| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
Nehemiah
Chapter Nine
Nehemiah 9
Chapter Contents
A solemn fast. (1-3) Prayer and confession of sin. (4-38)
Commentary on Nehemiah 9:1-3
(Read Nehemiah 9:1-3)
The word will direct and quicken prayer, for by it the
Spirit helps our infirmities in prayer. The careful study of God's word will
more and more discover to us our own sinfulness, and the plenteousness of his
salvation; thus it calls us to mourn for sin, and to rejoice in him. Every
discovery of the truth of God, should render us more unwearied in attendance on
his sacred word, and on his worship.
Commentary on Nehemiah 9:4-38
(Read Nehemiah 9:4-38)
The summary of their prayers we have here upon record.
Much more, no doubt, was said. Whatever ability we have to do any thing in the
way of duty, we are to serve and glorify God according to the utmost of it.
When confessing our sins, it is good to notice the mercies of God, that we may
be the more humbled and ashamed. The dealings of the Lord showed his goodness
and long-suffering, and the hardness of their hearts. The testimony of the
prophets was the testimony of the Spirit in the prophets, and it was the Spirit
of Christ in them. They spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and what
they said is to be received accordingly. The result was, wonder at the Lord's
mercies, and the feeling that sin had brought them to their present state, from
which nothing but unmerited love could rescue them. And is not their conduct a
specimen of human nature? Let us study the history of our land, and our own
history. Let us recollect our advantages from childhood, and ask what were our
first returns? Let us frequently do so, that we may be kept humble, thankful,
and watchful. Let all remember that pride and obstinacy are sins which ruin the
soul. But it is often as hard to persuade the broken-hearted to hope, as
formerly it was to bring them to fear. Is this thy case? Behold this sweet
promise, A God ready to pardon! Instead of keeping away from God under a sense
of unworthiness, let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. He is a God ready to pardon.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on
Nehemiah》
Nehemiah 9
Verse 1
[1] Now
in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were
assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.
Now —
The next day, but one after the feast of tabernacles, which begun on the
fourteenth day, and ended on the twenty second, for their consciences having
been fully awakened and their hearts filled with grief for their sins, which
they were not allowed to express in that time of publick joy; now they resume
their former thoughts, and recalling their sins to mind, set apart a day for
solemn fasting and humiliation.
Verse 2
[2] And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood
and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.
Separated —
From all unnecessary society with the Heathens, and particularly from those
strange women whom some of them had married. For though Ezra had done this
formerly, yet, it seems, there were some criminals, without his knowledge, or,
these were some new delinquents, that since that time had fallen into the same
error, and shewed the truth of their repentance by forsaking their beloved
sins, and dearest relations.
Verse 3
[3] And
they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their
God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and
worshipped the LORD their God.
Book of the law — As
they did before, giving them the sense of what they read.
Fourth part —
For three hours; there were twelve hours in their day, probably they began
after the morning sacrifice, and continued their work till the evening
sacrifice. The work of a fast-day is good work. We should endeavour to make a
day's work, a good day's work of it.
Verse 4
[4] Then
stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah,
Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD
their God.
Stairs —
Upon such stairs, or pulpits, as the Levites used to stand upon, when they
taught the people. But they stood upon several pulpits, each of them teaching
that part of the congregation which was allotted him, or praying, or blessing
God with them.
Loud voice —
Thereby testifying their deep sense of their sins and miseries, and their
servant, and importunate desire of God's mercy.
Verse 13
[13] Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven,
and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:
Good statutes —
The moral and judicial precepts were all founded on natural equity. And even
the ceremonial were tokens of God's goodness, being types of gospel-grace.
Verse 17
[17] And
refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among
them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to
return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and
merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.
Made —
Designed, and resolved to do so, Numbers 14:4, and therefore they are said to do
so, as Abraham is said to have offered up Isaac, Hebrews 11:17, because he intended to do it.
Verse 22
[22]
Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into
corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of
Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.
Divide —
The Heathen nations, whom God in a great measure destroyed, and the remainders
of them he dispersed into corners; that whereas before the Israelites came,
they had large habitations, now they were cooped up, some in one town, and some
in another, in the several corners of their land, while the Israelites dwelt in
a large place, and had the possession of their whole land, some few and small
parcels excepted.
Verse 32
[32] Now
therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest
covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath
come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our
prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the
kings of Assyria unto this day.
Mercy — He
adds mercy, because the covenant in itself was not a sufficient ground of hope,
because they had so basely broken it. God was discharged from keeping it, and
therefore they fly to God's free and rich mercy for relief.
Verse 33
[33]
Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right,
but we have done wickedly:
Thou art just. … — It
becomes us, when we are under the rebukes of providence, be they ever so sharp,
or ever so long continued, still to justify God, and to own we are punished
less than our iniquities deserve.
Verse 37
[37] And
it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of
our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at
their pleasure, and we are in great distress.
Yieldeth much, … — We
plow, and sow, and labour, and thou givest thy blessing to our endeavours; and
yet in a great measure this is not for ourselves, as formerly it was, but for
our kings, to whom we pay heavy tributes.
Dominion —
Pressing or forcing both us and our beasts to go and to do what they please.
Verse 38
[38] And
because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes,
Levites, and priests, seal unto it.
Sure covenant, … — It
was sealed and left upon record, that it might be a witness against them, if
they dealt deceitfully.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Nehemiah》
09 Chapter 9
Verses 1-38
And cried with a loud voice unto the Lord their God.
The suppliant
The true test of the good received in religious ordinances is
their sanctifying effect on the life. Many a tree is gay with blossoms in
spring that yields no fruit in autumn; and so many gospel hearers, who appear
full of promise in the time of ordinances, show no decided piety in their
subsequent conduct.
I. The circumstances of the
prayer. It is often easier to act for God than to pray to Him--to work in His
vineyard than to wait at His throne. Activity may afford occasion for excitement,
and scope for display, and opportunity to attract the admiration of others;
while prayer calls to the exercise of faith, to cultivate humility, to live
under the eye of God. Spiritual work, indeed, might be expected to draw the
servant near to the Master for communion and help. It soon discovers human
weakness and want, and dependence on almighty power for strength, for supply,
for all blessing. But, instead of proving an incentive to prayer, it is often
made a substitute for it; and the labourer feels as if too busy in service to
find time for unceasing supplication. And thus the people of Judah here set a
high value on prayer. They have laboured to restore the walls and temple of
Jerusalem, and success has crowned their efforts. But activity in these sacred
undertakings, so far from cooling their devotion, inspires them to growing
fervour in prayers and supplications to God. In reference to the circumstances
of this prayer, it may be remarked--
1. It was offered immediately after the observance of the Feast of
Tabernacles. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month this festival commenced,
on the twenty-second it was closed; and “on the twenty-fourth day of this month
the children of Israel were assembled” for this prayer. The time of meeting is
proof of the ardour of their devotion. Formal worshippers are soon wearied in
spiritual exercises, and ask, “When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell
corn; and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat?” It is a frame of devotion
much to be desired. Protracted meetings like this, for religious exercises, may
be expedient only on extraordinary occasions, but habitual love of communion
with God is both the strength and joy of a holy heart. It is not one intense
momentary influence, flowing from the summer sun, that covers fields with corn
and trees with fruit, but the daily glow of his genial beams; so it is not a
single hour in the presence of Christ, receiving one full manifestation of Him
in the soul, that saves it from
the fears of guilt, and beautifies it with His image, but it is an abiding in
Him, a “looking unto Jesus,” a “coming unto God by Him.” “Abide in Me, and I in
you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no
more can ye, except ye abide in Me. Further, this prayer was offered in a
season of solemn fasting (Nehemiah 9:1). In the pilgrimage to
the better land, the valley of humiliation lies near the delectable mountains;
and the goodly prospects of Emmanuel’s land obtained from the one prepare for
walking in safety through the rugged paths of the other, while the same life of
faith is maintained in both. Moreover, the prayer was offered amid earnest
desires after new obedience. “The seed of Israel separated themselves from all
strangers” (Nehemiah 9:2). This sincere desire to
put away sin, and to obey the Divine Word, is essential to effectual prayer.
“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”
II. The substance of the
prayer.
1. An adoration of the Divine majesty (Nehemiah 9:6).
2. A review of past mercies, The mercies celebrated are--God’s choice
of Israel; His deliverance of them from bondage; His guidance of them through
the wilderness; and His bestowal on them of spiritual privileges.
3. We notice in the prayer confession of numerous sins (Nehemiah 9:16-35). The light of Divine
mercy here shows the dark cloud of their iniquities. They confess their
obstinate disobedience to God (Nehemiah 9:16-19). They hardened their
necks, and hearkened not to the Lord’s commandments. They confess their
slighting of almighty goodness (Nehemiah 9:20-26). They confess their
refusal of Divine warning (Nehemiah 9:27-30). They confess they did
not glorify God in His gifts (Nehemiah 9:34-35).
4. We observe in the prayer a plea for sovereign mercy (Nehemiah 9:32; Nehemiah 9:36-37).
III. The lessons of the prayer.
1. The duty of prayer in public distress. The people of Judah were
here in public distress, and they offer united prayer to God for His help in
their time of need.
2. The blessing of prayer to a community. This prayer for Jerusalem
was succeeded by times of prosperity in the holy city, and all it represented.
3. The power of prayer for the revival of the Church. (W. Ritchie.)
Thou, even Thou, art Lord
alone; Thou hast made heaven.
The Te Deum
In this we have perhaps the fullest setting forth of the glorious
and manifold character of Jehovah which is to be found in any single passage of
Scripture, and in it also is brought out in striking contrast the sinful
conduct of His chosen people. The Almighty is here recognised as--
1. The God of creation.
2. The God of the covenant.
3. The God of redemption (Nehemiah 9:9-11).
4. The Leader of His people.
5. The Lawgiver.
6. The Sustainer of His people.
7. The God of compassion and the hearer of prayer. (W. P.
Lockhart.)
The purpose of the rehearsal of national shortcomings
I. To encourage them to
expect further help from God.
II. To constrain them to enter
into closer covenant with him. (W. P. Lockhart.)
Thou art the Lord the God,
who didst choose Abram.--
God’s choice
My strength during all my life has been precisely this, that I
have made no choice. During the last thirty-six years God has twelve times
changed my home and fifteen times changed my work. I have scarcely ever done
what I myself would have chosen. (Dean Farrar.)
And hast performed Thy
words.--
The certainty of God’s promises
All means are in His hands. A father may promise his son
that he will make something of him when he grows up, but his business declines,
he is made bankrupt. But the great Father will never become bankrupt, never
fail; His power is infinite. Many a sea captain has had, during a storm, to
tell the passengers, “I have done all I can; there is now nothing but the
boat.” God has never to tell His people that. (Thomas Jones.)
The Divine promise sure
Corporations may be disfranchised and charters revoked. Even
mountains may be removed, and stars drop from their spheres; but a tenure
founded on the Divine promise is inalienably secure, and lasting as eternity
itself. (Hervey.)
Verse
9
And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt.
The path of duty the path of trial
I. That the path of human
duty here runs through great trials.
1. Sometimes it involves the sacrifice of endeared friendship. Lot
had to separate from Abraham, Barnabas from Paul, Paul from Mark.
2. Sometimes it involves the sacrifice of worldly prospects.
3. Sometimes it involves the endangering of life itself.
4. Sometimes it involves an outrage on our tender sentiments. Abraham
offering up Isaac.
II. That great trials through
which the path of duty here runs serve to test the principles of the pilgrims.
1. It reveals the bad principles of the heart. The Jews at the Red
Sea revealed their ingratitude, meanness, aspostasy, cowardice,
2. It reveals the good principles of the heart.
III. That unbounded faith in
god is essential to carry us safely ‘through the path of duty with all its
great trials. (Homilist.)
God our helper
The following is an extract from Stanley to Sir William Mackinnon: “You, who throughout
your long and varied life have steadfastly believed in the Christian’s God, and
before men have professed your devout thankfulness for many mercies vouchsafed
to you, will better understand than many others the feelings which animate me
when I find myself back again in civilisation, uninjured in life or health,
after passing through so many stormy and distressful periods. Constrained at
the darkest hour to humbly confess that without God’s help I was helpless, I
vowed a vow in the forest solitudes that I would confess His aid before men. A
silence as of death was round about me; it was midnight; I was weakened by
illness, prostrated with fatigue, and worn with anxiety for my white and black
companions whose fate was a mystery. In this physical and mental distress I
besought God to give me back my people. Nine hours later we were exulting with
a rapturous joy. In
full view of all was the crimson flag with the crescent, and beneath its waving
folds was the long-lost rear column.” Mungo Park was comforted by the Lord by a
tiny morsel of moss, and Livingstone was preserved by Him when most people gave
him up for lost:
and now, from the awful gloom of endless forests, Stanley cries unto the living
God, and lives to bear witness to the faithfulness of the prayer-hearing
Jehovah.
Verse
12
Moreover Thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar.
The pillars of cloud and fire
The people who for forty years followed that fire-cloud have left
footprints in the sands of time which serve us as an alphabet of life. The
march of the Israelites is an allegory of the life of man. Like a providence
palpable to the very eyes of man, the fire-cloud indexed that will of God which
it is the longing of true hearts in every age to fulfil. This fire-cloud
suggests--
I. That man’s life on earth
is a divinely-conducted discipline. The Israelites emerged from Egypt a huge
bee-swarm of humanity making for another hive. From the dark superstitions of
life and the coarse immoralities of antiquity they went into the wilderness to
learn the rudiments of life. Outside the sphere of man’s natural resources
Israel had to learn faith in the supernatural environment of man, Their
wilderness journey was the drill of a nation destined to be the vehicle of
Divine revelation to a world. Our life on earth is mainly a prolonged and
various discipline, and its significance lies in the finally resulting manhood.
The main matter is not how long
it takes us to cross this strip of earth, or how much we have while we travel,
but what the journey makes of us as regards the naked, moral character of us
all. Very suggestive, if you will ponder, is Israel’s inability to comprehend
the meaning of a great deal of their march. Why they should lie still, and why
move, were not always plain. We cannot readily comprehend the zigzag ways of
life. Looking at our things, and not at our soul, we sometimes seem to be
moving in a very resultless way--marking time rather than marching. Said a good
and active man whose work is his life, “By this sickness I have lost a month.”
How so? Through every day of his life henceforth he will carry a reverent thoughtfulness
of God, and in all his character there will be the tinge of a mellow
tenderness, the results of that “lost month’s” meditative realisations. Was the
month lost, then? God leads and leaves us not where we would like to be, but
where we have need to be. There is wisdom in every stage of life’s march and
countermarch. Life’s roughest mile is “ordered of the Lord,” and its darkest
place is illuminated by the pillar of fire. It is wisdom to store the lessons
of experience. Child-like, we forget the back lessons. The teachings of
sorrow’s school are forgotten in the playground of our joyfulness.
II. That throughout our
life-journey we follow a God we never see. That fire-bordered cloud was not
God. The cathedral window ablaze with its mingled glories hides the sun, while
it is at the same time a many-coloured witness of his living radiance. Life
leaves room for doubt, and gives worldliness its chance. Herein lies much of
our probation. Those tokens of God which are evidence of things not seen are
frequently familiarised into comparative powerlessness over the soul.
1. Some of the Israelites sinned under the very shadow of the pillar
of fire. The sentiments of reverence and wonder are in danger of exile from the
mind.
2. Nature, with its transformations of the seasons.
3. The Sabbath.
4. The house of God.
5. “Prayer; our prayers may become like the winding of our
watches--acts we do, scarcely sure whether they are done or not. We often see
most of God’ in the night of experience.
III. That protection which
God’s presence insures to those that follow him. Over the sleeping camp the
cloud lay like a golden warrior-shield. Yet how slowly was Israel trained to
courage! Every new danger created a coward hubbub in the camp. Their foes could
do them no harm; but their imaginations were terrible to them as an army with
banners. Their minds were made nervous by their own delusions. The Parisians
have exhibited what they call a “Panorama of the War.” Climbing what appears to
be a kind of tower, you seem to see the country around Paris alive with the
grim activities of war. Nearest the spectator are placed real cannon and the
like, and these shade off into painted forms beyond so perfectly as to produce
an illusion like that of the painter who attracted the quick-eyed birds to his
painted grapes. The illusion is wonderful, and you can all but smell the
gunpowder. But there is no movement--the soldiers are still as stones, the
bursting shell remains in the act of explosion, and the flame-flash continues
from the cannon-mouth. That breaks the spell. It is but picture, after all.
Thus we go at times up the tower of apprehension, and see besieging armies of
trouble. Near to us are some real objects of fear, and from them we go on to
paint a long perspective of morbid fancies, until life seems ringed round with
innumerable foes. After awhile we find it is mostly picture--“the very painting
of our fear.” Let the chief anxiety of all be to follow the great Leader of
life’s pilgrimage. (Samuel Gregory.)
Verse
16
But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks.
Hardened by sin
Dr. Manton says:
“As a delicate constitution is more capable of pain than a robust and stubborn
one, and the tender flesh of a child will sooner feel the lash than the thick
skin of a slave, so the children of God, having a more serious apprehension of
things, and a more tender spirit, soonest feel the burden of their Father’s
displeasure, and do more lay it to heart than careless and stupid spirits, who
laugh at their cross, or drink away their sorrows.” Tenderness of heart is thus
an attribute of the child of God, and a very precious attribute, too.
Hard-hearted men are not men after God’s own heart. In proportion as feeling
declines, life has declined. Spiritual men are sensitive men. Ossification of
the heart is a fatal disease. Declensions in grace are a searing of the soul.
When water is warmed by the summer sun, the smallest stone sinks into it; when
it is frozen in the northern blast, a huge block will be borne up upon the
surface of it, and will never penetrate to its depths. So, when the soul grows
cold with distance from God, it will sustain an enormous weight of sin; but
when grace returns, and the soul is in a fight spiritual condition, an ounce of
sin will be more than the soul can bear. Oh, for more of this holy
sensitiveness! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse
17
But Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful.
Divine forgiveness
I. What is necessary to
render the subject interesting.
1. A conviction of guilt.
2. An apprehension of our danger as transgressors.
3. A discovery of the privileges of a pardoned state.
II. The proofs which establish
the truth of the doctrine.
1. The provision He has made for the exercise of pardon.
2. The promptitude with which He pardons on our return,
3. His earnestness to excite us to seek after the blessing.
4. The character of those who have received pardon.
5. The number of those who obtain forgiveness.
III. The way in which this
subject may be abused.
1. When it leads us to deny any disposition in God to punish.
2. When it encourages us to hope for pardon in ways not warranted by
the Word of God.
IV. Improvment.
1. It should yield encouragement to the brokenhearted.
2. It should afford consolation to those who have believed through
grace.
3. The subject demands our admiration and praise.
4. It also calls upon us not only to admire, but to imitate (Ephesians 4:31-32; Ephesians 5:1). (W. Jay.)
Pardon of sin
I. The certainty of this
readiness to pardon. This may be discerned--
1. In the plans which He devised for its bestowment consistent with
His honour as a sovereign, and compatible with His character as a just and
moral Ruler.
2. In the repeated assurances and urgent entreaties with regard to
the facts which are furnished in His Word.
3. In the efforts He makes to effect it, and so frequently recorded
in the pages of history.
II. The conditions of this
readiness to pardon.
1. A vivid apprehension of personal guilt.
2. A full consciousness of personal danger.
3. Repentance and faith. (W. S. Edwards.)
The pardon of sin
No attribute of the Deity is so calculated to afford encouragement
and relief to the distressed and penitent sinner as that of His mercy. His
justice and holiness make him tremble. The Divine mercy is the only fountain
from which all our hope is derived. If God were unmerciful--if He were unable
and unwilling to forgive, how awful and desperate would be our condition!
I. Some of the distinguishing
characteristics of divine pardon. Respecting this blessing, we observe that it
is--
1. Gratuitous in its bestowment. Had it not been perfectly free, it
would be for ever beyond our reach. As fallen man is altogether destitute of
all inherent and acquired righteousness, he can never obtain it on the ground
of his own merit. Conscious of his utter unworthiness, and that he was
destitute of all merit, the psalmist cried, “For Thy name’s sake, pardon mine
iniquity, for it is great.” In the forgiveness of sin, God acts like the
creditor towards his two debtors; one owes him five hundred pence, and the
other fifty; and when they had nothing to pay, he frankly (freely) forgave them
both. It is true that there are certain duties which must be discharged by the
sinner; he must repent and believe; but these acts can never merit forgiveness.
The pardon of the penitent flows from the free and sovereign grace of God, and
is conveyed through the channel of the Redeemer’s atoning blood.
2. Unlimited in its extent. The pardoning mercy of God is not confined
to any degrees of guilt or amount of transgression. “Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who
healeth all thy diseases.” The pardoning mercy of God extends to the most
flagrant transgressions, and transcends all human conception. There is no sin
so heinous which God cannot forgive, and no guilt of so deep a hue which He
cannot remove.
3. Permanent in its enjoyment.
II. Prove the truth of the
declaration. God’s readiness to pardon is manifest--
1. From the provisions made for this purpose. Before sinners could be
pardoned and saved, there were certain barriers that must be removed. As God
was the supreme Lawgiver and Judge of the world--the Protector of righteousness
and goodness--it became Him not to pardon the guilty without the punishing of
sin, and that in such a manner as would satisfy His injured justice, and
vindicate the honour of His despised law, and at the same time declare His
greatest hatred to sin. Had there been no Mediator, the justice and holiness of
God would have stood as everlasting obstructions to the exercise of pardoning
mercy.
2. The express declarations of Scripture. Listen to the exulting and
triumphant language of the prophet Micah: “Who is a God like unto our God, that pardoneth
iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He
retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy.” See how
earnestly does God exhort the careless and impenitent, saying, “Turn ye, turn
ye from your evil way, for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” “How shall I
give thee up, O Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, O Israel? How shall I make
thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim?” Observe the grand commission of
the apostles, “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His
name, among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
3. Recorded facts. This glorious truth is not only declared by the
voice of inspiration, but also by the loud and impressive testimony of
experience. What multitudes have already obtained forgiveness! The Scriptures
abound with the most astonishing and striking instances of this delightful
truth. But if we look into the New Testament, we shall see this truth shining
forth with greater lustre still. The first instance that strikes us here is
Peter. How great and dreadful were his sins! He denied his Divine Lord and
Master, and that with oaths and curses; and yet repenting, he was forgiven. In
the same list we behold Mary Magdalene, “out of whom seven unclean spirits were
cast.” (Essex Congregational Remembrancer.)
Pardoning mercy
These words--
I. Prefer an important
charge. “And refused to obey,” etc. Though this charge was primarily brought
against the Jews, it is substantially applicable to all impenitent sinners. Here
is--
1. A charge of obstinate disobedience. We are guilty of the same
charge. We are under infinite obligations to the Divine Being. He is the
Creator, Sovereign, Benefactor, Redeemer, Saviour, and Judge of mankind.
2. A charge of criminal forgetfulness. “Neither were mindful of Thy
wonders, (Psalms 78:10-17; Psalms 106:21-26). God has crowned each of
us with loving-kindness and tender mercies, and wrought wonders in our
creation, preservation, redemption, and salvation. We have too often
unfaithfully forgotten His innumerable benefits, and ungratefully murmured
against His kind dispensations (Isaiah 1:2-3).
3. A charge of hardened impenitence. “But hardened their necks,”.
etc. This is an awful state (Proverbs 29:1; Romans 2:5-6; Hebrews 3:15).
II. Contain a gracious
declaration. “Thou art a God ready to pardon.” This is manifest from--
1. The perfections of the Divine character.
2. The glorious scheme of human redemption (Isaiah 53:5-6; Romans 3:25-26; 2 Corinthians 5:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
3. The testimonies and promises of Scripture.
III. Suggest appropriate
instruction. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
A God ready to pardon
I. The history of israel
singularly illustrates the readiness of God to pardon.
II. It is equally true that
the lord at all times is a God ready to pardon.
1. It is true of Him by nature. Mercy is an essential attribute of
God.
2. He Himself removed the impediment which lay in the way of
forgiveness.
3. He sends His message of love to sinners while they are yet in
their sins.
4. He makes no hard conditions with sinners.
5. What He demands of man by the gospel He also works in Him by His
Spirit.
6. He accepts even the very lowest grade of the necessary graces.
Repentance, etc. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A pardoning God
I. The nature of this pardon.
It is--
1. Free. Pardon must be so. It is no objection to say that Christ has
purchased it. True, He has purchased, but it is free in its bestowment on us,
because we could not merit it, nor claim it as a right.
2. Complete. Do not mean that it refers to the future. Some say when
once pardoned all done. Not so Scriptures. Complete because it refers to all;
complete because it is full.
3. Present. Some say not until death. Not so Scriptures.
4. Righteous. “Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren,”
etc. Righteous because bestowed on righteous principles; because of Christ’s
atonement.
5. Discriminating. If Christ died for all, how is it that all are not
pardoned? Remedy only available for those who apply for it. Hence--
II. The conditions. Scriptures
teach us duty of forgiveness if offender repents and asks. So with God our
confession must be--
1. Frank. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso
confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
2. Penitent. “The sacrifice,” etc. Many frankly confess, but not
penitently. True penitence seen in the publican.
3. Believing.
III. Evidence that God is ready
to pardon.
1. From scheme of redemption. Love in scheme, end of scheme; and if
pardon not dispensed, end defeated.
2. From His relation to the Saviour. As Father He could not furnish a
greater guarantee.
3. From means He employs to bring to Him. Sends
Spirit--Providence--Word. Characterised by love.
4. From receptions others have met with. Manasseh--dying thief--Saul.
Shown in Prodigal.
Lessons:
1. Subject does not imply God will not punish.
2. Subject shows only way of deliverance, and that way to be taken
now. (E. R. Derry.)
The joy of pardon
A man named John Welsh lay in prison in Chicago under sentence of
death. His friends tried to get his sentence commuted to imprisonment for life.
The day before that fixed for the execution arrived without any favourable
reply being received. The prisoner sat in his cell listening and longing
earnestly for a respite. Presently he heard the rumbling of the wheels of a car.
It brought the materials for his scaffold, and soon he heard the strokes of the
hammers, and pictured himself hanging on the scaffold which he could hear them
raising. The sound almost drove him frantic, and he sent for the governor, and
begged that he might be taken away anywhere from that dreadful noise. He was
taken to a distant cell, and there he sat on the edge of his bed, haunted with
gloomy thoughts, all hope gone. He was startled from his rom, erie by a hurried
step along the corridor. The key was thrust into the lock, and one of the
officers of the prison stood before him. He held a paper in his hand signed by
the Governor of the State of Illinois. It was a commutation of his sentence . .
. How the truth burst on his mind! When the paper was handed to him he could
not read it for tears; but it was a paper bringing him his life, and he hugged
it, and clasped it, and kissed it. (H. W. Taylor.)
Verse
18
Thou careen down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from
heaven.
Go by the directions
I saw a picture once which has stuck to my memory for years and
years. It was a picture of a dark, wild, stormy night, and a traveller was
standing up in the stirrups of his horse at a parting of the way, trying to
read the directions on the finger-post. How eagerly he is looking! I can see
him yet-holding the lighted match carefully in his hands lest the wind should
blow it out before he had read the directions I It was a good thing for him
that there were directions, and it is a good thing we have them too. Where are
our directions? They are--the Bible. That is God’s Word to us, telling us which
road to take when we come to the parting of the way. Go by the directions. Do what
God rays, and you will never go wrong. (J. Reid Howatt.)
Verses
26-29
Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against Thee.
Provocations and punishment
I. How justly we may be
charged, as the Jews in the text, with having wrought great provocations. This
will be manifest if we consider--
1. To what a prodigious height all kinds of iniquity are raised
amongst us. Atheism, infidelity, blasphemy, intemperance, impurity, commercial
immorality.
2. What engagements we are under to abstain from all transgressions
of the laws of God.
3. That our sins have been committed against the most prevailing
attempts of the Spirit of God to restrain and reclaim us from them.
4. That our sins have been committed against many and great mercies.
5. That our sins have been committed against the discipline of God’s
rod and those many judgments He hath sent to teach us righteousness.
II. That we have great reason
to fear that our great provocations may be punished by God as those of the Jews
were. Conclusion:
What is the most effectual means to prevent the punishment our great
provocations threaten us with? (Lilly Butler.)
And testifiedst against
them, that Thou mightest bring them again unto Thy law.
God’s laws
Some years ago I was enjoying a ramble on the Portsdown Hills, a
favourite resort of the Portsmouth people, and commanding a delightful view of
the sea. They are all open to the public, except a few places which are carefully
fenced off. Are these the most luxurious spots, where the grass is softest and
the moss most green? No, indeed, these are the broken and precipitous parts,
where serious accidents might occur. God’s laws are just like these fences.
God’s love has placed fences there to keep us from hurting ourselves. (F. S.
Webster.)
Danger signals
In travelling along our great railroads we pass many signal
stations. In connection with each of these there is a man appointed, one of
whose duties it is to see that the way is clear. If a bridge should be broken,
or any obstruction is on the road, he is expected to ring a bell, wave a flag,
or make a signal of some kind, so that the driver of any train coming along the
road may know in time to stop his train before any harm is done. And the flag
the man waves, or the signal he puts out, is the warring given to approaching
trains to save them from injury. In the journey that we are pursuing through this life we are sure
to meet with many dangers. The Bible is the guide-book which God has given us
to use on the journey. And the warnings found in this book are the signals to
tell us of the dangers that lie along our path in order that we may avoid them.
We cannot be safe in our journey through the world unless we are careful to mind
these warnings.
Verse 33
Howbeit, Thou art just in
all that is brought upon us.
The miseries of life;
their origin and remedy
The miseries of life have
been a fruitful theme to writers in all ages. Some have endeavoured to engage
us in their contemplation for a wise and good end. Others have taken occasion
from them to dispute the wisdom, justice, and goodness of God. Such notions,
thus derogatory from the providence of God, tend, even in the best of men, if
not timely eradicated, to weaken those impressions of reverence and gratitude
which are necessary to add warmth to devotion and vigour to virtue. The
teaching of Scripture is, that God is not to be charged with disregard of His
creation. He created man for happiness, and this happiness was forfeited by a
breach of the conditions to which it was annexed. Physical and moral evil
entered the world together. To avoid misery we must avoid sin. Consider--
I. How few of the
evils of life can justly be ascribed to God. We must carefully distinguish that
which is actually appointed by Him from that which is only permitted, or that
which is the consequence of something done to ourselves, and could not be
prevented but by the interruption of those general laws which we term the
course of nature or the established order of the universe. If we examine all
the afflictions of mind, body, and estate by this rule, we shall find God not
otherwise accessory to them than as He works no miracles to prevent them, as He
suffers men to be masters of themselves, and restrains them only by coercions
applied to their reason.
1. In making an estimate of the miseries that arise from the
disorders of the body, we must consider how many diseases proceed from our own
laziness, intemperance, or negligence; how many the vices or follies of our
ancestors have transmitted to us.
2. Nor are the disquietudes of the mind less frequently excited by
ourselves.
3. Poverty is not always the effect of wickedness--it may often be
the effect of virtue; but it is not certain that poverty is an evil.
II. How far a
general piety might exempt community from those evils. A community, in which
virtue should generally prevail, of which every member should fear God with his
whole heart and love his neighbour as himself, where every man should labour to
make himself “perfect even as his Father which is in heaven is perfect,” would
find these evils practically non-existant.
III. How much in the
present corrupt state of the world particular men may, by the practice of the
duties of religion, promote their own happiness. (John Taylor, LL. D.)
God has done right
I. Right as to
wisdom. It is of great importance for us to know, and to feel, especially when
tossed on the billows and enveloped in the darkness of some heavy affliction,
that God is infinitely wise, and that His wisdom can and will conduct all the
circumstances of His people to a happy issue. This is absolutely necessary to
the enjoyment of anything like calm security amidst such scenes. It is so in
the common affairs of life. The soldier trusts in the wisdom of his general,
and is calm in battle. The sailor trusts in the wisdom of his captain, and is
calm in the tempest. The traveller has confidence in the wisdom of his guide,
and pursues his course in peaceful security. And so, if believers would enjoy a
calm and cheerful assurance in fighting the battles, braving the storms, and
pursuing the pilgrimage of their present probation, they must have a settled
and solid repose in the infallible wisdom of God. And they must seek this, not
so much from the deductions of human reason, or the better lights of their own
experience in relation to providence, as from the operations of faith in the
Scripture revelations of God and His government.
II. Right as to
justice. Amidst the afflictions of life, not only must we recognise and trust
the infinite wisdom of God, but we must endeavour, by the lights of revelation
and experience, to reconcile the justice of God with the afflictions of the
righteous, and thus justify the ways of God to men. Men who only look on the
surface of things and events, and judge from that, often charge God with being
rigorous, unjust, and unrighteous in the operations and issues of His
providence. All temporal sufferings are the righteous consequence of original
or actual sin, and are frequently merited by the best of men. None can affirm
that they are free from human frailties and sinful defects, and therefore they
have no right to complain of the punishment of their sins. Our afflictions,
generally, fall far below the guilt which we have contracted. The time is
hastening on when the wisdom and justice of providence will be convincingly
evident to all.
III. Right as to
goodness. “Thou art good, and doest good.” Such was the testimony of the
psalmist; such is the uniform testimony of revelation; and such,
notwithstanding its mysteries, is the acknowledgment of universal providence.
And it is very necessary for us to be convinced of this, and live under the
perpetual and growing
influence of it, amidst the tribulations of life. Else how can we be calm,
secure, and happy?
1. Strive to understand God in your afflictions. From the absence of this
intelligent view of God’s providence in affliction the greatest mischief often
springs. Ignorance here, as everywhere else, is ever attended by distrust,
fear, dissatisfaction, and wasting anxiety; while, on the other hand,
intelligence produces confidence, serenity, contentedness, and a delightful
peace and repose.
2. Learn to avoid a spirit of envy and murmuring. If God acts wisely,
justly, and mercifully, in often permitting the wicked to live and prosper and
the righteous to fall into great afflictions, then resign yourselves to His
will, be satisfied with the dispensations of His hand, envy not the condition
of others, neither murmur at your own. Consider well the folly, vanity, and
misery of sinful prosperity, which rather needs your pity than your envy.
3. Learn to be firm and
faithful in the service and cause of God. Afflictions have driven
many from Christ and His kingdom. (W. Gregory.)
God’s proceedings in His
justice sometimes inexplicable
Take a straight stick and
put it into the water, then it will seem crooked; why? because we look upon it
through two mediums, air and water. There lies the deceptio visus; thence
it is that we cannot discern aright. Thus the proceedings of God in His
justice, which in themselves are straight, without the least obliquity, seem
unto us crooked. That wicked men should prosper, and good men be afflicted;
that the Israelites should make the bricks, and the Egyptians dwell in the
houses; that servants should ride on horseback, and princes go on foot--these are things
that make the best Christians stagger in their judgments. And why? but because
they look upon God’s proceedings through a double medium of flesh and spirit,
that so all things seem to go cross, though indeed they go right enough. And
hence it is that God’s proceedings in His justice are not so well discerned,
the eyes of man alone being not competent judges thereof. (J. Spencer.)
Verse 38
And because of all this, we make a sure covenant, and write it.
Covenanting with God
It may be asked, Are Christians of the present day expected to
enter into such covenants? To this we reply both yes and no. Yes, if regard be
had to true heart-consecration to the Lord. No, if it be a mere matter of form,
a source of bondage or a minister to spiritual pride. If we mistake not, some
of the Churches of New England have a form of covenant which each new adherent
is required to sign, and we know that the esteemed President Edwards advocated
the making of written covenants between individual Christians and the Almighty.
In reference to this each must exercise his own judgment as before God. (W.
P. Lockhart.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》