilled in Jerusalem itself; and spiritually also, to be fulfilled in the Church, when she shall not be behind the nations but become their head, and take the lead in all of blessing for mankind.

Jeremiah 3:18-19. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your father. But I said, How shall I put you among the children,

As if God himself were at a pass and brought to a nonplus. These people had sinned so much, and they had been driven consequently to the ends of the earth. "I said, How shall I put you among the children?"

Jeremiah 3:19. And give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, You shall call me, My father;

When God gives us the spirit of children then it becomes easy for him to put us among the children. Where the nature of children is given by divine regeneration, the rights of children may well be given by adoption. "I said, You shall call me, My Father."

Jeremiah 3:19. And shall not turn away from me.

I always look upon that second part of the blessing as being perhaps the richer of the two. The final perseverance of the saints forms the cluster of crown jewels that it found in the gasket of the covenant. "You shall not depart from me. You shall not turn away from me." Oh —

"If ever it should come to pass

That sheep of Christ could fall away

My fickle, feeble soul, alas!

Would fall ten thousand times a day."

But he who has begun the good work has promised to carry it on. There is our safety and our rest. "You shall call me, My father; and shall not turn away from me."

Jeremiah 3:20-21. Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, says the Lord. A voice was heard upon the high place, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God.

The worst of crimes — that a wife should be false to her marriage vows, and turn aside from her husband whom she is bound to love, and very seldom is it that a husband calls a treacherous wife back again, — but God in infinite mercy hates putting away. He cannot bear divorce. He holds still to the object of his love, and therefore complains with a sweet fidelity of affection, of the treachery of Israel; and while he is doing it a voice is heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel, for they have perverted their way, and have forgotten Jehovah their God; and therefore what was there for them but sorrow. They were on their high places offering sacrifice and incense to their new gods, and instead of joy and holy psalms and hymns of delight, they were crying like the priests of Baal, and cutting themselves and torturing themselves. God heard it, weeping and supplications, not to him, for they had perverted their way. Their sorrow did not come from him, for they had forgotten the Lord their God. But that sorrow had something hopeful about it. They found no joy in their new gods, and derived no comfort from their backslidings.

Jeremiah 3:22. Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.

Oh, the wonderful mercy of God! He treats sin as a disease. It was a grand thought, that, on God’s part, that he would not so much look upon sin as being a willful deed and crime, but would look upon it as a malady of the mind and soul. "I will heal your backslidings." And see the sweet answer that Israel gives to this.

Jeremiah 3:22. Behold, we come unto you; for you are the Lord our God.

Oh, that that answer might come from every backsliding heart that is here tonight — that there might be a restoration of the wanderer to his God.

Jeremiah 3:23. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains:

See, they were trying to get it from their high places. They lifted up their voices to their gods, but they only learned to mourn and weep. "In vain is salvation hoped for from the hills and from the multitude of mountains."

Jeremiah 3:23-25. Truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. For shame has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covers us: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.

May such repentance as that fall to the lot of any wanderers who listen now to my words.

 

Chapter 4

 

Verses 1-29

 

Jeremiah 4:1-2. If you will return, O Israel, says the Lord, return unto me: and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight, then shall you not remove. And you shall swear, The Lord lives, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

So he sets before them life and death. First, he begins with these words of encouragement. He begs them to come, for God is willing to receive them notwithstanding all.

Jeremiah 4:3-4 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

They had the outward religion, but the Lord’s servant bids them know that they must have heart religion. The heart must be purged: the inward must be cleansed. This they had no mind to. They would multiply their sacrifices and their outward performances, but as to cleanliness of heart, this they cared not for.

Jeremiah 4:5-7. Declare you in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow you the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defensed cities. Set up the standard towards Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way: he is gone forth from his place to make your land desolate; and your cities shall he laid waste, without an inhabitant.

This was a terrible prophecy. The Chaldeans, who had broken to pieces so many other kingdoms and powers, were on their way. The lion enraged, had leaped from his thicket and was about to tear, and rend, and do universal havoc; and if they did not turn to God, their whole land would be laid waste. One would think that such a heavy blow should have awakened them to a sense of their danger and their sin, but, alas! it was not so.

Jeremiah 4:8-9. For this gird you, you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of Lord is not turned back from us. And it shall come to pass at that day, says the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.

Universal fear would take hold upon them. If they would not rightly fear the Lord and turn to him; the time would come when, without exception, the greatest and the wisest of them, should be taken with a sudden panic.

Jeremiah 4:10. Then said I, Ah! Lord God! surely you have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You shall have peace; whereas the sword reaches unto the soul.

God promises them peace, but it was upon a condition which they did not fulfill. There was peace while they gave up their sin, but "There is no peace, With God, unto the wicked": and so they missed it.

Jeremiah 4:11-12. At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem. A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse, Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.

What an awful line that is. "Now also will I give sentence against them." They had been on their trial. They are found guilty. They will not repent. "Now will I proceed to pronounce their doom and give sentence against them."

Jeremiah 4:13. Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.

They began to cry out when they began to smart, and the prophet comes in again.

Jeremiah 4:14. O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved.

There is ever that silver bell of mercy ringing out the note of invitation. "O Jerusalem, your sorrows, your destruction may yet be averted if you will turn from your darkness, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved.

Jeremiah 4:14-18. How long shall your vain thoughts lodge within you? For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes affliction from mount Ephraim. Make you mention to the nations: behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country and give out their voice against the cities of Judah. As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she has been rebellious against me, says the Lord, Your way and your doings have procured these things unto you; this is your wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reaches unto your heart.

When "great judgments are abroad," it always is on account of great sin. It was so in the case of Israel. "Your doings have procured these things unto you." Oh! when the ungodly man begins to reap the result of his life —when, in his own body and in his own home, he begins to see what sin will often bring the drunkard to, let him hear these words: "This is your wickedness. Your way and your doings have procured these things unto you." Now follows the lament of Jeremiah — one at the most wonderful pieces of sorrowful writing that will ever be read in your hearing.

Jeremiah 4:19-21. My affections, my affections! I am pained at my very heart; my heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because you has heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

The dreadful blast of war, the blood-red flag of murder, flying through the land, while the Chaldeans slew right and left, young and old — we want to put ourselves into Jeremiah’s position to be able to realize the horror of this case.

Jeremiah 4:22-23. For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void: and the heavens, and they had no light.

As if they had gone back to chaos — to the primeval darkness — to the fist disorder before God began to create.

Jeremiah 4:24-29. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger, For thus has the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks; every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.

Now all this did happen. It all came to pass. Palestine, the glorious garden of God, was made as dreary as a wilderness. It is not much better now. It has scarced recovered. God will re-gather them to the land one day, but oh! what a sight it was when God at last had ended his patience — poured out the vials of his wrath upon his once favored land.

This exposition consisted of readings from Jeremiah 3:6-25; Jeremiah 4:1-29.

 

Chapter 5

 

Verses 1-6

 

Jeremiah 5:1. Run you to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can find a man, if there be any that executes judgment, that seeks the truth; and I will pardon it.

It was a very wonderful offer, on the part of God, to forgive the inhabitants of the whole city of Jerusalem for the sake of one man; and it was all the more remarkable because he gave them time to make a thorough search to see whether such a person could be found: "if there be any that executes judgment, that seeks the truth." Into what a horrible state of guilt must the Jewish capital have fallen when there was not one man, even among the magistrates or the priests, who cared for that which was just and true. May God prevent London and England from becoming like Jerusalem and Judah! May truth and righteousness flourish in our land!

Jeremiah 5:2. And though they say, The Lord lives; surely they swear falsely.

Even those who assumed an appearance of being religious, and who said, "Jehovah lives,"—even they were false swearers. To what a terribly sad state had the age come when its very religion was a lie, and its professedly holy things were thoroughly rotten!

Jeremiah 5:3. O Lord, are not your eyes upon the truth?

If there be any truthful man anywhere, God sees him. His eyes are upon him, he regards him with attentive delight, and he will take care of him with the utmost vigilance. But what was the real character of these people?

Listen.

Jeremiah 5:3. You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; you have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

Nothing could make them act rightly; whatever God did with them, they still persisted in their iniquity.

Jeremiah 5:4-5. Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God. I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God:

But he found no improvement among them; they were even worse than the poor and ignorant, for he goes on to say,—

Jeremiah 5:5-6. But these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goes out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings, are increased.

Now let us continue our reading at verse 10, where we shall see that both the house of Israel and the house of Judah had turned aside from the Lord their God.

This exposition consisted of readings from Jeremiah 5:1-6; Jeremiah 5:10-31; and Revelation 22:1-7.

Verses 10-31

 

Jeremiah 5:10-12. Go you up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for the are not the Lord’S. For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, says the Lord. They have belied the Lord,—

They have made it out as though God himself were a liar. They have contradicted him whose word is the truth itself. They have despised his threatenings, they have refused his invitations, they have disbelieved his promises: "they have belied the Lord,"—

Jeremiah 5:12-14. And said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. Wherefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, Because you speak this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

It is a dreadful state of things when God turns from pleading with men to threatening them, when he ceases to invite them to return to him, and denounces them as transgressors against his laws. At such times, he makes the words that come out of the mouths of his prophets to be like fire, and men are utterly consumed by them as the stable in the field is destroyed by the devouring flames.

Jeremiah 5:15-18. Lo, I will bring a nation upon you, you from far, O house of Israel, says the Lord: iris a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you know not, neither understand what they say. Their quiver is as an open sepulcher, they are all mighty men. And they shall eat up your harvest, and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat: they shall eat up your flocks and your herds: they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees: they shall impoverish your fenced cities, wherein, you trust, with the sword. Nevertheless in those days, says the Lord, I will not make a full end with you, you.

See how, in the midst of his wrath, God remembers mercy. He utters a terrible sentence concerning transgressors, and then he pauses, and says, "Nevertheless,"—listen to the gentle note of pity in that word,— "Nevertheless, in those days, says the Lord, I will not, make a full end with you, you." Still does he spare the guilty, and in his longsuffering he gives them further opportunities for repentance.

Jeremiah 5:19. And it shall come to pass, when you shall say, Wherefore does the Lord our God all these things unto us? then shall you answer them, Like as you have forsaken me, and serve strange gods in your land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

A man may often see his sin in its punishment. Because they had served strange gods, therefore the Lord sent them to serve strangers in a strange land. Remember, O transgressor, that your sin will come home to you in some form or other! if we sow the wind, we shall reap the whirlwind. "Whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap." Therefore, let us beware of scattering seeds of sin, for they will produce a terrible harvest of woe.

Jeremiah 5:20-21. Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:

And, alas! there are far too many of such people still about. They hear God’s Word, yet it never reaches their hearts. They see what God’s hand is doing all around them, yet they do not and they will not really see it as they should.

Jeremiah 5:22. Fear you not me? says the Lord, will you not tremble at my presence, which, have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

There is a little belt of sand which checks the surging sea, and says to it, "Hitherto shall you come, but no further: and here shall your proud waves be stayed." Now, if sand, which is so weak a thing, can, nevertheless, control the mighty ocean within bounds, how readily ought you, you and I to be governed by God, and held in check even by the slightest intimations of his will!

Jeremiah 5:23. But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.

God restrains the sea, but nothing seems to be able to restrain the sinfulness of man. He breaks ever every barrier that should keep him back; he is like a desolating torrent when he gives way to iniquity.

Jeremiah 5:24. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that gives rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserves unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

Though God gives timely and suitable seasons for the growth and in-gathering of the corn,—rain when it is needed to aid the upspringing of the blade, and fine weather for garnering the harvest,—yet many men see not the hand of God at all, and they are therefore not moved by gratitude to bless his name, and fear him to whom they are indebted for all that they receive. Oh, what an ungrateful and blind creature is man!

Jeremiah 5:25. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you, you.

Does any unconverted man here know what good things he has missed up to the present moment? Suppose you, you, my friend, were to be saved tonight, yet can you, you even imagine what joy you, you have lost through all the years of your past impenitence? Nothing can ever give back to you, you the years that have gone, or impart to you, you, in the future, the joy you, you might have had, but which you, you have missed. And, mark you, you, if there were no Hell to be endured, it is enough of Hell to have missed Heaven. It will be grief enough to your heart, at the last, to find that "your sins have withheld good things from you, you."

Jeremiah 5:26. For among my people are found wicked men:

"Among my people," says the Lord,—in the very church itself, making as loud a profession as the most genuine Christian,—"among my people are found wicked men." Here, in this place, tonight, mingling with the godly in this congregation, are found wicked men. The Lord have mercy upon them, and turn them from their evil ways!

Jeremiah 5:26. They lay wait, as he who sets snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

Beware of these man-catchers, who entrap souls, and ruin them forever, ensnaring them by leading them into evil habits and transgressions.

Jeremiah 5:27-28. As a, cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yes, they overpass the deeds of the wicked:-

The manifestly wicked,—

Jeremiah 5:28-29. They judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. Shall I not visit for these things?

Angels in Heaven, God says to you, you, "Shall I not visit for these things?" And they answer, "Yes, Lord." Even to the devils in Hell, he may put the same question. They are already smarting under his wrath, and he may say to them, "Shall I not visit for these things?" And they also answer, "Yes." He puts the question to all intelligent beings who know what is right and true, "Shall I not visit for these things?" And they, with one consent, reply, "Yes, Lord; it must be so."

Jeremiah 5:29-31. Says the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so:

It is a most horrible thing that God’s own people should ever be willing that error should be preached, and that oppression and wrong-doing of any kind should be practiced. You, you know that, if God’s own people did not tolerate false doctrine, it would soon cease to be heard in many places. But it is when those who profess to know God’s Word endorse that which is contrary to the truth that error is kept in power in the land: "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so."

Jeremiah 5:31. And what will you do in the end thereof?

That is a question which I would propose in God’s name to all here. Is your religion of such a character that, when you, you come to die, it will bear you, you up? Or have you, you taken up with some form of falsehood which will not stand the test of your dying hour? Are you, you living in neglect of God? Is your life such that he must be angry with you, you, for he is angry with the wicked every day? Then, take home to yourself the question with which this chapter closes, "What will you do in the end thereof?" I am going to speak to you, you presently about those who go forth with Christ, without the camp, bearing his reproach, so let us read a few verses about the glory which awaits them by-and-by.

This exposition consisted of readings from Jeremiah 5:1-6; Jeremiah 5:10-31; and Revelation 22:1-7.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

Verses 1-16

 

Jeremiah 7:1-3. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Stand in the gate of the Lord’S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings; and I will cause you, you to dwell in this place.

Many of them thought that, if they went up to the temple, it was all right with them, if they did but go through the outward ritual, they would certainly be accepted. They must have been astonished when Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, met them at the temple door, and told them that the best worship of God was holiness, not the mere outward ceremony but the renewal of the life, the cleansing of the heart before him.

Jeremiah 7:4-7. Trust you not in lying words, saying The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord. The temple of the Lord, are these. For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; if you oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: then will I cause you, you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers for ever and ever.

The blessing is not to the temple and the temple worshipers, the blessing is to holy men, to such as love righteousness, to such as obey the living God, and do justice between man and man, and especially between themselves and the poor and needy of the earth. It is needful to say this even now, for there are some who talk of being regenerated by baptism, of being saved by sacraments, they trust in their priests, and rely upon their performances. "Trust you not in lying words;" that is the Scriptural description of all that kind of thing,-just lying words, and nothing better.

Jeremiah 7:8-10. Behold, you trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom you know not; and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

Will you, you quote the very decree of God as an excuse for your sin? Will you, you make it out that even he is partaker in your criminality? That will never do; only a lying heart could conceive of such an abomination.

Jeremiah 7:11-16. Is this house, which is call by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, says the Lord. But go you now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness, of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these works, says the Lord, and I spoke unto you, you, rising up early and speaking, but you heard not; and I called you, you, but you answered not; therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein you trust, and unto the place which I gave to you, you and to your father, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you, you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim. Therefore pray not you for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make interception to me: for I will not hear you.

You, you know how, through the sin of Eli’s sons, God forsook Shiloh; and the tent of his house and the ark of his covenant were removed, and Shiloh became an utter desolation. This will God do to any church that becomes unfaithful to him. Go you to Rome, and see what she is today,--mother of harlots, though once she seemed to be the chaste spouse of Christ. Her idolatries are as many as those of the heathen, for she forsook the truth of God, and turned aside from the Most High. Think not that God is tied to any place, or to any ministry. If we walk not before him aright, he may take the candlestick out of its place, he may take the talent away and give it to others, and then "Ichabod" shall be written on the walls whether it be of Shiloh or of Jerusalem. Jeremiah has thus shown us clearly that no confidence can be placed in holy places or outward ceremonies; the state of the heart and the life is the all-important matter.

This exposition consisted of readings from Jeremiah 7:1-16; and Jeremiah 17:1-14

Verses 21-26

 

Jeremiah 7:21-22. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh. For I spoke not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:

You, you have heard what God said to them when they came out of Egypt.

Jeremiah 7:23-26. But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people: and walk you in all the ways that I have commanded you, you, that it may be well unto you, you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their car, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you, you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers. God grant that these words may never be a truthful description of us! Oh, may we keep the covenant of our God, and walk before him with a holy, reverent fear, and serve him all our days! Amen.

This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 15; and Jeremiah 7:21-26.

 

Chapter 8

 

Verses 1-22

 

Jeremiah 8:1. At that time, says the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:

The prophet Jeremiah had to foretell terrible judgments upon the guilty people, who had been often warned, but who had at last gone beyond all bearing, and were about to be destroyed by the Chaldeans, for here we have the picture of Judah and Jerusalem invaded by the Chaldeans and Babylonians, just before the city was utterly destroyed. It was a very common practice to bury treasure with the bodies of kings, hence when any land was invaded by foreign foes, they broke open the tombs, and searched for hidden valuables and it was a sign of the special detestation of the enemy, and of their fury against the people, when they dragged the carcases out of the graves, and scattered the bones to the four winds of Heaven. In this case, it was foretold that this desecration would not only take place with regard to the bones of the kings, in whose tombs the greatest treasure might be expected to be found, but the bones of princes, priests, prophets, and people were all to be alike brought forth.

Jeremiah 8:2. And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of Heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshiped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.

What a striking and appropriate judgment that was! As they had worshiped the sun, that very sun was to dry their bones. As they had worshiped the moon, that moon’s rays should fall upon their relics, and the stars, which they had adored, would also be quite unable to help them.

Jeremiah 8:3. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places where I have driven them, says the Lord of hosts.

There was to be stern treatment for the dead; but it would be worse with the living, for the Chaldeans were strong, fierce, cruel, and most ingenious in the torments which they inflicted upon their captives. It was an awful thing to be living in such times as those, and it always is a terrible thing to be living when God’s judgments are abroad in the earth, and sinners are hardened in their sin.

Jeremiah 8:4-5. Moreover you shall say unto them, Thus says the Lord, Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return? Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

Perseverance in sin is a great aggravation of it. There are some who fall into sin, but, by God’s grace, they are raised out of it, and they turn away from iniquity, and are restored to God’s favor. Where there is true grace in the heart, where there is spiritual life there will be restoration sooner or later; but there are others, like the people of Jerusalem, who have "slidden back by a perpetual backsliding." Day after day, they grow more outrageous in their wickedness.

Jeremiah 8:6. I hearkened and heard, but they spoke not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course as the horse rushes into the battle.

God listened; he waited to be gracious; he was eager to hear one penitent cry, and to observe one tear of genuine repentance, but, as the war-horse is eager for the fray, and, at the first blast of the trumpet, seeks to dash into the very center of the fight, so did these ungodly people. Instead of turning to God, they turned more desperately to sin.

Jeremiah 8:7. Yes, the stork in the Heaven knows her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord.

When God’s judgments are being experienced, it is high time to repent. But these people did not think of such a thing, they were not half so sensible as migratory birds, which come and go as the seasons guide them.

Jeremiah 8:8. How do you say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.

What! do they talk like that, the people who do not know and do not regard God’s judgments, do they talk in such a style as that? Ah, yes! Some of the most wicked of them have a so-called "religion" upon which they still pride themselves. Their hands are red with blood, yet they keep a Bible handy. They say, "We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us;" all the while that they are sinning against the Lord and his law. Scribes multiplied copies of the law, and some of these very people, who were most hardened in guilt, possessed a copy. But, says God, "certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain;" and our own Bible Societies may go on printing Bibles by the million; but, as long as men do not obey what is taught in the Bible, the work of the printing press, like that of the copyist, will be in vain. We need more than the letter of the Word, valuable as that is; we need to know, in spirit and in truth, what the Spirit teaches through the letter, and also to practice it. God grant that even our Bibles may not rise up in judgment against us.

Jeremiah 8:9. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them?

See God’s judgment upon a man wise in his own conceit. You, you hear every now and then, of some wonderfully learned, philosophic, scientific man, and many folk are frightened because he is an infidel. He does not possess true wisdom; God’s description of such a man is this, "The fool has said in his heart, There is no God."

Jeremiah 8:10-11. Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them; for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one deals falsely. For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

It is a dreadful thing when those, who ought to warn the people simply flatter them; when, instead of speaking sharp, stern, honest, faithful words, they cry, "Peace, peace, when there is no peace." Such false teachers say, "Do not trouble yourself; all will come right at last. You, you may live as you, you like, but there is no hereafter that need alarm you, you; in another state, you, you may get set right, whatever God’s Word declares as to the punishment of the impenitent. There are far too many of these smooth-tongued deceivers living now. God deliver this land from them, lest they become an occasion of judgment against the people!

Jeremiah 8:12. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says the Lord.

They had gone so far that they could not blush. It is a dreadful thing when a man has lost the very sense of shame; there will be no repentance where that is the case.

Jeremiah 8:13. I will surely consume them, says the Lord: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.

They would not recognize the Giver, so the gift should be taken away from them. Now the people dwelling in the country villages begin to be alarmed because of the Chaldeans, and they say:

Jeremiah 8:14-16. Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defensed cities, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord, We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble! The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones, for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.

Dan was the northernmost tribe, bordering on Phoenicia, and after Nebuchadnezzar conquered the Phoenicians, he began to march through the territory of Daniel. The mighty horses of the Chaldeans can be seen represented upon the slabs brought home by Mr. Layard, they are a very prominent part of the Chaldean force; so the poet-prophet pictures them as being heard as far as from Dan as all the way to Jerusalem, so terrible was their snorting. This, of course, is the imagery of poetry, but there was terrible reality behind it.

Jeremiah 8:17. For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, you, says the Lord.

Such were the Chaldeans, crafty as serpents, full of the venom of cruelty wherever they came, there was no way of charming them as a serpent may be charmed. They came on a deadly errand, and thoroughly did they perform it.

Jeremiah 8:18-21. When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me. Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities? The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment has taken hold on me.

The weeping prophet sorrows over the desolation of his land, in words that have seldom been surpassed for sublime sympathy and pathos:

Jeremiah 8:22. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

This exposition consisted of readings from Jeremiah 8; Jeremiah 9:1.

 

Chapter 9

 

Verse 1

 

Jeremiah 9:1. Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, then, I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

Matthew Henry well observes that, in the Hebrew, the same word signifies "eye" and "fountain", as if God had as much given us eyes to weep with as to see with, as if there were as much cause to sorrow over sin as to look out upon the beauties of the world. Magnificent in its poetry, and most touching in its pathos, is this verse, which ought never to have been cut off from the previous chapter: "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!"

This exposition consisted of readings from Jeremiah 8; Jeremiah 9:1.

Verses 1-26

 

Jeremiah 9:1. Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

Jeremiah foresaw that the Chaldeans would come up, and so many would be slain that the nation would be almost destroyed.

Jeremiah 9:2. Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

He mourned because of the doom that awaited them; but he equally mourned because of the sin that would bring that doom upon them. He wished that he could get away into one of those refuges, which were provided in lonely places, where travelers might lodge for a night.

Jeremiah 9:3. And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies:

They made use of the tongue, as if it were a bow, to shoot out falsehood. It is a very graphic description of the men of Jeremiah’s day. He dips his pen in his heart’s blood as he writes about them.

Jeremiah 9:3. But they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth;

Oh, no! No one stood up for the truth in those days; no man was willing to suffer for it, to argue for it, or even to own it.

Jeremiah 9:3. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, says the Lord.

They grew worse and worse. It is the way of wicked men to ripen into greater sin. They proceeded from evil to evil; and Jeremiah had Jehovah’s testimony for it that, though they knew a great many things, they did not know the Lord: "They know not me, says the Lord."

Jeremiah 9:4. Take you heed every one of his neighbor, and trust you not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will walk with slanders.

It was an evil time indeed when, even in the domestic circle, there could be no brotherly confidence. "Every brother will utterly supplant." Jacob’s name, you, you remember, was supplanter; and all these men were Jacobs, each one ready to supplant his brother, to throw him on one side that he might occupy his place. As to neighborly conduct, there was none; the neighbors were all gossips and slanderers of one another.

Jeremiah 9:5. And they will deceive every one his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.

What a sad state they were in! Their tongues spoke lies without any teaching; but they schooled them until they were masters of the art of lying. They were D.D.s, doctors of dissembling; they understood the are thoroughly. They had taught their tongue to speak lies, and they had committed so much evil that they even tired themselves in the doing of it.

Jeremiah 9:6. Your habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, says the Lord.

Putting forth all their critical ingenuity to get rid of God, his Word, inspiration, and the divine sacrifice, doing all they could that they might not know God.

Jeremiah 9:7-8. Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people? Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaks deceit: one speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in heart he lays his wait.

Do you, you wonder that Jeremiah wept? With so true a spirit, so tender and sympathetic, he could not bear it when man had become man’s worst enemy, and no man could be relied upon, for all practiced and spoke deceit.

Jeremiah 9:9. Shall I not visit them for these things? says the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Divine justice sets the fire of indignation burning. Nothing excites God’s wrath more than continued falsehood and deceit, unkindness, unbrotherly conduct, and unholiness of life. Put all these evils together, and you, you have more than enough God-provoking sins calling for an avenging visitation.

Jeremiah 9:10. For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the bird of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.

The prophet pictures what the Chaldeans would do. They would not only destroy the cities, but they would even rob the hills of their cattle, and sweep the fields until there would be nothing left that men could gather.

Jeremiah 9:11. And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

Jeremiah had to live to see all this. The thought of it pulled up the sluices of his tears, and made him wish that all the clouds and seas and rains would come, and dwell in his eyes, for his grief had need of all the watery things that nature could produce. George Herbert sings, and I quote his lines to illustrate the depth of Jeremiah’s griefs

"Let every vein Suck up a river to supply mine eyes,

My weary, weeping eyes, too dry for me,

Unless they get new conduits, new supplies,

To bear them out, and with my state agree."

Jeremiah 9:12. Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perishes and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passes through?

The land would never have been desolate if it had not been for the wickedness of the people. Sin-sin it is that does the mischief. There are some who cavil at the punishment that God puts upon sin; they would do better if they found fault with the sin which brings its own punishment with it. There is nothing arbitrary in God’s justice; he allows sin itself to ripen, and when it is finished, it brings forth death eternal.

Jeremiah 9:13-14. And the Lord says, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; but have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim,

After many Baals, is the meaning; many are the gods that men make for themselves when they turn away from Jehovah.

Jeremiah 9:14-15. Which their fathers taught them: therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

You, you cannot sin without suffering. If you, you will not drink of the waters of obedience, but will drink of the waters of rebellion, they shall be bitter.

Jeremiah 9:16. I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, until I have consumed them.

A patriot for man, a prophet for God, do you, you marvel that he wept?

Jeremiah 9:17. Thus says the Lord of hosts, Consider you, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:

These were the hired mourners, the women who were paid to go to funerals, and simulate grief. "Send for your weepers now;" said the Lord of hosts, "for if you, you ever needed mourners, you, you need them now."

Jeremiah 9:18-19. And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion,

These were no mock mourners; but real weepers, who had cause to mourn.

Jeremiah 9:19. How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded,

Why did they not say, "How have we sinned"? No; men will think of the punishment they suffer; but they will overlook the sin they commit.

Jeremiah 9:19. Because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.

Why did not they say, "Because we have forsaken the Lord, because we have cast off the worship of Jehovah"? You, you cannot bring men to that point. They quarrel with the rod rather than with the hand that holds it. They mourn over the result of sin; but to the sin itself they still cling.

Jeremiah 9:20-21. Yet hear the word of the Lord, O you women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbor lamentation. For death is come up into our windows,

It did not wait to come in by the door. In time of war or pestilence, death comes how it will through every casement, closed or open.

Jeremiah 9:21. And is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.

Generally, in war, they spare the children; and they carry the young men away as captives. The Chaldeans were cruel; they killed the little ones, and they slew the young men.

Jeremiah 9:22. Speak, Thus says the Lord, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.

So dreadful was the devastation that was wrought by these Chaldeans on account of the people’s sin, that dead bodies lay like heaps of dung that the gardener strews upon the field.

Jeremiah 9:23-24. Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, says the Lord.

This was the God who turned again to his rebellious people, and who would have been glad if they had but known him. He would have made them richer than the rich, and wiser than the wise, and mightier than the mighty; but they would not have the things in which Jehovah delighted.

Jeremiah 9:25. Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;

If they sin like others, they shall die like others, circumcised or uncircumcised, baptized or unbaptized.

Jeremiah 9:26. Egypt, and Judah, and Edom,

You, you see that Judah is sandwiched in between Egypt and Edom. Those who were the people of God are put in the same category with the accursed nation, because they had forsaken him, and mixed up with them.

Jeremiah 9:26. And the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.

If the heart be not right with God, vain are all external rites.

 

Chapter 10

Verses 1-25

 

Jeremiah 10:1-2. Hear you the word which the Lord speaks unto you, you, O house of Israel: Thus says the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of Heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

Among the heathen, if certain stars were in conjunction, it was considered unlucky; and certain days of the week were also regarded as unlucky, just as to this day, there are people who think that it is very unfortunate to commence anything on a Friday. There are a great many foolish superstitions floating about this silly world, but you, you Christian people should never allow such follies to have any influence upon you, you. Neither the fiends of Hell, nor the stars of Heaven, can ever injure those who put their trust in God.

Jeremiah 10:3-4. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

Those ancient prophets seemed to take delight in heaping scorn upon the god-making of the heathen. Even the heathen poets made sport of the god-making; one of them very wisely said that it would be more reasonable to worship the workmen who made the God, than to worship the God which the workmen had made.

Jeremiah 10:5. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must need be borne, because they cannot go.

Pretty gods they must be, cannot move, and cannot even stand until they are nailed up, and cannot stir unless they are carried from place to place.

Jeremiah 10:5-8. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. Forasmuch as there is none like unto you, O Lord you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of nations? for to you does it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto you. But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.

To teach people to worship mere stocks and stones, may well be called "a doctrine of vanities."

Jeremiah 10:9. Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.

Step into any Roman Catholic Joss-house in England, or on the Continent or, for the matter of that, into any Anglican Joss-house, for they are all very much alike and you, you will see that the modern "gods" are no better than those upon which the prophets of old poured scorn, and I think it is our duty to pour scorn upon these saints, and saintesses, and Madonnas, and Bambinos, and I know not what besides.

Jeremiah 10:10-13. But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. Thus shall you say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by his discretion. When he utters his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightnings with rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasures.

To what a height of sacred imagery does Jeremiah mount! He seems to shake off his usual melancholy spirit when he comes to sing the praises of the Lord. He uses very similar language to that of Job, his fellow-sufferer.

Jeremiah 10:14. Every man is brutish in his knowledge:

Every idolater proves that he knows no more than a brute beast when he worships a stock or a stone.

Jeremiah 10:14-15. Every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

The next verse brings out very vividly the contrast between these false gods and the one living and true God: —

Jeremiah 10:16. The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The Lord of hosts is his name.

What a blessed name that is for God: "The portion of Jacob"! And the other side of the truth is equally blessed: "Israel is the rod of his inheritance." God belongs to his people, and they belong to him, if we can but realize that these blessings are ours, we are building on the solid foundation of the richest possible happiness. The form of the prophecy now changes, for God was about to send his people, because of their sin, into a long and sad captivity; so the prophet says, in the name of the Lord: —

Jeremiah 10:17-18. Gather up your wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress. For thus says the Lord, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.

They had fled to their fortresses for shelter, for the Babylonians were coming up against them; but no hope of deliverance was held out to them, and they were told to pack up their little bundles, to put their small stores as closely together as they could, for they had to go away into a far distant country as captives of the mighty king Nebuchadnezzar. God compares their captivity to the forcible ejection of stones from a sling; "I will slide out the inhabitants of the land at this once." How severely God chastened his people in Jeremiah’s day! Yet, when we think of their innumerable provocations, and of how they revolted again and again against the Lord, we are not surprised that at last, the Lord sent them into captivity. Now listen to Jeremiah’s lamentation over the people whom he looks upon as already in captivity; he speaks in the name of the nation, and says: —

Jeremiah 10:19. Woe is me for my hurt! My wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.

Ah, child of God, you, you also must learn to say that! There are some trials and troubles, which come upon you, you, against which you, you may not contend, but you, you must say, "Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it."

Jeremiah 10:20. My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

Alas, poor Israel! she was like a tent removed, with none to set her up again. There are some churches, in the present day, that are in this sad condition; the faithful fail from among them, there are no new converts, and no earnest spirits, so that the church has to say, "My tent is spoiled and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains "Yes, poor afflicted church, that may be all true, yet your God can visit you, and make the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children, and you who have lost your dearest ones, and seems now to have no stay left, — your children are all taken from you, but your God can build you up; is he not better to you than ten sons; and has he not said to you, "Your Maker is your Husband; the Lord of hosts is his name" ?

Jeremiah 10:21-22. For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, —

"Bruit" is an old Norman word; one wonders how it got in here. It might be rendered, "The noise of the tumult is come," —

Jeremiah 10:22-24. And a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons. O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his steps. O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

What a suitable prayer this is for a sick man, for a tried believer, for the child of God in deep despondency of soul; I scarcely know any better words that any of us could use. The suppliant does not ask to go unchastised, but he says, "O Lord, correct me, but with judgment: not in your anger; lest you bring me to nothing."

Jeremiah 10:25. Pour out your fury upon the heathen that know you not, and upon the families that call not on your name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

So he asks God, instead of smiting his own children, to smite his enemies, and knowing what we do about the Babylonians, we do not wonder that Jeremiah put up such a prayer as that.

 

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 13

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 14

 

Verses 1-22

 

In some respects, Jeremiah is one of the greatest of the ancient prophets, for he had most sorrowful task to perform. He had not to deliver a message full of Evangelical comfort, like that of Isaiah; nor had he gorgeous visions of coming kingdoms, as Ezekiel had; but he was the Cassandra of ibis age. Jeremiah spoke the truth, yet few believed him; his life was spent in sighing over a wicked people who rejected and despised him. He bore a heavy burden upon his heart, and tears continually bedewed his Cheeks, so that he was rightly called "the weeping prophet." This chapter gives us an illustration of the style in which he used to pray.

Jeremiah 14:1. The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.

There had been no rain, so the crops had failed, and there was a famine in the land. Jeremiah describes that famine in striking poetic imagery.

Jeremiah 14:2-6. Judah mourns, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads. Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads. Yes, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass. And the wild donkeys did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.

The distress in the land was so great that the city gates, where, in more prosperous times, business transactions took place, and meetings of the people were held, were deserted. There was nothing that could be done while the nation was in such sorrow, and a great cry of agony went up from the capital of the country: "The cry of Jerusalem is gone up." The highest in the land sent their children to hunt even for a little water to drink; they went to the cisterns where some might have been expected to remain, but they found none: they returned with their vessels empty; they were as ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads." The covering of the head was the sign of sorrow. You, you remember how, in the day of his distress, "David went up by the ascent of Mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered;" "and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up." The ground had been reduced, by the drought, to such a state of hardness that it was useless to plough it, for there was no hope of any harvest coming. Even the wild creatures of the field shared the general suffering. The hind, which is reckoned by the Orientals to be the fondest of its young, forsook its fawn, and left it to perish, because there was no food. And the wild donkeys, which are able to endure thirst better than other creatures can and are always quick to perceive water if there is any to be found, tried in vain to scent it anywhere. "They snuffed up the wind like dragons,"—like cobras, or serpents, or jackals, as the word may be variously rendered,— but they snuffed in vain; and their eyes became like coals in their head: they "did fail, because there was no grass." What then? Why, the prophet turns to prayer as the only means of obtaining relief

Jeremiah 14:7. O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do you it for your name’s sake:

"You can not do it because of any merit of ours."

Jeremiah 14:7-9. For our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you. O the hope of Israel, the Savior thereof in time of trouble, why should you be as a stranger in the land and as a wayfaring man that turns aside to tarry for a night? Why should you be as a man astonished, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet you O Lord, are in the midst of us and we are called by your name; leave us not.

Can you, you not almost hear the good man praying? Notice how he begs the Lord not to be to the land like a mere stranger who passes through it, and cares nothing for it. "Why should you be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turns aside to tarry for a night?" Then he pleads with the Lord, "Why should you be as a man strong, but stunned?"—for that is the meaning of the expression he uses—"Be not you as a mighty man astounded or stunned, who cannot save us; let it not be thought or said that we have come to such a pass that even you can not help us." This was grand pleading on the prophet’s part, and he followed it up by mentioning the close connection that existed between Israel and God. Yet you, O Jehovah, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name;" and then pleaded, "leave us not." It was a grand prayer; yet, at first, this was the only answer that Jeremiah received to it:—

Jeremiah 14:10-11. Thus says the Lord unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the Lord does not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. Then said the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.

"You, you may pray, if you, you like to do so, for a plague to come upon them as a chastisement for their sins, but do not pray for any blessing for them."

Jeremiah 14:12. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

After being long provoked, God at last determines that he will punish the rebellious nation, and he seems, as it were, to put Jeremiah on one side, now the day of my vengeance has come, and I will show no more mercy to them." Now note what Jeremiah does even after the Lord has said to him, "Pray not for this people for their good."

Jeremiah 14:13. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, You shall not see the sword, neither shall you have famine; but I will give you, you assured peace in this place.

He says, "Lord, have pity on the people, for they are misled by their prophets. Perhaps, if these false prophets had not thus deceived them, and puffed them up, they would not have been so hardened in their sin." He tried to make some excuse for them, but the Lord would not yield to his pleading.

Jeremiah 14:14-15. Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke unto them: they prophesy unto you, you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their heart. Therefore thus says the Lord concerned the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.

God says, "Yes, I will deal with the false prophets; it is true that they have misled the people, and I will punish them for their deception; but I will not excuse the people even on that ground."

Jeremiah 14:16. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.

That seems to be a hard answer to Jeremiah’s pleading; what is the prophet to do now? God gives him another message to deliver to the people:—

Jeremiah 14:17-18. Therefore you shall say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow. If I go forth into the field, then behold! the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yes, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.

So God told Jeremiah that he might go and tell the people that he would weep continually for them. The faithful and sympathetic prophet was to be allowed constantly to shed tears on their behalf, and to feel great distress of soul because everywhere he saw signs of the heavy hand of God resting upon the guilty people. If they went outside the city, the Chaldeans slew them with the sword; and if they stopped inside, they perished by famine; or those that died not were carried away captive into a land that they knew not. What is Jeremiah to do in such a case as this? He is told that he must not pray for the people, and God seems determined to smite them. What can love do when even the gates of prayer are ordered to be closed? Notice how, after he is told that he must not pray, he edges his way up towards the throne of grace and, at last, he does what he is told not to do. He begins thus:—

Jeremiah 14:19. Have you utterly rejected Judah? has your soul loathed Zion? Why have you smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!

That is not exactly praying, but it is very like it. Jeremiah is asking the Lord whether he can really have cast off his people.

Jeremiah 14:20. We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against you.

He has advanced a step farther now, to the confession of sin. If that is not really prayer, it always goes with it. It is the background of prayer, so we shall soon have some other touches in the picture.

Jeremiah 14:21. Do not abhor us for your name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of your glory: remember, break not your covenant with us.

Now he is getting actually to praying; he cannot help himself. He is told that he must not pray, but he feels that he must; he loves the people so much that he must plead for them.

Jeremiah 14:22. Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain! Or can the heavens give showers? are not you he, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait upon you: for you have made all these things.

O splendid perseverance of importunity,—strong resolve of a forbidden intercession! "You, O Lord our God, tell us not to pray, but we cannot restrain our supplication: "Therefore we will wait upon you." God help us all to wait upon him! We are not so discouraged from praying as he was who spoke these words, so there is still more reason why we should say to the Lord, "Therefore we will wait upon you."

 

Chapter 14

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 15

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 17

 

Verses 1-14

 

Jeremiah 17:1. The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond:

It is so ingrained in their very nature that you, you might as well try to erase an inscription that is written upon steel with the point of a diamond as hope to get this perversity out of the nation; it is graven upon the tablets of their heart. What is mere habit can be altered, but what is ingrained in the heart cannot be taken away except by a, miracle of grace. It was the heart that was wrong; the fountain-head was polluted, so what could the streams be but foul.

Jeremiah 17:1. It is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;

Their holiest things were defiled. They wrote up the names of their idol gods even upon God’s altar, and so they bore a written testimony against themselves.

Jeremiah 17:2. While their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.

God forbade the setting up of altars. There was one altar at Jerusalem, and there were to be no more; but they selected spots where great trees had long grown, they chose the tops of the hills, and they built shrines for their idols there; and there God was angry with them. Oh, how readily we may turn anything into sin! How easily our choicest mercies may be made into occasions of iniquity!

Jeremiah 17:3-8. O my mountain in the field, I will give your substance and all your treasures to the spoil, and your high places for sin, throughout all your borders. And you, even yourself, shall discontinue from your heritage that I gave you; and I will cause you to serve your enemies in the land which you know not: for you have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn forever. Thus says the Lord Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

Oh, the blessedness of confidence in God! You, you see it here set out in contrast with the misery of trusting in men. Drought comes even to this tree, and times of trouble some to the believer; but the drought does not affect the tree, for it has secret, underground sources from which it sucks up its life; it spreads out its roots by the river; and blessed is that man who has a secret life, a secret strength, a secret comfort which sustains him in the trying hour. The world cannot perceive it, but he drinks it in, and lives upon it.

Jeremiah 17:9. The heart-

That is the principal matter, it was the heart of the nation which had gone astray from God: "The heart"-

Jeremiah 17:9-11. Is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. As the partridge sits on eggs, and hatches them not; so he who gets riches, and not be right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

The prophet likens the man who gets riches by falsehood and oppression to a bird which has many eggs, too many for her to cover, and consequently, though she sits on them, there is such a heap of eggs that they are none of them hatched; they come to nothing. I think I know some men who are very like that partridge. It would be a great mercy for them if they had only half of the eggs that they have, for all they get is the care and trouble of covering them, but no living joy comes out of them; the eggs are addled. He who has not the grace of God in his heart is just like a bird sitting upon addled eggs. Poor soul! "At his end he shall be a fool." He must therefore be something of a fool now, for he who pursues an end which shall end in folly is a fool to have such an end before him.

Jeremiah 17:12-14. A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake you shall be ashamed and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for you are my praise.

This exposition consisted of readings from Jeremiah 7:1-15; and Jeremiah 17:1-14

 

Chapter 18

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 19

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 20

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 22

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 23

 

Verses 1-32

 

Jeremiah 23:1. Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord.

What a dreadful woe this is upon all false shepherds, — those who profess to be sent of God to instruct the people, but who are not sent of God at all, whose labors only result in the scattering of the sheep, and destroying them, instead of gathering them to Christ for their salvation!

Jeremiah 23:2-4. Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you, you, the evil of your doings, says the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, says the Lord.

If the under-shepherds do not feed the flock, God himself will do it, for his own redeemed flock shall not be torn of wolves, nor left to perish in the lands where they are driven. That great Shepherd of the sheep will do what others fail to do; but this does not take away from them their responsibility, and it must be the most solemn responsibility that rests on mortal man to profess to be a shepherd of souls, yet not to be sent of God.

Jeremiah 23:5. Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

We are looking for that glorious King. Oh, that he would soon come! He is the great Monarch who shall absorb all other monarchies, for "he shall reign forever and ever."

Jeremiah 23:6. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE Lord OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

What a glorious name for our King, who is made of God unto us "righteousness." We may well rejoice to think that all the perfect righteousness of our great King and Lord shall belong to us, for this shall be his very name, "THE Lord OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."

Jeremiah 23:7-8. Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord lives, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, the Lord lives, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries where I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

There are better times for Israel than Israel has ever known as yet. The glories of Egypt and of the Red Sea are yet to be eclipsed. And there are better times in store for the Church of God than she has seen as yet.

Jeremiah 23:9. Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets;

In Jeremiah’s day there was a set of men who pretended to be prophets, yet who contradicted the Lord’s servant at every point.

Jeremiah 23:9. All my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words of his holiness.

Jeremiah had really received the Word of the Lord, and it seemed to overpower him; as that Word was full of terror, he felt like one who was overcome with wine.

Jeremiah 23:10-11. For the land is full of adulterers, for because of swearing the land mourns; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane; yes, in my house have I found their wickedness, says the Lord.

It is an awful thing when wickedness abounds even in the house of God; and it is to be feared that, in many places, the church of the present day is not clear in this matter.

Jeremiah 23:12. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness:

What an awful description of the doom of the profane prophets and priests! Slippery ways are bad enough in the light, but "their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness."

Jeremiah 23:12-14. They shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, says the Lord. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing:

It was bad enough for Samaria to go astray. There was a mixed race there, so it was no wonder that their prophets were foolish; but oh! that in Jerusalem, the city of the great King, there should be false prophets, that was worst of all. This was the style of these prophets: —

Jeremiah 23:14-15. They commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none does return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets, Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.

When preachers are bad, who wonders that people are worse? If the prophets go astray, how shall those who follow them find the right road?

Jeremiah 23:16. Thus says the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you, you: they make you, you vain:

That is one mark of a false prophet, he makes you, you feel that you, you are a fine fellow, that there is something good in you, you: "They make you, you vain."

Jeremiah 23:16. They speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.

That is another of the marks of a false prophet. Such a man as that is a great thinker; he has thought out his theology himself, he has imagined and invented it himself: "They speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord."

Jeremiah 23:17. They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord has said, You shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walks after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you, you.

This is yet another mark of the false prophet. He always tries to smooth down the consequences of sin. "In the future state," he says, "sin may occasion some temporary inconvenience, but all things will come right sooner or later." That is a man sent of the devil, he is no servant of the living God. By these three tests you, you may prove who are the false prophets, they make you, you vain, they speak out of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of God, and they try to make it easy for you, you to sin by denying the greatness of the penalty attached to it.

Jeremiah 23:18-19. For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and has perceived and heard his word? who has marked his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.

This is God’s Word; he does not prophesy smooth things to the wicked, he does not promise slight consequences of sin, but "a whirlwind" and "a grievous whirlwind."

Jeremiah 23:20-22. The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and until he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days you shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

False prophets are futile and vain, no good result comes of all their teaching; but oh! if they had known the Word of the Lord, if they had really been sent of God, what a difference there would have been! God grant that none of us may pretend to teach others what we have never learned, or to speak for God if God has never spoken to us!

Jeremiah 23:23-26. Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? says the Lord. Do not I fill Heaven and earth? says the Lord. I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophecy lies? yes, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;

They profess to be prophets of their own heart, but "they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart," for that which comes out of man’s heart is like the heart itself, and man’s heart "is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked."

Jeremiah 23:27-28. Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that has a dream, let him tell a dream;

Let him tell it as a dream, for it is nothing more than that. If he has dreamt it, let him say, "This is a dream that I have dreamed, but it is only a dream."

Jeremiah 23:28. And he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully.

Let him speak it as the Word of the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:28. What is the chaff to the wheat? says the Lord.

Man’s thoughts, man’s conceptions, at their very best, are but as chaff; only the Word of the Lord is the true wheat.

Jeremiah 23:29-30. Is not my word like as a fire? says the Lord and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbor.

Borrowed sermons — pages of other people’s experience — fragments pulled from old or new divines — nothing of their own, nothing that God ever said to them, nothing that ever thrilled their hearts or swayed their souls, — God will not own such teaching as this.

Jeremiah 23:31. Behold, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, He says.

They have not any hearts; they only use their tongues. They say, "He says," as if God had said to them something which he has never said.

Jeremiah 23:32. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, says the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, says the Lord.

See how heavily God deals with the false prophets of Jeremiah’s time; and he will deal with equal severity with any who preach or teach anything other than the gospel of his blessed Son, — the pure revelation which is written in this Book. God grant that none of us may be deceived by them, for his dear Son’s sake! Amen.

 

Chapter 24

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 25

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 26

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 27

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 28

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 29

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 30

 

Verses 1-11

 

Jeremiah 30:1-2. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write you all the words that I have spoken unto you in a book.

Too good to be lost. The prophets said much when they did not write, and this particular chapter and the next were to be carefully written down. God here begins to deal with his guilty people in a way of love and mercy. It is a very strange chapter, one of the richest, one of the most cheering in the whole of God’s Word. Therefore, write it in a book.

Jeremiah 30:3. For, lo, the days come, says the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, says the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

Souls get into captivity. God has ways of restoring them. Tonight I expect, and believe, that many captives will be restored by the grace of God to rest and comfort. Will you, you be one of them? Poor mourner, pray now that you, you may be. Ask of God that tonight God may bring again your captivity.

Jeremiah 30:4-5. And these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus says the Lord: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.

"Why" say you, you, "I thought you, you began to read words of comfort. Now there is a drop." Yes, there always is. Whenever God is going to comfort a man, he first makes him see his need of comfort. There is always stripping before there is clothing; there is always emptying before there is filling on God’s part.

Jeremiah 30:6. Ask you now, and see whether a man does travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

Everywhere, when the time of mercy came, it was a bad time, a dark time, a time of inward throbs, and throes, and travail.

Jeremiah 30:7. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble: but he shall be saved out of it.

But he shall be saved out of it. What a flash of lightning across the black face of the cloud. "He shall be saved out of it."

Jeremiah 30:8-9. For it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him. But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

See how the chapter has got back to the comforting strain again. After the bass notes, we run up the scale. We have come to comfort again. I should not wonder if we have to go back, however, for so it is, God’s mercy is chequer work, black and white, sorrow and salvation.

Jeremiah 30:10-11. Therefore fear you not, O my servant Jacob, says the Lord neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save you from afar and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

What a beautiful collection of words for a troubled heart! And they are not beautiful words only, but there is a deep, true meaning in them: "Shall be in rest and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid." I pray God that many here who are much afraid, and cannot be quiet, but are like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, may get into this blissful state tonight.

Jeremiah 30:11. For I am with you, says the Lord, to save you:

God may destroy the wicked, and he will, but not his people, his own beloved, His heart goes after them. "I will not make a full end of you."

Jeremiah 30:11. Though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, yet will I not make a full end of you: but I will correct you in measure, and will not leave you altogether unpunished.

You, you will have to smart for it. If you, you are God’s child, you, you will have to be brought home with many a tear and many a sigh. Your sorrow tonight is a part of a heavenly discipline, by which you, you shall be saved.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 55.; Jeremiah 30:1-11.

Verses 1-22

 

Jeremiah 30:1-2. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write you all the words that I have spoken unto you in a book.

We believe in verbal inspiration; and, though some people treat with contempt the very idea of words being inspired, be you, you sure of this, if you, you have not inspired words, you, you are not likely to get inspired men. Besides, words are to the thought what the shell is to the egg; and if you, you break the shell, you, you have destroyed the egg; somehow or other, the thought will ooze out unless it is conveyed in God’s own words. Observe that the Lord does not say to Jeremiah, "Write you all the thought that I have given you;" but, "Write you all the words that I have spoken unto you in a book."

Jeremiah 30:3. For, lo, the days come, says the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, says the Lord: and I will came them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

And so they did, and so they shall in a yet fuller sense, for this is a promise that has fulfillments and fulfillments. Man’s promises, once kept, are ended; but God’s promises are perpetual; they are springing wells, which never run dry. That which he fulfilled once, he often takes the opportunity to fulfill again on a yet larger scale, as he will doubtless do to his ancient people in the latter days. You, you who are in spiritual captivity tonight may derive comfort from these words, "I will bring again the captivity of my people." It is the way of God to deliver the captives. What he does once, is only an index of what he is in the habit of doing. It is God’s delight to devise means by which he will bring back his banished ones. So, in due time, he will end your captivity, and you, you shall enjoy the blessed liberty which is the portion of his people.

Jeremiah 30:4-5. And these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus says the Lord We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.

God hears his people’s voices when they cry; he knows the tone and accent which they use; and, sometimes, when he is listening to them, he hears "a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace." Possibly that may be the condition of some who are here tonight; if so, may the Lord, who hears their cry, bring them out of their tremblings, and fears, and fill their mouth with laughter, and their tongue with singing!

Jeremiah 30:6-7. ask you now, and see whether a man does travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like if: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

This passage evidently alludes to a time of very great distress, when men’s hearts were swollen within them as if they would burst for very grief. Not simply here and there one, but the great mass of the people seemed to be in sore trouble; even the stout-hearted ones began to feel inward pangs of affliction; yet it was then that the Lord said, "It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it."

Jeremiah 30:8. For it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

Here is a word for you, you tried ones. God, who sometimes permits his child to wear the yoke of the oppressor, will take that yoke away, He will snap the bands that are around your neck, and enable you to rise into the glorious liberty with which Christ makes his people free. O bondaged ones, be of good comfort, and lour for speedy deliverance through the power of the great Emancipator!

Jeremiah 30:9-10. But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. Therefore fear you not, O my servant Jacob, says the Lord neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

There are great things in reserve for God’s ancient people Israel, and there are not less laid up for God’s spiritual Israel, for by them shall the greatest fulfillment of the promise be realized. They shall indeed be quiet, and none shall make them afraid. Note that these are the very men who had their hands upon their loins, and whose faces were pale with fright, These are they who were ready to die of heartbreak; yet even they shall, by the rich grace of God, be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make them afraid. I wish that we could all realize the fulfillment of that promise even now; and that our gracious God would dwell with us as he is accustomed to abide with those who bear his name, and thus give us that blessed quiet and rest which we so much need.

Jeremiah 30:11. For I am with you, says the Lord, to save you: though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, yet will I not make a full end of you: but I will correct you in measure, and will not leave you altogether unpunished.

Look abroad, and see what God has done to Israel. This is peculiarly the time of Israel’s trouble, and the Jewish people were, perhaps, never worse persecuted than they now are in certain parts; yet the Lord will not allow any nation to crush them, and he will himself avenge all wrongs that they suffer. He still says to them, "He who touches you, you touches the apple of mine eye;" and it is very noteworthy that, whenever God has used any nation as a rod to chasten the Jews,— and he has used many in that way,—he has always broken that kingdom up when he has done with it. Think of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome; look at Spain, and see how mean and despicable that nation has become because of its cruelty to the people of God. Now, if this be true of Israel after the flesh, depend upon it that it is also true concerning God’s spiritual people. Though he will correct us when we deserve chastening, it will always be in measure, and he will not make a full end of us. God has measureless wrath against the ungodly for their measureless sin; but as for his own people, he has cast their sin behind his back, and only as a wise and faithful Father does he chasten them for their profit.

Jeremiah 30:12-14. For thus says the Lord, Your bruise is incurable, and your wound is grievous. There is none to plead your cause, that you may be bound up: you have no healing medicines. All your lovers have forgotten you; they seek you not; for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of your iniquity; because your sins were increased.

God never gave his people leave to sin; and sin in them is worse than sin in any other people, for they sin against more light, and more love; and therefore it grieves the Lord the more, and he smites all the more heavily; and, mark you, you, when God smites, there is nobody who can comfort us. A quaint old writer, whose book I was reading the other day, commenting on that part of the parable where the friend, disturbed at midnight, said, "My children are on me in bed; I cannot rise and give you," wrote something like this, "When God is in bed, there are none of his children up to help us; if he does not open the door, there are none of his saints to give us a crust; all must come from him." Therefore we must cry unto him, and say, "Awake for my help, O God; for all my lovers have forgotten me; they seek me not in the time of my distress." When God wounds us, men often desert us; and those that seemed to be most fond of us forsake us when God smites us.

Jeremiah 30:15-16. Why cry you for your affliction? your sorrow is incurable for the multitude of your iniquity: because your sins were increased, I have done these things unto you. Therefore all they that devour you shall be devoured; —

How striking is this sentence, and what a surprise it gives us as we read it! We might have thought, after the Lord had spoken as he did, that he would have given his people up to their enemies; but, instead of doing so, he says, "Therefore all they that devour you shall be devoured;"

Jeremiah 30:16-17. And all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil you shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon you will I give for a prey. For I will restore health unto you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says the Lord because they called you an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeks after.

Did you, you notice that word, "therefore," in the 16th verse? Can you, you see "therefore" in it,— any logical conclusion that could be drawn from the prophet’s premises? The argument seems to be, "Because your disease is incurable, therefore will I restore health unto you. Because no one else can heal your wounds, therefore I will heal them." It is a blessed thing to feel that you, you are incurable, for then it is that God will cure you, you. When there is an end of you, you, then you, you shall begin with God; but as long as you, you are full of self or sin, that passage shall be fulfilled to you, you, "He has filled the hungry with good. things; and the rich he has sent empty away."

Jeremiah 30:18-19. Thus says the Lord Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city shall be built upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof. And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

Well might the Lord introduce such a promise as this with the word, "Behold." Again I remind you, you that these are the people who had their hands on their loins; these are they who were in sore trouble of soul, yet now they are merry, and full of gladness; and we also have learned to sing,—

My mourning he to dancing turns,

For sackcloth, joy he gives,

A moment, Lord, your anger burns,

But long your favor lives.

Jeremiah 30:20-21. Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them. And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is you that engaged his heart to approach unto me? says the Lord.

There is One, whom we call Master and Lord, who approaches the throne of God on our behalf; One who fulfills that ancient word, "I have exalted One chosen out of the people." Our glorious Savior, through his humanity, is one of ourselves; and he appears before God on our behalf, blessed be his holy name!

Jeremiah 30:22. And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Happy are we if we can rejoice in this precious truth.

Verses 1-24

 

Jeremiah 30:12. For thus says the Lord, Your bruise is incurable, and your wound is grievous.

See here is the bass again. We have got down into the sorrowful notes all to make us sick of self and ready to receive the grace of God.

Jeremiah 30:13-14. There is none to plead your cause, that you may be bound up: you have no healing medicines. All your lovers have forgotten you:

Out of sight, out of mind. They have forgotten you. Oh! when God wounds, it, is a wound, indeed. When he breaks the heart who can comfort? If he does but speak, the earth trembles. He touches the hills, and they smoke.

"When he shuts up in long despair,

Who can remove the iron bar?"

Jeremiah 30:14-15. They seek you not; for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one for the multitude of your iniquity; because your sins were increased. Why cry you for your affliction? your sorrow is incurable for the multitude of your iniquity:

"These are dark words," says one. If they are incurable, what more need be said? Ah! the things incurable with men are curable with God. Sin is the malady that none can cure save God alone.

Jeremiah 30:15-16. Because your sins were increased, I have done these things unto you. Therefore

Now I read this morning, and I could not help dwelling upon this "therefore." It looks like a non sequitur, but there is a real argument, in it. Therefore, because you, you have now come to the worst, because you, you cannot help yourself, because you, you are ruined and undone: —

Jeremiah 30:16-17. All they that devour you shall be devoured: and all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil you shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon you will I give for a prey. For I will restore health unto you,

Oh! the sovereignty of divine grace! how it comes in when every hope is gone! Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. An incurable sinner and therefore, God comes to cure him. If you, you are brought so low that you, you cannot go any lower, God will put his everlasting arms underneath you, you. I speak to some tonight who are about to enter into peace, and joy, and rest. "I will restore health unto you; I will heal you of your wounds says the Lord."

Jeremiah 30:17. And I will heal you of your wounds, says the Lord because they called you an Outcast, saying This is Zion, whom no man seeks after.

They said, "There is no hope for that man, there in no relief for that woman. Therefore, God means to give up all relief. Nothing pleases him better than to undertake a desperate case God is great at a dead lift. When all the world is palsied, then is God omnipotent.

This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 58:1-12, Jeremiah 30.

 

Chapter 32

 

Verses 1-22

 

Jeremiah 31:1. At the same time, says the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

During the Israelites’ banishment to Babylon, God’s covenant with them had been as it were in abeyance, but in this promise of their restoration he brings it to the front again, and he gives a peculiarly gracious turn to it: "I will be the God of all the families of Israel." What a mercy it is to have a family God, and to have our whole family in Christ! Brethren, you, you have a family Bible, and you, you have, I hope, a family altar; may your whole family belong to God!

Jeremiah 31:2. Thus says the Lord, the people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.

Pharaoh tried to kill Israel; when he drew his sword, it looked as if the whole nation would be slain. But God got them away from Pharaoh into the wilderness, and there he caused them to rest. God still teas a people whom he will certainly save, and the adversary shall not be able to destroy them. Now comes this glorious verse:-

Jeremiah 31:3-4. The Lord has appeared of old unto me, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built,

Jerusalem was all broken down, her houses were vacant, and her palaces were in ruins, but God’s promise to her was, " Again I will build you, and you shall be built." If the preacher tries to rebuild those who are spiritually broken down, his work may be a failure; but when God does it, it is effectually done.

Jeremiah 31:4. O virgin of Israel: you shall again be adorned with your tablets, and shall go forth in the dances of them that make merry.

God can take away his people’s sorrow, and fill them with exultant joy. Their flying feet shall follow the flying music, and they shall be exceeding glad. May the Lord make his people joyful now in his house of prayer!

Jeremiah 31:5. You shall yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.

God’s people shall get to work again; and they shall have the fruit of their toil, and shall rejoice before God because they do not labor in vain nor spend their strength for nothing.

Jeremiah 31:6. For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise you, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God.

The men of Ephraim did not go up to Zion to worship, they forsook the one altar at Jerusalem; but the day will come when they will turn again to the Lord. Watchmen have to be on the look-out for enemies, but the day will come when even they shall be able to leave their watch-towers and to say, " Let us go up to Zion unto Jehovah our God.’ Are any of you, you watching just now with anxious eyes? Have you, you been watching all through the night? Well, you, you have not seen much, and your eyes ache with looking out for evil; so drop your watching now, and say one to another, " Let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God."

Jeremiah 31:7-8. For thus says the Lord Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nation, publish you, praise you, and say, O Lord, save your people the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them-

Notice the prayer and the answer. The prayer is put into our mouths, and before we hardly have time to utter it, the answer comes: " O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them"-

Jeremiah 31:8.From the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame,

How can they come? Will they help one another? God himself will be eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.

Jeremiah 31:8. The woman with child and her that travails with child together: a great company shall return thither.

They were not fit for traveling, yet God in his great mercy can make the feeblest of his people strong, and when he means to bring them to himself, they shall come even though it looks as if they could not come.

Jeremiah 31:9. They shall come with weeping,-

Never mind the weeping so long as they do but come, and remember that there is no true faith without the tear of repentance in its eye: " They shall come with weeping,"-

Jeremiah 31:9. And with supplications will I lead them:

The way of prayer is the way home to God.

Jeremiah 31:9. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble:

Happy are the people who have such precious promises as these. The way is to be straight, and their feet are to be so firmly planted in it that " they shall not stumble."

Jeremiah 31:9-11. For I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. Hear the word of the Lord, O you nations, and declare it in the isles afar off and say, He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob.

The secret of every other blessing is redemption. If God has redeemed he will save, depend upon it; the precious blood of Jesus shall ne’er be shed in vain.

Jeremiah 31:11-12. And ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come"-

If they are redeemed, "they shall come." Christ did not die in vain; the redemption that he wrought must be effectual; " therefore they shall come"-

Jeremiah 31:12. And sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd:

These are all temporal mercies, and it is a great blessing to see God’s goodness in them. If God blesses common mercies, they are blessings indeed; but without his blessing they may become idols, and so may become curses.

Jeremiah 31:12. And their soul shall be as a watered garden;

What a delightful simile! It is of little use for the body to be fed unless the soul also is well nourished: "Their soul shall be as a watered garden;"

Jeremiah 31:12-14. And they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness,

God will give the spiritual leaders of his people enough and more than enough, more than they can take in, he will satiate them with fatness.

Jeremiah 31:14. And my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says the Lord.

What a delightful promise this is! Listen to it and carry it home, all of you, you who are truly the Lord’s people.

Jeremiah 31:15. Thus says the Lord A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

There is here a prophetic allusion to the massacre of the infants by Herod at the time of the birth of our Lord. It was a time of sorrow indeed.

Jeremiah 31:16-17. Thus says the Lord Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears: for your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord: and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in your end, says the Lord that your children shall come again to their own border.

As Rachel is represented as weeping for her children, so is she represented as mourning for the tribes that were carried away into captivity, yet is she comforted with the Lord’s gracious assurance, .’ they shall come again from the land of the enemy." So they did, and there is to be a glorious future yet for the people of God of the ancient race of Abraham.

Jeremiah 31:18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus;

There is never a penitent in this world bemoaning himself without God hearing him. Do not think that a single penitential cry ever rises unheeded from a contrite heart. That cannot be; God has a quick ear for the cries of penitents.

Jeremiah 31:18. You have chastened me, and I was chastened, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke:

"I bore the chastisement, but derived no benefit from it. I have not repented of my sin, I have not turned unto you."

Jeremiah 31:18. Turn you me, and I shall be turned; for you are the Lord my God.

If the Lord undertakes to turn us, we shall be truly turned, that is, converted.

Jeremiah 31:19. Surety after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, 1 smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.

Are there any here recollecting the past with terror, and lamenting before God because of their sins? Then hear what God says. He seems to echo the voice of Ephraim. As Ephraim bemoans himself, God bemoans him:-

Jeremiah 31:20. Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child?

You, you might expect the answer to be, "No, he has lost the rights of childhood; he has been unpleasant and provoking to God, " yet God does not give such an answer as that to his own questions, but he says:-

Jeremiah 31:20. For since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still;

Notwithstanding that the Lord threatened him, and sent prophets to foretell evil to him because of his sin, yet he says, "I do earnestly remember him still;"-

Jeremiah 31:20. Therefore my affections are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him says the Lord.

What a wonderful speech for God to make! Even the infinitely-blessed God represents himself as in trouble concerning penitent sinners, remembering them in pity, and longing to have mercy upon them.

Jeremiah 31:21. Set you up waymarks, make you high heaps: set your heart toward the highway, even the way which you went: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities.

In crossing the desert, travelers raise little cairns of stone that they may be directed on a future occasion, across that pathless sea of sand; and so God bids them set up waymarks, and make high heaps, that they may know how to come back to him.

Jeremiah 31:22. How long will you go about, O you backsliding daughter?

God still asks in pity, "how long will you, you seek here and there for comfort?"

You, you will never find it until you, you come back to your God. Emptiness is written upon everything until the heart comes to its Savior and Lord.

Verses 1-26

 

Jeremiah 31:1-3. At the same time, says the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus says the Lord, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The Lord has appeared of old unto me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you.

Was there ever a sweeter word from Heaven than this, — everlasting love proved by the drawings of divine grace? I know that your hearts will be full of music if ever the Spirit of God has spoken home to your soul such a message as this. Let us read it again. "The Lord has appeared of old unto me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you.

Jeremiah 31:4-5. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel: you shall again be adorned with your tabrets, and shall go forth in the dances of them that make merry. You shall yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.

God has kind purposes of love towards his ancient people, and he will yet bring Israel again to her own land. And, spiritually, he has like purposes of love to all his elect; and they shall joy and rejoice with unspeakable delight. What though you, you are barren for awhile? God shall yet come to you, you, and you, you shall be fruitful.

Jeremiah 31:6-9. For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise you, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God. For thus says the Lord Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish you, praise you, and say, O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travails with child together: a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

Do not forget the first meaning of this passage in its reference to Israel, but suck in also the consolation which comes from it to all who are believers in Christ. The Lord will certainly bring all his chosen ones to himself. Blind as they are, — wandering as they have been, — they shall come back to him; they shall come back with tears of repentance, and with refreshments of mercy: "by the rivers of water." They shall come back to their God, who says, "I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn."

Jeremiah 31:10-11. Hear the word of the Lord, O you nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.

Redemption lies at the bottom of every favor that we receive from God. He blesses us because he has redeemed us. He has bought us with so great a price that we are too dear for him ever to lose us. Because he has bought his flock, therefore will he fetch it away from the enemy.

Jeremiah 31:12-14. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says the Lord.

Why, these very words are full of marrow and fatness! The promise is inexpressibly sweet; what must the fulfillment of it be? Oh, for faith to lay hold upon it! Yet there is a note of sorrow mingled with the pealing of the joy-bells: —

Jeremiah 31:15-16. Thus says the Lord A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus says the Lord Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears: for your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.

"Your lost babes shall live; their very bodies, moldering in the earth, shall rise again. Be not grieved or vexed overmuch; for ‘they shall come again from the land of the enemy.’ "

Jeremiah 31:17. And there is hope in your end, says the Lord, that your children shall come again to their own border.

There is another sorrow, — a deeper sorrow than grief over children, that is, sorrow for sin: —

Jeremiah 31:18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; You have chastised me, and I was chastised, —

And there was an end of it, —

Jeremiah 31:18. As a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke:

Since your chastisements have been of little service to me, lay your hand upon me: —

Jeremiah 31:18-19. Turn you me, and I shall be turned; for you are the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented;

Repentance is a turning from sin unto the Lord.

Jeremiah 31:19. And after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh:

In very grief of heart, as if I could not smite myself enough for having sinned.

Jeremiah 31:19. I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.

Now when a man talks like that, how does God speak?

Jeremiah 31:20. Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still:

"Not only do I remember him, but ‘I do earnestly remember him still.’ "

Jeremiah 31:20. Therefore my affections are troubled for him;

"I cannot bear to see his misery."

Jeremiah 31:20. I will surely have mercy upon him, says the Lord.

Oh, what blessedness there is in this gracious promise!

Jeremiah 31:21-26. Set you up waymarks, make you high heaps: set your heart toward the highway, even the way which you went: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities. How long will you go about, O you backsliding daughter? for the Lord has created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The Lord bless you, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness. And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, gardeners, and they that go forth with flocks. For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.

I should think it was. If a man could dream like that, he might well wish to go to sleep again. To dream of everlasting love, of gracious drawings, of heavenly restorations, of sin forgiven, sorrow removed, and desire satisfied, well may the prophet, say, "My sleep was sweet unto me." May we, when we are awake, learn what the prophet heard in his sleep!

Verses 1-28

 

Jeremiah 31:1. At the same time, faith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

How divinely he talks, — as only God can talk These people had rejected him, yet he says, "They shall be my people," not only some of them, but all of them: "I will be the God of all the families of Israel." Behold the wonderful power of divine grace upon the hearts of rebellious sinners. There are no "ifs" and no "buts" here; it is "I will" and "they shall." God knows how to work out his own purposes of love and mercy.

Jeremiah 31:2. Thus says the Lord, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.

If we ever do get true rest of soul, God must cause us to rest, as David said, "He makes me to lie down in green pastures." The rest of the heart is a miracle of divine power.

Jeremiah 31:3. The Lord has appeared of old unto me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you.

There is the source of everything that is good and gracious: "everlasting love." When God has once set that love upon his people, anything and everything that is for their good may come out of it; all temporal good and all eternal blessings will come out of everlasting love. Oh, that we might each one of us have grace to appropriate these blessed words to himself: "I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you." They were given to Israel of old, but the spiritual Israel possesses all the privileges of the natural Israel, and much more.

Jeremiah 31:4. Again I will build you, and you shall be built,

Whatever God does is done effectually; there is never any failure in his work.

Jeremiah 31:4. O virgin of Israel: you shall again be adorned with your tablets, and shall go forth in the dances of them that make merry.

They had wept and mourned, but they were to dance; they had been very sad and disconsolate, but they were to take down their harps from the willows, and even to have their tablets or timbrels again.

Jeremiah 31:5. You shall yet plant vines upon the mountain of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.

God makes the luxuries of grace to be common things to his people. Fare that once seemed so rare as to be enjoyed only on high days and holidays shall become everyday meat to his people when their Lord reveals himself to them.

Jeremiah 31:6. For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise you, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God.

For many a year Israel had gone to Bethel to worship the calves, or stayed at home to adore the shrine of Ashtareth; now they were to go to Zion to serve Jehovah. See what the grace of God can do even for idolaters. If any of us have been bowing down to our idols, may we this day turn to the living God; may the power of his grace lead us to go heartily and unanimously to worship the Lord our God.

Jeremiah 31:7-8. For thus says the Lord Sing with gladness, for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish you, praise you, and say, O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travails with child together: a great company shall return thither.

Whatever God does, he does thoroughly. When he shall restore his ancient people, he will not leave the weak ones behind, and if, today, we are enjoying his presence, the most afflicted and the most infirm among us shall know what the joy of the Lord means. The Lord grant it, and we will praise his holy name.

Jeremiah 31:9. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them:

Weeping and prayer go well together. There is no prayer like a wet prayer saturated with the tears of repentance.

Jeremiah 31:9. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of water in a straight way, —

Hear this, you mourners. God will supply your need with rivers of waters, and he will make you, you to walk in a straight way. Sometimes we are perplexed because the road seems to wind in and out like a labyrinth, but God can lead us in a straight way: "I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way," —

Jeremiah 31:9. Wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn.

They had forgotten their relationship to Jehovah, but he still remembered that they were his children.

Jeremiah 31:10-11. Hear the word of the Lord, O you nations, and declare it in the isles afar off and say He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd does his flock. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.

They were the Lord’s chosen people even when they were in captivity in Babylon. He had scattered them because of their sin, but he would gather them in his mercy.

Jeremiah 31:12-14. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat and for wine and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness says the Lord.

What a blessed change this was for those who had sorrowfully cried, "How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?" And we rejoice in a still greater change when the Lord brings us into spiritual liberty.

Jeremiah 31:15-17. You says the Lord A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus says the Lord Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tear: for your work shall be rewarded says the Lord and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in your end, says the Lord, that your children shall come again to their own border.

A mother’s sorrow over her lost babes is very great and long-enduring, but if she is a Christian, she shall meet them again in the land of the blessed, and shall be parted from them no more forever.

Jeremiah 31:18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus;

What a wonderfully expressive word that word "bemoaning" is!

Jeremiah 31:18-19. You have chastised me and I was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn you me, and I shall be turned; for you are the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.

Hear what the Lord says about these bemoaning ones, these sin-loathing ones: —

Jeremiah 31:20. Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child?

Or we may render it, "Is this Ephraim my dear son? Is this my pleasant child?" He is all that now that he begins to hate his sin.

Jeremiah 31:20. For since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still:

Think of this, you, you who forget your God, you backsliders, wanderers from your Father’s house.

Jeremiah 31:20-21. Therefore my affections are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, says the Lord. Set you up waymarks, make you high heaps:

Raise cairns along the road at various point to let other travelers know the way in which they should go.

Jeremiah 31:21-22. Set your heart toward the highway, even the way which you went: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities. How long will you go about, O you backsliding daughter? for the Lord has created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.

Whereas the enemy had compassed Jerusalem round about, now Jerusalem was to be the besieger, and to compass her enemies, and defeat them. Some interpreters think this is an allusion to the birth of the Savior, that "new thing in the earth" — the incarnation of the Son of God.

Jeremiah 31:23-25. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The Lord bless you, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness. And there shall dwell is Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, gardeners, and they that go forth with flocks. For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.

This prophecy is to be fulfilled in the restoration of Israel to Palestine; until that happens, the promise bears a spiritual meaning to all the children of God. O weary soul, you shall be satiated, that is more than being satisfied; you shall have as much of holiness and joy as you can hold! Plead his promise now, O sorrowful soul, and may God fulfill it to you!

Jeremiah 31:26. Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.

Well might it be. Poor Jeremiah, who so often wept over the woes of Israel, was the very man to be refreshed when he heard from God that he would visit his people in mercy, and bring them back to their own land. Happy dreamer, who dreams such a blessed dream as this, a dream that came true in due time.

Jeremiah 31:27-28. Behold, the days come says the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, says the Lord.

What a black list of words we first have here! God’s way of dealing with his people when they wander away from him is very stern. They must be brought back, but it will be over a very rough road. The Lord says that he "watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict;" and in the same measure he now declares that he will watch over them to do them good. As our tribulations abound, so also shall our consolations abound by Christ Jesus. If you, you have been bitterly convinced of sin, you, you shall be sweetly convinced of pardon. The deeper God digs the foundation, the higher he means to build the house. Those who are brought to him in great affliction very often afterwards know more of Christ and more of the love of God than any others.

Verses 18-26

 

Jeremiah 31:18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; —

It is God who is here speaking. There is never a moan, or a sob, or a cry,or a sigh, but God hears it. The Lord is very quick of hearing for the sorrows of penitent sinners; there is no mistake about this matter, for he says, "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; " —

Jeremiah 31:18. You have chastised me, and I was chastised, —

"No good came of it. I smarted, but I was not benefitted: ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised,’" —

Jeremiah 31:18. As a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn you me, and I shall be turned; for you; are the Lord my God.

There was never a heart that spoke thus, unless grace had been secretly at work with it; and depend upon it, if God has brought us to this point, that we are ready to declare him to be our God, and are anxious to be the subjects of his converting grace, it is because God has looked upon us in his wondrous love. If you desire to be turned towards God, you are already in a measure turned towards him. The desire to feel is a kind of feeling, the longing to believe has some measure of faith in it. Be comforted by this thought, yet be not content to rest where you are, but go on until you have all the blessing that the Lord is waiting and willing to bestow upon you. Happy is the man who is saying to God at this moment, "Turn you me, and I shall be turned; for you are the Lord my God."

Jeremiah 31:19. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed yes, even confounded because I did bear the reproach of my youth.

‘When a man has "sown his wild oats," and God in mercy helps him to come back from such a dreadful field as that, he recollects what he has been, and he is ashamed of himself; sometimes, he is more than half ashamed to mingle with God’s people, for he is afraid that they will have nothing to do with such a wretch as he has been; but he is, most of all, ashamed to come near to his God, because of the reproach of his youth. Yet listen to the Lord’s gracious words concerning him: —

Jeremiah 31:20. Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my affections are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, says the Lord.

Here we seem to look into the very heart of God; and he is represented to us as though he had contending passions within him. He speaks angrily one day, but he does earnestly remember mercy the next day. God changes not, yet his dealings with men must change, because their state varies so much. He sometimes speaks in great wrath while they hold to their sin, but love lies even at the bottom of that wrath; and anon he changes his tone, and speaks comfortably, and puts away the sinner’s sin when he sees that his anger has wrought the due result, and the sinner quits his sin to come to his God. Some of you, you understand this treatment, for you, you have experienced it; but you, you cannot comprehend the fullness of mercy and love that is in the heart of God towards the repenting sinner.

Jeremiah 31:21-22. Set you up waymarks, make you high heaps: set your heart toward the highway, even the way which you went: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities. How long will you go about, O you backsliding daughter?

How long will you, you be seeking comfort where you, you cannot find it, and pleasure where nothing but misery can come?

Jeremiah 31:22-23. For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The Lord bless you, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.

Jerusalem was cursed because of sin; but God declared that, in his great mercy, he would make it to be a place of blessing, and men should speak of it as the "habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness."

Jeremiah 31:24-26. And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, gardeners, and they that go forth with flocks. For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.

He who can sleep and dream as Jeremiah did, may well say that his sleep was sweet to him. May God grant to us, whether we sleep or wake, to be always with him! Then our time shall be indeed sweet unto us.

Verses 22-37

 

Jeremiah 31:22. For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.

Here is a prophecy of the birth of Immanuel, God with us, born of a woman by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. Mary was indeed blessed among women, and we rejoice in that Man who was thus miraculously born to be the Savior, Christ the Lord.

Jeremiah 31:23-30. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The Lord bless you, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness. And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, gardeners, and they that go forth with flocks. For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.

There are good times in store for Israel; Jerusalem shall then be the " habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness."

Jeremiah 31:26. Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.

Jeremiah woke up with a pleasant impression of his vision upon him, and well he might, for was there ever a more blessed one than that of which we have just read?

Jeremiah 31:27-28. Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, says the Lord.

All the ingenuity of Heaven seems to be taxed to bless believers; and just as man sought out many inventions for evil, God in his infinite love and mercy seeks out many inventions for the good of his people.

Jeremiah 31:29-30. In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eats the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.

We live under a personal dispensation, there is no such thing as hereditary godliness or salvation by proxy. Every man must for himself repent, and for himself believe. Vain and foolish is the idea that, because we have had Christian parents, therefore we also are Christians.

Jeremiah 31:31-32. Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, says the Lord.

What bliss it is to know about this new covenant! Let us notice its tenor.

Jeremiah 31:33. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts;"-

Not on the tables of stone, not on the walls of the church, but " I will write it in their hearts; "-

Jeremiah 31:33. And will be their God, and they shall be my people.

You, you may have heard it said that Christ will not leave his people, but that his people may leave him; but in this promise the second contingency is provided for as well as the first.

Jeremiah 31:34-37. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Thus says the Lord, which gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divides the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me says the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever. Thus says the Lord, If Heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the Lord.

What a God of infinite mercy he is!

This exposition consisted of readings from Lamentations 3:1-33; and Jeremiah 31:22-37

Verses 27-37

 

Jeremiah 31:27-33. Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and replant, says the Lord. In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eats the sour grape. his teeth shall be set on edge. Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, says the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

This is the central truth of all Scripture, it is the basis of all Scripture. When Paul desires to set forth the covenant of grace, he appeals to this passage. Twice, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, he bases an argument upon it, and after quoting it, adds, "Whereof the Holy Spirit also is a witness to us." Brethren and sisters in Christ, under the first covenant we are ruined; there is no salvation for us but under this new covenant, wherefore let us read to our joy and comfort what the promises and provisions of that new covenant are.

Jeremiah 31:34. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Pardoned sin, as well as the change of nature, is implied in the writing of the law upon the heart. Oh, what a privilege it is to be among these covenanted people! How shall we know whether we belong to them? The seal of the covenant is faith in Christ; I mean the personal seal upon the heart and conscience. You Believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are trusting alone to his atoning sacrifice, then God is in covenant with you, for Jesus is the Mediator of the new covenant, and he who has Christ has the Surety of the covenant, and he shall have in due time every blessing which that covenant guarantees.

Jeremiah 31:35-37. Thus says the Lord, which gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divides the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name: if those ordinances depart from before me, says the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever. Thus says the Lord If Heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the Lord.

Now Israel still stands as a people separate from all others, and there is still before the literal seed of Israel a great and glorious future; but as for the spiritual Israel, who worship God in the Spirit, and have no confidence in the flesh, God will sooner blot out the sun and moon than cast away his people, or any one of them. They shall all be his people, and he shall be their God; he will preserve them, and he will keep his covenant with them for ever and forever, blessed be his holy name, the name of Jehovah, the God of the covenant which cannot be broken!

Verses 29-37

 

Jeremiah 31:29-30. In these days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eats the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.

God was going to deal with the Israelites individually, personally; and that is how he will deal with us.

Jeremiah 31:31. Behold,

Here is something worth beholding; read this great promise with tears in your eyes: —

Jeremiah 31:31-33. The days come, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the Land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto than, says the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, After those days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

It is all wills and shalls; it is all covenant life; — no longer the law graven upon the tables of stone, but the law written on the heart; — no more the Lord’s command without man’s power and will to obey it; but God will renew our nature, and change our disposition, so that we shall love to do what once we loathed, and shall loathe the sins that we once loved. What a wonderful mass of mercies is included in the covenant of grace!

Jeremiah 31:34. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord: for they shall all know me, —

"All your children shall be taught of the Lord." All believers, whatever else they may not know, do know their Lord: "they shall all know me," —

Jeremiah 31:34. From the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the Lord:

How will they learn to know the Lord? Well, it will be in a very wonderful way; —

Jeremiah 31:34. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Let me read that again, and may come poor wandering children of God hear the promise, and be glad that it applies to them: " I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

Jeremiah 31:35-37. Thus says the Lord, which gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divides the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name: if these ordinances depart from before me, says the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.

Thus says the Lord If Heaven above can be measured, and the foundation of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the Lord.

Verses 31-34

 

Jeremiah 31:31-33. Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, says the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

The old covenant was written on tables of stone; but the Lord said, concerning the new covenant, "I will put my law in their inward parts." The old law was hidden from sight when it was written a second time, and placed in the ark of the covenant; and God says of his new law, "I will write it in their hearts." They were always rebelling against God, and wandering away from him; but in this new, gracious covenant, he says, "I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

Jeremiah 31:34. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the Lord:

God gives to all his people a knowledge of himself. "Whatever else they know or do not know," says the Lord, "they shall all know me." Though they differ as to their growth in grace, yet "they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the Lord."

Jeremiah 31:34. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

If God has pardoned your sins, you, you will be sure to know him; there will be no mistake about that point. Men shrink back, and hide away from an angry God punishing sin, for they do not care to know him; but when he comes forth, dressed in the silken robes of love, to bestow free pardons upon the chief of sinners, then they know him. God grant that all of us may have this blessed knowledge! Now kindly turn over the leaves of your Bibles until you, you come to then 36th chapter of the Book of Ezekiel, and the 25th verse, where you, you can read still further about this same gracious new covenant of Jehovah.

 

Chapter 32

 

Verses 1-27

 

Jeremiah 32:1-5. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem : and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house. For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying. Wherefore do you prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes; and he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, says the Lord: though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not prosper.

So you, you see that Jeremiah was shut up in prison at the time here mentioned. Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had treated him very harshly, because of his faithful utterance of the Word of the Lord. He was a true servant of Jehovah, yet he suffered much at the king’s hand. One very remarkable event, which happened at that time, is here recorded.

Jeremiah 32:6-8. And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come unto you, saying, Buy you my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is your to buy it. So Hanameel mine uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray you, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is your, and the redemption is your; buy it for yourself. Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

The Lord had told him beforehand that it would be so; and, therefore, in due time, his cousin came to him with the offer of this plot of land in the country of Benjamin.

Jeremiah 32:9-10. And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.

This was, in every respect, a very extraordinary transaction. Remember that the Chaldeans were already besieging Jerusalem, and they were all over the land, carrying fire and sword into every part of it. Jerusalem was straitly shut up, so that none of the inhabitants could get out of the city; yet here is Jeremiah, himself a prisoner, buying land which was virtually worth nothing whatever; but he believed so firmly that the Chaldeans would yet permit the Jews to live unmolested in that land that he paid down the purchase money for the field, and saw to the legal execution of the deed of transfer, just as you, you or I might have done if we were purchasing a plot of land in our own country. This is a notable instance of the triumph of faith over unfavorable surroundings, and also of the prophet’s obedience to the Word of the Lord.

Jeremiah 32:11-12. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open: and I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.

Jeremiah did all this openly. What they may have thought to be an absurd action, he did not do in private; but in the presence of them all. True faith in God does not go in for hole-and-corner transactions. Faith can do its business in the light of the sun. Faith believes God under all circumstances, and believes that the truest common sense is to obey his Word. Therefore she is not ashamed of what she does; neither shall she ever have cause to be ashamed or confounded, world without end. There is a living God; and if we do what he bids us, good must come of it. No harm shall happen to the man who confidently rests in the Most High.

Jeremiah 32:13-17. And I charged Baruch before them, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an, earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land. Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the Lord, saying, Ah Lord GOD!

Faith cannot live without prayer. When she has performed her most heroic deeds, she turns to God and humbly asks for renewed strength; for oh! my brethren, the best of men are but men at the best; and those who have the most faith never have any to spare. Jeremiah says, "I prayed unto the Lord, saying, Ah Lord God!" It looked, at first sight, as if the prophet was going to utter some mournful complaint, or to express some doubt or misgiving concerning the purchase of the land; but it was not so. Having allowed that exclamation to escape from him, his faith came to the rescue, and he continued: —

Jeremiah 32:17. Behold, you have made the Heaven and the earth by your great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for you:

Is not that a grand sentence? "There is nothing too hard for you." He who could make the Heaven and the earth can do anything. Read, in the Book of Genesis, the story of the creation, and see how "He spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast;" and then judge as to what can ever be a difficulty to the Almighty. Surely you, you must say to him, as Jeremiah did, "There is nothing too hard for you."

Jeremiah 32:18. You show loving-kindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them; the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name, —

See how these godly men, in their times of trouble, delighted in the great names and glorious attributes of God. There are, nowadays, many namby-pamby, fashionable religionists, wrapped in luxury, who have only a little God; they never seem to know "the Great, the Mighty God;" but Jeremiah, with the smell of the prison still clinging to him, talks grandly: "the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name," —

Jeremiah 32:19-21. Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for your eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings: which have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and has made you a name, as at this day; and have brought forth your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;

Those ancient Jews, in the time of their trouble, always looked gratefully back to the wonders wrought by Jehovah in Egypt. That great deed of God, when he smote the might of Pharaoh, was always present to the Hebrew mind; and the people, in every season of tribulation, refreshed themselves with the remembrance of it. Well, then, dear friends, as they sang the song of Moses, shall not we sing the song of the Lamb? Will not we go back in thought to the glorious triumphs of our Redeemer, and recount again and again, for the encouragement of our faith, what Christ did for us upon the tree, even as the Jews thought often, for the strengthening of their confidence, of their wondrous deliverance from Egypt by the high hand and the stretched out arm of Jehovah?

Jeremiah 32:22-24. And have given them this land, which you did swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey, and they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not your voice, neither walked in your law; they have done nothing of all that you command them to do: therefore you have caused all this evil to come upon them: behold the mounts, —

The margin renders it, "the engines of shot," which we see, by the next chapter, were powerful enough to throw down the houses in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 32:24-25. They are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence; and what you have spoken is come to pass; and, behold, you see it. And you have said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy you the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

I suppose that, although Jeremiah, with unquestioning faith, had done as God had commanded him, yet afterwards, when he was alone in his prison cell, he began to think the whole matter over; and though he may not have had any actual doubts, yet he probably had some anxieties as to the issue of the whole affair. He could not quite understand it, so he wisely put it before the Lord. Some of you, you, who have truly trusted God, may yet be just now perplexed with anxiety of one kind or another. Well, then, tell it all out before the Lord; go at once into his presence, and spread the case before him, as Jeremiah did.

Jeremiah 32:26-27. Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?

That question we will try to answer presently.

Verses 6-41

 

Jeremiah 32:6-7. And Jeremiah, said, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come unto you, saying, Buy you my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is your to buy it.

God gave his servant an intimation of what was about to happen, so that he might know how to act. It did seem a very strange thing to come to a poor prophet in prison, and to ask him to buy a piece of land when the Chaldeans were in possession of it, and when there seemed to be no hope that he would ever see it. One said, "I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it;" but Jeremiah could not do this, for be was shut up in prison, and the enemy had possession of the field he was to buy. Still, the thing was of the Lord, and therefore it was right; and there is many an action which in itself might seem absurd, but which, nevertheless, is to be performed because it is according to the will of God.

Jeremiah 32:8. So Hanameel mine uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray you, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is your, and the redemption is your; buy it for yourself. Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

Should a minister be concerned about the buying of land? Yes, if God bids him buy it. He is not to be entangled with the affairs of this life; but Jeremiah certainly could not be entangled with this field.

Jeremiah 32:9. And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.

They always paid by weight to make sure that the amount was correct.

Jeremiah 32:10-11. And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open:

The transaction was all in proper legal form. We are not to be neglectful in business because we are the servants of the Lord; but in all things we should act as men of prudence and common sense.

Jeremiah 32:12-14. And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison. And I charged Baruch before them, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.

They had no iron safes in those days; so their practice was to put their documents into earth en vessels, and bury them deep in the earth, where they reckoned they would be secure.

Jeremiah 32:15. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.

Therefore, as an act of faith in God, the prophet bought this meadow.

Jeremiah 32:16. Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the Lord, saying,

Jeremiah completes the business, puts the securities into safe keeping, and now he prays. It is always well to be free from care before you, you pray. Let nothing remain to be done, if it be possible, and then get alone, and let your heart be free to speak with God. I do not suppose that Jeremiah prayed any the less or any the worse because he had attended to this business transaction. A man who lives near to God ought to be able to go from his counting-house to his closet with a happy heart.

Jeremiah 32:17-19. Ah Lord GOD! behold, you have made the Heaven and the earth by your great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for you: you show loving-kindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name, great in counsel, and mighty in work: for your eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:

Whenever you, you are troubled, think much of God; speak much of him. This is true adoration. It will be a great help to your own spirit. Your own littleness will be forgotten in the greatness of your God.

Jeremiah 32:20-24. Which have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and have made you a name, as at this day; and have brought forth your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror; and have given them this land, which you did swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; and they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not your voice, neither walked in your law; they have done nothing of all that you command them to do: therefore you have caused all this evil to come upon them: behold the mounts,

The earthworks thrown up about Jerusalem completely surrounded it and the Chaldeans were hard at work breaking down the walls to capture the city while the people were dying of famine and disease.

Jeremiah 32:24-25. They are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what you have spoken is come to pass; and, behold, you see it. And you have said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy you the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

Observe, it is hardly a prayer that Jeremiah utters; it is just a statement of his condition, and yet that is real prayer. When you, you do not know what to ask of God, state your difficulty; for that is the very best thing you, you can do. When you, you cannot see any way out of the maze, never mind; it is for God to show you, you the clue. There is often much sanctified common sense in laying the difficulty before the Lord, spreading the letter before him, and leaving it there. When you, you cannot ask for deliverance in this way or that, it will be sufficient just to state the case as Jeremiah did.

Jeremiah 32:26-27. Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?

This is a grand question, an unanswerable question.

Jeremiah 32:28-31. Therefore thus says the Lord Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it: and the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says the Lord. For this city has been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,

Jerusalem was such a sinful city that it must be destroyed. The very roofs of the houses had been defiled by the sacrifices offered to idols. If these words were true of Jerusalem, surely they are also true in great measure of London. It has been a provocation of God’s anger, "from the day that they built it even unto this day."

Jeremiah 32:32. Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

They seemed, from the very highest to the lowest, determined to provoke the Lord, to show how little they cared for the Most High.

Jeremiah 32:33. And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face:

Like men who wished to insult a king in his very court.

Jeremiah 32:33. Though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.

It is a great aggravation of an offense against God when he has taught us, and yet we "have not hearkened to receive instruction."

Jeremiah 32:34-35. But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

If God had commanded them to offer up their children, they would have stood aghast at such cruelty; but they willingly sacrificed them to Molech in opposition to his will.

Jeremiah 32:36-37. And now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof you say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, where I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:

God is angry, and yet gracious. The rest of the chapter is full of tenderness and love. It is enough to make our eyes fill with tears as we note how God speaks concerning those who had rebelled against him.

Jeremiah 32:38. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:

This is indeed a covenant of grace; it is not dealing with men after their sins, but according to the inexhaustible bounty of eternal love.

Jeremiah 32:39-40. And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

There is here a promise of double bliss. The Lord will not turn from his people, and they shall not turn from him. What more could God do than he here promises? It looks like a trial of strength between sin and grace. Sin was like a mountain; but the Lord’s love was like the flood, which prevailed until even the mountains were covered.

Jeremiah 32:41. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.

See how God puts his whole heart to the work when he is blessing his people. When he forgives sin, it is with his whole heart and soul. May we, with our whole heart and soul, repent of our sin; and then, with all our heart and soul, serve the Lord! Amen.

Verses 30-42

 

Jeremiah 32:30. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says the Lord.

Here were people who had done nothing else but evil. God had been very good to them, but they had been very bad to him. From their youth, and without a break, they had continued to rebel.

Jeremiah 32:31. For this city has been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,

Jerusalem, which ought to have been a holy city, had been so impure that it had been a standing provocation to God from the day it was built.

Jeremiah 32:32. Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

They seem to have been all alike. With scarcely an exception, from the highest class to the lowest, they were always disobeying God.

Jeremiah 32:33. And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.

This is a fearful indictment. When men refuse to learn better, turn their back upon the King of kings, and will have nothing to do with him, surely the time for vengeance has come.

Jeremiah 32:34-35. But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech;

There was nothing so terribly bad but they would do it; there was nothing so unnatural, so detestable, but they must needs practice it.

Jeremiah 32:35-38. Which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. And now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof you say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, where I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:

Is not this a wonderful passage? After all this sin, and all this provocation, when we expect the thunder and lightning of divine judgment, behold, there is nothing but the sweet voice of pitying love: "They shall be my people, and I will be their God." Oh, the wonders of divine grace! See what the covenant of grace does for guilty men.

Jeremiah 32:39-40. And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them,

"With them" — with these very people who had provoked him, and served Molech, and bowed before idol gods, and put the Lord to shame, and angered him.

Jeremiah 32:40-41. That I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.

A whole-hearted God, blessing those upon whom he looks with an eye of grace. It is a wonderful thing. If he had set his whole heart to destroy them, it would have seemed natural; but God is far above any conception of ours; and so, in the midst of guilt extraordinary and almost immeasurable, behold love equally extraordinary and grace altogether measureless.

Jeremiah 32:42. For thus says the Lord Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.

Oh, for grace to lay hold upon this everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies of David; and to be saved thereby!

 

Chapter 33

 

Verses 15-26

 

Jeremiah 33:15. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

In the latter days, at the glorious appointed time, Jesus Christ will grow up like a Branch out of the stem of Jesse. The dynasty of David now seems like a tree cut down, whose stock is buried under the ground, but "the Branch of righteousness" shall appear in due time, and Jesus, the Son of David, "shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land."

Jeremiah 33:16. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name with which they shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.

What a wonderful unity there is between Christ and his Church! She actually takes his name: "The Lord our righteousness."

Jeremiah 33:17-18. For thus says the Lord David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

This shows that the covenant was not a literal and fleshly one, made with David and his seed according to the flesh, or with the priests and their seed according to the flesh. There is a Kingdom that can never be moved, and our Lord sits on that throne; there is a Priesthood which is everlasting, it is held by that great High Priest who has offered one sacrifice for sins forever, and who abides a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Jeremiah 33:19; Jeremiah 33:22. And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus says the Lord If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. As the host of Heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.

So that they are at this day the seed of Jesus, the Son of David, who shall count them? And the company of those whom he has made to be kings and priests unto God, who but he can number them?

Jeremiah 33:23-26. Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, Consider you not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the Lord has chosen, he has even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. Thus says the Lord If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of Heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

This shall be literally fulfilled in the latter days, I doubt not, but it is even now being fulfilled to the spiritual seed of Jacob and David. The covenant of grace is made sure to all the seed, even to as many as have believed on Christ’s name.

This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 8:15-22; and Jeremiah 33:15-26.

 

Chapter 34

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 35

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 36

 

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Chapter 37

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 38

 

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Chapter 39

 

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Chapter 40

 

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Chapter 41

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 42

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 43

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 44

 

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Chapter 45

 

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Chapter 46

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 47

 

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Chapter 48

 

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Chapter 49

 

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Chapter 50

 

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Chapter 51

 

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Chapter 52

 

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LAMENTATIONS

 

Chapter 1

 

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Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Verses 1-33

 

I am about to read a portion of Holy Scripture which may seem very strange to some of you, you, but it belongs to a part of the congregation, and I hope it may be the means of giving them comfort. I read it as a picture of the suffering of a soul under a sense of sin. I think it is a most graphic portrait of a heart that is aroused and made to feel its lost estate. If there are any such here, they will be sure to see themselves in the picture.

Lamentations 3:1. I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

It is a mistake that most souls make when in trouble, to suppose that no others ever felt as they do. John Bunyan describes Christian as being very much comforted by hearing someone quoting Scripture as he went through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, for then he perceived that there were others in like case with his own. Do not think, poor troubled soul, that no one ever was so broken in pieces as you, you are; your path of sorrow is a well-trodden one.

Lamentations 3:2. He has led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.

A Hebrew method of saying that it was a thick darkness without any light, either star-light or moon-light. You, you who have passed through this state of conviction know what it means;--no comfort from ordinances, no comfort from God’s Word, no comfort from your daily mercies. Every stream of comfort seems dried up to you, you, and sin lies heavily upon you, you.

Lamentations 3:3. Surely against me is he turned; he turns his hand against me all the day.

As if, when a man is about to strike, he smites not with his open hand but turns his hand, so the prophet says God did with him. He felt that he was being smitten with the heaviest blows that God seemed able to give.

Lamentations 3:4. My flesh and my skin has he made old; he has broken my bones.

As men through excessive grief sometimes appear to grow prematurely aged, so the prophet says he had done through grief. He felt as if his bones were broken. The sore vexations of his spirit had dashed the solid pillars of the house of Manhood from their place.

Lamentations 3:5. He has built against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

That is to say, as the besiegers erected a mound against a city, and threw up earthworks, so, the prophet says, God seemed to have thrown up earthworks from which he might fire off the great guns of the law against him.

Lamentations 3:6. He has set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.

As though he had to live in a tomb, where neither life nor light could come to him.

Lamentations 3:7. He has hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he has made my chain heavy.

"My way seems blocked up, nothing prospers with me." As the convict sometimes drags about his chain, and has a ball at his foot, so the prophet felt as if God had clogged him with a heavy chain, so that he could not move because of its terrible weight.

Lamentations 3:8. Also when I cry and shout, he shuts out my prayer,

Which was the worst trial of all.

Lamentations 3:9. He has enclosed my ways with hewn stone; he has made my paths crooked.

It was believed that hewn stones made the strongest wall as the joints would the more closely fit into one another. Jeremiah seems to speak as if God had taken care and trouble to build, not as men do, roughly with common stones, but with polished and well-shaped troubles built like strong barriers in his way.

Lamentations 3:10. He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.

He felt as if the justice of God was about to spring upon him. He was afraid to move, lest the couchant lion should leap upon him, and tear him in pieces. John Bunyan, in his Grace abounding to the Chief of Sinners, describes in his own experience precisely what the prophet here speaks of.

Lamentations 3:11-13. He has turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he has made me desolate. He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. He has caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.

And all this while, to aggravate his grief, he found no comfort anywhere.

Lamentations 3:14. I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.

It is just so with a man who is under a sense of sin. His companions ask him why he is so melancholy; he has an attack of the mopes, they say. They do not want his society, they will chase him from their midst. I marvel not that they want not his company, for well do I know that he wants not theirs, but this adds much to his grief, to find that they make derision and laughter of his woe.

Lamentations 3:15. He has filled me with bitterness, he has made me drunken with wormwood.

What a strong expression the prophet uses! As a drunken man has lost his wits, and staggers he knows not where, even as is a sinner when he really begins to taste the bitterness of sin. He does not act as if he were endowed with reason; despair and sorrow have driven his senses away.

Lamentations 3:16. He has also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he has covered me with ashes.

The Easterns usually baked their cakes on the hearth, and very frequently there would be in the cakes pieces of grit, perhaps large lumps of cinder, and sometimes small gravel stones, which would break the teeth. "So," the prophet seems to say, " when I went to try to get some nourishment by the eating of bread, I was disappointed; my teeth were broken with gravel stones." I remember when I used to go up to the house of God to try to get comfort; but, instead thereof, I came away more wretched than I went, for sin, that great devouring dragon, still followed me everywhere.

Lamentations 3:17-21. And you have removed my soul far off from peace: I forgot prosperity. And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord: remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul has them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

Notice the gracious change that has taken place, as if the sun had risen after the blackness and gloom of the night. Now the birds of joy begin to sing, and the flowers of hope begin to open their golden cups.

Lamentations 3:22. It is of the Lord’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassion fail not.

Bad as our state is, we are not yet in Hell; we are not yet beyond the reach of hope.

Lamentations 3:23. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness.

We had new mercies this morning, and we have had fresh mercies this evening. God has not forgotten us. The very breath in our nostrils is a proof of his goodness to us; let us, therefore, dear friends, still hope for yet further favors from him.

Lamentations 3:24-25. The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.

Can you, you get a hold of this blessed truth, any of you, you troubled ones who are here? Broken-hearted sinner, can you, you get a grip of this comforting assurance? If so, there will soon be peace for you, you.

Lamentations 3:26-27. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

For this yoke, though it may seem to be very heavy for a time, when it has humbled us, and brought us to Christ, will bring us innumerable blessings.

Lamentations 3:28-33. He sits alone and keeps silence, because he has borne it upon him. He puts his mouth in the dust if so be there may be hope. He gives his cheek to him that smites him: he is filled full with reproach. For the Lord will not cast of forever: but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.

Unless he has some gracious motive for it, he never afflicts or grieves them, and when he does act thus, it is as when a father smites his child. It is because it must be done and not because he loves to do it. See, then, the great mercy of God. May it lead the sinner to repentance, yes, and lead us all to put our trust in the Lord!

This exposition consisted of readings from Lamentations 3:1-33; and Jeremiah 31:22-37.

Verses 1-36

 

The first part of this chapter is one of the saddest in the whole Book of God; yet I expect it has ministered as much consolation as some of the brightest pages of Holy Writ, because there are children of God who are the subjects of great suffering and sorrow, and when they turn to such a passage as this, they see that one of the Lord’s own prophet has gone that way before them; and when they see the footprints of another of God’s people in the dark and gloomy valley that they are themselves traversing they are encouraged. Besides, the chapter does not end as it begins. There is daylight for the poor sufferer after all, so we shall read the sad utterances of the prophet in the hope that, if we have ever known experiences similar to his, we may learn where to find comfort even as he did.

Lamentations 3:1-2. I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He has led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.

This seems to be the hardest part of our lot,-that God should lead us into darkness: "He has led me, and brought me into darkness." Yet dear brethren, that is, on the other hand, the sweetest thing about our trial; because, if the darkness be in the place where God has led us, it is best for us to be in the dark. A child in the dark should derive much comfort from the thought, "My father brought me here, and he loves me so much that he would not bring me where I should be in danger, he must have had some good end and object in view in what he has done." Surely, there is something comforting to the tried child of God in that thought.

Lamentations 3:3-5. Surely against me is he turned; he turns his hand against me all the day. My flesh and my skin, has he made old; he has broken my bones. He has built against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

"I am like a besieged city that has strong forts built all round it to shut it in on all sides."

Lamentations 3:6-7. He has set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. He has hedged me about, that I can not get out: he has made my chain heavy.

Ah, dear friends, it is easy for some people to read such a passage as this, but there are others who have read it with aching brows and eyes red with weeping; and often, I doubt not, as they have read the prophet’s descriptions of just such sorrows as they are themselves feeling, they have said, "Then after all, we are not alone in our griefs, and we may yet be delivered even as Jeremiah was"

Lamentations 3:8. Also when I cry and shout, he shuts out my prayer.

What a sorrow is this,--to feel that even prayer itself is unavailing! Yet this suppliant was no graceless sinner, he was a dear child of God, one of the noblest of the Lord’s ancient prophets, one of the most faithful of his ministers. You, you must not think, because sometimes your prayers seem to be unheard or unheeded, and you, you are allowed to continue in sorrow, that therefore the Lord does not love you, you. "Whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives;" and that word "scourges" is a very strong one, meaning much more than just an ordinary whipping.

Lamentations 3:9. He has inclosed my ways with hewn stone,

"The Lord has shut me right up, as if he had built a wall around me on every side."

Lamentations 3:9-13. He has made my paths crooked. He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. He has turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he has made me desolate. He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. He has caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.

The King’s arrows had wounded him to the very quick. Perhaps some of you, you may know what it is to go to the Bible, and yet to find no comfort in it for the precious promises have seemed to be too good to be true to you, you, and you, you seem to have hunted out every dark and threatening passage at once, and you, you have said, "Ah, that belongs to me!" You, you have written bitter things against yourself, and have thought that surely you, you were the target at which God was shooting his sharpest arrows.

Lamentations 3:14-17. I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day. He has filled me with bitterness, he has made me drunken with wormwood. He has also broken my teeth with gravel stone, he has covered me with ashes. And you have removed my soul far off from peace: I forgot prosperity.

"It seems so long since I have had any prosperity that I have forgotten it. I have become so accustomed to trouble and sorrow that it seems as if I had never known what joy was." The original is even more sad, "I forget good."

Lamentations 3:18-21. And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord: Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul has them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

And as long as your afflictions, poor troubled souls, have really humbled you, you, you, you may have hope. Recall to your mind the fact that God’s chastising blows have brought you, you down to his feet in humble submission, and ended all your boastings, and therein you, you may have hope.

Lamentations 3:22. It is of the Lord’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

See where Jeremiah gets his comfort; he seems to say, "Bad as my case is, it might have been worse, for I might have been consumed, and I should have been consumed if the Lord’s compassions had failed." Ah, brethren and sisters, and we too might have been in Hell at this very moment! Amidst the hottest flames of that hopeless place we might have been enduring the wrath of God, but we are not there, and blessed be his name for that! "It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not." He still has compassion upon us; if he had not, he would have given us up altogether; but there is love in his heart, even while there is a frown upon his brow, and while his hand is smiting us, his heart is loving us still.

Lamentations 3:23. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness.

If every day brings its trouble, every day also brings its mercy. Up to this day, at all events, we have not perished. The Lord has chastened us, but he has not crushed us. We have been cast down, but we have not been destroyed. "Great is your faithfulness." No man can say that so truly as the one who has known what it is to prove that great faithfulness in great affliction. But when there has been a great trial, the believing soul has cast itself upon the ever-faithful God, and so has been able to set its seal to this truth, "Great is your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:24. The Lord is my portion, says my soul;

What! With his mouth full of gravel stones, and made drunken with wormwood, overwhelmed with sorrow, yet he says, "the Lord is my portion." Oh, yes, beloved, whatever else we have lost, we have not lost our God. The thieves have robbed us of our little spare cash, but they could not get at the gold that we have in the bank; They could not break into the great treasure-house of everlasting love. John Bunyan says, "Little-Faith lost his spending-money, but the thieves could not find his jewels." Nor can they find ours; they are all safe. "The Lord is my portion, says my soul;" —

Lamentations 3:24. Therefore will I hope in him.

If I cannot cast the anchor of hope anywhere else, I may "hope in him;" and what better hope do I want than that?

Lamentations 3:25. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.

Do not be in a hurry; do not expect to be delivered out of your trouble the first time you, you begin to cry unto God. Oh, no: "the Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeks him."

Lamentations 3:26. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation, of the Lord.

God’s time is always the best time. To deliver you, you just now might be to deprive you, you of the benefit of the trouble. You, you must bear it until it produces "the peaceable fruit of righteousness." When the doctor puts on a blister, we are not to take it off the next minute. No; patience must have her perfect work, that we "may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."

Lamentations 3:27-28. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sits alone and keeps silence, because he has borne it upon him.

When it makes a man get alone, to contemplate and meditate, affliction is already doing him good.

Lamentations 3:29. He puts his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.

That is the way to find it;-not lifting your mouth up to defy the Lord, or to murmur at him, nor yet opening your mouth in boastfulness; but putting your mouth in the dust, that is the way to find hope. A humble, penitent, resigned, silent, submissive spirit will soon find hope.

Lamentations 3:30-31. He gives his cheek to him that smites him: he is filled full with reproach. For the Lord will not cast off forever:

Oh, get a grip of that blessed truth! I pray you, you, O you sons of trouble, lay hold of it, and never let it go! The Lord may, to all appearance, cast off for a little while, but he will not cast off for ever.

Lamentations 3:32-34. But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,

That is not God’s way of acting. Tyrants may do so, but the tender, compassionate God, our gracious, loving Father, will never do that. If you, you lie in the dust before him, he will not tread on you, you.

Lamentations 3:35-36. To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approves not.

Again I say, that is not God’s way of acting.

Verses 1-66

 

We are about to read a chapter which is very full of sorrow; while you, you are listening to it, some of you, you may be saying, "We are not in that condition." Well then, be thankful that you, you are not, and while you, you hear of the sorrows of others, bless God for the joys you, you yourself experience. At the same time, remember that there is a way of sorrow which leads at last to rest and peace. There is truth in the words of the poet Cowper, —

"The path of sorrow, and that path alone,

Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown."

If you, you have never known the sorrows of the weeping prophet, or anything like them, I am not sure that you, you should congratulate yourselves, for there is a brokenness of heart that is worth more than the whole world, there is a crushed and bruised spirit in which the Lord delights, and which is a token for good to the one who possesses it.

Lamentations 3:1-2. I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He has led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.

Some of us recollect when we used to go into our own room, and shut the door, and read such a chapter as this, and say, "Here is a description of my true condition." We were once broken in pieces, torn asunder, through a terrible sense of sin. Our thoughts were like a case of knives perpetually pricking us, and, at such a time, these were our words as well as the words of Jeremiah, "He has led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light."

Lamentations 3:3-4. Surely against me is he turned; he turns his hand against me all the day. My flesh and my skin has he made old: he has broken my bones.

Conviction of sin seems to dry up the very sap of our life until we become withered with age. Worse than the agony of a broken bone is the pain of a broken heart. When the Holy Spirit convinces of sin, believe me, it is no child’s play; in the case of some of us, it was sore wounding.

Lamentations 3:5. He has built against me, —

"As if he deliberately built walls to stop up my way, and erected castles from which to attack my soul, ‘He has built against me,’" —

Lamentations 3:5. And compassed me with gall and travail.

"He has shut me up in a circle of bitterness."

Lamentations 3:6-7. He has set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. He has hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he has made my chain heavy.

Like a prisoner in his dungeon, who has to wear manacles and fetters.

Lamentations 3:8. Also when I cry and shout, he shuts out my prayer.

That is the worst trial of all, for there is comfort in prayer; but when even that seems denied you, you, into what a terrible state of sorrow is your heart brought!

Lamentations 3:9-11. He has enclosed my ways with hewn stone, he has made my paths crooked. He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. He has turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he has made me desolate.

You, you who remember that experience, bless God that you, you have passed through it, that you, you have gone over that rough road into the place of peace and rest in Christ. You, you who have never known this path, it will be well for you, you when you, you do, trying as you, you may find it.

Lamentations 3:12. He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.

"Every sermon I hear seems a shot at me, every text of Scripture seems an arrow aimed at me."

Lamentations 3:13. He has caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.

"They are not merely shot at me, but they have actually hit me; they have wounded me; they have pierced me in vital parts."

Lamentations 3:14-17. I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day. He has filled me with bitterness, he has made me drunken with wormwood. He has also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he has covered me with ashes. And you have removed my soul far off from peace: I forgot prosperity.

"It seems so long ago since I was prosperous that I forget what it was like. I have been so troubled that I do not remember what it was to be at ease."

Lamentations 3:18-21. And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord: Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul has them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

Notice that, in all his sorrow, this man still had hope. His soul was humbled, and therefore he had hope. I think that, in the New Zealand language, the word for hope is "swimming thought" — the thought that swims when everything else is drowned. Oh, what a mercy it is that hope can live on when all things else appear to die!

Lamentations 3:22. It is of the Lord’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

Hear that, troubled heart; you, you are not yet destroyed, you, you are still in the land of the living, — as we say "on praying ground and pleading terms with God." "It is of Jehovah’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not."

Lamentations 3:23-24. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

"With all my troubles, and losses, and griefs, I still have a God; therefore will I hope in him."

Lamentations 3:25. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.

Even though it be out of the depths of the utmost distress that you, you seek God, you, you shall find him to be good to you, you. He is hard to none, unkind to none. Only go you, and test him and try him, and you shall find that it is even as I say.

Lamentations 3:26-27. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

And it is not bad for him if he keeps on bearing it in his old age. Our shoulders ever need the yoke; we are such uncertain creatures that we cannot bear too much freedom, even from sorrow.

Lamentations 3:28-31. He sits alone and keeps silence, because he has borne it upon him. He puts his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. He gives his cheek to him that smites him: he is filled full with reproach. For the Lord will not cast off forever:

What music there is in that line! He may put you away for a while, and seem to leave you; but "the Lord will not cast off for ever." God may seem to put us away from him, but it is written, "He hates putting away." There is no divorcement between Christ and the soul that is once espoused to him. Their separation shall not be perpetual, for nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Lamentations 3:32-33. But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.

Now notice in the 55th verse, what came to the prophet after all this sorrow.

Lamentations 3:55-56. I called upon your name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon. You have heard my voice: hide not your ear at my breathing, at my cry.

Sometimes our prayers get to be so very weak that they are only a breathing; yet we must never forget that, "Prayer is the breath of God in men, returning whence it came," and "Praying breath is never spent in vain."

Lamentations 3:57-58. You drew near in the day that I called upon you: you said, Fear not. O Lord, you have pleaded the causes of my soul;

What a comfort it is that Christ in Heaven is our great Advocate, and that he has pleaded the causes of our soul before the throne of God!

Lamentations 3:58. You have redeemed my life.

He who is our Advocate is also our Redeemer, and therefore we are doubly safe. Glory be to his name!

Verses 52-58

 

Lamentations 3:52-55. Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause. They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off. I called upon your name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon.

He said, "I am cut off," yet he called upon the name of the Lord out of the low dungeon into which his enemies had cast him. What a mercy it is that God’s servants are often as graciously inconsistent as Jeremiah was just then! They are afraid that the Lord will not hear them, yet they continue to pray unto him. They are afraid that they are cast off forever, yet they will still use the privilege of a child of God, and cry unto him, though they doubt whether they have a child’s right to do so. Go on, beloved, with that blessed inconsistency, and the Lord will bless you, you in it.

Lamentations 3:56. You have heard my voice: hide not your ear at my breathing, at my cry.

Is not that a beautiful description of prayer, when the soul cannot find words, nothing but a "breathing"? Did I say nothing but a breathing? Why, that is the very essence of prayer.

"Prayer is the breath of God in man,

Returning whence it came."

Vocal sounds in prayer can be given forth by hypocrites. Our children have their dolls or their little animals that they press to make them squeak, but there is no life in them; so there may be a sound, yet no life, but I never heard of anything that really breathed, and yet had not life. And when your soul breathes itself out before God in prayer, although it cannot utter any articulate sound by reason of the sorrow of your heart, there is spiritual life in you, you.

Lamentations 3:57. You drew near in the day that I called upon you:

Oh, sweet experience! Cannot you, you, beloved, say that these words suit you, you as much as they did Jeremiah? I am inclined to say to him, "They are mine, Jeremiah, they certainly were yours, but I am sure that they are equally mine."

Lamentations 3:57-58. You said, Fear not. O Lord, you have pleaded the causes of my soul; you have redeemed my life.

Blessed be his holy name forever and ever!

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

 

 

EZEKIEL

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 13

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 14

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 15

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 16

 

Verses 1-63

 

In this very remarkable chapter, God describes his ancient people Israel under the figure of an infant which had been cast away, but which he had cared for and tended, and upon which he had lavished much love, making it the object of his choice, on which his very heart was set. Yet this specially-favored one had gone astray, and committed all manner of wickedness; but for all that, the love of God had not been withdrawn. The whole chapter is a graphic picture of the way in which Israel and Judah went after false gods, and forsook the only living and true God.

Ezekiel 16:1-2. Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

This is a very necessary command, for unless men know their disease they will not apply to the great Physician. Only he who knows that he is poor will be willing to accept of alms. It is, therefore, a needful part of the duty of God’s servants to make sinners know their evil ways: "Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations."

Ezekiel 16:3. And say, Thus says the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Your birth and your nativity is of the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite, and your mother an Hittite.

Abraham, the father of the nation, came from beyond the flood; but here, because of the sin of the people, God attributes their birth to the place of their settlement rather than to that chosen and noble man. They had lived so long in Canaan that they had grown to be Canaanites. Their habits were so evil that there was little choice between the Israelites and the Amorites and Hittites whom God had smitten in his wrath. So the Lord says: "Your birth and your nativity is of the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite, and your mother an Hittite." Then, in the fifth verse, he describes the condition of the nation when it was in Egypt, when nobody cared for it:-

Verses 6-16.

Ezekiel 16:5. None eye pitied you, to do any of these unto you, to have compassion upon you; but you were cast out in the open field, to the loathing of your person, in the day that you were born.

You, you remember that Pharaoh tried to destroy all the male children of the captive Israelites. No mortal eye had any pity upon the downtrodden race in the house of bondage; but God looked down from Heaven in love, and pity, and grace.

Ezekiel 16:6-7. And when I passed by you, and saw you polluted in your own blood, I said unto you when you were in your blood, Live; yes, I said unto you when you were in your blood, Live. I have caused you to multiply as the bud of the field, and you are come to excellent ornaments: your breasts are fashioned, and your hair is grown, whereas you were naked and bare.

Israel came out of Egypt exceedingly multiplied, a great people; and when they settled down in Canaan they still increased until they became a numerous and powerful nation. Remember that all this description applies to us spiritually. There was a day when we seemed polluted, and cast away, and left to perish; but God in great mercy passed by, and said unto us, "Live."

Ezekiel 16:8-9. Now when I passed by you, and looked upon you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore unto you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord GOD, and you became mine. Then washed I you with water; yes, I throughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.

How wondrously the Lord did all this for us! Our washing, and our anointing, we never can forget.

Ezekiel 16:10. I clothed you also with broidered work, and shod you with badgers’ skin, and I girded you about with fine linen, and I covered you with silk.

All that God could do for Israel, he did. That poor poverty-stricken nation increased and multiplied until, in the days of David and Solomon, it was of high repute among the nations, and exceedingly rich and wealthy. Even so has God dealt with us; he "has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." We who, a little while ago, were cast out as helpless and worthless, he has greatly enriched with heavenly treasure.

Ezekiel 16:11-13. I decked you also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon your hands, and a chain on your neck. And I put a jewel on your forehead, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head. Thus were you decked with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work;

The work of the Lord Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit have made marvelously glorious "broidered work" for our spiritual adornment. Well does good Dr. Watts sing,-"

How far the heavenly robe exceeds,

What earthly princes wear!

These ornaments, how bright they shine!

How white the garments are!

Strangely, my soul, are you arrayed By the great Sacred Three!

In sweetest harmony of praise Let all your powers agree."

Ezekiel 16:13-14. You did eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and you were exceeding beautiful, and you did prosper into a kingdom. And your renown went forth among the heathen for your beauty: for it was perfect through my loveliness, which I had put upon you, says the Lord GOD.

Doubtless, these words apply to Israel; but they are still more appropriate to us when we are covered with the righteousness of Christ, and made beautiful in his beauty.

Ezekiel 16:15-16. But you did trust in your own beauty, and played the harlot because of your renown, and poured out your fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. And of your garments you did take, and decked your high places with divers colors, and played the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.

As soon as ever the Israelites grew rich and powerful, they began to build altars to the false gods. The very treasures that God had given them, they desecrated to the making of idols; and God calls’ this a spiritual harlotry, turning aside from the one true God, who was the Husband of the nation, to follow after false gods. It is an ill sign in any of us when God’s blessings are themselves made into idols. If you begin to worship your wealth, your health, your children, your learning, or anything that God has given you, this is exceedingly provoking to the Most High; it is a breach of the marriage covenant between your soul and God. The rest of the chapter is rather for private reading than for the public assembly. It gives a truly awful picture of the sin of Israel, and heaps up most dreadful descriptions of the way in which the people turned aside from God. I confess that, after reading to the end of this chapter, I am astonished to think that it should close as it does. It is an amazing instance of the immutable love of God, Turn to the 60th verse.

Verses 60-63.

Ezekiel 16:60. Nevertheless-

Blessed "nevertheless"!

Ezekiel 16:60-61. Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish unto you an everlasting covenant. Then you shall remember your ways, and be ashamed,

Infinite mercy makes men ashamed of their sinfulness. Great pardon produces both humility and holiness. The ungodly think that, for God to forgive great sin will be to give a license to it, but the Lord knows that it is not so. He understands that the greatness of his forgiving love will be the cause of the pardoned sinner’s hatred of sin: "Then you shall remember your ways, and be ashamed,"-

Ezekiel 16:61-63. When you shall receive your sisters, your elder and your younger: and I will give them unto you for daughters, but not by your covenant. And I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall know that I am the Lord: That you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more because of your shame, when I am pacified toward you for all that you have done, says the Lord GOD.

Pardon from God for great sin is a silencer to all our pride. We never dare open our mouths again because of our shame; yet the blessed silence of a grateful heart makes true music before the throne of God, and when the Lord opens our lips, then our mouth shall show forth his praise.

 

Chapter 17

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 18

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 19

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 20

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 21

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 22

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 23

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 24

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 25

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 26

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 27

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 28

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 29

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 30

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 31

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 32

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 33

 

Verses 1-20

 

Ezekiel 33:1-4. Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: If when he sees the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and takes not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

In that case the watchman is quite clear; he has done his duty, he has sounded an alarm, and a fitting alarm, upon the trumpet; he has sounded it immediately, without loitering or delaying. He has not been afraid of giving uneasiness to men; he has done his duty, fearless of remark, and he is clear. Happy also is he in knowing that, by heeding the trumpet’s warning blast, many have escaped the threatened danger. Still, even then it seems that there are some who hear the trumpet, and will not take the warning. That is the sad part of our service; it makes the most successful ministry to be fringed with black. It cannot be all joy for him who wins the most souls for God; for at times he can sympathize with his brethren, the prophets, in their sorrowful inquiry, "Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" Listen to this, you, you who hear the gospel, and yet do not repent; if you, you heed not the warning, your blood will be upon your own head.

Ezekiel 33:5-6. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he who takes warning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman ‘s hand.

This is a very solemn truth. It not only concerns me, and the many ministers of Christ who are here, but it is for all of you, you who know the Lord, for you, you also are set as watchmen to your families, to your neighbors, to the class which you, you teach, or which you, you should teach, in the Sunday-school. May God grant that we may, each one of us, be delivered from other men’s sins, for we may become partakers with them in their iniquity unless we bear our testimony against them, and give them warning of the consequences of their evil-doing!

Ezekiel 33:7. So you, O son of man, I have set you a watchman unto the house of Israel;

It is not merely the people who took a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman; but, "I have set you." Oh, the solemn ordination of a true servant of Christ! It is not by laying on of hands of man, nor by a pretended descent from the apostles; it is a call from God.

Ezekiel 33:7. Therefore you shall hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

That is the way to preach, to get the sermon from the mouth of God, and then to speak it as the mouth of God. Dear teachers, wait upon God for that which you, you are to teach; take it warm with love out of the very mouth of God, and then speak it for God out of your own mouth. Good will surely come of such teaching as that.

Ezekiel 33:8. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die; if you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand.

Even as God required Abel’s blood at the hand of Cain, and pronounced him cursed because he was guilty of that blood, so will he require the blood of perishing men at the hands of those set over them, and a curse shall come upon them if they be found negligent.

Ezekiel 33:9-10. Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. Therefore, O you son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus you speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?

This is as much as to say, "We cannot get away from our sins; there is no hope of our living." When men get into the iron cage called "Despair", there really seems to be no hope that they will turn from their sin. There is no hope in themselves; their only hope is in the Lord.

Ezekiel 33:11-12. Say unto them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel? Therefore, you son of man,

Notice how often God calls Ezekiel "the son of man." He had many wonderful visions; but he was to be kept humble by being constantly reminded that he was nothing more than a "son of man." He was to be kept sympathetic with the people; they were men, and he was one of them: a "son of man. It seems hard that any mother’s son of ours should die and perish; the thought that he will perish forever, is terrible indeed to one who recognizes his union with the race as a "son of man."

Ezekiel 33:12. Say unto the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sins.

It is not merely what we have been, but what we are, and what we shall he, that will have to be taken into account. If we have been righteous in our own esteem, what if we turn from it? If we have been sinful, yet if, by God’s grace, we turn from it, the past shall be blotted out.

Ezekiel 33:13. When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he shall die for it.

There is no salvation for any man without final perseverance, and if that final perseverance were not secured to us in the covenant of grace, there would be no salvation even for the brightest believer, or the most sparkling professor. What are our lights in themselves? Will they not soon burn dim unless the secret oil of God’s grace shall keep them bright? Whatever point any of you, you have reached, do not begin to put your confidence in that. If you, you had seemed to be righteous through a lifetime of seventy years, yet, unless the grace of God kept you, you even to the end, you, you must perish. The mercy is that we have many precious promises concerning the eternal safety of all who are in Christ, and God will not fail to fulfill every one of them.

Ezekiel 33:14-17. Again, when I say unto the wicked, You shall surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he has committed shall be mentioned unto him: he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live. Yet the children of your people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.

Sinners are very fast in judging God. Oh, that they would judge themselves! It is not the Lord who is unjust; it is the balances and weights of men that are unjust. Oh, that they did but know it!

Ezekiel 33:18-20. When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even die thereby. But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.

Now let us read at the thirtieth verse.

Verses 30-33.

Ezekiel 33:30-31. Also, you son of man, the children of your people still are talking against you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, you, and hear what is the word that comes forth from the Lord. And they come unto you as the people comes, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their covetousness.

This is another of the great sorrows of the prophetic calling, that however accurately we report the Lord’s message, however earnestly we try to drive it home to the consciences of our hearers, it must often be said, "They sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they will not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their covetousness."

Ezekiel 33:32. And, lo, you are unto them as a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear your words, but they do them not.

Preaching seems to such people to be only a song, or a piece of acting for their amusement; but it is not so. They that can find sport in the things of God, will find it dull sport in Hell when they shall be forever driven away from the presence of God, and from the glory of his power.

Ezekiel 33:33. And when this comes to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet has been among them.

But then it will be too late for them to know it; for they will have missed their opportunity of profiting by the message that the prophet delivered to them. God grant that it may not be so with any one of us, for his abounding mercy’s sake! Amen.

 

Chapter 34

 

Verses 11-25

 

Ezekiel 34:11-12. For thus says the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

What a glorious promise! Christ’s elect run hither and thither, in the darkness of their ignorance, into sin of every kind, but he will find every one of them out. There is no jungle so thick but Christ will track his own through it; There are no bogs of sin so dangerous but Christ will traverse them and find every lamb of his flock. And if through your backslidings, O people of God, you, you have wandered far from him, yet he perceives you, you with that eye which sees in the dark as well us in the light; and he will follow after you, you and bring you, you back. Blessed be his name!

Ezekiel 34:13; Ezekiel 34:15. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord God.

A beautiful image of that peace of mind, that complete repose, that perfect content, that sweet satisfaction, that divine fullness, which is the work of the Spirit of God in the hearts of believers when they are gathered to Christ.

Ezekiel 34:16. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

It is a sweet thing, then, to be one of the needy ones of the flock because you, you see all the promises run that way, but, if we feel ourselves to be very strong and great, we are in a dangerous state, for then there is no promise for us. The only word concerning us is — "I will destroy the fat and the strong."

Ezekiel 34:17-18. And as for you, you, O my flock, thus says the Lord God; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. Seems it a small thing unto you, you to have eaten up the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet?

Truly there are some vainglorious Christians who not only will not receive the gospel themselves, but actually find fault with it, insinuate doubts into the minds of others, and prevent the simple-minded people of God feeding on the pasture-which the Lord provides for them. See one of the evils of being great and strong in your own esteem; you, you are pretty sure then to despise the very pasture which was quite good enough for you, you when you, you were weaker and feebler. That very truth of Jesus Christ which was marrow and fatness to you, you, when you, you were hungry, comes to be despised as the manna was by the children of Israel when they called it "light bread." There is no savor in it that you, you should desire it. Blessed, blessed hunger that makes the word of God to be always sweet.

Ezekiel 34:19-25. And as for my flock, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet. Therefore thus says the Lord God unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Because you have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad; Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

What perfect assurance for Christ’s flock when, in the very place where the wolf once ranged, they shall be able to lie down and sleep in perfect safety. Happy people, with all their weakness, who have divine strength to be their protection. O my soul, seek no other strength than this, but learn you the apostle’s logic and his true Christian philosophy so that, like him, trusting in the Mighty Shepherd, you, you will be able to say "When I am weak, then am I strong."

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 23, Isaiah 40:9-11, Ezekiel 34:11-25.

Verses 11-27

 

Ezekiel 34:11. For thus says the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.

Here is a divine One come to seek and to save. The shepherds had neglected and scattered the flock. Now God takes it out of their hands, and he says, "I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out."

Ezekiel 34:12. As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

He has a chosen people redeemed unto himself by blood, and though they have wandered in the cloudy and dark day of their depravity and ruin, yet will he seek for them with ceaseless care, and bring them back with mighty power, until he has put them into his fold again.

Ezekiel 34:13. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

This shall yet be done to Israel after the flesh; it is being done to Israel after the spirit, to whom these promises in their fullness belong. By the mountains of his immutable promise, by the rivers of his Spirit’s influences, shall his people be fed.

Ezekiel 34:14. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.

When God works, he does nothing by halves, nothing scantily. There shall be a pasture, and it shall be fat; his people shall feed; they shall feed until they lie down in the pasture through very satiety; through the plenitude of his feeding they shall rest.

Ezekiel 34:15. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord God.

Happy sheep that have such a guardian! Happy believer if you, you are realizing today the full meaning of this, "I will feed my flock." Only God can do it, but he can do it very effectually until the heart is satisfied with favor, and full of the blessing of the Lord.

Ezekiel 34:16. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

Men that are proud and lifted up shall meet with no blessing, but such as feel their poverty, their weakness, their nothingness, shall be the favored ones of God. Cannot some of you, you poor lost ones, driven-away ones, broken ones, and sick ones, lay hold upon this promise? You, you may see daylight through it, however dark your condition may be. God says, "I will," and you, you may depend upon it. He will make it good. There is never an "I will" of Jehovah that shall fall to the ground.

Ezekiel 34:17-18. And as for you, you, O my flock, thus says the Lord God; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. Seems it a small thing unto you, you to have eaten up the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feel the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet?

Sometimes when God’s people get very strong in themselves, they grow proud, and they find great fault; precious truth is not good enough for them unless it is very daintily spoken; they have eaten, and now they tread down the pasture and spoil it for others. This may seem a very small offense, but the great Shepherd does not think so; he looks with indignation upon these fat and strong, who foul the waters with their feet.

Ezekiel 34:19-21. And as for my flock, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet. Therefore thus says the Lord God unto them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Because you have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad.

There is a way of doing that. Some are so big, so harsh, so enrapt up in themselves, that if they meet with a fellow-Christian in trouble, who has less confidence than themselves, who seems to be less useful than themselves, they are all for pushing, and poking, and driving, and doing I do not know what. Mind what you, you are at, when you, you meddle with the poor people of God. There are some doctrinal views, some pretensions to perfection, which just amount to this.

Ezekiel 34:22-23. Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle. And I will set up one shepherd over them.

You, you know his name. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto my sheep eternal life." You, you know that voice; it makes you, you glad to think he is so near you, you. "I will set up one shepherd." That is glorious. He is of God’s setting up; Who can put him down again?

Ezekiel 34:23. And he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

The house of David shall still shepherd the people of God in the person of great David’s greater Son, whom we adore.

Ezekiel 34:24-25. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace,

With you, you that were lost, that were driven away, that were sick, that were broken.

Ezekiel 34:25. And will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land:

So he will. There were once more wolves than sheep; now there are more sheep than wolves; and the day shall come when the saints shall possess the land. "The meek shall inherit the earth." Meanwhile, in the ways of God, "no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon." "And they shall dwell safely in the wilderness," where they seemed to be quite defenseless; there they shall be safe, and they shall "sleep in the woods," in the very lairs of the wild beasts. There shall they be so safe that they shall feel safe, and shall even go to sleep. So "he gives his beloved sleep." "And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing," for God does not bless men that they may keep the blessing to themselves. If he blesses them he makes them a blessing, and their surroundings become a blessing.

Ezekiel 34:25-27. And they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.

Oh! what a blessed day when all our yokes are broken by God’s own hand. We have worn them long enough — the sinful yoke, the legal yoke, the yoke of fear of man, a yoke heavy to bear — when they are all gone, and we can sing, "You have loosed my bonds."

Verses 11-31

 

The former part of the chapter contains a prophetic denunciation against the evil shepherds, — the men who fed not the flocks, but fed themselves, — who fouled, with their filthy feet, the waters where the flocks did drink, and trod upon the soft grass that otherwise might have afforded pasture for the sheep. After pronouncing judgment upon them, the Lord turns his thoughts to his sheep, and gives this precious promise, —

Ezekiel 34:11. For thus says the Lord GOD Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.

The shepherds did not do this; they left the sheep to wander, and they were lost upon the mountains; but where men fail, God proves himself all-sufficient. My hearer, are you, you sitting under an unprofitable ministry? Then look to the Chief Shepherd, and not to the man who is unfaithful as an under-shepherd.

Ezekiel 34:12. As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

It does not matter where the place is, the Lord will find out his sheep. If it be the castle of Giant Despair, he will find them there; if it be the worst dungeon in Doubting Castle, he will discover them there; they may have wandered upon the mountains of Despondency and Dejection; they may have been lost in the gorges of some dark valley of Desperation; but the Lord says, "I will both search my sheep, and seek them out." And, mind you, you, he does not seek without finding. He discovers them, for he knows where they are. Oh, is not that a "cloudy and dark day" wherein we wander from God, and know not how to return unto him? But clouds and darkness are banished when we see the light of his face.

Ezekiel 34:13-15. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord GOD.

There is a blessed state of rest. God’s flock are not only to be fed, but they are to lie down while they feed. You, you have sometimes noticed a flock, at noontide, when the sun is hot, lie down upon the grass, and feed while they rest; that is what God’s people are to do. They are to lie down in tranquility of spirit; they are to lie down in a state of placid submission to his will, in a state of perfect security, — a state, not of idleness from the Master’s service, but still a state in which they know there is nothing for them to do for their own security, since Christ has accomplished the whole of their salvation. "I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord God." It is not every one of God’s people that has attained to this blessed experience, to be able to lie down in quiet confidence and rest.

"Thousands in the fold of Jesus,

This attainment ne’er can boast;

To his name eternal praises:,

None of these shall e’er be lost."

Deeply graven on his heart their names remain. If you are his sheep, yet even if you have never come to lie down in peace, if you cannot say, "I know and am confident," and cannot rest while you, you feed; it is still comforting for you, you to feel that all Christ’s sheep are his sheep, whether they are lying down or standing up, or even wandering from him.

Ezekiel 34:16. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, —

Ah, one little thinks, perhaps, that there should be such a thing as a poor sheep driven away; but it is sometimes true! A legal preacher drives Christ’s sheep away from Christ. A seeking soul would gladly come to Jesus; but he is told that he must be something, and do something, before he can come. The poor sinner would trust in Jesus, but he is told first to get such-and- such a state of heart, he is told, "You, you are not the man who should be encouraged to come to Christ; you, you must have some deeper experience before you, you come." But, blessed be God, the Good Shepherd says, if Satan has driven you, you away, or a legal preacher has driven you, you away, "I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away," —

Ezekiel 34:16. And will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

Those who boast of being fat and strong, who glory in themselves, these God will destroy; but the poor, weak, sick souls shall be fed with kindness tempered with judgment.

Ezekiel 34:17-18. And as for you, you, O my flock, thus says the Lord GOD Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. Seems it a small thing unto you, you to have eaten up the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet?

Oh, how many there are, even of God’s sheep, that foul the waters very much! They come up to God’s house, where, perhaps, they get some sweet morsel in the sermon; but there are some things in it with which they do not quite agree. They are walking home with some young Christian, and he is thinking how blessedly he felt under the sermon; while, perhaps, that old professor is grumbling all the time, and stirring up the waters with his feet. If the pasture is not good enough for you, you, you, you should let the lambs eat of it, without treading it down; others like it, though you, you may not; and if you, you do not like it, you, you can always leave it! But what is the use of finding fault with it, and treading it under your feet, and not letting others eat of it? It is a great crime, says God: "Seems it a small thing" to tread it down under your feet, to spoil the spiritual enjoyment of your brethren? It seems, to some, of very little consequence what harm they do to God’s weak ones; but it is not so, it is a great sin to tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures, so you, you cavilers and critics had better beware.

Ezekiel 34:19-21. And as for my flock, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Because you have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad; —

I wish some people would not thrust so much with side and shoulder in their controversies with their brethren. It may be all very well for a man to be honest and faithful, and push with his horns; but there are some diseased ones who cannot stand rough usage when they are only coming in all simplicity to drink at the fountain of life.

Ezekiel 34:22-23. Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle. And I will set up one shepherd over them, —

There is only one Shepherd now. As for the rest of us, we are only under-shepherds; there is only one Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ; we are simply the men he employs to see after his sheep a little; but he is the Great Shepherd, and when he shall appear, we also shall appear with him in glory. "I will set up one shepherd over them," —

Ezekiel 34:23-25. And he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

Those who have seen the watching of flocks by night in the East, could give you, you quite a picture of the meaning of this verse. Sometimes the shepherds will sit down in the midst of bushes and briars that may grow at the side of the wood, and taking some of them for firewood, they will light a fire in the night; and when the wolves come around them, the sheep are quite safe. I have read of this in books of travel; and what a beautiful thing. It seems to sit, with the full moon shining down on the forest, and the fires alight, feeling that, notwithstanding all the wolves, the sheep are quite safe with the shepherds there to protect them! So is it with God’s people; they must always expect, while they are in the wood of this world, to have a scratch now and then from the briars and thorns; but "they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods." God will always take care of his own, for "the Lord knows them that are his."

Ezekiel 34:26. And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.

My earnest prayer is that this church may be a great blessing to all who are around us, and I firmly believe it will be so, by God’s grace.

Ezekiel 34:27. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.

The Jews will know that God is the Lord when they shall return to their own land. The poor tired sinner, best of all knows that God is God when he gets the bands of his neck broken off him. By nature, we all have bands about our necks; it is only God who takes them off. Pilgrim, you, you know, lost his burden when he looked at the cross; it rolled away down into the sepulcher; and if you, you had asked him then, "Is God, God?" "Yes," he would have said, "otherwise, I should not have had the bands of my neck loosed." No man who has had the bands taken off him, will ever doubt that there is a God. Let him experience that holy calm which springs from the fact of his having been set at gospel liberty, and he will say, "This is the work of God; no man, no human power could have done it." I can never be an Arminian as long as I feel myself a sinner. I am obliged to come back to this: Lord, I must be saved by sovereign grace, or not at all. A single day’s experience is enough to take all the self-conceit out of a Christian, if the Lord should leave him to his own unaided strength. We best know that God is God when we have had the bands broken off our necks. How many are there sitting here with bands on their necks; — slaves, wearing the yoke upon their shoulders? They cannot see it, but it is there, nevertheless. Who is there who can say, "My bands are broken from my neck"?

"’My sins are drowned, as in a flood,

Of Jesus’ pure and matchless blood.’

"I am finally discharged; the bands are broken off my neck, truly, God is God."

Ezekiel 34:28-29. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, —

Jesus is "a plant of renown," because you, you may go to him at all times, and you, you will always find fruit on him. That is more than you, you can say of any other plant. You, you may go to him, and you, you will always find the sort of fruit you, you want; is he not "a plant of renown"? You, you will find healing virtue in his leaves, and satisfying fruits hanging in clusters upon him. He is "a plant of renown," because his father planted him; because he has food enough for all his saints, and a gracious variety for all their tastes; because he will blossom through eternity; because of the multitude who sit under his shadow, and rejoice therein, He is "a plant of renown" to his people, for under his shadow they are begotten and brought forth; the greatest transactions of their lives have taken place beneath the shadow of that old tree, "the plant of renown."

Ezekiel 34:29-30. And they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord God.

Thus shall they know it. Do you, you know it? Has God told it to you, you? Have you, you the witness of the Spirit within your spirit that you, you are born of God? My hearers, never be satisfied until you, you get this; for you, you will never be truly at rest until you, you know that you, you are God’s people, and until you, you can each one say, "My God, my God, you are my God."

Ezekiel 34:31. And you my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the Lord GOD.

"However much I may have uplifted you, you, you, you are only men, after all; but I am not a man, I am your God," says the Lord.. And we rest more upon what God is, than upon what man is, for he "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask, or think."

 

Chapter 35

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 36

 

Verses 16-38

 

Ezekiel 36:16-19. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the impurity of a removed woman, Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols with which they had polluted it: And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

When God comes forth to deal with men according to their deserts, there will always be times of dire distress. The land of Israel was made into a wilderness; the habitations of men were burnt by fire, the inhabitants fell by the sword, or they were carried away captive, and untold miseries became the lot of God’s revolting people.

Ezekiel 36:20. And when they entered unto the heathen, where they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land.

For the heathen did not remember the sin of Israel; they only saw that they had been cast out of their land by their God, so they blamed Jehovah, and not his guilty people. Thus, God’s holy name was doubly profaned.

Ezekiel 36:21. But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, where they went.

If the Lord could see no ground of mercy in them, yet, so full of mercy is he, that he would find a reason for exercising pity for his own name’s sake. If loving-kindness cannot come to them by any other means, then it shall come for God’s name’s sake.

Ezekiel 36:22-24. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the heathen, where you went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you, you before their eyes. For I will take you, you from among the heathen, and gather you, you out of all countries, and will bring you, you into your own land.

He says that he will do this for his holy name’s sake. If the heathen profaned that name because they saw Israel scattered, they should be made to eat their own words when God gathered Israel again to their own land.

Ezekiel 36:25-26. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you, you. A new heart also will I give you, you, and a new spirit will I put within you, you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you, you an heart of flesh.

What grand language this is! How different it is from the stern commands of the law! The law says, "Make your hearts clean; put away the evil of your doings;" but the gospel covenant of grace says, "A new heart also will I give you, you, and I will cleanse you, you from all your iniquities."

Ezekiel 36:27-30. And I will put my spirit within you, you, and cause you, you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and do them. And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you, you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you, you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.

What splendor of love is this to a people who, mind you, you, had done nothing whatever to deserve it,—who were just as undeserving as in the day when the Lord smote them, and scattered them among the heathen! For no reason whatever but his own free grace, and for the glory of his holy name would God do these extraordinary deeds of love. What a wondrous God he is! Rightly do we sing,—

"Who is a pardoning God like you?

Or who has grace so rich and free?"

Ezekiel 36:31-32. Then shall you remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe ourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations, Not for your sakes do I this, says the Lord God, be it known unto you, you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.

There was nothing for them to boast of in all the mercies they received. No merit of their own had brought them back the corn and oil; it was all of God’s infinite sovereign grace because he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and he will have compassion on whom he will have compassion. How royally he talks—like such a King as he is—the Sovereign Lord of all!

Ezekiel 36:33-35. Thus says the Lord GOD In the day that I shall have cleansed you, you from all your iniquities if will also cause you, you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be built. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.

As much as they noticed before the chastising hand of God, so much shall even the heathen be compelled to perceive the great goodness of God in restoring the land to all its former glory.

Ezekiel 36:36-37. Then the heathen that are left round about you, you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus says the Lord God; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them;—

The blessing shall come, but not without prayer for it,—not without a hopeful expectancy of it,—not without a faithful belief in it: "I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them;"—

Ezekiel 36:37-38. I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts;

Like the multitudes of lambs that were brought up to Jerusalem at the time of the Passover, such should be the number of the chosen people once again.

Ezekiel 36:38. So shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

The result of all this wondrous mercy was to be, that they were to be ashamed of their former sins, and loathe their past iniquities, and so know the Lord as to turn from their evil ways, and live unto him.

Verses 21-38

 

The prophet had been bringing many heavy charges against God’s people, had been thundering out the most tremendous threatenings against them. God was angry with them on account of sin. The chapter is full of dreadful utterances, enough to make one tremble as he reads them. And on a sudden the note altogether changes, and the prophet of thunder becomes the prophet of consolation. Free grace follows like a clear shining after the rain.

Ezekiel 36:21-28. But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, where they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the heathen, where you went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you, you before their eyes. For I will take you, you from among the heathen, and gather you, you out of all countries, and will bring you, you into your own land.

Here, indeed, is matchless grace that these very people who for their sins were banished from their land, and who in their exile added to their sin by the way in which they blasphemed God — those very people are to be brought back, and the mercy of God is so to be displayed in them that, in the very people who blasphemed God’s name, God shall be held in honor.

Ezekiel 36:25-26. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you, you. A new heart also will I give you, you, and a new spirit will I put within you, you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you, you an heart of flesh.

Now notice that all this was spoken to persons who had no desire for these blessings. If they had had a desire for them, their hearts could not be considered to be stony, but they were set against God; they were his enemies; and yet he makes this solemn declaration in the sovereignty of his grace that he will give them a new heart and a right spirit. There may be some in this house tonight, and I pray there may, who are strangers to the God of Israel, who, if they know anything concerning his Son only know enough to oppose him. May God’s eternal omnipotence work in them mightily that a new heart and a right spirit may be given them tonight according to that ancient word, "I am found of them that sought me not." He can come and make them a people that were not a people. Oh! that his grace would do so now.

Ezekiel 36:27. And I will put my spirit within you, you,

Not only a new spirit, but my Spirit. God himself shall come and dwell in those hearts which once were a receptacle for the devil.

Ezekiel 36:27-28. And cause you, you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them. And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

He who talks in this sovereign way is God himself. He first made the world as he pleased, and in the second new creation he does as he will, having power over us as the potter has over his clay. This is promised to the Jewish people, but it is also fulfilled in multitudes of others where God in the same sovereign way works out the purposes of his love.

Ezekiel 36:29. I will also save you, you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you, you.

Temporal mercies shall follow where spiritual mercies are given.

Ezekiel 36:30-36. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall you remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, says the Lord GOD, be it known unto you, you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord GOD In the day that I shall have cleansed you, you from all your iniquities I will also cause you, you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be built. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you, you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it.

Prayer will always go with the divine working. Where God means to save, he sets men praying. Those who are saved intercede for others, and others who as yet are unsaved feel the need of the blessing and begin to cry for it, and the blessing comes. As the black cloud forebodes the shower, so does the gathering spirit of prayer always foretoken the coming blessing. Heaven and earth may pass away, but the memorial of Jehovah always is "The God that hears prayer." He is the God whose arm is always moved by the prayer of man. Did not Moses stand between them and vengeance, so that God said, "Let me alone," as if he had said, "I cannot destroy them while you, you pray"? Did not Elijah open and shut the windows of Heaven by his prayer? Nothing is impossible to those who know how believingly to inquire of God.

Ezekiel 36:37. Thus says the Lord GOD I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.

Take up this promise, members of this Church, and urge it before God that he would give us not few additions, but many, very many. "I will increase them with men like a flock."

Ezekiel 36:38. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts;

When a great number of lambs would be brought up to Jerusalem for them to keep the Passover with, a great and countless company. Oh! that such additions may be given to the Church!

Ezekiel 36:38. So shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 50:14-23; Ezekiel 36:21-38.

Verses 25-32

 

Ezekiel 36:25. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you, you.

"You, you would not cleanse yourselves; you, you even went back to your idols again, and so defiled yourselves still more; but I will cleanse you, you. I have a wondrous stream, such as no river or spring on earth can ever produce. It wells up from the heart of Jesus; and this shall cleanse you, you from all your filthiness, and from all your idols."

Ezekiel 36:26-27. A new heart also will I give you, you, and a new spirit will I put within you, you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you, you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, you, and cause you, you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.

The old covenant told us what to do, and commanded us to do it; but the new covenant enables us to do it; yes, it works in us that obedience which we never could have rendered to the old law, but which the new covenant gives to us.

Ezekiel 36:28-31. And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you, you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you, you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall you remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loath yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

How sweetly the mercy of God melts the human heart! How graciously the goodness of God produces repentance! That blessed result was never produced by the terrors of the law; but it is continually being brought forth by the loving-kindness of the Lord as manifested in the covenant of his grace.

Ezekiel 36:32. Not for your sakes do I this, says the Lord GOD, be it known unto you, you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.

The covenant is all of grace, you, you see; mercy is shown to the unworthy,- not for their own sakes, but for God’s own glory’s sake. Oh, how sweet it is to have a share in this blessed covenant! Now turn to the Epistle to the Hebrews, the 8th chapter, and 7th verse, where you, you have still more concerning the new covenant.

This exposition consisted of readings from Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-32; and HEBREWS 8:7-13

 

Chapter 37

 

Verses 1-28

 

Ezekiel 37:1. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord,

God’s servants learn nothing until they have an experience similar to that of Ezekiel. They must be led by the Spirit of the Lord, and they must have their eyes and mouths opened by him, and then they can both see the vision, and tell the vision to others.

Ezekiel 37:1. And set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

Like a huge grave, or charnel-house, or battle-field where the slain had not been buried. No servant of God would go without being sent to such a place, yet it was needful that Ezekiel should be there in order that he might understand and speak the message of God.

Ezekiel 37:2. And caused me to pass by them round about:

He had to make a thorough survey of this grim and ghastly charnel -house.

Ezekiel 37:2. And, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

They had lain there so long that the wind had dried up the juices of the marrow-bones, and they were turned to dust.

Ezekiel 37:3. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live?

God did not ask this question for his own information, but for the prophet’s. The Lord wanted him to realize the difficulties of the work to which he was called that he might be driven the more completely to rely upon God, and not upon himself.

Ezekiel 37:3-4. And I answered, O Lord GOD, you know. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

We have heard of a Romanist who had, as a penance from his priest, to go and water a dry stick. Ezekiel’s task of preaching to dry bones seemed to be as useless as that; yet, if God bids us do the same, we need no other justification for doing it. What is foolish in the sight of reason is wisdom in the judgment of faith.

Ezekiel 37:5-6. Thus says the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, you, and you shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, you, and will bring up flesh upon you, you, and cover you, you with skin, and put breath in you, you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

He had to tell these bones the unconditional purposes and promises of God: "I will," and "you shall;" and this is the way in which God works out his eternal purposes concerning the sons of men. He bids his servants proclaim his message, and then he fulfills his own purposes and promises.

Ezekiel 37:7. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise,

A rustle, —

Ezekiel 37:7. And behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

Here was divine power bringing the bones to their proper position in the various bodies, and forging the separated anatomy to re-form itself.

Ezekiel 37:8. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

So there was no very great improvement so far; there were only dead bodies instead of dry bones; there was something more to look at, but nothing more agreeable, and really no more of life than there was before.

Ezekiel 37:9. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man,

"Prophesy unto the wind." That seems a very absurd thing to do, but there are no absurdities where God gives his commands.

Ezekiel 37:9-10. And say to the wind, Thus says the lord GOD Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me,-

Ezekiel was very obedient; he only wanted to know his Lord’s will, and then he raised no question, but did at once just as he was told to do: "So I prophesied as he commanded me." It is a prime qualification in a servant of God that he should do exactly as he is bidden-not to think how he would like to do it, nor to follow the plan that his own wisdom suggests, but just to do as he is told, as Ezekiel did: "So I prophesied as he commanded me," —

Ezekiel 37:10-11. And the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

"There is no hope for us; we are dead, and worse than dead. Our case is hopeless; there is no possibility of restoration for us."

Ezekiel 37:12. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus says the lord GOD Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you, you to come up out of your graves, and bring you, you into the land of Israel.

There was to be a house of Israel after all. The nation seemed to be dead and buried, but God would revive and restore it. This is a promise which may apply to a church when she gets into a very low spiritual state, and it looks as if she could never do any more good: "Behold, O my people, I will open your graves." And to you, you, dear friends, who are very heavy of heart, full of despair, and who seem as if you, you were as good as dead and buried, God speaks in this promise. Therefore believe his Word as though it had been directed to you, you personally, "Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you, you to come up out of your graves, and bring you, you into the land of Israel."

Ezekiel 37:13. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you, you up out of your graves,

Great deliverances and almighty quickenings reveal God to us, and make us know how gloriously great Jehovah is.

Ezekiel 37:14. And shall put my spirit in you, you, and you shall live, and I shall place you, you in your own land: then shall you know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, says the Lord.

When the Jews get back to Canaan again,-as they will do,-they will then not only know that Jehovah is God, but also that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah. May the Lord hasten that blessed consummation in his own time!

Ezekiel 37:15-16. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Moreover, you son of man,

Notice how the Lord constantly calls the prophet "son of man." When God uses his servants much, and greatly honors them, he always takes care to keep them humble by reminding them of what they are in themselves. So, Ezekiel, you, you have prophesied to the dry bones, and they have lived through your prophecy but it was not by your own power that you, you did this. You, you are nothing but a son of man, God must have all the glory of this wondrous work.

Ezekiel 37:16. Take you one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick,-

Or, rod, —

Ezekiel 37:16. And write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:

They were divided into separate companies, they first wandered away from God, and then they wandered away from one another.

Ezekiel 37:17. And join there one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in your hand.

As he held them in his hand, they were to grow into one; and, when all the churches get into the hand of Christ, there will be perfect unity between them. Things that are near to the same thing are near to one another; but, until the Lord shall come, and take his divided Judah and Ephraim into his own hand, there will be no true unity between them; but there will be then.

Ezekiel 37:18-19. And when the children of your people shall speak unto you, saying, Will you not show us what you meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

No church will long continue in the enjoyment of the blessing of unity unless it continues in nearness to Christ. Communion with Christ means the communion of Christians with one another; we can only get true union and true communion in that way.

Ezekiel 37:20-22. And the sticks whereon you write shall be in your hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, where they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:

When Christ comes, there shall be this true unity in Israel. Where Christ has already come, there is this true unity in his Church; and as Christ comes to all of us, he will take away the evil that divides us from himself, and divides us from the rest of the people, and so we shall be one in his hand.

Ezekiel 37:23. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their GOD.

This applies first to Israel literally, and then spiritually to all the chosen. What a weighty and comprehensive promise it is! We are to be saved from our idols, to be saved from the most loathsome sins: "detestable things"; to be saved from our household sins: "I will save them out of all their dwelling places wherein they have sinned." Where do we go, my brethren, without finding sin? Sin in our bed, and sin at the board, sin in the shop, and sin in the street, sins when we are in company, and sins when we are alone in the field, sins everywhere; yet the Lord Jesus Christ is able to meet us in every place, and to cleanse us.

"So shall they be my people, and I will be their God." What a wonderful declaration this is,-we are the Lord’s people, he is our God! We are his portion, and he is one portion. Oh, that every one of us might have a share in this double blessing!

Ezekiel 37:24. And David my Servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

Oh, for the one king to reign over the one people, who shall keep the one law, and walk in holiness and humility before the one Lord!

Ezekiel 37:25. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children forever: and my servant David shall be their prince forever.

Surely God does not treat the saints now worse than he treated Israel in the days of old; so we may go to him in prayer for our children and for our children’s children.

Ezekiel 37:26. Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them:

Oh, that blessed word everlasting! A salvation which is not everlasting is not worth having; any promise that is not fulfilled, any grace that can fail, is not God’s promise or God’s grace.

Ezekiel 37:26-27. And I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yes, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

In the 23rd verse, the Lord’s promise was, "They shall be my people, and I will be their God," and here, grace seems to ring the changes by reversing the order: "I will be their God, and they shall be my people." God is evidently so pleased with this declaration that he repeats it, only turning the sentences round the other way.

Ezekiel 37:28. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

 

Chapter 38

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 39

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 40

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 41

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 42

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 43

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 44

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 45

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 46

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 47

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 48

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

 

DANIEL

 

Chapter 1

 

Verses 1-21

 

Daniel 1:1. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.

Sin always brings its punishment. King Jehoiakim did evil in the sight of the Lord, so God used Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to be the rod in his hand to scourge his sinful people and their wicked king.

Daniel 1:2. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand,

It was not merely that Nebuchadnezzar was strong enough to overcome the Jews; but God handed over his people into Nebuchadnezzar’s hand. The enemy cannot touch the Church of God without the divine permission.

Daniel 1:2. With part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his God; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God.

See how holy things, once used for the noblest purposes, become of no further service when the Spirit of God is gone from the Church. You, you know that when the Philistines captured the ark of God, and put it in the temple of Dagon, the fish — God fell down broken before the ark. Nothing of this kind happened in Babylon. The holy vessels were put into the heathen temple, and no miraculous result followed, for God cares nothing for golden vessels in and of themselves. When sin has polluted his people, their precious things are nothing to him. They may go where men please to carry them. All their value lies in God accepting the service rendered through them. So, brother, you, you may keep up your attendance at the Lord’s supper, and your preachings, and your gatherings for worship; but they will all be nothing without the Spirit of God. See how the Lord’s supper is turned into the sacrifice of the mass, and how baptism is represented as the channel or medium of regeneration, when once the Spirit of God has gone from the divinely-appointed ordinances. Besides these holy vessels, Nebuchadnezzar took the best of the people of the land, and carried them away captive. He singled out the rich and the noble, those who had education and other attainments, while he left the poorest of the land behind. Sometimes those who are the most exalted will have the most suffering.

Daniel 1:3-4. And the king spoke unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; Children —

Or, youths, —

Daniel 1:4. In whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

Nebuchadnezzar was, in many respects, an enlightened ruler. He looked upon this as one of the best things that he could do for his court and vast empire, that he should pick out the best of the young men of every nation, who should bring their national knowledge with them; and then, being sprightly in body and nimble in mind, should be trained to become counselors, or advisers of the court, or be prepared to fill important offices as they became vacant.

Daniel 1:5. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank:

Treating them exceedingly well, thinking, perhaps, that the very food they ate might help to tone their minds for the work to which he had called them. He wished to make them into true Chaldeans, so be ordained that they must eat of the meat he ate, and drink of the wine he drank.

Daniel 1:5. So nourishing them three years,

Putting them to college, as it were, for three years, —

Daniel 1:5-6. That at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

You, you know these men’s names. You, you will recognize them when you, you hear them in their altered form.

Daniel 1:7. Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names:

This was to Chaldeanize them, to take away from them everything Jewish.

Daniel 1:7. For he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.

Now these young men’s Jewish names had, each one of them, the name of God wrought into their texture. I need not stay to bring it out; but there is a signification about each name connecting it with God. You, you hear in two of them the sound of El, which is a name of God; and in the other two, the termination Iah, which brings out the name Jehovah. The new names that were given to them appear to have been connected with idols; at all events, it was so with Belteshazzar and Abed-nego, or Abednego. The intent was to make Babylonians of them.

Daniel 1:8. But Daniel purposed in his heart —

I always like to come across a "but" when there is any scheme of this kind on. When the plan is to seduce men from right, then it is a happy thing to have a but, but, but, "But Daniel purposed in his heart," determined, settled, fixed it,

Daniel 1:8. That he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank:

Daniel here mentions only himself; but the three others were one with him in the resolve and the request. He was the leader. Sometimes there would be no Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, if there was not a Daniel. The other three might never have had the strength of mind, if it had not been for the Daniel, who dared to stand alone; but having such a brave leader, they dared to stand with him. We often owe much to spiritually-minded men, who are able to help others to take a right course.

Daniel 1:8-9. Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.

It was like the case of Joseph and Potiphar. Daniel’s gentle disposition, his loving ways, his open and frank spirit, had won upon the prince of the eunuchs, so that he not only regarded him with favor, but even had a tender love for him. God has the hearts of all men under his control, and he may give his people favor where they least expect it.

Daniel 1:10. And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall you make me endanger my head to the king.

What a reign of terror there is in a despotic country, where kings can do as they will! For the smallest offense, a man’s head may be in danger.

Daniel 1:11-12. Then said Daniel to Melzar whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, Prove your servants, I beseech you, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.

I like it that the Holy Spirit uses their old names whenever it is proper that they should be used. May we never lose our old names! I mean, our new names, for they have grown old with some of us now. May we ever be known as the servants of God, and not as Chaldeans! The prince of the eunuchs gave Daniel a kind of hint, that, if the officer under him chose to take the responsibility of altering the food and drink, he might do so, and the prince would not interfere with the experiment. So Daniel turns to Melzar, and says to him, "Prove your servants for a suitable time. Let us have pulse to eat, and water to drink." He put his request in an extreme light, in order to be quite sure that nothing brought to him would come from the king’s table.

Daniel 1:13. Then let our countenances be looked upon before you, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king’s meat: and as you see, deal with your servants.

"If we do fall off, and grow thin, and look pale and ill through this coarse food, as you, you think it, well then, alter it; and if, on the other hand, we should be as well as those who have eaten the king’s meat, and drunk the king’s wine, then let us keep to our pulse and water."

Daniel 1:14. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.

A round number, standing for a sufficient period to afford a fair test.

Daniel 1:15. And at the end of days their countenances appeared fairer — and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.

I doubt not that the satisfaction of heart which they had in keeping themselves undefiled tended to give them a good digestion, and thus they were more likely to be well than were the others.

Daniel 1:16-17. Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse. As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom:

God can help us in our study. We may pray as much over what we have to learn as over what we have to do. I believe that, often, a difficult problem can be best solved by prayer. All true knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom are the gifts of God.

Daniel 1:17-19. And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king.

They were made to be his attendants, his advisers, these very men who had been so absurd as not to eat the food from the royal table, so obstinate as to consider that they would defile themselves if they did. It is these absurd and obstinate people who cannot be bent, but must be straight; the upright men, who shall stand before kings, for God is with them.

Daniel 1:20. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.

They communed with God, and that was better than being magicians or stargazers. Men of God are ten times better than all that lot put together.

Daniel 1:21. And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.

Those two words summarize the whole of Daniel’s history: Daniel continued." May God give to each of us here grace to continue as Daniel did!

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Verses 1-28

 

Daniel 6:1-3. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

Kings are never satisfied. The empire of Darius was always growing, and a chapter or two farther on we find that he had a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. There is no end to the greediness of man, and what does he get by it after all? One pair of hands can only do one man’s work; he only gains more toils, and he has now to distribute the cares of his State among others. Then how good it is for any man when he is guided to a right, honest, and hearty helper! Such was the lot of Darius. How advantageous, too, it may be for the people of God when a man like Daniel is put in the high places of the land! Doubtless he was exalted, not only for his own sake, but that he might be as a brazen shield and bulwark for the people of God in that foreign land. No extortions would now be committed on the Jewish race, for they had a friend at court. Blessed be God, we have a friend at court too, one who will take up our cause, and speak for us to the King of Kings

Daniel 6:4. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault;

Who can stand before envy? High places furnish very uncomfortable seats, for even if God exalt a man, men will try to pull him down; but he is an honorable man indeed who puts his enemies to their shifts before they can find anything against him.

Daniel 6:4-7. Forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the councelors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of you, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. We do not know with what ingenious arguments they moved the king’s mind to pass this, but we think we can conceive them. He had just conquered Chaldea; they would, therefore, say, "It will be an excellent test of the obedience of your new subjects if you, you touch them upon the point of their religion; try whether they will for thirty days abstain from addressing their deities." Perhaps, too, since Darius had a colleague on the throne, the younger Cyrus, who was much more popular than he. They may have egged him on by hinting that Cyrus was much too vain, and that, therefore, if he would not allow anyone to address a petition, even to Cyrus, for thirty days, it would tend to show who was really loyal to Darius, and it would also test the temper of Cyrus. I cannot tell how they did it, but somehow or other they managed to lead the foolish old man to carry out their designs.

Daniel 6:8. Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which alters not

The Babylonians entrusted their king with absolute power; hence he could will this or that as he chose. The Persians believed their kings to be possessed of perfect wisdom; and hence they never allowed a law to be changed, for that would be to suppose that the king who made it had made a mistake, a thing which could by no possibility ever occur. There is an amusing instance given by a modern traveler, who tells us that a few years ago one of the later Persian kings said he would never remove from the tent in the plain until the snow had gone from some mountains to which he pointed. It happened to be a very late summer, and the snow was long in melting, and his gracious majesty had to keep his place in his tent, while his troops were perishing with fever in a low marsh-district, until they procured men to sweep the snow from the tops of the mountains in order that he might be able to move. It is inconvenient for men to play the God; they cannot do it without bringing serious difficulty and danger upon themselves. So did Darius on this occasion. I never like men who, when they speak a hasty word, say they cannot alter it. Rash vows are better broken than kept; you, you had no right to say you, you would do the thing; much less have you, you any right to do it when you, you have said you, you would do it. However, the law of the Medes and Persians could not be altered.

Daniel 6:9-10. Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into the house;

That is right; the less we have to do with man, and the more we have to do with God the better. He did not go to the king to complain, but he went into his house to tell his God about it.

Daniel 6:10. And his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem,

That much-loved city, though now in ruins.

Daniel 6:10. He kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

‘Twas bravely done. A man in a meaner position might have carried out his devotions in private without sin, but not so Daniel. He is a representative man: he must not play the coward; it is incumbent upon him to be more especially and deliberately public in all that he does, for if he be seen to slink in never so small a degree, then all the saints will lose heart.

Daniel 6:11-13. Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king’s decree; Have you not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which alters not. Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel,

Here is impudence! But they called Jesus Christ "this fellow." Why? Daniel was the chief of the presidents, the prime minister of the king, and yet they say, "That Daniel." Ill-hearts generally have ill-mouths, and what can you, you expect but ill-words out of ill-mouths?

Daniel 6:13. That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah,

That captive, that slave, that serf — so they seemed to put it, forgetting that he was their master by virtue of his high office.

Daniel 6:13-14. Regards not you, O king, nor the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day. Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself,

There was a little conscience left. Calvin does not like the man at all. He says, What right had he to sign a decree hastily, which might take away the lives of the best men in his dominion? And his repentance does not seem to be a repentance of the act, but only of the consequences.

Daniel 6:14. And set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he labored until the going down of the sun to deliver him.

Here was a great king, made himself out to be a God, and yet he cannot have his own way. When that famous potter, who was a true Christian, was brought before the king, the king said to him, "Unless you, you change your views, I shall be compelled to have you, you burned." "Ah!" said Bernard de Palissy, "you, you are a king, and yet say, ‘I shall-be compelled,’ and I am a poor potter, but no man can make me use those words; I will be compelled to do nothing against my conscience." Oh! the holy bravery of men who are saved! When Bonner had one of the martyrs before him, he said, "I will convince you, you; a blazing faggot will convince you, you." "A fig for your faggot," said the man, "or a wagon-load of them; I can stand and burn better than you, you can wear your miter." So the saints of God are strong, and can bid defiance to the adversary through divine grace.

Daniel 6:15. Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establishes may be changed.

This is the reason of his deliverance, not his innocency, but his faith; we are told by Paul that it was faith that shut the mouths of lions.

Daniel 6:16-24. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spoke and said unto Daniel, Your God, whom you serve continually, he will deliver you. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spoke and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live forever. My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions’ months, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before you, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives;

Which was a piece of injustice, the throwing in of their wives and children, though we cannot say as much of the throwing of them in.

Daniel 6:24. And the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.

 

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Verses 1-11

 

Daniel 9:1-2. In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

Daniel was himself a prophet, but he studied the inspired prophecies of Jeremiah. If such a man need read Scripture, how much more ought we! Whatever light we may suppose to dwell within us, we shall do well to walk by the mere sure word of prophecy.

Daniel 9:3-5. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and from your judgments:

Daniel certainly had rebelled less than any of his countrymen, and yet he is the first to make confession on their behalf. So, my brethren, when we have confessed our own sins, and have found mercy, then we should begin to be intercessors for others. We should make confession for the sins of our families, for the sins of our city, for the sins of our country. If no longer need we plead for salvation for ourselves because we have obtained it, let us give the full force of our prayers for the benefit of others.

Daniel 9:6. Neither have we hearkened unto your servants the prophets, which spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

It greatly increases sin when we sin against warnings sent from God. Daniel confesses this.

Daniel 9:7-9. O Lord, righteousness belongs unto you, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you. O Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

What a gracious verse that is! Surely it might be printed in letters of gold, and every trembling, penitent sinner might look at it until at last beams of light should dart into the darkness of his despair.

Daniel 9:10-11. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his ways, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, even by departing, that they might not obey your voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

 

Verses 1-13

 

Daniel 9:1-2. In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

And, therefore, discovering that the end of the captivity had nearly come, he set himself to plead mightily with God that now he would turn the hand of his love upon the destroyed and desolate city of Jerusalem. Notice that Daniel recollected the exact date when the captivity was to end; and when you, you and I have had a term put to any trial or chastisement from God, we ought to remember it, and record it among our special memoranda. I am afraid it is not always so. We do not forget when a great sorrow overtook us; we can, probably, recollect when some dear one died; we remember the very day of the week and month when that happened; but are we equally tenacious of the memory of God’s loving-kindness? I am afraid not; yet it should be so. We should be able to write about it as definitely as Daniel did when he said, "In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes;" and then mention the time when we had some peculiarly choice communion with God, or when we were led to cry out in more than usually earnest prayer, or when we had a specially gracious answer from our God.

Daniel 9:3. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes;

"I set my face unto the Lord God." This expression is full of meaning. When men resolutely set their faces to prayer, bending their whole mind that way, seeking God, with their faces towards him, not in pretense, but in deep and solemn earnestness, then it is that they succeed with their supplication. Daniel speaks of "prayer and supplications," by which we may understand that he prayed much amid prayed often, setting apart a regular and considerable portion of his time for the holy exercise. He was a very busy man, for he was the first of the presidents over the hundred and twenty princes; yet, for all that, or because of that, he would have his time for communion with God; and he was wise in so acting, for any portion of our time that is stolen from prayer is also stolen from ourselves. The old saying is true, "Prayer and provender hinder no man’s journey."

Daniel 9:4. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

You, you must have noticed how, in prayer, holy men of old were accustomed to vary the names of God. Here, we find Daniel addressing him as "the great and dreadful God;" but that title was not chosen at haphazard, for the prophet felt that, as Jerusalem had remained so long a desolation, the terrible aspect of God’s character was more conspicuous even than the tender one; yet he coupled with it that gracious truth, "keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments."

Daniel 9:5-6. We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and from your judgments: Neither have we hearkened unto your servants the prophets, which spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

Daniel confesses the sins of the nation, and he spares no proper epithets in describing them: "We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled." He saw at least a shade of different meaning in each word that he employed. These are not vain repetitions; Daniel multiplied his expressions because he had an intense sense of the sinfulness of sin and the guilt of his people. Observe, too, how he notes the aggravation of their sin in their refusal to listen to the messages which God had sent to them by his servants. If there is anything in the world that can make sin to be more than ordinarily sinful, it is when sin is persisted in notwithstanding the manifest warnings of God.

Daniel 9:7. O Lord, righteousness belongs unto you, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.

This verse might be just as truly spoken now as in the first year of Darius, the Mede, for we also can say, " O Lord, righteousness belongs unto thee;"-we cannot find it anywhere else; and the other part of the verse is equally true, for unto us belongs confusion of faces, as it did to the men of Daniel’s day.

Daniel 9:8-9. O Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

What a precious assurance this is! Just in proportion to your sense of sin, will you, you value it. If you, you feel that confusion of face belongs to you, you, you, you will also rejoice to know that mercies and forgivenesses belong to the Lord, and that he is waiting to bestow them upon all who seek his face in penitence and faith.

Daniel 9:10-11. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, even by departing, that they might not obey your voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

It was a part of that old covenant that, if they sinned against the Lord, they should be scattered among all the peoples of the earth, and their sufferings exactly tallied with what God had threatened. This fact is used by the prophet in some measure as a source of consolation, for he argues that, if God is true to the black side of the covenant, he will also he faithful to the bright side of it; and it is so, he who faithfully fulfills his threatenings will just as faithfully keep his promises.

Daniel 9:12-13. And he has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole Heaven has not been done as has been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand your truth.

Oh, sad hardness of heart and impenitence that, though Jerusalem had been so sorely smitten, yet the people turned not unto God in prayer!

Verses 14-23

 

Daniel 9:14-21. Therefore has the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he does; for we obeyed not his voice. And now, O Lord our God, that have brought your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten you renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all your righteousness, I beseech you, let your anger and your fury be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain: because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of your servant, and his supplications, and cause your face to shine upon your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. O my God, incline your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our supplications before you for our righteousnesses, but for your great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for your own sake, O my God: for your city and your people are called by your name. And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; Yes, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.

That is the time when prayer is always heard, when the lamb in offered, and his blood is sprinkled, and blessed be God, the sacrifice in which we trust has been offered once for all. The Christ, who has gone into Heaven as a lamb that had been slain, has, by his one offering, made perpetual oblation unto the Most High on our behalf. So pray when we will, we may expect an answer. See how quick it was in Daniel’s case: "Whiles I was speaking in prayer," the angel Gabriel, in the form of a man, appeared unto him, and brought him the answer to his petition.

Daniel 9:22-23. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give you skill and understanding. At the beginning of your supplications the commandant came forth, and I am come to show you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

And then he told him of the Messiah who was coming, of all that would happen to him, of the week of respite, and then of the final consummation when God would permit the foreign prince to come and destroy the city and the sanctuary, and to pour upon them the desolations which he had determined to inflict upon them.

 

Chapter 10

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 11

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 12

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

 

HOSEA

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Verses 5-23

 

In this chapter God compares Israel to a woman who had been unfaithful to her husband in the very worst and most wicked manner.

Hosea 2:5. For their mother has played the harlot: she that conceived them has done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

She attributed to false gods the gifts which God had given to her. This was great ingratitude to God, and a high insult to his holy majesty.

Hosea 2:6. Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

That is what God does to sinners whom he means to save. He will not let them take their own course. He gives them thorny trials which hedge up their way. He puts an obstacle in their path, perhaps some sickness or poverty. When men are desperate in wickedness, God has a way of stopping them. Even in their mad career, his mighty grace comes in, and says, "So far shall you go, but no further."

Hosea 2:7. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them:

Thus sinners go after the pleasures of the world, and the pleasures run away from them. They make one thing their God, and then another; and they put out all their strength to attain the object of their ambition; and God thwarts them. In infinite love, he baffles all their endeavors because he means to bring them to himself.

Hosea 2:7. Then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.

That is what he brings us to; weary of the world, ay, weary of life itself, We get worn out in the ways of evil, and then we say, "I will go to God." What a blessed conclusion to come to! However terrible the whip with which he scourges us, it does us good. The fierce billow that washes the mariner upon the rock of safety, is a blessing to him.

Hosea 2:8-9. For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.

God claims the blessings of providence as his own; and when he sees his people misuse them, he says, "I will recover them. She is giving them to Baal. She is using them for an evil purpose; I will take them away."

Hosea 2:10-11. And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

When God deals with men, he uses no half measures. If they have been very happy in the ways of sin, and he intends to save them from their evil courses; he will take away all their joy. They shall henceforth have none of the merriment in which they indulged. He will give them better happiness by-and-by; but for the time being it shall be true, "I will cause all her mirth to cease."

Hosea 2:12. And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she has said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

Her most precious things shall be destroyed; or, if they are allowed to exist, they shall become a cause of fear and trouble. Oh, how often have I seen this verified in the experience of men and women whom God has saved by his almighty grace!

Hosea 2:13. And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me, says the Lord.

They burnt no incense at Jerusalem; they refused to offer sacrifice there; but they went to this hill and to that, to worship the different images of Baal, and said, "These are our gods." Therefore, God says that he will make them sick of their idolatry. They shall grow tired of thus polluting his holy name, and degrading themselves by worshiping things made of wood and stone.

Hosea 2:14. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.

Oh, glorious verse! She that went so far astray, God will come, and draw her back from the path of sin. He will get her alone; he will bring her into a place of grief and sorrow, a wilderness; and then he will come near, and speak sweet words of comfort into her ear. "I will allure her," as the bird-catchers whistle to the birds, and draw them to the net, so will I allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, the place of loneliness, the place of want; and "I will speak to her heart," so the Hebrew has it, for God knows how to speak, not only into the ear, but into the heart.

Hosea 2:15. And I will give her her vineyards from thence,

He will give back what he took away. He will seal with loving-kindness the real kindness which made him deal roughly with her at first.

Hosea 2:15. And the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

Oh, backslider, God can give you, you back your early joy, your early love, ay, and your early purity; and he can make you, you sing as at the beginning! Wherefore, be of good comfort, and come to your Lord; come even now, with all your sins about you, you, and he will receive you, you.

Hosea 2:16. And it shall be at that day, says the Lord, that you shall call me Ishi; and shall call me no more Baali.

"Baali" means "my lord" in the sense of domination; but God will not seem to us any more like a domineering governor, as we once thought him; but we shall call him "Ishi", "my husband." There shall be such nearness of love, such confidence of hope, between the restored soul and her God, that she shall call him no more Baali, but Ishi.

Hosea 2:17. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

Oh, the love of God! He does not want us to recollect our old ways. I do not like to hear people talk about their old habits, except they do it very tenderly, with many a tear and many a sigh, and tell the story to the praise and glory of divine grace. God takes the old names out of our lips; we forget them, we have done with them, we bury the dead past, and we live in newness of life.

Hosea 2:18. And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of Heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground:

So that the insects should not devour the crops, and the foxes should not spoil the vines, and the birds should not steal the seeds, so will God take care of his people still. It does seem that, when we once get right with God, we get right with everything; when we are at peace with him, then neither beast, nor bird, nor creeping thing can do us harm.

Hosea 2:18. And I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

They had been much troubled by war. It had killed their children, destroyed their homes, and made them poor and wretched. Now God says, "I will break the bow and the sword and the battle." How often God gives a heavenly calm to us when we are once washed in the blood of Christ, and covered with his righteousness! I remember how the storm within my heart was hushed into a deep calm as soon as I had seen my Lord, and had yielded my heart to him. Oh, you, you that are in storms tonight, I pray that God may bring you, you to himself, and give you, you "peace, perfect peace!" And then what more will the Lord do?

Hosea 2:19. And I will betroth you unto me forever;

What, this woman that had gone so far into evil? Can a man receive such an one back? No; but God can. He says there shall be a new betrothal, a new marriage: "I will betroth you unto me forever." Blessed word!

Hosea 2:19-20. Yes, I will betroth you unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth you unto me in faithfulness: and you shall know the Lord.

You shall know Jehovah; you shall know that there is none like him, passing by iniquity, transgression, and sin; and faithful to his people even when they are unfaithful to him. Is there any God like our God? Have you, you ever tasted his grace? Do you, you know his pardoning love? Have you, you ever been brought back to him? Have you, you been restored to his favor? Then I am sure you, you can say, "There is none like unto Jehovah."

Hosea 2:21-22. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, says the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.

God would send rain when it was wanted. He would be all ear to hear on behalf of his people. He would not only hear them, but hear the very earth they tilled, and the heavens above their heads, as if nature itself began to pray when the child of God learned that holy are.

Hosea 2:23. And I will sow her unto me in the earth;

He would make the people to be like the seed which he himself would sow, and cause to spring up, and abide.

Hosea 2:23. And I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy;

I would like to read that again. Somebody has, perhaps, come in here tonight, who has never obtained mercy. Perhaps you, you have been seeking it, and you, you have not found it. Hear God’s promise, and lay hold upon it: "I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy."

Hosea 2:23. And I will say to them which were not my people, You are my people; and they shall say, You are my God.

See, it is all in "shalls" and "wills." God is speaking, God omnipotent, omnipotent over men’s hearts. He is not saying, "I will if they will," but "I will, and they shall," for he has the key of free agency; and when he turns it in the lock, without violating the free will of man, he makes him willing in the day of his power to the praise of his divine supremacy, for God is God when he saves as much as when he reigns; yes, his reigning grace is the very glory of his nature, and this we love and adore. Grant us a taste of it! Amen.

Verses 6-23

 

Hosea 2:6. Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

God will cause sin to be painful; he will make the way of it difficult; he will do everything to prevent the sinner running in it: "She shall not find her paths."

Hosea 2:7. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them;

They cannot find satisfaction in sinful pleasure; that which once they easily obtained, they shall no longer be able to procure.

Hosea 2:7. And she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.

Am I addressing a backslider? Has God hedged up your way? Is there a whisper in your heart which reminds you, you of better days and happier times? Oh, stifle not that whisper! Let it be heard within your spirit; if it be but a gentle voice, listen to it until it increases in force, and sounds like the very voice of God in your soul; it will be for your present and eternal good if you, you do so.

Hosea 2:8. For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.

It is a sad sin when we take God’s mercies, and use them in rebellion against him. Just think of it, — the very gifts which Jehovah gave to these people, they presented in sacrifice to Baal; and there are men, who are in comfortable circumstances, who spend their wealth for sin. They have health and strength, and they use them in the service of their own evil passions. The very gifts with which God has enriched them become weights to sink them deeper and deeper in the gulf of transgression. Ah, this is terrible! God has often brought men down to poverty, to sickness, to death’s door, in order that they might be weaned from their sin. He saw that they were going to Hell full-handed, and he judged it better that they should go to Heaven empty-handed. He knew that, if they had health, they would misuse it, so he stretched them on the bed of sickness, that they might turn to him. God has severe remedies for desperate cases; he will do all that mercy and wisdom can suggest to prevent men from being their own destroyers.

Hosea 2:9-11. Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness. And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

There is no more merriment now; the old songs have lost their sweetness, and the old games have lost their charm.

Hosea 2:12. And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she has said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

So that the joys of sin shall become miseries, as if vineyards were suddenly trained into dense forests wherein lions and wolves might make their lairs. There are some people who can understand this in a spiritual sense; some, perhaps, who have been made to realize it in their own experience.

Hosea 2:13. And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me, says the Lord.

It is terrible when God comes to visit upon men the days of their sin,-when for every night of sin they shall have a night of anguish. — when for every pleasure that they took in sin they shall feel the scourge of conscience until they have measured out the weary round. "She went after her lovers, and forgot me, says the Lord." This was said by him who never forgot her, by him whose love was true and faithful to her when she thus went away from him, and defiled herself and dishonored his holy name. Now read the next verse; and be astonished, —

Hosea 2:14. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.

You, you might have thought the Lord was going to say, "Therefore, behold, I will destroy her." Nothing of the kind: "l will fascinate her to myself; I will draw her away from all her idol lovers, and I will speak comfortably unto her."

Hosea 2:15. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

"I will pluck this Israel of mine out of all her sin; I will give her back the purity and the happiness of her early days: ‘She shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.’" You, you must have noticed how often God speaks of that coming out of Egypt. He says, in another place, "I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your espousals, when you went after me in the wilderness." Here the Lord promises to give back to Israel the joy she had when she was young, and espoused herself to her God.

Hosea 2:16. And it shall be at that day, says the Lord, that you shall call me Ishi; and shall call me no more Baali.

"You shall call me, My man, my husband," — a name of sweet endearment, "and shall call me no more Baali," that is, "my lord, my lordly husband," for the Lord’s love shall not be galling to you, but it shall sweetly and gently rule you. Oh, what a sweet change this is, when we no longer tremble before God with slavish fear, but love him with intense affection, and see in him our soul’s Husband in whom is all our delight!

Hosea 2:17. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

The word Baalim had been profaned, they had applied it to other lords; and when they used it concerning Jehovah, it sounded harsh, as if he, too, was a tyrant master.

Hosea 2:18. And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of Heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground:

Everything is in covenant with me if I am in covenant with God; there is nothing so high that it can hurt me, there is nothing so low that it can injure me, there is nothing so great that it need distress me, there is nothing so little that it shall torment me.

Hosea 2:18. And I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

Oh, the security of God’s people when they get into their right position towards God!

Hosea 2:19. And I will betroth you unto me forever; yes, I will betroth you unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies.

What a glorious promise is this! It is marvelous that our wayward, wanton, wicked souls should be brought back by infinite mercy, and then that God should be so enamored of us as to declare, "I will betroth you unto me forever."

Hosea 2:20. I will even betroth you unto me in faithfulness: and you shall know the Lord.

It is said three times that he will betroth us unto himself, as if the Lord knew that we should hardly be able to believe it.

Hosea 2:21-22. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, says the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil and they shall hear Jezreel.

So that there shall be no famine to try God’s people; their prayers shall be abundantly answered, and all their needs shall be supplied.

Hosea 2:23. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, You are my people; and they shall say, You are my God.

Oh, blessed Scripture! May the Lord write it on all our hearts! Amen.

Verse 14-15

 

You, you remember that, a two weeks ago, we read the second chapter of the prophecy of Hosea, and I preached from the fourteenth verse. I am going to continue that subject tonight, so we will read two verses of the same chapter over again. I am sure we shall never exhaust it, and you, you will not be weary of hearing it. We will begin with the text from which I then spoke to you, you.

Hosea 2:14-15. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

Now I want you, you to hear how she did sing in the days of her youth, in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. Turn to the fifteenth chapter of the Book of Exodus, where we have the joyful song of the emancipated chosen nation.

This exposition consisted of readings from Hosea 2:14-15; and Exodus 15:1-21.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 10

 

Verses 1-6

 

Hosea 10:1. Israel is an empty vine, he brings forth fruit unto himself:

Not to his God. It matters not how much fruit we bear — if it is for self, we are really fruitless. A thing which is good in itself may lose all its goodness because stained with a selfish motive. We are to live unto God; and we must always be watchful about this; otherwise we may be doing much, and doing nothing. "Israel is an empty vine. He brings forth fruit unto himself."

Hosea 10:1. According to the multitude of his fruit he has increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.

It is a very sad thing when, the more men received from God, the more they sin. But just in proportion as the land of Israel was fat and fertile, in that proportion did they set up altars unto false gods, and provoke the true God, who had given them these mercies. It is an ill thing when men grow rich, and offer sacrifice to their own vanity — when men gather learning, and only use it to debate with against the simple teachings of God — when just as God blesses, men cease to bless him!

Hosea 10:2. Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty:

A half-heart is no heart at all; and when men seem to go after God, and at the same time to go after their idols, they are not going after God. Their religion is vain. The good side is but a pretense; the evil side is the real thing.

Hosea 10:2. He shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.

Let us take heed then, dear friends, that we make nothing into an idol. The shortest way to lose the dearest object of your affections is to make an idol of him. "He shall break down their altars. He shall spoil their images." Sometimes this is done in great mercy to God’s people, for there is no greater evil than for a heart to be happy in idolatry. Sometimes it is done in judgment upon the ungodly. They will not have the true God, and the false God shall be false to them. "He shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images."

Hosea 10:3. For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord what then should a king do to us?

Their king was slain, but if he had lived, what would be the good of him without God? What is the good of any temporal blessing if God be not in it? It is the husk with the kernel gone; and if we are able to enjoy the husk, it looks as if we were swine, and swine are being fattened for the slaughter.

What is the use of anything that we possess to us if God be divorced from it? I put the question again. If you, you are a true child of God, all the corn and wine in the world cannot feed you, you. Your bread must come from Heaven.

Hosea 10:4. They have spoken words,

That which they spoke was not truth. We cannot speak without words, but it is an evil thing when our speech is nothing but words. Words, words, words! — no heart, no truth. "They have spoken words."

Hosea 10:4. Swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springs up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.

God keep us from untruthfulness, and especially from a want of truth towards himself. Do not you, you think that oftentimes, both in prayer and praise, it might be said, "They have spoken words — nothing more"? There has been a falsehood in the most solemn transaction towards God.

Woe unto you, you, dear friends, if that should turn out to be the case. You may cheat your fellow men if you have a heart for it, but you, you never will be able to cheat your God. He is not mocked. "They have spoken words," says he.

Hosea 10:5. The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven:

Why, those calves are their trust. They rely upon those images of false gods — those images which they set up in the place of the true God. Pretending thereby to worship him, they trusted in these; and now they shall become their fear. He who will have a confidence apart from God will find his confidence soured into a fear before long. Your greatest ground of distress will be that which was once the ground of your reliance apart from God.

Hosea 10:5-6. For the people thereof shall mourn over it. and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it. It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb:

The spiteful king.

Hosea 10:6. Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

These golden calves excited the desires of the king of Assyria, and he book them away. These gods were baits, to their enemies, instead of basis for their confidence. They were carried away captive of the people with them — their God captive — their God melted down to make images, or to make money for the king of Assyria! Ah! what shame did God pour upon idolaters! And what shame he will pour upon us if we have any confidence except the unseen God, and if we rely anywhere but upon the eternal covenant of his immutable grace. Oh! brothers and sisters, let us try to flee away from that which is so tempting to sense — confidence in an arm of flesh, and let our sole and alone trust be in him that made the heavens and the earth, and in his Son, Jesus Christ.

 

Chapter 11

 

Verses 1-12

 

Hosea 11:1. When Israel was a child,

When the nation was yet young, and had scarcely started on its march among the peoples of the earth: "When Israel was a child," —

Hosea 11:1. Then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

God’s love does not depend upon the standard of our spiritual attainments. While we are yet children in grace, the Father’s love is set upon us, as it was upon Israel in its beginnings as a nation.

Hosea 11:2. As they called them, so they went from them;

Such was the perversity of this child-nation, whom nevertheless God loved that though galled by Jehovah, he went away, and refused to obey the divine call. The Israelites in Egypt "hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage;" and, even after their great deliverance, they were constantly turning aside from the path pointed out by Moses, who bade them be faithful to their God.

Hosea 11:2. They sacrificed unto Baalim, —

They offered sacrifice to many Baals, first to one and then to another, for men will readily change their idols when they know not the true God.

Hosea 11:2-3. And burned incense to graven images. I taught Ephraim also to go, —

This child-nation was taught by God how to walk; —

Hosea 11:3. Taking them by their arms;

As nurses hold up their little children when for the first time they try to stand or toddle along.

Hosea 11:3. But they knew not that I healed them.

This was a singular thing, and it shows the great blindness of man, that he does not know his own Physician. It was so with Israel: "They knew not that I healed them." Surely, brethren, it seems impossible that we should not know our Divine Healer; yet our blindness is extreme by nature, and leads to many a folly.

Hosea 11:4. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.

As men do to their cattle when they have been ploughing, and they come to the end of the day’s work, then the bit is removed, or the yoke is lifted off the shoulder, and fit fodder is provided for the cattle that they may be refreshed. This is what God did to his people Israel; he brought them out of Egypt, where they had to perform hard tasks, caused them to rest from their labors, and gave them both material and spiritual meat to eat; yet nevertheless they were ungrateful to him. We say that ingratitude is the worst of sins; but, alas, it is one of the commonest of evils, and we ourselves are ingrates to our God.

Hosea 11:5. He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.

If we try to escape from our trouble without hearing the voice of God in it we shall run into another; if, by our own plotting and scheming, we escape from Egypt, then the Assyrian shall be our king, and there is small choice between Assyria and Egypt. It is always best to take with submission the sorrow that God appoints, lest, by fleeing from the bear the serpent bite us, and so we go from bad to worse.

Hosea 11:6. And the word shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.

That is a very striking expression, "Because of their own counsels." It should be a solemn warning to us not to follow the devices of our own heart when we see the consequences of Israel’s walking after his own way.

Hosea 11:7. And my people are bent to backsliding from me:

They seemed as if they must do it, as if their hearts were set upon it; they were "bent" upon it. Oh, that our bent and bias were towards holiness, and not towards backsliding!

Hosea 11:7. Though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.

See how Israel puts God away, and will not hear Jehovah’s voice. Now observe the change in the chapter, for God speaks of his faithfulness even to backsliding Israel. He does not give his people up, and he still yearns over them in tenderest pity and forbearance.

Hosea 11:8. How shall I give you up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver you, Israel? how shall I make you as Admah? how shall I set you as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.

And this divine turning and repenting, remember, were toward a people who did not turn to the Lord. God turned towards a people that would not turn towards him, and his repentings were "kindled together" towards the nation that would not repent. Oh, the unspeakable, the unthinkable grace of God! He does for us "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think."

Hosea 11:9. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man;

Our hope lies in the fact that God is God. Sometimes, that truth is a terror to men; they are distressed at the thought of the great and holy God, yet in this truth is their only hope of salvation. The Lord says, "I will not return to destroy Ephraim, for I am God, and not man."

Hosea 11:9. The Holy One in the midst of you: and I will not enter into the city.

That is, the Lord says, "I will not come into it to see all its iniquities, lest in my wrath I smite and destroy it." How tenderly does God bear with wicked men! How great is his long-suffering! How graciously he seems to close his eyes, as if he would not see that which must bring upon us swift destruction if he looked upon it in his righteous anger!

Hosea 11:10. They shall walk after the Lord:

It is a great blessing when men begin to seek the Lord whom they formerly shunned. This proves that there has been wrought in them a complete change of heart.

Hosea 11:10. He shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.

God’s terrible voice often makes men tremble, and that is one proof of the working of his grace in their hearts, for they tremble before him, and flee unto him.

Hosea 11:11-12. They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, says the Lord. Ephraim compasses me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet rules with God, and is faithful with the saints.

There are still some left to serve Jehovah; there is a remnant according to the election of grace even in the very worst of times. "Judah yet rules with God, and is faithful with the saints." May we be found among the faithful few! Amen.

 

Chapter 12

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 13

 

Verses 1-9

 

Hosea was full of complaints against the people of God; for, in his day, they had very sadly wandered from the Lord. They had even forgotten him. In Hosea’s prophecy, we have the plaintive voice of a loving God chiding his backsliding children.

Hosea 13:1. When Ephraim spoke trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.

A modest, humble, trembling heart is often by far the sounder heart, but when we begin to sin, and to sin boastfully, and to wrap ourselves about with the robe of self-delight, then is death very near to us: "When Ephraim spoke trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died."

Hosea 13:2. And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the word of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.

When Jeroboam became king of the new kingdom of Israel, — in order to prevent his subjects from going to Jerusalem to worship God in Solomon’s temple, — he started two shrines at Dan and Bethel, and there he set up what Holy Scripture calls in derision "calves." I suppose that his idea was to make images of a bull, the emblem of power, intending them to be the symbol of the Divine Being, and that the people intended still to worship God, but to worship him under the image of a bull. It is the same in Roman Catholicism to this day, — the worship of God, the worship of Christ, by means of crucifixes, and emblems and symbols of various kinds. But when men once begin that kind of idolatry, there is no knowing where they will stop; for the worship of God, through the medium of symbol, soon grows into the worship of other gods saints and saintesses, "blessed virgins" and I know not what besides, are pretty sure to be set up when once people begin to make use of outward and visible emblems of the Deity. So it was with these ancient Israelites. From worshiping the bull, which was meant to be a type of the omnipotent God, they went on to the worshiping of "molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding." Brethren, let us take warning from these idolaters, and always keep to the simplicity of worship ordained by God in his Word. However lovely and beautiful, or grand and imposing, and, consequently, fascinating, any form of idolatry may be to some minds, let us utterly despise it if it is not according to the mind of God, and the teaching of his spirit, as revealed in his Word.

Hosea 13:3. Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passes away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.

Those who will have gods of their own making shall have but a brief enjoyment of them. He who truly worships the everlasting God shall have an everlasting blessing; but he who worships gods that he has himself made, — mere objects of this mortal day, shall have but a short day of it. He shall be as the early dew, which glistens brightly, but is soon gone; or as the morning cloud, which is banished by the rising of the sun.

Hosea 13:4-5. Yet I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but me: for there is no Savior beside me. I did know you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

The Israelites drew near to God when they wanted bread and water in the wilderness. God says, "I did know you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought;" and the Lord might say to his people nowadays, "I did know you, you when you, you were very sick, when you, you were very poor, when you, you were in great trouble. You, you sought me then; how is it that you, you are trying to do without me now?"

Hosea 13:6-8. According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me. Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them: I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.

When men forget God, they may expect that they will meet with some terrible judgments; and God’s own people especially will find this to be the case with them if they forget the Lord. Our God is a very jealous God; and when his children will set their hearts on other objects instead of upon himself, he will take care to embitter those objects of their affection to them. He will make their idols to be loathed by them. If God did not love us very much, he would think little of our faults, but just because he loves us so much, he cannot bear that any part of our heart’s affection should go away from himself. So, if he sees that we deal unfaithfully with him, he will make us realize that sin is an exceedingly evil and bitter thing. His anger against us will be like that of a bear that is robbed of her whelps, or of a lion or leopard leaping upon his prey.

Hosea 13:9. Israel, you have destroyed yourself; but in me is your help.

"You, you have gone away from me, but I will bring you, you back again. You, you have destroyed yourself by your sin, but I will restore you, you to my favor by my grace. You, you may look within yourself for causes of repentance, but you, you must not look to yourself for the means of restoration; you, you must look to me, your Savior and your God." So this verse teaches us "O Israel, you have destroyed yourself; but in me is your help."

Verses 1-14

 

Hosea 13:1. When Ephraim spoke trembling, he exalted himself in Israel;

When we are little in our own esteem, when we are full of fears concerning ourselves, when we dare not think of boasting, then it is that we grow:

"When Ephraim spoke trembling, he exalted himself in Israel."

Hosea 13:1. But when he offended in Baal, he died.

It is when, like Ephraim, we turn aside to other gods, when our heart goes astray from the Lord, that there is death-death to our joys, death to our confidence, death to our usefulness. No one knows what destruction there is, even in the least sin, to the most joyful believer. It is like the hot breath of the Sirocco, which scorches up every green thing. If, before this terrible blast, everything is like Eden, behind it all is as a desert. Let us read the whole verse again that we may lay to heart the lesson it teaches us; "When Ephraim spoke trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died."

Hosea 13:2. And now they sin more and more,

That is the usual way of sin; it is a growing evil; its course is downhill.

Hosea 13:2. And have made there molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.

Their idolatry was such that they were not satisfied with the bulls that were set on high as images, but they had little imitations of these, which they wore upon their persons, just as Romanists wear small crucifixes or crosses. These they carried about with them for their own private worship. Oh, what a tendency there is in sin to multiply itself. The idolaters were not satisfied with bowing the knee to false gods, but they said, "Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves." Superstition goes from one evil to another, there is no end to it. You, you may begin with what you, you call moderate Ritualism, but where you, you will end I cannot tell. Some go beyond the superstitions of popery itself. The only safe way is to worship the Lord our God, and serve him alone, and purge out the idols from among us.

Hosea 13:3. Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passes away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.

If they make idols their gods, they shall be like their idols. Idols are but for a day; what is there in them of endurance? What is there in them of power? "They that make them are like unto them, so is every one that trusts in them." If we trust in anything that we can see, if we trust in anything but God, then our hope shall be "as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passes away," and we ourselves shall be like the chaff that is driven from the threshing-floor by a whirlwind, or like the smoke driven out of the chimney by the blast.

Hosea 13:4. Yet I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but me: for there is no Savior beside me.

Now here is the wickedness of idolatry, that we have so good a God, and yet must needs look after another. Here is the sin of trusting to an arm of flesh, that we have an almighty arm to lean upon, and instead of doing so we begin to look to a poor arm that has not strength enough to support itself, much less to support us. Are any of you, you children of God forgetting your God? Is your faith turning away from the great invisible, and the sure promises of his Word? Are you, you looking to the creature? Beware of it, I pray you, you; whenever you, you do that, you, you are making a rod for your own back.

If you, you forsake the Lord, to whom will you, you go?

Hosea 13:5. I did know you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

Look back upon days of your trouble, when God was very near to you, you; do you, you not remember when he was everything to you, you? When you, you were poor, when you, you were sick, when you, you were despised, God did know you, you then; yet now you, you sing,-

"What peaceful hours I once enjoyed,

How sweet their memory still!."

Hosea 13:6. According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.

What a terrible verse this is! After they had been filled, they turned away from the God that filled them. When they were poor and despised, then he was all to them; but afterwards, when by his providence they grew rich and increased in goods, then they forgot their God. I have often seen it thus; it is a grievous evil under the sun. I have seen the man rejoicing in God, earnest and devout while he has been afflicted and poor. God has prospered him, and then he has turned his back upon sacred things, and made the world his joy. Is not this a horrible sin, a gross evil? I well remember one, who used to steal into this house on Thursday nights, glad to escape a while from the persecution in his own home. He had a hard time of it to be a Christian at all; but he came to be the possessor of his father’s estates, and he has now no care for these things. He is a fashionable gentleman now, he who once was glad enough to mix with even the poorest of God’s people, and to find comfort among them. It is a sad thing when it is so, and when the Lord has to say to any, "I did know you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. They were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me."

Hosea 13:7-8. Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them: I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.

For God is jealous, and most jealous of those whom he loves best. He cannot endure that we should treat him thus; he means to have our love by some means, and if he cannot have it by gentleness, he will have it by sterner methods. If the Lord has chosen you, you, he will sooner be to you, you as a leopard and a lion than he will suffer you, you to live without him. You, you must, you, you shall find your all in him.

Hosea 13:9-10. O Israel, you have destroyed yourself; but in me your help. I will be your king:

If you have shifted me from the throne, and set up a usurper, I will come and be your King even now.

Hosea 13:10. Where is any other that may save you in all your cities?

To whom else can you look? Where else can you find peace?

Hosea 13:10. And your judges of whom you said, Give me a king and princes?

What is the good of them? Have they not all turned out to be a delusion?

Hosea 13:11-12. I gave you a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.

How sadly true this is! Sin seems to be bound up in our very nature. It is hard to find it; it is hidden away; and when we discover some of it, and it is purged away, there is still more to be found. As hidden treasure may lie in a house for many a day, and not be seen, so are there stores of corruption that seem hidden away in our nature, and are not easily discovered. What a gracious God we have to deal with, or else he would have swept us away long ago!

Hosea 13:13-14. The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children. I will ransom them from the power of the grave;

Oh, what great promises we get driven, like piles, into the marshes of our sin, to make a foundation for God’s grace! Here, when the Lord says that we have destroyed ourselves, and he notes all the blackness of our depravity, then he comes in with this gracious word, "I will ransom them from the power of the grave." You, you who believe in Jesus shall not die; nay, not even the deadly force of sin shall hold you, you in your grave. There is a resurrection for the dead. There is a spiritual resurrection for you, you, believers. When you, you mourn your death, and cry, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" the Lord will answer you, you, "I will ransom you, you from the power of the grave."

Hosea 13:14. I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be your plagues; O grave, I will be your destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

Lord, work this quickening in your people tonight, and let us live in the fullness of your divine love, and so anticipate the day when our bodies also shall be raised by your glorious power!

 

Chapter 14

 

Verses 1-9

 

Hosea 14:1. O Israel, return unto the Lord your God; for you have fallen by your iniquity.

When we fall by sin, we must regain our comfort by going back to the place where we lost it: "Return unto the Lord your God; for you have fallen by your iniquity." Then, to help us return, God, through his servant, actually makes a prayer for us.

Hosea 14:2. Take with you, you words, and turn to the Lord:

"What words am I to take?" asks the poor convinced sinner. "I cannot put words together." Here are the words put into your mouth: —

Hosea 14:2. Say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.

Come with humble confession, come with sincere repentance, come with earnest supplication, come trusting to the grace of God, come bringing your heart with you, you, and rendering it to God as a living sacrifice.

Hosea 14:3. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, You are our gods: for in you the fatherless finds mercy.

If you, you come to God to be saved, you, you must bring no other Savior with you, you. What an encouragement is given to us to come to God! He calls himself the Father of the fatherless. O you, whose soul is orphaned, you who are left disconsolate in a world of grief, come you to him in whom the fatherless find mercy, for so shall you find mercy!

Hosea 14:4-5. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel:

"Swiftly and mysteriously will I come and refresh him."

Hosea 14:5. He shall grow as the lily,

Quickly, beautifully, —

Hosea 14:5. And cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

He shall be as permanent as he is fair, like a cedar as well as like a lily.

Hosea 14:6. His branches shall spread,

The dew of the Lord imparts influence to men; it gives them, as it were branches, with which they cast a wide shadow.

Hosea 14:6. And his beauty shall be as the olive tree,

The beauty of fruitfulness. God grant all of us this beauty!

Hosea 14:6. And his smell as Lebanon.

Oh, to stand in holy repute among men, so that there is a fragrance going forth from us, like the sweet odors from the wild thyme and other products of Mount Lebanon!

Hosea 14:7. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

When God blesses men, he also blesses those round about them. Your children, your servants, your neighbors, shall all be the better if the grace of God comes to you, you. So may it be!

Hosea 14:8-9. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is your fruit found. Who is wise? and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 34; and Hosea 14.

 

 

AMOS

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 5

 

Verses 4-27

 

Amos 5:4. For thus says the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek you me, and you shall live:

And that it just the message of God to professing Christians now: "Seek you me." Get away from your mere ceremonies, from trusting in your outward performances, and get to God himself. Get beyond your fellow-worshipers and your ministers, beyond your sanctuaries and your supposed holy places, and get in spirit and in truth to God himself: "Seek you me, and you shall live."

Amos 5:5. But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal and pass not to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nothing.

These were the places where the calves and other idols were set up for the worship of God by means of visible symbols. That was the Romanism of that day. Pure spiritual worship was ordained by God, but that was not enough for the idolatrous Israelites. They must needs set up the image of an ox, the emblem of power, — not that they would worship the ox, they said, but that they might worship the God of power through that symbol. And that is the plea of Papists today: — "We do not worship that cross; we do not worship that image; but these things help us. They are emblems." But they are absolutely forbidden by God: "You shall not make unto you any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them." The first commandment forbids us to have any other God than Jehovah; the second forbids us to worship him through any emblem or symbol whatever.

Amos 5:6-7. Seek the Lord, and you shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el. You who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,

Here you, you have another great truth, — that, in order to seek God aright, we must turn away from sin. All the ritualism in the world will not save us, or be acceptable to God; there must be purity of life, and holiness of character; justice must be done between man and man, and we must seek to be right before the righteous and holy God.

Amos 5:8. Seek him that makes the seven stars and Orion, —

The Creator of the spring-bringing Pleiades, and of the winter-bringing Orion, —

Amos 5:8-9. And turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name: that strengthens the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

The God of the weak, the Defender of the oppressed. You that oppress the poor, and tread down the people, seek you him, and wash your hands from the stains of your past injustice.

Amos 5:10. They hate him that rebukes in the gate, and they abhor him that speaks uprightly.

There is still a generation that cannot bear to be told of its faults, and that shows its venom against everything that is right.

Amos 5:11. Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and you take from him burdens of wheat: you have built houses of hewn stone but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink wine of them.

God has often shown how he can overthrow those who oppress the poor.

Amos 5:12-17. For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time. Seek good, and not evil, that you may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, you, as you have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord says thus, Wailing shall be in all streets, and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the gardener to mourning, and such as are skillful of lamentation to wailing. And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through you, says the Lord.

National sins bring down national judgments; and when God grows angry against the people, he makes the places of their feasting, the vineyards where grow their choicest vines, to become the places of their sorrow, so that wailing and distress are heard on all sides. Oh, that nations knew the day of their visitation, and would do justly! Then would such judgments be averted.

Amos 5:18. Woe unto you, you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you, you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.

"The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light," for such as you, you, impenitent, unjust, graceless sinners. "The day of the Lord" will not bring blessings to you, you; but it will be —

Amos 5:19. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

From bad to worse do they go who think to escape from present misery by plunging into the presence of God. The suicide is, of all fools, the greatest, for he goes before God with his own indictments, nay, with his own sentence in his hand. He needs no trial; he has condemned himself.

Amos 5:20-22. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

See how God speaks about public worship and formal sacrifices when the heart is not right with him. When the moral conduct of the offerer is wrong, the Lord will not accept his offering.

Amos 5:23-24. Take you away from me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

This is what God asks for, — righteousness, not sweet music. Have they not, at this very day, turned what were once houses of prayer into music-halls, set up their idols in our parish churches, and adorned their priests with every kind of Babylonian garment which they could find at Rome, the mystical Babylon? Are they not turning this nation back again to that accursed Popery, the yoke of which our fathers could not bear? Therefore, the Lord is wroth with this land; there are storm-clouds gathering over it, because it is not sufficiently stirred with indignation against those idolatrous men who are again seeking to come to the front among us.

Amos 5:25. Have you offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

"Did you, you worship me? Did you, you offer sacrifices to me?" "No," said God, "you did not."

Amos 5:26-27. But you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your God, which you made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you, you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts.

Oh, for pure worship! Oh, for pure living! Oh, for hearts that spiritually worship the Lord, for Jesus said, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him." "But unto the wicked God says, What have you to do to declare my statutes, or that you should take my covenant in your mouth?"

 

Chapter 6

 

Verses 1-8

 

Amos was a herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. His words are rugged, but sometimes he rises to sublimity. His expressions are somewhat dark, and not readily to be understood; but when we learn the meaning of them, we perceive that they are full of deep, earnest, solemn warning and instruction.

Amos 6:1. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

It was a time of great sin, and also of great judgment, yet there were some in Zion who were quite at ease under all that was happening. No sense of sin grieved them, no thought of coming judgment alarmed them. What did they care if the nation went to rack and ruin? What did it signify to them that God was angry with his people? They were atheists; or, at least, they acted as if they were. Whatever might happen, they would run the risk of it. "Woe," says God, to all such people as these; and when the Lord says "Woe" to anyone, it is indeed woe, for he never speaks thus without cause.

Amos 6:2. Pass you unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go you to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border?

The Lord points to other cities which had been destroyed, — to Calneh, and Hamath, and Gath, which he had smitten because of the sin of the people who had lived there; and he says, "You that dwell at Jerusalem, and you that live at Samaria, do not imagine that you will escape the consequences of your sin. I was able to reach the inhabitants of these proud cities, despite their strong fortifications and their powerful armies; and I can reach you, you also." So, when we look back upon the judgments of God upon guilty men, we may conclude that no sinner has any right to think that he shall escape. The proudest and mightiest have been brought down by God and so will men, who dare to resist the Most High. Continue to be humble, even to the world’s end.

Amos 6:3. You that put far away the evil day, —

You who say, "There is time enough yet. Let us see a little more of life; why need we be in a hurry to seek salvation?" "You that put far away the evil day," —

Amos 6:3. And cause the seat of violence to come near;

For, when men try to postpone thoughts about "the judgment" which is to follow "after death," they are generally the more eager to indulge in sin. They say, "There is time enough yet," because they want a longer period to get greater indulgence in sinful ways. The Lord says "Woe" to all such people as these.

Amos 6:4. That lie upon beds of ivory,

They were men of wealth, who spent their money upon all manner of luxuries while the poor of the land were perishing through want.

Amos 6:4. And stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;

It was, as I have said, a time of danger, when war was at the gates; but the people were so careless that they lived as if peace were established forever, and the enemy could never touch them. Their expenditure was at a high rate for self-indulgence, and for that only.

Amos 6:5. That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instrument of music, like David;

But not for the same purpose as David played and sang; his instruments of music were used for spiritual solace and the worship of God; but these people set their wits to work to find out how their music might inflame their lusts, and be a vehicle for the expression of their lascivious desires.

Amos 6:6. That drink wine in bowls,

For seldom can a careless man crown the edifice of his sin without indulging in drunkenness; he must have the sensual delight that he finds in "the flowing bowl."

Amos 6:6. And anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

It is not wrong for a person, to whom God has given much of the good things of this life, to enjoy them fitly and reasonably. The sin of these people consisted in the fact that, when others were afflicted, they took that opportunity to indulge themselves in all the delights of the flesh; and when God’s rod was being used for chastisement, they went on with their sinful mirth to show how little they cared about it. Probably I am addressing some who have, at this very moment, a sore sickness in the house; or it may be that a beloved wife is scarcely cold in her grave, or a dear child has only just sobbed itself into its death-sleep; yet the survivors are running after amusements, and pleasures, and follies, more wildly than ever, as if to hush the voice of conscience, and to forget the strokes of God’s rod. Oh, that this very solemn chapter might convey a warning message to them!

Amos 6:7. Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.

Whenever God does come forth to execute judgment upon the ungodly, he will first pick out those who have defied him the most. Those who have the proudest spirit and the hardest heart shall be the first to feel the strokes of his rod.

Amos 6:8. The Lord GOD has sworn by himself, says the Lord the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.

The next chapter shows that, even when God was very angry with the wicked, there was still wonderful power in prayer.

This exposition consisted of readings from Amos 6:1-8; Amos 7:1-6.

 

Chapter 7

 

Verses 1-6

 

Amos 7:1-3. Thus has the Lord God showed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech you: by whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small. The Lord repented for this: it shall not be, says the Lord.

In a vision, the prophet saw the locusts or grasshoppers come to devour all the green things of the land, — a very terrible visitation. If you, you have never seen it, you, you cannot realize how utterly bare everything is made after the visit of the locusts. The prophet put up a vehement and earnest prayer; he cried, "O Lord God, forgive" and, no sooner was the intercession offered than the Lord said, "It shall not be." Thus the impending judgment was turned away.

Amos 7:4-6. Thus has the Lord God showed unto me: and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech you: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. The Lord repented for this: This also shall not be, says the Lord God.

This time, the prophet saw the fire devouring the land, — perhaps the fire of war, which casts its blazing brand upon peaceful dwellings. This fire, however, was something worse than that, for the very deep itself seemed to be licked up by tongues of flame; and the prophet, in hearty sympathy with the afflicted people, cried again as he had done before, and the answer came "This also shall not be, says the Lord God." This ought to encourage you, you who are the King’s remembrances to make use of the position in which his grace has placed you, you, and to cry earnestly to him to turn away his wrathful hand, and have pity upon sinners. God grant that many of us may have such an intercessory spirit as that of Amos the herdsman-prophet!

This exposition consisted of readings from Amos 6:1-8; Amos 7:1-6.

 

Chapter 8

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 9

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

 

JONAH

 

Chapter 1

 

Verses 1-17

 

Jonah 1:1-3. Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

Observe the misconduct of the prophet Jonah. He had a plain command from the Lord, and he knew it to be a command; but he felt that the commission given to him would not be pleasant and honoring to himself, and therefore he declined to comply with it. We see, from his action, how some, who really know God, may act as if they knew him not. Jonah knew that God was everywhere, yet he "rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord." What strange inconsistencies there often are even in good men! Here is one, who is favored with a divine commission, — one who knows God, and fears him; yet, for all that, he ventures on the fool’s errand of endeavoring to escape from the Omnipresent. He "went down to Joppa," which was the port of his country, "and he found a ship going to Tarshish." Learn from this that providence alone is not a sufficient guide for our actions. He may have said, "It was very singular that there was a ship there going to Tarshish, just when I reached the port. I gather from this that God was not so very disinclined for me to go to Tarshish." Precepts, not providences, are to guide believers; and when Christian men quote a providence against a precept, — which is to set God against God, — they act most strangely. There are devil’s providences as well as divine providences, and there are tempting providences as well as assisting providences, so learn to judge between the one and the other.

Jonah 1:4. But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

Learn, hence, that "Omnipotence has servants everywhere." The Lord is never short of sheriff’s officers to arrest his fugitives, and on that occasion he "sent out a great wind into the sea." "The wind blows where it wills." That is true, but it is also true that the wind blows where God wills, and he knew how to send that great wind to the particular ship. No doubt many ships were on the Mediterranean at that time; but, possibly, unto none of them was the storm sent save unto the one which carried Jonah son of Amittai. We say, "Every bullet has its billet," and this great wind was sent to pursue the fugitive prophet.

Jonah 1:5. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his God, —

If there is ever a special time for prayer, it is a time of need. Nature seems then to compel men to utter prayer of such a sort as it is, for it is but nature’s prayer at the best: "The mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his God," —

Jonah 1:5. And cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them.

Life is precious, and a man will give up everything else in order to save it.

Satan spoke the truth when he said, "Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has, will he give for his life." From the action of these mariners, we may learn that sometimes we may lighten our ship for the safety of our souls. When we have less to carry, probably we shall sail more safely. Losses and crosses may turn out to be our greatest gains. Let the ill-gotten ingots go to the bottom of the sea; and lo, the ship rights herself at once!

Jonah 1:5. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

The greatest sinner on that ship appeared to be the least concerned about the storm which had come because of him, he did not even seem to know that there was a storm, for he had "gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep."

Jonah 1:6. So the ship-master came to him, and said unto him, What meanest you, O sleeper? arise, call upon your God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

It is hard when sinners have to rebuke saints, and when an uncircumcised Gentile can address a prophet of God in language like this.

Jonah 1:7. And they said every one to his fellow, Come and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

We commend not the action of these men in casting lots, but we admire the providence by which is the lot fell upon Jonah. Solomon says, "The lot is cast into the lap," but he did not say that it was right that lots should be cast into the lap; and he very properly added, "but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord."

Jonah 1:8. Then they said unto him, Tell us, we pray you, for whose cause this evil is upon us, What is your occupation? and whence come you? what is your country? and of what people are you?

I do not know whether these men had traded with those who then lived in these islands, but they had a very English custom of not judging a man before they had heard him speak. It would be well if we all practiced it more, — so that, before we condemn men, we were willing to hear their side of the question. Considering that there was such a storm raging, the questions put to Jonah were remarkably calm. They were very comprehensive, and went to the very root of the matter.

Jonah 1:9. And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew:

That let them know whence he came, and what his country was.

Jonah 1:9. And I fear the Lord, the God of Heaven, which has made the sea and the dry land.

That, I suppose, must be regarded as his occupation; and what a blessed occupation it is, — to be occupied with the fear of the Lord! So, you, you see that, though Jonah was not properly following his occupation while he was on board that ship, yet he did not hesitate to avow, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of Heaven, which has made the sea and the dry land." The child of God, even when he gets where he ought not to be, if you, you test him and try him, will stand to his colors. He will confess that he is, after all, a servant of the living God.

Jonah 1:10. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why have you done this?

Jonah had to go through this catechism, question after question, and this was the hardest of them all: "Why have you done this?" Could you, you, dear friend, submit every action of your life to this test? "Why have you done this?" I am afraid that there are some actions, which we have performed, for which we could not give a reason, or the reasons for which we should not like to give to our fellow men, much less to our God.

Jonah 1:10-11. For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto you, that the sea may be calm unto us?

Here is another question; the catechism is not yet finished, and this is one of the most difficult of all.

Jonah 1:11-12. For the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you, you:

Notwithstanding all his faults, Jonah was an eminent type of Christ. We know that from our Lord’s own words, for he was as long in the belly of the whale as Christ was in the heart of the earth. Here he seems to be a type of our Savior: "Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea: so shall the sea be calm unto you, you:"

Jonah 1:12-13. For I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you, you. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land;

They showed a deal of good feeling in all their treatment of Jonah. They could not bear to take away a fellow-creature’s life, so they pulled and tugged in order to get the ship to land.

Jonah 1:13. But they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.

Their safety lay in the sacrifice, — not in the labor. They rowed hard to bring the ship to land, but their efforts were of no avail. If they would cast Jonah overboard, then they would be safe.

Jonah 1:14-15. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech you, O Lord, we beseech you, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you. So they took up Jonah, —

Put the emphasis on the first word, "So they took up Jonah"; that is, with great reluctance, with much pity and sorrow, not daring to do such a deed as that wantonly and with a light heart. When men do deeds like this, on a far greater scale, and go to war with a light heart, they will have a heavy heart before long. If ever you, you have to cast a brother out of the Church, —if ever you, you have to relinquish the friendship of any man, — do it as these men did with Jonah, patiently, and carefully. Investigate the matter, and do not act until you, you are driven to it after consulting the Lord.

Jonah 1:15-16. And cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.

Jonah had been the means of causing a greater change than he expected. His conduct and punishment had been a warning to those thoughtless sailors. They could not but believe in the God who had thus followed up his fugitive servant.

Jonah 1:17. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.

He prepared a storm, he prepared a fish and we afterwards read that he prepared a gourd, and he prepared a worm. In the great things of life, and in the little things, God is ever present. The swimming of a great fish in the sea is, surely, not a thing that is subject to law. If ever there is free agency in this world, it must certainly be in the wanderings of such a huge creature that follows its own instincts, and ploughs its way through the great wastes of the wide and open sea. Yes, that is true; yet there is a divine predestination concerning all its movements. Over every motion of the fin of every minnow predestination presides. There is no distinction of little or great in God’s sight, he who wings an angel guides a sparrow. "The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah."

Jonah 1:17. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

So round about the truant prophet was the preventing grace of Jehovah.

Chapter 2

 

Verses 1-10

 

Jonah 2:1. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly.

What a strange place for prayer! Surely then is the only prayer that ever went up to God out of a fish’s belly. Jonah found himself alive;-that was the surprising thing, that he was alive in the belly of a fish;-and because he was alive, he began to pray. It is such a wonder that some people here should continue to live that they ought to begin to pray. If you, you live with death so near, and in so great peril, and yet you, you do not pray, what is to become of you, you? This prayer of Jonah is very remarkable because it is not a prayer at all in the sense in which we usually apply the word to petition and supplication. If you, you read the prayer through, you, you will see that it is almost all thanksgiving; and the best prayer in all the world is a prayer that is full of thankfulness. We praise the Lord for what he has done for us, and thus we do, in effect, ask him to perfect the work which he has begun. He has delivered us, so we bless his holy name, and by implication we beseech him still to deliver us. Notice that it says here, "Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God." He was a runaway; he had tried to escape from the presence of God; yet the Lord was still his God. God will not lose any of his people, even if, like Jonah, they are in the belly of a fish, Jehovah is still their God: "Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly," —

Jonah 2:2. And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me;-

You, you see that this is not praying, it is telling the Lord what he had done for his disobedient servant. Jonah had prayed, and the Lord had heard him, yet he was still in the fish’s belly. Unbelief would have said, "You, you have lived so long; Jonah; but you, you cannot expect to live to get out of this dreary, damp, fetid prison." Ah, but faith is out of prison even while she is in it. Faith begins to tell what God has done before the great work is actually accomplished; so Jonah said, "I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me;" —

Jonah 2:2. Out of the belly of Hell cried I, and you heard my voice.

He was like a man in the unseen world among the dead. He felt that he was condemned and cast away; yet God had heard him, and now he sings about it in the belly of the fish. No other fish that ever lived had a live man inside him singing praises unto God.

Jonah 2:3. For you had cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas;

The word Jonah used implies that God had violently cast him away into the deep. "Cast me not off," prayed David, but here is a man who says that God did cast him out like a thing flung overboard into the vast deep: "You had cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas;" —

Jonah 2:3. And the floods compassed me about:

"They rolled all over me, beneath me, above me, around me; ‘The floods compassed me about:’" —

Jonah 2:3. All your billows and your waves passed over me.

Jonah had evidently read his Bible; at least, he had read the 42nd Psalm, for he quotes it here. It is a blessed thing to have the Bible in your mind and heart so that, wherever you, you may be, you, you do not need to turn to the Book because you, you have the Book inside you, you. Here is a man inside a fish with a Book inside of him; and it was the Book inside of him that brought him out from the fish again.

Jonah 2:4. Then I said, I am cast out of your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.

What grand faith Job displayed when he said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him;" and here is another splendid manifestation of faith, "’I said, I am cast out of your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ If God does not look at me, I will still look towards the place where he dwells. As I am being flung away from him, I will give one more look towards his holy temple."

Jonah 2:5. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul:-

They seemed to get right into his spirit; his heart became waterlogged: "The waters compassed me about, even to the soul:" —

Jonah 2:5. The depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

Like his winding-sheet,-as if the cerements of the grave were wrapped about his mouth, and ears, and eyes, and he was consigned to a living tomb. This narrative is a graphic description of the natural motion of the great fish which had swallowed Jonah. When the fish found this strange being inside him, the first thing that he did was to plunge as deep as ever he could into the waters. You, you will see that Jonah did go down very deep indeed. The next thing was for the fish to make for the weeds; as certain creatures eat weeds to cure them when they feel very ill, this fish went of to the weedy places to see if he could get a cure for this new complaint of a man inside him.

Jonah 2:6. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains;-

To the very roots and foundations of the mountains, where the big jagged rocks made huge buttresses for the hills above: "I went down to the bottom of the mountains;" —

Jonah 2:6. The earth with her bars was about me forever:

Down went the fish, as deep as he could go: and, of course, down went Jonah too, and he might well imagine that he was in a vast prison from which there was no way of escape,

Jonah 2:6. Yet have you brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.

And, dear friend, God can bring you, you up, however low you, you may have gone. Though, in your own feelings, you, you feel as if you, you had gone so low that you, you could not go any lower, God can, in answer to prayer, bring you, you up again. O despairing one, take heart, and be comforted by this story of Jonah! God is dealing with you, you as he was with him. There may be a great fish, but there is a great God as well. There may be a deep seas, but there is an almighty God to bring you, you up out of it.

Jonah 2:7. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord:

It is a blessed memory that serves us faithfully in a fainting fit. Mostly, when the heart faints, the memory fails; but Jonah remembered the Lord when his soul fainted within him.

Jonah 2:7. And my prayer came in unto you, into your holy temple.

Think of Jonah’s prayer going right within the veil, and reaching the ear and heart of God in his holy temple. He said that he was cast out of God’s sight, yet his prayer went into God’s temple. Oh, the prevalence of a bold believing prayer! "My prayer came in unto you, into your holy temple."

Jonah 2:8. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

If you, you trust anywhere but in God, you, you will run away from your own mercy. God is the only really merciful One who can always help you, you; but if you, you trust in your own righteousness, if you, you trust in priest craft, if you, you trust in any superstition, you, you are observing lying vanities, and forsaking your own mercy. God is the source of your mercy; do not run away from him to anyone or anything else.

Jonah 2:9. But I will sacrifice unto you-"

I long to do so. I cannot do it just now, but I would if I could; and I will do it when you shall grant me deliverance from my present peril."

Jonah 2:9. With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.

That is one of the grandest utterances that any man ever made: "SALVATION!" Write it in capital letters. It is a very emphatic word in the Hebrew, and I might read it, "Mighty salvation is of Jehovah." This is real, old-fashioned Calvinistic doctrine spoken centuries before John Calvin was born. The whale could not endure it, and he turned Jonah out directly he said, "Salvation is of the Lord." The world does not like that doctrine, and there are many professing Christians who do not like it. They say, "Salvation is of man’s free will; salvation is of the works of the law; salvation is of rites and ceremonies;" and so on. But we say, with Jonah, "Salvation is of the Lord." He works it from beginning to end, and therefore he must have all the praise for it forever and ever.

Jonah 2:10. And the Lord spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

God has only to speak, and even sea-monsters obey him. I know not how he spoke to the fish; I do not know how to talk to a fish, but God does; and as the Lord could speak to that fish, he can speak to any sinner here. However far you, you may have gone from all that is good, he who spoke to that great fish, and made it disgorge the prophet Jonah, can speak to you, you, and then you, you will give up your sins as the whale gave up Jonah. God grant that it may be so this very hour! That is the prayer of an ancient mariner, may it be ours, as far as it is suited to our circumstances, and may we be brought by God’s grace to cry, with Jonah, "Salvation is of the Lord"!

Chapter 3

 

Verses 1-10

 

Jonah 3:1-2. And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid you.

There is no preaching like that which Gods bids us. The preaching that comes out of our own heads will never go into other men’s hearts. If we will keep to the preaching that the Lord bids us, we shall not fail in our ministry.

Jonah 3:3. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.

For those times, Nineveh was "an exceeding great city," but it is far exceeded in size by this modern Nineveh of London.

Jonah 3:4. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

His message was short and sharp, there was not a word of mercy in it. There was nothing to distract the attention of the hearers from the one point and the one subject; and there is a great deal in that. We may sometimes say too much in a single sermon, and give our hearers a field of wheat instead of a loaf of bread. · But Jonah said what he was bidden to say, no more and no less: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown."

Jonah 3:5-9. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything: let them not feed, nor drink water: but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yes, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

Note that the only message they had heard was a prophecy of impending judgment. God had sent his servant to warn them of the coming destruction; and, since he had warned them that he meant to destroy them, they could infer that he might possibly intend pity towards them should they repent, but there was as yet no verbal declaration of mercy or hope. these people went to God with nothing better to sustain them than this, "Who can tell?" How much more guilty than these Ninevites are they who refuse to humble themselves before God, even when they have distinct injunctions from God, and explicit promises that whoever shall confess and forsake his sins shall find mercy! these men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment against the men of London, and the men of this generation, and condemn them, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now men do not repent even at the testimony of Jesus Christ the Son of God. To despise the prophet Jonah, would have involved these people in certain destruction; of how much sorer punishment shall they be thought worthy who despise the Christ of God, and do despite unto the Spirit of grace.

Jonah 3:10. And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

There is no change in God, absolutely considered, but there is often an apparent change, that which he threatens, while men remain in sin, is not executed upon them when they repent and turn to him. He is always the same God. from the beginning, he has been "the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." If he did not pardon sin, when men turn from it with sincere repentance, he would have changed his method of dealing with the penitent; but when he does forgive, it is according to his way from the beginning, for he has ever been a tender, and compassionate, and gracious God.

This exposition consisted of readings from Jonah 3; Jonah 4:1-2; and Romans 5.

Chapter 4

 

Verse 1-2

 

Jonah 4:1. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

A nice prophet this! Jonah was a man of a somewhat ugly disposition, yet I think he has been misunderstood. He was the true child of Elijah, the prophet of fire. Elijah was a rough, stern servant of the Lord, who felt that the indignities which had been done to Jehovah deserved instant and terrible punishment; and he seemed almost to wish to see that punishment inflicted, as he accused the people unto God, saying, "the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." He was bravely stern for God, and Jonah was cast in a similar mold. He seemed to feel, "I have been sent of God to tell these people that they will be destroyed for their sin. Now, if they are not destroyed, it will be thought that I have not preached the truth, and, what is far more serious, it will be thought that God does not keep his word." His whole thought was taken up with the honor of God, and his own honor as involved in that of the Lord. There are many people, nowadays, who seem to think everything of man, and very little of God; and, consequently, they fall into grievous errors. Jonah, on the contrary, thought everything of God, and very little of men. He fell into an error by so doing, and there was a want of balance of judgment, yet is Jonah’s error so very seldom committed that I am half inclined to admire it in contrast with the error on the other side. He felt that it would be better for Nineveh to be destroyed than for God’s truthfulness to be jeopardized even for a single moment. God would not have us push even concern for his honor too far; but we are such poor creatures that, very often, when we are within an inch of the right course, we fall into a snare of the enemy. It was so with Jonah, when he was exceedingly displeased and very angry at what God had done in sparing the repentant people of Nineveh.

Jonah 4:2. And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray you, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish : for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repent you of the evil.

This was as much as if he had said to the Lord, "I went and did your bidding, and told the Ninevites that they would be destroyed; but I knew in my heart that, if they repented, you would not carry out your threat, and now you are too gracious, too kind, to these wicked people." It is a strange thing, is it not, that Jonah was angry because his message was blessed to his hearers? As a good commentator says, "When Christ sees of the travail of his soul, he is satisfied; but when Jonah saw of the travail of his soul, he was dissatisfied." There are some men who leave off preaching because they do not succeed; but here was one who was ready to give up because he did succeed. It is strange that such a good man as Jonah was should fall into such a foolish state of mind; but God still has a great many unwise children. You, you can find one if you, you look in the right place; I mean, in a looking-glass. We are all foolish at times; and it should be remembered that, although Jonah was foolish, and wrong in certain respects, there is this redeeming trait in his character, — we might never have known the story of his folly if he had not written it himself. It shows what a true-hearted man the prophet was, that he just unveiled his real character in this Rook. Biographies of men are seldom truthful, because the writers cannot read the hearts of those whom they describe; and if they could read them, they would not like to print what they would see there. But here is a man, inspired of God to write his own biography, and he tells us of this sad piece of folly, and does not attempt in the least degree to mitigate the evil of it. Now turn to a very different portion of Scripture, Romans 5

This exposition consisted of readings from Jonah 3; Jonah 4:1-2; and Romans 5.

Verses 1-11

 

You, you know all about Jonah’s refusal to go upon the Lord’s errand, and how he was held to it, and carried to his work in a great fish as he would not go by himself. Somehow or other, God will make his servants do his will; and the more speedily they do it, the better it is for them. You, you know also how the Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jonah, and how the Lord had mercy upon them.

Jonah 4:1-3. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray you, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repent you of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

"For, if I live, the Ninevites will say, ‘This man scared us needlessly. He is a prophet of evil, and he is a liar, too, for our great city is not destroyed. He frightened us into a kind of repentance for which there was no necessity, for his God does not carry out his threatenings,’" and so forth. And poor Jonah could not face such talk as that. But, brother, if you, you preach God’s Word as he gives it to you, you, you, you have nothing to do with the consequences that come of it. God will justify his own truth; and even if it should seem that the worst rather than the best consequences ensue, it is for you, you still to go on in the name of him who sent you, you. Whenever you, you and I begin to try to manage God’s kingdom for him, we find the divine scepter too heavy for our little hands to hold; our case would be like that of Phaeton trying to drive the horses in the chariot of the sun. We cannot hold the reins of the universe. And poor Jonah, wanting to manage everything for God, makes a dreadful mess of it, and in his anger makes a very foolish request: "O Lord, take, I beseech you, my life from me."

Jonah 4:4. Then said the Lord, Do you well to be angry?

How kind of God to speak thus gently to his rebellious servant. Are any of you, you given to anger? Might not the Lord say to you, you, "Do you well to be angry, so soon, — so often, — so long, — about such little things?"

Jonah 4:5. So Jonah went out of the city, —

When, no doubt, everybody would have been willing to entertain him, for all, even to the king, must have felt a deep respect for the messenger who had brought them to their knees before the Lord: "Jonah went out of the city," —

Jonah 4:5. And sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, until he might see what would become of the city.

To see those forty days out; half hoping, perhaps, that there would come an earthquake, to shake the city down; and then, under his little booth of boughs, he would not be hurt by the failing edifices. In as sulky and surly a spirit as he could be, he put himself to great inconveniences. The damp of the night fell on him, and the heat of the sun would soon wither up the branches. If, dear friends, like Jonah, you, you want to complain, you, you will soon have something to complain of. People who are resolved to fret, generally make for themselves causes for fretfulness.

Jonah 4:6. And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.

Those who are angry with God show the littleness of their minds. "Little things please little minds;" so a gourd made Jonah glad.

Jonah 4:7-8. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, —

Jonah was soon up, and soon down. Yesterday, he "was exceeding glad of the gourd;" today, he is fainting because of the heat of the sun. If we allow our mercies to become too sweet to us, they will soon become, by their withdrawal, too bitter for us. When we feel too much affection for the creature, we shall soon find a great deal of affliction from the creature. "The sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die," —

Jonah 4:8-9. And said, It is better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Do you well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

He had gotten into such a bad spirit that he could even brave it out with his God. Oh, that we might be preserved from such an evil temper! It is well for us that, "Like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear him." When a child is in a fever, and says a great many naughty things, his father puts it down to the sickness rather than to the child. So it was with God’s poor fainting servant Jonah.

Jonah 4:10-11. Then said the Lord, You have had pity on the gourd, for the which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: and should not I spare Nineveh, —

"Nineveh, for which I have labored; Nineveh, which I made to grow; Nineveh, which has been many years in the building; Nineveh, which contains multitudes of immortal souls which will not perish in a night: ‘Should not I spare Nineveh,’" —

Jonah 4:11. That great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; —

This is always supposed to mean infants, and I judge that the supposition is a correct one. So Nineveh had a population of over one hundred and twenty thousand who were under two years old, so it must have been an immense city. Who can tell the blessing that even infants bring to us? It may be that God spares London for the sake of the children in it. What a deal the Lord Jesus Christ made of children! He suffered the little children to come unto him, and forbade them not. Does God care for children? Ay, that he does; and so should his servants! They are the better part of the human race; there is more in them that is admirable than there is in us who are grown up. They are, in many respects, a blessing to the city, as these six-score thousand little ones were to Nineveh. But how singularly does God add —

Jonah 4:11. And also much cattle?

Does God care for cattle? He does; and how that fact should teach his servants to be kind to all brute creatures! There is some truth in those lines of Coleridge, —

"He prays best, who loves best
All things, both great and small," for everything that lives should be the object of our care for the sake of him who gave them life; and if he has given us to have dominion over all sheep and oxen, and the birds of the air, and so forth, let not our dominion be that of a tyrant, but that of a kind and gentle prince who seeks the good of that which is under his power. Here ends the story of Jonah which he tells himself; and he did not add anything to it because nothing needs to be added. The Lord’s question to him was altogether unanswerable, and Jonah felt it to be so. Let us hope that, during the rest of his life, he so lived as to rejoice in the sparing mercy of God. He had stood outside the door, like the elder brother who was angry, and would not go in, and who said to his father," Lo, these many years do I serve you, neither transgressed I at any time your commandment: and yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: but as soon as this your son was come, which has devoured your living with harlots, you have killed for him the fatted calf." But after his father had said to him, "Son, you are ever with me, and all that I have is your," I hope that he went in, and I trust that Jonah also went in and lived with the penitent Ninevites, and that all were happy together in the love of the God who had been so gracious to them.

 

 

MICAH

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 4

 

Verses 1-13

 

Micah 4:1. But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

God’s cause and kingdom shall not be hidden away in a corner: "the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains," an Alp upon other Alps, higher than all the other hills. The day is coming when the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ shall be the most conspicuous thing in the whole world, "and people shall flow unto it." The heathen, the people who knew nothing about it, shall flow to it like a great river.

Micah 4:2. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths:

That is the way the grace of God works in us; he teaches, and then we not only learn, but we obey.

Micah 4:2-3. For the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off;

The kingdom of Christ, the Son of David, shall attract people and nations that were far off from the holy city where he lived and died.

Micah 4:3. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

They shall give up the study of the art of war. Their spirit shall be softened, in many cases renewed by grace and then they shall take to the useful arts; they shall not throw away their swords, but shall beat them into ploughshares, they shall not hurl their spears into the earth, but shall bend them into scythes or pruning-hooks. Oh, that the day were come when the wealth and ingenuity and power of nations were used in the pursuits of peace instead of in the arts of war! This is the tendency of the kingdom of Christ, for wherever he comes, he makes peace. Nothing is more opposed to the spirit of Christianity than war; and when men are Christians, not in name only, but in deed and in truth, wars must cease.

Micah 4:4. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree: and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken it.

The best evidence that this will be the case is that the Lord of hosts, who has all power at his disposal, has said that it shall be so.

Micah 4:5. For all people will walk every one in the name of his God, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

When we learn to know God in truth, we do not give him up, but we walk in his name forever and ever. God’s covenant with us is an everlasting covenant, reaching beyond time, and enduring throughout eternity. Some nations have discarded their idol gods; but those who really know and love the Lord will walk in his name forever and ever.

Micah 4:6. In that day, says the Lord will I assemble her that halts, —

God will bring to himself you, you that limp, that hesitate, that tremble, that fear: "I will assemble her that halts," —

Micah 4:6. And I will gather her that is driven out —

Hunted by Satan, and harassed by care, frightened by depression of spirit, "I will gather her that is driven out," —

Micah 4:6. And her that I have afflicted;

If God has laid his hand upon one of you, you so that you, you have a special affliction from himself, you, you have this gracious promise that he will gather you, you to himself.

Micah 4:7. And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even forever.

Little scattered communities, churches which have been weak and feeble shall have the strengthening of God, and they shall be, through his sovereign grace, a remnant saved by grace to his praise and glory. Note how everything here is done by God; you, you keep on reading, "I will," "I will, "I will." Oh, those blessed "I wills" of God! Our wills are often defeated and disappointed, but God’s "I wills" stand fast forever.

Micah 4:8. And you, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto you shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

So it did. "Beginning at Jerusalem," was Christ’s order concerning the preaching of the gospel after his resurrection. The first servants of Christ were of that ancient people who might be called the "tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion." Oh, that Christ would soon return in mercy to the —

"Chosen seed of Israel’s race,

A remnant weak and small," —

and gather them to himself, for that would be the fullness of the Gentiles also!

Micah 4:9. Now why do you cry out aloud? is there no king in you? is your Counselor perished?

Sometimes, our prayers may be the utterance of our fears rather than of our faith, and then the question comes, "Is there no king in you? Is your Counselor perished?" Can we not trust to him whose name is "Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace"?

Micah 4:10. For pangs have taken you as a woman in travail.

They are sharp pangs, but they lead to life, and therefore they are blessed pangs after all.

Micah 4:10. Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shall you go forth out of the city, and you shall dwell in the field, and you shall go even to Babylon: there shall you be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem you from the hand of your enemies.

It looks more like a threat than a promise that God would send his people to Babylon, but there they were to be delivered; and it oftentimes happens with us that we must be brought into captivity before we are set free, we must feel the weight of the iron bondage of sin and Satan before we are brought out into the glorious liberty with which Christ makes his people free.

Micah 4:11. Now also many nations are gathered against you, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.

All the enemies of Israel came together, hoping to destroy her, they saw that God had left her for a while in their hands, so they maliciously sought her destruction.

Micah 4:12. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, —

They had their own thoughts, and they thought that the Lord meant what they meant, — the entire destruction of the chosen race. So the prophet says, "But they know not the thoughts of the Lord," —

Micah 4:12. Neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.

God let them come together, great hosts of them, like the sheaves of wheat upon the threshing-floor. Then see what the Lord says: —

Micah 4:13. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs brass; and you shall beat in pieces many people:

She was to be like the ox that treads out the corn, and she was to have horns of iron and hoofs of brass with which to break in pieces those that had oppressed her.

Micah 4:13. And I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.

So that, when they expected to destroy her, she destroyed them, and there may come a day when all the great men and the wise men and the proud men of the world will come together to destroy the Church of Christ, but, oh, how mistaken they will be! For when their pride is at its height, then will the poor weak Church of Christ be suddenly strengthened by the Most High, and she shall tread them under her foot, and they shall be utterly defeated, to the praise of the glory of the God of Zion who lives forever and ever.

 

Chapter 5

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 6

 

Verses 1-16

 

Micah 6:1. Hear you now what the Lord says;

And yet some doubt the infallible inspiration of Scripture. I would commence every reading of the Scripture with such a word of admonition as this: "Hear you now what the Lord says." That is what the prophet said; but God spoke by the prophet: "Hear you now what the Lord says."

Micah 6:1. Arise, contend you before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.

As men were hardened, and turned away their ears, the prophet was bidden to speak to the mountains, those mountains which had been disfigured with the shrines of idols, with altars on every high hill, or, perhaps, those higher hills that were never cultivated, and that remained untouched by the defiling hand of men. God makes an appeal to these ancient things.

Micah 6:2. Hear you, O mountains, the Lord’S controversy, and you strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord has, a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.

It was wonderful condescension on God’s part that he should deign to come as a defendant before the august court of the mountains, and in the presence of the deep foundations of the earth. It is a noble conception, in poetry most excellent; in grandeur, worthy of God. He made his appeal to the ancient hills to hear his pleading while he condescended to argue and ask his people why they had rejected their God, and turned aside to idols. Then he pleaded with Israel.

Micah 6:3. O my people, what have I done unto you?

"What but good, what but mercy, have I done unto you?"

Micah 6:3. And wherein have I wearied you? testify against me.

He asks them to give any reason whatever why they had turned away from him. Beloved friends, have any of you, you, who are the people of God, grown cold in your love to him? Are you, you neglecting the service of the Most High? Are you, you beginning to trust in an arm of flesh? Are you, you seeking your pleasures in the world? Have you, you lost the love of your espousal, your first love to your blessed Lord? Then hear him plead with you, you. Be not as Israel was, but let the Lord speak to you, you rather than to the hills: "What have I done unto you? and wherein have I wearied you? testify against me." O Lord, we have nothing to testify against you! We have very much to testify for you; and we blush to think that we have not done so oftener. Oh, that we had felt more love to you, and had borne a bolder and more consistent testimony to your love, your grace, your faithfulness!

Micah 6:4. For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of servants; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

God constantly refers to Israel’s coming out of Egypt; on every great occasion he begins, "I am the Lord your God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." And to his people the Lord still says, "I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of slavery." Is it not so? Do we not still delight in his redeeming work, in the sprinkling of the blood of the Paschal Lamb, and in the high hand and outstretched arm with which the Lord delivered us from the bondage of our sin? Remember that you also were a bondman; forget not who bought you, and with what price; remember who delivered you, and led you out, and with what mighty power. Remember this, and let your cold love burn up again, and let your indifference turn to enthusiasm. O Lord, revive your people! The Lord further says to his people, "I sent before you Moses (the lawgiver), Aaron (the priest), and Miriam (the prophetess);" one to teach you, another to plead for you, and to sacrifice for you, and the third to sing for you, to sing your song of gladness at the Red Sea. God has given to his people many ministries in divers forms; and they are all concentrated in his Son, who is everything to us. Oh, by the greatness of his gifts to us, let us come back to our former love to him, and to something more than that!

Micah 6:5. O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that you may know the righteousness of the Lord.

Balak endeavored to get Balaam to curse the people of God; but they could not be overcome by human power. He sought to destroy them by superhuman agency; but Balaam’s curses turned to blessings. God would not permit the false prophet to curse Israel; and he has in our case turned the curse of the great adversary into a blessing. He has delivered us, and our trials have strengthened us, and taught us more of God. Will we not remember this? Shittim was the last encampment on the further side of Jordan, Gilgal the first in the promised land; therefore they are united here with God’s righteousnesses to his people, for the word is in the plural. It is a remarkable idiom: "That you may know the righteousnesses of the Lord." He is righteous always, in every way, towards everything, and under every aspect. I wish we knew this, for sometimes we begin to think that he deals harshly with us. When we are severely tried, we begin to doubt the righteousness of the Lord. Remember all that he has done to you, you from the first day to the last, "that you may know the righteousness of the Lord." Now the plaintiff takes up the case, but he, too, turns defendant, and asks what he can do to bring about a reconciliation.

Micah 6:6-7. With which shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

The people will give God everything but what be wants. They begin, you, you see, by saying that they will bring burnt offerings; they are ready to do that. The axe shall fall upon the head of numberless young bullocks, such as God demanded under the law. The people are ready enough for that sacrifice; and as for rams, they will shed their blood by thousands. If oil is wanted for the meat offering, rivers of it shall flow. When they have offered what God would have, they offer what he would not have, what God abhorred and loathed, for they offered to give their firstborn for their transgressions. They insulted Jehovah with the sacrifices of Moloch, with human slaughter, offering their children to obtain atonement for their sins. They were willing to go even that length, and to do anything but what God wants; and men will still give to God anything but what he asks for; majestic edifices, gorgeous services, ecstatic music, gold and silver; anything but what the Lord demands. Here is God’s answer:

Micah 6:8. He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

It was a spiritual worship that the Lord required; not externals, not outward gifts, but the heart. If you will bring an offering, bring yourself; there is no other gift that the Lord so much desires. The prophet mentions three things that the Lord required of his people: "To do justly:" here are the equities of life. "To love mercy here are the kindnesses of life, which are to be rendered cheerfully. The prophet does not say, "to do mercy," but to "love" it, to take a delight in it, to find great pleasure in the forgiveness of injuries, in the helping of the poor, in the cheering of the sick, in the teaching of the ignorant, in the winning back of sinners to the ways of God. "And to walk humbly with your God." These are the things which please him; and when we are in Christ, and be becomes our righteousness, these are the sacrifices with which God is well pleased; they make an offering of a sweet smell, a holy incense which we may present before him. Talk no more of your outward ordinances, your will-worship, with abundance of music, or human eloquence and learning, and what not. These things delight not the Lord; no offering is acceptable unless the outward conduct shows that the heart is right with him.

Micah 6:9. The Lord’S voice cries unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see your name: hear you the rod, and who has appointed it.

God’s voice to his people is often uttered by means of their affliction Hear you the rod." He wishes us to understand that judgments and calamities are his voice crying to the city. Oh, that we were men of wisdom, that we would hear what God has to say! Alas! Israel did not hear, and Judah would not listen, even to God’s own voice!

Micah 6:10. Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?

Here he comes to practical details. In Micah’s day, men had grown rich by oppression, by a want of justice; they had wronged their fellow men, and God asked them whether they expected to be pleasing to him when their houses were full of treasure which they had virtually stolen by giving scant measure and short weight. God condescends even to point out these minute particulars of moral conduct, and so should his servants do. It is not for us, his ministers, to be soaring into the clouds, to astonish you, you with the grandeur of our thoughts and words; but to come to your shops, to look at your bushel-measures and your pecks, your yard-sticks and your weights.

Micah 6:11-12. Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

They were, I suppose, very much what Orientals are still; you, you cannot trade with them without having need of more than two eyes. Their price has to be beaten down; their quantities must be counted. God would not have his people like this. He says nothing about the Moabites or the Babylonians doing this, but for his people to do it was very grievous to him.

Micah 6:13. Therefore also will I make you sick in smiting you, in making you desolate because of your sins.

They lied, and they cheated; so God would give them a sorry tongue, betokening their ill-health. He would make their present distress to get worse and worse, until they should be sick through their wounds.

Micah 6:14. You shall eat, but not be satisfied;

The satisfaction that comes to us through eating is of his mercy, and when he wills, he can say, "You shall eat, but not be satisfied."

Micah 6:14. And your casting down shall he in the midst of you;

"You shall feel an inward sinking; even when you have eaten, you shall be faint, as a man who has eaten nothing."

Micah 6:14. And you shall take hold, but shall not deliver; and that which you deliver will I give up to the sword.

So that in every project they would be disappointed; in every design they would be frustrated, because God would be against them.

Micah 6:15. You shall sow, but you shall not reap; you shall tread the olives, but you shall not anoint you with oil; and sweet wine, but shall not drink wine.

God can let men have every form of outward prosperity, and yet make nothing of it. I fear that some, perhaps some present, have every outward religious blessing; yet nothing comes of it. You, you hear sermons, you, you come to meetings, you, you tread the olives, but you, you are not anointed with the oil. The grapes are in the wine-vat; but you, you drink not the wine. God save us from that sad condition!

Micah 6:16. For the statutes of Omri are kept,

They would not keep the statutes of God; but they could keep the foul statutes of Omri, which appear to have been specially objectionable to God.

Micah 6:16. And all the works of the house of Ahab, and you walk in their counsels;

He was an arch rebel against God. Remember his murder of Naboth to get his vineyard; and these people followed his evil example.

Micah 6:16. That I should make you a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore you shall bear the reproach of my people.

Very hard was it to bear that reproach, when there would be none of the comforts of the Spirit to go with it. There are some professors who bear the reproach of Christ, but will never share his crown; that is a fearful state of things. Gladly enough would we take up that reproach that we may be truly his; but if we profess to be God’s people, and act inconsistently, we shall bear all the reproach, but have nothing to sustain us under it. O Lord, of your mercy, save us from this!

 

 

Chapter 7

 

Verses 1-20

 

The prophet begins in a sorrowful strain, and there is much that is said in the chapter, yet there is also much of holy confidence in God.

Micah 7:1. Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape-gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the first ripe fruit.

It is a terrible thing for a good man to find good men growing very scarce, and to see wicked men becoming more wicked than ever. It makes him feel his loneliness very keenly, and joy seems to be banished from his heart.

Micah 7:2. The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

Those were sad times in which Micah lived; and yet, under some aspects, one might be willing and even glad to live in such times, for, if ever one could be useful to one’s fellows, surely it would be then. God had need of a voice like that of the prophet Micah in the days when his worship was forsaken, and the true faith had almost died out among men. Unless God had left a Micah here and there, the land would have been as Sodom, and have been made like unto Gomorrah. So the more unpleasant the age was to the good man, the more necessary and profitable was he to that age.

Micah 7:3. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly,

I wish the professed followers of Christ did good with both hands, that is, with every faculty, with every capacity, in every way, and at every opportunity, just as wicked men "do evil with both hands earnestly."

Micah 7:3. The prince asks, and the judge asks for a reward; and the great man, he utters his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.

Honesty seemed to have died out of the nation; the highest people in the land, who ought to have been beyond the power of bribery, sold the administration of justice to the highest bidder. Ah, those were ill times indeed.

Micah 7:4. The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of your watchmen and your visitation comes; now shall be their perplexity.

Sin brings sorrow in its train; and, as nations will have no future as nations, God deals with national sin here upon earth, and visits it with national punishments. Now that sin had become so rampant in Israel, it would be the time of their perplexity, and when sins, like chickens, come home to roost, then will be the time of the sinner’s perplexity. He lets his sins fly abroad, and thinks that, like the wandering birds of the air, they will soon be gone, and he shall never see them again, but they will all come home to him, and he shall be made bitterly to rue the day in which he thought that he could make a profit by transgressing the righteous law of the Lord.

Micah 7:5. Trust you not in a friend, put you not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of your mouth from her that lies in your bosom.

So saturated with dishonesty had the nation become that the evil had penetrated even into domestic life, so that, where all should have been in a state of mutual happy confidence, the prophet felt bound to tell them that each confidence could not exist between those who appeared to be friends, or even between husbands and wives.

Micah 7:6. For the son dishonors the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

And this is true in a measure still, for, without the fear of God, you, you will find that even the nearest and dearest relationships will not keep the unconverted from being the enemies of the godly. In that respect, a gracious man cannot trust her that lies in his bosom, if she be not a true child of God.

Now mark the grandeur of faith. Set this white spot right in the middle of the black darkness of which we have been reading:-

Micah 7:7. Therefore I will look unto the Lord-

There was nowhere else for the prophet to look. According to what he tells us, all men had become false; "therefore," says he, "I will look unto Jehovah;"-

Micah 7:7-8. I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.

And this is all the light that God’s people need. Even if it be the darkness of a black Egyptian night into which our spirit has fallen, yet, if God shall but appear to us, there shall soon be light for us. Dr. Watts truly sang,-

"In darkest shades, if he appear,

My dawning is begun;

He is my soul’s sweet morning star,

And he my rising sun."

Micah 7:9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.

Listen to this testimony of the prophet, tried child of God; even when in your own household you, you find enemies, put your trust in God, for he will yet appear to deliver you, you. Let this be your joy. Sit still in humble patience, and "bear the indignation of the Lord," for, even though trouble is laid upon you, you, it is not so heavy as it might have been, and it is not so severe as it would have been if the Lord had dealt with you, you in strict justice. Therefore in patience possess your soul, and wait quietly before your God. Be not without hope, expect that he will plead your cause and that he will execute judgment for you, you; watch for his light, which will most surely come, and in which you, you shall behold, not your own righteousness, but his.

Micah 7:10. Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord your God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.

This verse relates to the nation which, at that time, was oppressing Israel She should have her turn of suffering for she should be crushed beneath Jehovah’s foot as the mire is trodden in the streets.

Micah 7:11-12. In the day that your walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed. In that day also he shall come even to you from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.

This is what was to befall those who had sinned against God, and oppressed his people; he would let loose the oppressors upon them, and they should find foes in every quarter.

Micah 7:13. Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.

That is a wonderful expression, "the fruit of their doings." All doings bear fruit of one kind or another, and sinful doings bear bitter and deadly fruit. Woe to the man who is made to eat the fruit of his own doings! That which men eat on earth they may have to digest in Hell, and there shall they lie forever digesting the terrible morsels which they ate with so much gusto here below.

Micah 7:14. Feed your people with your rod, the flock of your heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

Sometimes, there are pastures in the very center of woods, and God’s people in Micah’s day were like a little flock of sheep hidden away from their enemies in the midst of a wood, but God will bring them out by-and-by to far larger liberty. They shall yet have Bashan and Gilead to be their pasture, " as in the days of old; " and so the little one shall become a thousand, and the small one a great nation, and they that were hidden away because of their many enemies shall have such liberty that everywhere they shall worship and praise the Lord their God.

Micah 7:15-17. According to the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt will I show unto him marvelous things. The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf: They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of you.

The day will come when there shall be such a fear of the people of God upon those who formerly persecuted them that they shall tremble before the Lord, and be afraid of the very people whom once they derided and oppressed.

Micah 7:18. Who is a God like unto you, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retains not his anger forever, because he delights in mercy.

He never delights in anger, especially in anger against his own people. That is but temporary anger, and is, after all, only another form of love, for the parental anger which hates sin in a dear child is but love on fire. May God never permit us to sin without being thus angry with us! We might almost beseech him never to tolerate sin in us, but to smite us with the rod rather than suffer us to be happy in the midst of evil. Perhaps the worst of horrors is peace in the midst of iniquity, happiness while yet sin is all round about us.

Micah 7:19. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us, he will subdue our iniquities; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

We read about their sins in the earlier part of the chapter; and what a horrible catalogue of evils it was, yet here we read, " Who is a God like unto you, that pardons inquiry?" Even those mountainous sins of which the prophet writes, the Lord will tear up by their roots, and cast them into the depths of the sea.

Micah 7:20. You will perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

There is our comfort, our God is the covenant-keeping God who will perform every promise that he has made. Even "if we believe not, yet he abides faithful: he cannot deny himself." Blessed be his holy name.

 

 

NAHUM

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Verses 11-13

 

This is a prophecy of the destruction of Nineveh. Remember that Assyria had been one of the great powers that swayed the world, a cruel, tyrannical empire; and God at last determined to destroy Nineveh, which was its seat of government. In a high poetical strain, the prophet cries out,

Nahum 2:11. Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid?

You, you will remember how Mr. Layard took out of the ruins at Nineveh those immense lions that now stand in the British Museum. They were the very type of this great empire, that boasted itself in its lion-like strength and ferocity. So the prophet cries, "Where is the lair of the lion?"

Nahum 2:12. The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.

They were always destroying, and plundering, and carrying home the spoil, so that everybody was fattened with the rapine of the nations.

Nahum 2:13. Behold, I am against you, says the Lord of hosts,

And whenever that is the case, a man does not need any other adversary. If God be against you, you, O my dear hearer, what will become of you, you? Though you, you should have all the power of the world, and possess robust health, abundant riches, and keen wit, what can you, you do against God? "I am against you, says Jehovah of hosts." He throws down the gauntlet to Nineveh.

Nahum 2:13. And I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions: and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no more be heard.

It is time that they were stopped. You, you remember in what foul-mouthed language Rabshakeh addressed king Hezekiah; and God now declares that there shall be no more such letters as his. God may allow evil to lord it over his people for a while; but he puts a hook in the mouth of the leviathan by-and-by. He who restrains the sea and the waves thereof, Jehovah is his name, and he restrains the wickedness of men.

This exposition consisted of readings from Nahum 2:11-13; Nahum 2:3.

 

Chapter 3

 

Verses 1-19

 

Nahum 3:1. Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departs not;

Assyria became a great empire through violence, falsehood, and robbery. The soldiery had no respect for justice; they trod out the last spark of liberty, and crushed all nations under their feet.

Nahum 3:2-3. The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots. The horseman lifts up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcasses; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:

When the Medo-Babylonian army came against the great city, it inflicted a terrible slaughter, killing the inhabitants without mercy, making a very holocaust of human bodies; but, inasmuch as it was a den of criminals, this horrible execution was well deserved. Yet is the story dreadful.

Nahum 3:4-5. Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that sells nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts. Behold, I am against you, says the Lord of hosts;

These people had been steeped in sin of the worst kind, they had led other nations into it; and had practiced the witchcrafts which God abhors. Therefore again Jehovah says, "I am against you." When God is in arms against a triumphant nation, he soon makes an end of it.

Nahum 3:5-6. And I will discover your skirts upon your face, and I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon you, and make you vile, and will set you as a gazing stock.

See what God can do. They were the proudest of the proud, and now he makes them the scorn of the scorner, and sets them as a gazing stock. May God never deal in that way with any proud man here! He can easily do it; when we set ourselves up to be little gods, he can soon make us utterly mean and contemptible, and bring us down to nothing at all. It is his way to deal thus with the proud.

Nahum 3:7. And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon you shall flee from you, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek: comforters for you?

If you, you could go today, and see the vast heaps of Kouyunjik, and of the great monuments of that mighty city all destroyed and crumbling into powder, you, you would know something of what God can do. It does not look likely to you, you that London can ever become a heap of ruins; and yet it may be, for its sins reek up to Heaven as the sins of Nineveh did. The Lord can smite this city as he smote that.

Nahum 3:8. Are you better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?

The prophet quotes the destruction of the city called No-Amon, probably Thebes, as an instance of what God can do.

Nahum 3:9. Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite;

There seemed to be no measure to her strength. If she wanted assistance from other nations, she had only to call them in, and the mercenary tribes were ready to defend her.

Nahum 3:9-10. Put and Lubim were your helpers. Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.

So one city is a warning to another. No in Egypt is a warning to Nineveh in Assyria, and both of these a warning to our city, and a warning to every man who is proud, and haughty, and domineering, and oppressive to the poor, great in his own wisdom, and careless for the comfort of others.

Nahum 3:11. You also shall be drunken: you shall be hid, you also shall seek strength because of the enemy.

Nineveh never dreamed of doing that; she said, "I am a queen, I shall see no sorrow; I am the greatest of all cities."

Nahum 3:12. All your strongholds shall be like fig trees with the first ripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.

As figs do when they are ripe. These castles, towers, fortresses, built to stand the siege, would be no sooner attacked than they would fall into the hand of the enemy.

Nahum 3:13. Behold, your people in the midst of you are women:

You, you see, on those great Assyrian stones, the strong men that are sculptured there, with their enormous muscles, telling of gigantic force. When God came to deal with them, they became weak and cowardly.

Nahum 3:13-14. The gates of your land shall be set wide open unto your enemies: the fire shall devour your bars. Draw you waters for the siege,

The prophet challenges them to defend themselves.

Nahum 3:14. Fortify your strong holds: go into clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brickkiln.

That was, to mend the walls whenever they were broken. They did this with great industry. "Do it," says God, "yet you, you shall not be able to stand."

Nahum 3:15-17. There shall the fire devour you; the sword shall cut you off, it shall eat you up like the cankerworm: make yourself many as the cankerworm, make yourself many as the locusts. You have multiplied your merchants above the stars of Heaven: the cankerworm spoils, and flees away. Your crowned are as the locusts, and your captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun arises they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.

What marvelous poetry is this! How terrible! Their soldiers, their rulers, their captains, were as many as the locusts and the grasshoppers; but when they were wanted, all these hosts would flee, away. What cannot God do when he comes out to fight with men? "The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name." He brings confusion to his enemies. Oh, fight not against him! Beloved, let us be at peace with him, the strong and mighty God. Let us confess our faults to him, acquaint ourselves with him, and be at peace.

Nahum 3:18. Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria

They who should have taken care of the people, the chief governors, neglected them; they who should have defended the people were out of the way when they were wanted: "Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria."

Nahum 3:18. Your nobles shall dwell in the dust: your people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathers them.

Let not the same be said of London. Are there any who can say, "No man cares for my soul"? Let them not be without a helper.

"Oh, come, let us go and find them!

In the paths of death they roam;

At the close of the day ‘twill be sweet to say, ‘I have brought some lost one home.’"

Brothers and sisters, rouse yourselves; be shepherds to the people of this modem Nineveh, and seek to gather the scattered flock of Christ.

Nahum 3:19. There is no healing of your bruise; your wound is grievous:

Thank God, we have not come to that point yet, there is healing for the bruised sinner! Though the wounds of our people are grievous, there is a balm for them; we know where it is, and what it is; let us not be slow to tell them about it.

Nahum 3:19. All that hear the bruit of you shall clap the hands over you:

I think that is the old Norman-French word, "bruit," signifying noise or tumult, that has been left in our Bible.

Nahum 3:19. For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?

Nineveh had been so wicked, and had done so much evil, that when men heard that it was destroyed, they would even clap their hands for very joy that such an evil-doer was out of the way.

I know not to what purpose I was moved to read this passage; but it is specially meant for someone, to whom may God apply it by his Spirit!

This exposition consisted of readings from Nahum 2:11-13; Nahum 2:3.

 

 

HABAKKUK

 

Chapter 1

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

Chapter 2

 

Verses 1-11

 

Habakkuk 2:1. I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

"I shall look to God, and I shall also look to myself. There shall be an expectation as I gaze upward to my Lord, and there shall also be an examination as I look within at my empty, guilty, good-for-nothing self."

Habakkuk 2:2. And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that reads it.

The prophets were accustomed to write their messages upon wax tablets, and the Lord bade Habakkuk thus write what he had seen. God would have both his law and his gospel plainly revealed to men, so that they might know and understand his will. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "We use great plainness of speech;" and the Lord would have all his servants do likewise. It is not for us to bury the gospel under a mass of fine words, but to set it forth in the simplest and clearest possible language; for it is not the power of human words that God blesses, but the truth itself as it is applied to the heart by his Spirit.

Habakkuk 2:3. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Is that a contradiction,—"Though it tarry,.... it will not tarry" ? No; to us, it appears to tarry; but, in God’s way of reckoning, it does not really tarry. To our impatient spirits, it seems long in coming; but God knows that it will not be a moment beyond the appointed time.

Habakkuk 2:4. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

This grand text was quoted by Paul when he wrote his Epistles to the Romans, the Galatians, and the Hebrews. It proves that Old Testament saints understood New Testament life. David and Abraham lived by faith, even as Paul and Peter and the other apostles did.

Habakkuk 2:5. Yes also, because he transgresses by wine, he is a proud man, neither keeps at home, who enlarges his desire as Hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathers unto him all nations, and heaps unto him all people:

This was spoken of the Chaldeans, an ambitious nation so exceedingly greedy that it seemed as if the whole world would not be large enough to satisfy their voracious appetite. Their great kings enlarged their mouths like Gehenna, and they seemed as insatiable as the very maw of death itself.

They heaped up nation upon nation to make a huge empire for themselves.

Habakkuk 2:6. Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increases that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!

That which is said of ambition may also be said of covetousness. What an idle task it is for a man to go on perpetually hoarding,— heaping together more than he can possibly enjoy himself, as if it were made for nobody but for one man, and he must needs grasp all the wealth of the world. There is scope enough for the loftiest ambition when you, you seek the nobler joys of grace; there is room for a sacred covetousness when you, you "covet earnestly the best gifts;" but, in every other respect, may these two things —ambition and covetousness — be ever thrust far from us!

Habakkuk 2:7. Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite you, and awake that shall vex you, and you shall be for booties unto them?

So it happened to Chaldea that the nations, which they had spoiled, by-and-

by grew strong enough to take vengeance upon them, and to spoil them in their turn. Usually, when men do wrong, it comes home to them sooner or later. The chickens they hatch come home to roost; at night, at any rate, if not before. Towards the end of life, a man begins to gather the fruit of his doings; or if he does not reap it in this world, certainly he will in the world to come.

Habakkuk 2:8-9. Because you have spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil you; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. Woe to him that covets an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!

He fancies, when he gets rich by oppressing others, that he will himself rise out of harm’s way. He says that he will make the main chance sure, He who has plenty of gold fancies that he will be able to preserve himself from sorrow; but this is what God has to say about that matter:

Habakkuk 2:10-11. You have consulted shame to your house by cutting off many people and have sinned against your soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.

These Chaldeans were great builders, as we know by the vast ruins that still remain; and most of their buildings were erected by labor exacted from the people whom they oppressed. They received no wages for their work; so even today, from the ruins, the stone cries out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber answers it. Let all men know that, sooner or later, God will execute justice even upon the greatest nations. If they will be destroyers, they shall be destroyed. Their evil policy shall, by-and-by, sweep them away. "There is a something in the world," says one, "that makes for righteousness." Indeed there is, only it is more than a something; it is God himself who is ever working in all things towards the vindication of his own righteous and holy law.

 

Chapter 3

 

Spurgeon did not write any commentary for this chapter.

 

 

HAGGAI

 

Chapter 1

 

Verses 1-15

 

Haggai 1:1-2. In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying. This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’S house should be built.

God keeps an almanac, and the date on which he speaks is always important. There is a set time for each of his messages to come to men, and God would have them give heed to every message as soon as it is delivered to them. If they do not, he keeps count of the days of their delay; and therefore he is particular in causing his servants to record the exact date when his message was delivered: "In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest." Oh that God would make this very day notable in our history by speaking to the hearts of many here! Notice, too, that God also takes care to direct his messages to those for whom they are intended. The word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel and to Joshua. God knows to whom his message is specially addressed today, and he will not let it miss its mark. Oh, that someone here would cry unto him, and say, "Lord, speak to me, as you did to Zerubbabel; and not to me only, but to such-and-such another, as you did to Joshua." "Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say." So that the Lord notes what people say, and in due time he reminds them of what they have said. Sometimes, he makes men eat their own words; but, if not, he at least recalls them to their remembrance: "This people say, The time is not come, the time that Jehovah’s house should be built." Delay has always been one of the strongest of Satan’s temptations even with God’s own people, who far too often say, even concerning his work which they know ought to be done, "The time is not come." How much more would be done for God if we would all do at once what ought to be done! We could then go on to something else, and make our lives still more useful and fruitful. But we delay so long the carrying out of one good purpose that there remains no opportunity for another. If any of you, you Christian people are tempted to put off some service for God which lies upon your heart, I pray you, you to remember your Lord’s words, and to imitate his prompt action, "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night comes, when no man can work."