| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
Exodus Chapter
Fifteen
Exodus 15
Chapter Contents
The song of Moses for the deliverance of Israel. (1-21)
The bitter waters at Marah
The Israelites come to Elim. (22-27)
Commentary on Exodus 15:1-21
(Read Exodus 15:1-21)
This song is the most ancient we know of. It is a holy
song
to the honour of God
to exalt his name
and celebrate his praise
and
his only
not in the least to magnify any man. Holiness to the Lord is in every
part of it. It may be considered as typical
and prophetical of the final
destruction of the enemies of the church. Happy the people whose God is the Lord.
They have work to do
temptations to grapple with
and afflictions to bear
and
are weak in themselves; but his grace is their strength. They are often in
sorrow
but in him they have comfort; he is their song. Sin
and death
and
hell threaten them
but he is
and will be their salvation. The Lord is a God
of almighty power
and woe to those that strive with their Maker! He is a God
of matchless perfection; he is glorious in holiness; his holiness is his glory.
His holiness appears in the hatred of sin
and his wrath against obstinate
sinners. It appears in the deliverance of Israel
and his faithfulness to his
own promise. He is fearful in praises; that which is matter of praise to the
servants of God
is very dreadful to his enemies. He is doing wonders
things
out of the common course of nature; wondrous to those in whose favour they are
wrought
who are so unworthy
that they had no reason to expect them. There
were wonders of power and wonders of grace; in both
God was to be humbly
adored.
Commentary on Exodus 15:22-27
(Read Exodus 15:22-27)
In the wilderness of Shur the Israelites had no water. At
Marah they had water
but it was bitter; so that they could not drink it. God
can make bitter to us that from which we promise ourselves most
and often does
so in the wilderness of this world
that our wants
and disappointments in the
creature
may drive us to the Creator
in whose favour alone true comfort is to
be had. In this distress the people fretted
and quarrelled with Moses.
Hypocrites may show high affections
and appear earnest in religious exercises
but in the time of temptation they fall away. Even true believers
in seasons
of sharp trial
will be tempted to fret
distrust
and murmur. But in every
trial we should cast our care upon the Lord
and pour out our hearts before
him. We shall then find that a submissive will
a peaceful conscience
and the
comforts of the Holy Ghost
will render the bitterest trial tolerable
yea
pleasant. Moses did what the people had neglected to do; he cried unto the
Lord. And God provided graciously for them. He directed Moses to a tree which
he cast into the waters
when
at once
they were made sweet. Some make this
tree typical of the cross of Christ
which sweetens the bitter waters of
affliction to all the faithful
and enables them to rejoice in tribulation. But
a rebellious Israelite shall fare no better than a rebellious Egyptian. The
threatening is implied only
the promise is expressed. God is the great
Physician. If we are kept well
it is he that keeps us; if we are made well
it
is he that recovers us. He is our life and the length of our days. Let us not
forget that we are kept from destruction
and delivered from our enemies
to be
the Lord's servants. At Elim they had good water
and enough of it. Though God
may
for a time
order his people to encamp by the bitter waters of Marah
that
shall not always be their lot. Let us not faint at tribulations.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Exodus》
Exodus 15
Verse 1
[1] Then
sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD
and spake
saying
I will sing unto the LORD
for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse
and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Then sang Moses —
Moses composed this song
and sang it with the children of Israel. Doubtless he
wrote it by inspiration
and sang it on the spot. By this instance it appears
that the singing of psalms
as an act of religious worship
was used in the
church of Christ before the giving of the ceremonial law
therefore it is no
part of it
nor abolished with it: singing is as much the language of holy joy
as praying is of holy desire.
I will sing unto the Lord — All our joy must terminate in God
and all our praises be offered up to
him
for he hath triumphed - All that love God triumph in his triumphs.
Verse 2
[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.
Israel rejoiceth in God
as their strength
song
and salvation - Happy therefore the people whole God is the Lord: They
are weak themselves
but he strengthens them
his grace is their strength: they
are oft in sorrow
but in him they have comfort
he is their song: sin and
death threaten them
but he is
and will be
their salvation. He is their
fathers God - This they take notice of
because being conscious of their own
unworthiness
they had reason to think that what God had now done for them was
for their fathers sake
Deuteronomy 4:37.
Verse 3
[3] The
LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
The Lord is a man of war — Able to deal with all those that strive with their maker.
Verse 4
[4]
Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains
also are drowned in the Red sea.
He hath cast —
With great force
as an arrow out of a bow
so the Hebrew word signifies.
Verse 7
[7] And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that
rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath
which consumed them as
stubble.
In the greatness of thine excellency — By thy great and excellent power.
Verse 8
[8] And
with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together
the floods
stood upright as an heap
and the depths were congealed in the heart of the
sea.
With the blast of thy nostrils — By thine anger: The depths were congealed - Stood still
as if they had
been frozen: In the heart of the sea - The midst of it.
Verse 9
[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.
My lust — My
desire both of revenge and gain.
Verse 11
[11] Who
is like unto thee
O LORD
among the gods who is like thee
glorious in
holiness
fearful in praises
doing wonders?
The gods — So
called: Idols
or Princes: Glorious in holiness - In justice
mercy and truth:
Fearful in praises - To be praised with reverence.
Verse 12
[12] Thou
stretchedst out thy right hand
the earth swallowed them.
The earth swallowed them — Their dead bodies sunk into the sands on which they were thrown
which
sucked them in.
Verse 13
[13] Thou
in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast
guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the People — Out of the bondage of Egypt
and out of the perils of the Red-sea.
Thou hast guided them to thy holy habitation — Thou hast put them into the way to it
and wilt in due time bring them
to the end of that way.
Verse 17
[17] Thou
shalt bring them in
and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance
in
the place
O LORD
which thou hast made for thee to dwell in
in the Sanctuary
O Lord
which thy hands have established.
Thou shalt bring them in — If he thus bring them out of Egypt
he will bring them into Canaan; for
has he begun
and will he not make an end? Thou wilt plant them in the place
which thou hast made for thee to dwell in - It is good dwelling where God
dwells
in his church on earth
and in his church in heaven.
In the mountains — In
the mountainous country of Canaan: The sanctuary which thy hands have
established - Will as surely establish as if it was done already.
Verse 18
[18] The
LORD shall reign for ever and ever.
The Lord shall reign for ever and ever — They had now seen an end of Pharaoh's reign
but time itself shall not
put a period to Jehovah's reign
which like himself is eternal.
Verse 20
[20] 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.
Miriam (or Mary
it is the same name)
presided in an assembly of the women
who (according to the common usage of
those times) with timbrels and dances
sung this song. Moses led the psalm
and
gave it out for the men
and then Miriam for the women. Famous victories were
wont to be applauded by the daughters of Israel
1 Samuel 18:6
7
so was this. When God brought
Israel out of Egypt
it is said
Micah 6:4
he sent before them Moses
Aaron
and
Miriam; though we read not of any thing remarkable that Miriam did but this.
But those are to be reckoned great blessings to a people
that go before them
in praising God.
Verse 21
[21] And
Miriam answered them
Sing ye to the LORD
for he hath triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
And Miriam answered them — The men: They sung by turns
or in parts.
Verse 23
[23] 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.
The name of it was called Marah — That is
Bitterness.
Verse 25
[25] And
he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed 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 he cried unto the Lord — It is the greatest relief of the cares of magistrates and ministers
when those under their charge make them uneasy
that they may have recourse to
God by prayer; he is the guide of the church's guides
and to the chief
shepherd
the under shepherds must on all occasions apply themselves: And the
Lord directed Moses to a tree
which he cast into the waters
and they were
made sweet - Some think this wood had a peculiar virtue in it for this purpose
because it is said
God shewed him the tree. God is to be acknowledged
not
only in the creating things useful for man
but in discovering their
usefulness. But perhaps this was only a sign
and not a means of the cure
no
more than the brazen serpent.
There he made a statute and an ordinance
and
there he proved them — That is
there he put them upon trial
admitted them as probationers for his favour. In short he tells them
Exodus 15:26
what he expected from them
and
that was
in one word
obedience. They must diligently hearken to his voice
and give ear to his commandments
and must take care
in every thing
to do
that which was right in God's sight
and to keep all his statutes. Then I will
put none of these diseases upon thee - That is
I will not bring upon thee any
of the plagues of Egypt. This intimates
that if they were disobedient
the
plagues which they had seen inflicted on their enemies should be brought on
them. But if thou wilt be obedient
thou shalt be safe
the threatening is
implied
but the promise is expressed
I am the Lord that healeth thee - And
will take care of thee wherever thou goest.
──
John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Exodus》
15 Chapter 15
Verse 1
Then sang Moses and the Children of Israel.
The Song of Moses at the Red Sea
Unwonted interest attaches to this song--the earliest on record of
all the sacred odes
and the very foremost in the annals of Hebrew anthology.
To the Jewish people themselves
it is what they have long called it
“The
Song”; a designation to which it is entitled
alike from its inherent
pre-eminence and its unrivalled associations.
1. It is Israel’s natal song. For
in crossing the Red Sea
they
passed through the birth-throes of their national existence
and from this
epoch dates a new chronology in Israel’s calendar. The oppressed tribes have
become a commonwealth; and a commonwealth of the free.
2. It is Israel’s emancipation song
or song of liberty. It
signalises a triple deliverance; marking the supreme moment of rescue from the
threefold evils of domestic slavery
political bondage
and religious thraldom.
3. It is Israel’s first National Anthem and Te Deum in one. The
Exodus was not a mere effort on the part of the Hebrew race to achieve their
independence and realize their aspirations after a separate nationality. The
spirit of even this idea had yet to be created within them; but everything
depended on their being first delivered from the corrupting influences of
Egyptian fetichism and idolatry
no less than from the yoke of Egyptian
bondage. Not that the mass of them could at all appreciate the full meaning of
the grand event as a mighty religious movement
repeating on a larger scale the
migration of Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees
and breaking away from idolatrous
and debasing superstitions
to find a home for the free development of a higher
creed and worship. But the eye of their great leader descried this Divine
purpose; and he had gone with this first tentative proposal to Pharaoh from God
“Let My people go
that they may serve Me in the wilderness.” It is Israel’s Te
Deum
or song of thanks and praise to God. An overwhelming sense of the Divine
interposition is the predominant sentiment in the song from first to last. It
is no mere secular ode; no mere war-song or outburst of patriotic triumph; no
exultant shriek of insult over a fallen foe; but an anthem of blessing and
gratitude for a great deliverance
a devout and solemn psalm before God
to
whom
of whom
and for whom it is sung. This high and sacred intent keeps it
from degenerating into a wild strain of vindictiveness or vainglory.
4. It is Israel’s Church-song; the type of all songs of redemption
and salvation. The very words “redemption” and “salvation” are first introduced
in connection with this great deliverance. “I will redeem you with an
outstretched arm”; and again
“Fear ye not; stand still
and see the salvation
of the Lord.” The people had become unified into a worshipping assembly. It is
Israel’s triumph-song of deliverance. The note is that of joy and victory; and
is prophetic of the success of every battle and struggle for the Lord’s cause
and kingdom
fought in the Lord’s name and in His strength. This triumph is the
precursor especially of that final and glorious one at the end of the ages
when the spiritual Israel
which no man can number
from every people
and
tribe and language
“having gotten the victory over the beast
and over his
image
and over his mark
and over the number of his name
” shall take up a
position like their prototypes of old not
however
by the shore of the Red
Sea
with the mere emblem of God’s presence before them--but as John saw them
in apocalyptic vision
standing by the sea of glass mingled with fire; no
longer led merely by Miriam and her chorus
but all of them having the harp of
God in their hand
singing
not only “the Song of Moses
the servant of God
”
but “the Song of the Lamb.”
I. Introduction:
or the triple aim of the song (verses 1
2). Thus the song is
first of all
inscribed and offered to the Lord. He also is its great theme or subject; and
it is His exaltation that constitutes its one and expressly avowed aim. To God
of
God
for God--these are the three pivot-thoughts regulating and determining the
movement of the opening strophe
and
indeed
of the entire hymn. Here
as not
infrequently with later psalms
we have the whole song concentrated in the
first verse. The occasion of the song
its subject
its design
are all
indicated. First
there is here a singing to the Lord. The simplest idea we can
attach to the opening words
“I will sing to the Lord
” is this--I will bring
myself into the immediate and felt presence of Jehovah
and will address and
offer my song to Him! How near has He been to us during the eventful and
stupendous transactions of the night! Under a realizing sense of that Dearness
I will direct my song to Him. To what a pitch of solemnity this conception
raises the singer I But
while this idea of singing to the Lord is expressive
of the singer’s attitude as immediately before the very face of the Supreme
it
no less indicates that the song is an acceptable offering and oblation to the
Lord. It is no self-pleasing exercise of gift and faculty
but “a sacrifice to
the Lord
the fruit of the lips.” “Singing
” says one
“is as much the language
of holy joy as prayer is the language of holy desire.” How sublime a sight! The
whole of a people singing before the one invisible God
and consciously
realizing more or less their direct relation to the Eternal
under no outward
form or image or material symbol! Secondly
the Lord is the subject or theme of
the song. Underlying all is the sense of the Divine personality. Nothing but this
could have kindled the soul to song. If God is to be the subject of hymning
praise
it must needs be the thought of a living
personal One
to evoke the
spirit of glorying in and praising His name. Thirdly
there is here a singing
not only to the Lord and of the Lord
but for the Lord. To extol and exalt the
Lord is declared to be the ultimate end and aim of this song. And indeed this
is the highest reach and the final purpose of all praise--to manifest and
express the Divine character
the Divine working and ways
the Divine glory and
honour. We are taught to pray for God as well as to Him; and to put this ever
in the foreground of our prayers
as of all things the first
the best
the
supremely desirable. “Hallowed be Thy name: Thy kingdom come: Thy will be
done”--these petitions have the precedence over any for either ourselves or
others. But not only to do this
but also to express it and set forth our
purpose to do it--this is the special aim and function of praise
of which
“Doxology
” or the ascription of power
blessing
dominion
and every
excellency
is the highest climax. It is the very anticipation of heaven itself
and of all its worship.
II. The body
or
subject-matter of the song (verses 3-13). The third verse seems to be designed
for a great chorus--probably meant to be re-echoed by a body of deep-voiced
warriors. It marks a transition from the declarative style of the introduction
to the alternation of recitative and ascriptive portions in the main body of
the song. It forms also a suitable link between the two
being a fit climax to
what precedes
because it sets forth why and in what character the Lord is to
be exalted--“the Lord is a Man of War”--and a fit index to what follows
because it suggests
so strikingly
the nature of His triumph which is now
about to be celebrated; a triumph involving struggle and conflict. He is “a Man
of War” in accordance always with His sublime and sacred name Jehovah. The song
proceeds to develop the three great qualities of the Jehovah-warrior
the
Warrior who is Divine.
1. He is in power resistless. This power is seen first in the
magnitude of the scale on which it operates--the sense of this being enhanced
by the detail of particulars in verse 4. Pharaoh’s chariots
and his host
and
his chosen captains. Then
again
in the ease with which it effects its object
as He “casts” them into the sea--it is as if He had caught up the whole host in
His hand
and slung it like a stone into the deep; and finally
in the
completeness of the overthrow and the irreversible and irretrievable nature of
the result. Having thus signalized the catastrophe
the poet’s inspiration
seems to catch a new afflatus. The style suddenly changes in verses 6
7
and
8; it ceases to be merely descriptive
and becomes directly ascriptive. The
tone is now lofty and devout
God being addressed immediately in the second
person
and the whole event being attributed to the interposition and
miraculous operation of His power alone.
2. He is in equity and righteousness unchallengeable. The “equity and
righteousness” is as manifest as the power. We are taught in verse 7 to regard
the whole situation as intended for a display of “the Divine excellency”: so
true
so timely
and so exemplary it is in its manifestation. With consummate
ease
but with no less consummate justice
the dread penalty is enacted; to
show how “He is glorious in holiness and fearful in praises” while “doing
wonders.” For it is intimated that Egypt
in what it was doing
was not only
“the enemy” of Israel
but it was “of them that rose up against Thee”; fighting
against the Almighty and violating the first principles of Divine justice
truth
and mercy. The victims of the catastrophe were the fit subjects of a
retributive and self-vindicating economy. Moreover
it was so well-timed. They
were taken
as it were
red-handed
in the very act; at the very moment they
were anticipating their revenge and gloating in its gratification. While they
were intoxicated with insolence and pride: while they were breathing out
threatening and cruelty
the Lord speaks to them in wrath; the Lord holds them
in derision.
3. Yet
finally
He is in mercy plenteous. We have to note the goodness
no less than
the severity
of God here. The reiteration in verse 12 of what has been said
before
seems designedly made to enhance the sublime and suggestive contrast.
III. The threefold
issues (verses 14-18). In this third and last wave of the anthem
the Divine
mercy in the redemption of Israel is illustrated. The song becomes prophetic;
and three grand issues are described and anticipated
an immediate
an
intermediate
and a final one.
1. The immediate influence of the Exodus and passage of the Red Sea
on the tribes and peoples around
verses 14-16. A striking gradation is
observed in describing the various effects: there is first a widespread panic
and commotion in general
then the chiefs or “phylarchs” of Edom are paralyzed
with terror; the mighty men of Moab tremble with uncontrollable fear; and
finally the Canaanites melt away in despair.
2. There is an intermediate or remoter influence on the ultimate
settlement and final destiny of Israel. So great an initial triumph was a happy
augury and a sure prognostication of coming success. It was to be accepted as a
Divine pledge of all needful aid and succour
until at length they should be
firmly established in the promised land
as a nation
a race or family
and a
Church. For in verse 17 we have a climax with three particulars
in which
Israel is presented in three aspects
and their land is set forth in the triple
character of an inheritance
a home
and a sanctuary
awakening the chords of
patriotism
ancestry
and worship.
3. There is the last great issue of all
“The Lord shall reign for
ever and ever.” The prophecy of this song reaches thus onward to the end of all
things; for the deliverance of Israel was not merely typical of
but actually a
part and instalment of
the final redemption. And therefore
this song of Moses
is not only the key-note and inspiration of the songs of the Old Testament
Church
but a song of the Church in every age
celebrating as it does an event
and deliverance not only pledging but vitally contributing to the last great
acts in the onward triumph of Christ’s complete redemption. (A. H. Drysdale
M. A.)
The Song of Moses
I. The history
which the song celebrates.
II. The reflections
which the history thus celebrated suggests.
1. The history affords an awful instance of persevering rebellion
against God
notwithstanding the infliction of repeated and awakening
chastisements.
2. The tendency of the human mind to forget past mercies
when we are
involved in present afflictions.
3. The duty of yielding obedience to God
even when His commands seem
to be opposed to our interests and our happiness.
4. The certainty that God will appear on behalf of His people
however long His interposition may be delayed.
5. The history reminds us of a nobler deliverance which God has
effected for His people by Jesus Christ.
6. We may learn from the history with what grateful joy the disciples
of Christ will celebrate His power and grace
when they have crossed the river
of death. (J. Alexander.)
Jubilate
I. It will be
instructive to notice the time of the singing of this song. To everything there
is a season: there is a time of the singing of birds
and there is a time for
the singing of saints. “Then sang Moses.”
1. It was first of all at the moment of realized salvation. When we
doubt our salvation we suspend our singing; but when we realize it
when we see
clearly the great work that God has done for us
then we sing unto the Lord who
hath for us also triumphed gloriously. How can our joy of heart any longer be
pent up?
2. So is it also in times of distinct consecration. I would remind
you that the apostle assures us that all Israel were “baptized unto Moses in
the cloud and in the sea.” That passage through the Red Sea was the type of
their death
their burial
and their resurrection to a new life; it was their
national baptism unto God: and therefore they sang as it were a new song. It is
the happiest thing that can ever happen to a mortal man
to be dedicated to
God.
3. It was also a day of the manifest display of God’s power.
4. But this song may be sung at all times throughout the life of
faith. Let your hearts begin to ring all their bells
and let not their sweet
chimes cease for evermore.
II. The tone of
this song.
1. Note
first
that the tone is enthusiastic.
2. The tone is also congregational
being intended for every
Israelite to join in it. Though Moses began by saying
“I will sing unto the
Lord
” yet Miriam concluded with
“Sing ye to the Lord
for He hath triumphed
gloriously.” This is a hymn for every child of God
for all that have come out
of Egypt. Let the
song be enthusiastic and unanimous.
3. Yet please to notice how very distinctly personal it is. “I will
sing unto the Lord
for He hath triumphed gloriously. 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.”
Do not lose yourself in the throng.
4. Note
again
the tone of this song is exceeding confident. There
is not a shadow of doubt in it: it is all the way through most positive in its
ascriptions of praise.
5. And this song is exceeding comprehensive. It sings of what God has
done
and then of what God will do in bringing His people into the Promised
Land; nor does it finish till it rises to that loftiest strain of all: “The
Lord shall reign for ever and ever.”
6. Note
too
all through
that this song is immeasurably joyous. The
Israelites were slaves enjoying new liberty; children let out to play. They did
not know how to be glad enough. Let us give to God our unlimited joy.
7. Yet I must say
however enthusiastic that song was
and however
full of joy it was
it was only such a song as was due unto the Lord.
III. The first
clauses of this song. “The Lord is my strength and my song
” etc.
1. Notice
the song is all of God: there is not a word about Moses.
Let us forget men
forget earth
forget time
forget self
forget this mortal
life
and only think of our God.
2. Observe
the song dwells upon what God has done: “The horse and
his rider hath He thrown into the sea.” Let us trace all the mercies we get to
our God
for He hath wrought all our works in us; He hath chosen us
He hath
redeemed us
He hath called us
He hath quickened us
He hath preserved us
He
hath sanctified us
and He will perfect us in Christ Jesus. The glory is all
His.
3. The song also declares what the Lord will yet do. We shall conquer yet in
the great name of Jehovah. Take up the first note: “The Lord is my strength.”
What a noble utterance! Poor Israel had no strength! She had cried out by
reason of her sore bondage
making bricks without straw: The Lord is my
strength when I have no strength of my own. It is well to say
“The Lord is my
strength” when we are weak and the enemy is strong; but we must mind that we
say the same when we are strong and our enemies are routed. The next is
“The
Lord is my song
” that is to say
the Lord is the giver of our songs; He
breathes the music into the hearts of His people; He is the Creator of their
joy. The Lord is also the subject of their songs: they sing of Him and of all
that He does on their behalf. The Lord is
moreover
the object of their song:
they sing unto the Lord. Their praise is meant for Him alone. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
The Song of triumph
The Song of Moses has never been surpassed for the poetical beauty
of its imagery and its expressions. It is
besides
so full of holiness and
adoration
as to render it incomparable.
I. Let us recount
all the causes for gratitude which are enumerated in it.
1. The Israelites had been delivered from a terrible danger. The
enemy had said
“I will pursue
I will overtake
I will divide the spoil; I
will draw my sword
my hand shall destroy them.”
2. They had been delivered from inevitable danger. None could save
them but God only. Before them was the sea; behind them were Pharaoh and his
host.
3. They had been delivered from universal danger. Not the lives of a
thousand only
or even of ten thousand
among them had been threatened; all
old and young together
were to have been slain.
4. They had been delivered by most glorious miracles; the strong east
wind
the pillar of light
the sea changed
as it were
into walls of ice.
5. They bad been delivered notwithstanding their sins. Oh
what an
example of the free grace of God! They had scorned His words
had murmured; it
was
so to speak
in spite of themselves that God had saved them.
6. They had been delivered altogether
not one was missing
not one
had perished
not even the youngest child. No mourning marred their triumph
as
often happens to the nations of the earth when they are celebrating a great
victory.
7. They had been saved by the power of God alone. It was not their
work
it was that of the Lord
who had said to them
“Stand still
and ye shall
see the salvation
of the Lord; the Lord shall fight for you.”
8. Lastly
their deliverance was accompanied by promises for the
future. God had brought them out of Egypt
but it was to lead them to Canaan.
II. If we are true
believers
and if Jesus is our Saviour
we have the same reasons that the
Israelites had for singing the song of praise.
1. Like them
we have been delivered from a terrible danger. It was
the danger of death
--not of the body
for that is comparatively nothing
as
our Lord has said
but of the soul; that is to say
condemnation
alienation
from God
a whole eternity passed “in outer darkness
where there is weeping
and gnashing of teeth.”
2. Like the Israelites
we have been delivered from inevitable
danger. There is no way of escape--no salvation in any other than in the Lord
Jesus Christ.
3. We have been delivered from a universal danger. Indeed
we are all
by nature under condemnation. “There is no difference: for all have sinned
and
come short of the glory of God.”
4. We have been delivered by most glorious marvels. “Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us
that we should be called the
sons of God
” exclaims the apostle John. These things are so sublime
that the
angels desire to look into them.
5. We have been delivered notwithstanding our sins; for “God
commendeth His love towards us
in that
while we were yet sinners
Christ died
for us.”
6. Like Israel
we have been delivered altogether. Not one of the
chosen people of God will be missing; the youngest child
the most despised
the most forgotten of men
if he has put his trust in the Lord
will not
perish.
7. God has saved us without any strength of our own
for we were
incapable of doing anything. “I have trodden the winepress alone
” saith the
Saviour by the mouth of Isaiah. He obeyed for us
He has borne our sins
He has
accomplished all the work of our salvation.
8. Lastly
our deliverance has been accompanied
like that of the
Israelites
with glorious promises. The Lord will guide us with His counsel
and afterwards He will receive us to glory. He will be our strength
because He
has been our Saviour. (Prof. Gaussen.)
Manly gratitude
Among the mass of men how little there is of that frank
manly
gratitude
that openly
and in the sight of a scoffing world
acknowledges the
delivering
saving hand of God. Amid such wide-spread forgetfulness of the hand
of an overruling Providence
it is a satisfaction to record the case of a
thankful British seaman
a fine young man in the naval service on board Her
Majesty’s ship
Queen. They were cruising off Cape Finisterre. The hands
had been turned up to reef top sails for the night; the work was just finished
when the young captain of the mizzen top overbalanced himself and fell. He came
down a distance of a hundred feet or more
and would have fallen on the deck
where no doubt he would have been instantly killed or seriously injured; but as
he fell he clutched the foot-brail of the mizzen--this threw him against the
sail
which broke his fall
and he was saved! And as he touched the deck he
knelt down in the sight of the throng of officers and men who composed the
crew
and offered up his thanks to Almighty God for his safe deliverance
during which time the silence and discipline was such one might have heard a
pin drop on the deck.
After deliverance there should come a song
Gratitude is an imperative duty; and one of its first and finest
forms is a hymn of thanksgiving and praise. It is true that it will not be
worth much if it expends itself only in song; but wherever the psalm is
sincere
it will communicate its melody also to the life. Too often
however
it does not even give a song. You remember how only one of the ten lepers
returned to thank the Lord for His cleansing; and
perhaps
we should not be
far wrong if we were to affirm that a similar proportion prevails to-day
between the thankful and the ungrateful. Yet it would be wrong if we were to
leave the impression that such gratitude as this of Moses is almost unknown. On
the contrary
the pages of our hymn-books are covered with songs which have
been born
like this one
out of deliverance. Many of the finest of David’s
psalms are the utterances of his heart in thanksgiving for mercies similar to
those which Moses celebrated; and some of the noblest lyrics of Watts and
Wesley
of Montgomery and Lyre
have had a similar origin. Nor is this all; we
can see that in all times of great national revival there has been an outburst
of song. At the Reformation
no result of Luther’s work was more remarkable
than the stimulus it gave to the hymnology of the Fatherland. In fact
that may
be said to have been as good as created by the Reformation; and in our own
country each successive revival of religion has had its own special hymn. But
we have not all the genius of Wesley
or the inspiration of Moses
or of David;
and what shall we do then? We can at least appropriate the lyrics of those who
have gone before us
and use them in so far as they meet our case; and I can
conceive no more pleasant or profitable
occupation for the household than the singing of those hymns which have become
dear to us because of the personal experiences which we can read between the
lines. But we can do better still than that; for we can set our daily deeds to
the music of a grateful heart
and seek to round our lives into a hymn--the
melody of which will be recognized by all who come into contact with us
and
the power of which shall not be evanescent
like the voice of the singer
but
perennial
like the music of the spheres. To this hymnology of life let me
incite you; for only they who carry this music in their hearts shall sing at
last on the shore of the heavenly land
that song of “pure concert” for which
John could find no better description than that it was” the song of Moses
the
servant of God
and the song of the Lamb.” But to sing of deliverance
you must
accept deliverance. Open your hearts
therefore
for the reception of
salvation. (W. M. Taylor
D. D.)
The Lord is my strength
and my song.--
The citadel and the temple
I. What the Lord
is to his people.
1. “The Lord is my strength
” sang the enraptured host
when they saw
how He had “triumphed gloriously” for them--and this has ever been the song of
God’s people as they have passed through dangers and tribulations in their way
to the heavenly Canaan (Isaiah 26:4).
2. But if the Lord be the strength of His people
it must imply that
they themselves are weak.
3. But the Lord is our strength; and if the Church be likened unto
things which are weak
the figurative language of the Bible is equally strong
in setting forth the Lord as her strength (Proverbs 28:10; Psalms 18:2). The Lord Jesus is called
the Captain of her salvation
her Deliverer
Governor
Guide.
4. But the Lord is not only the strength of His people
but also
their song. He is a very present help in trouble
and He sometimes raises the
head
and cheers the heart
even in the midst of sorrows and trials (Habakkuk 3:17-19).
5. The Lord is also the salvation of His people. He sometimes saves
them
in a miraculous manner
from temporal evils.
6. He is their God: and this is everything. Infinite power
wisdom
mercy
goodness
love
pity
truth
justice
are all exerted in their behalf;
for
in one delightful word
He is their God--yea
and He will be their God for
ever and ever
and their Guide even unto death.
II. The resolutions
which a sense of His goodness leads them to make.
1. “I will prepare Him an habitation
” alluding
probably
to the
Temple which the Jews afterwards built. But it is in the humble
contrite heart
that the Lord delights to dwell; and we prepare Him a habitation when we open
our hearts to receive Him
when we devote them entirely to Him
and when we
make Him the principal object of our desires.
2. “My father’s God”--the God of Abraham
Isaac
and Jacob
and of
all our pious ancestors--“and I will exalt Him.” With my tongue will I praise
His name
and my soul shall exalt in Him. (B. Bailey.)
My father’s God.--
The pathos of theology
A song is the proper conclusion of a victory. Fasting is the
worship of sorrow; singing is the worship of joy. The words specially chosen
for meditation show that the victory did not end in itself; it touched the holy
past; it consummated the promises and hopes of ages.
I. “My father’s
God.” Then religion was no new thing to them. They were not surprised when they
heard the name of God associated with their victory. Religion should not be an
originality to us; it should not be a novel sensation; it should be the common
breath of our daily life
and the mention of the name of God in the relation of
our experience sought to excite no mere amazement.
II. “My father’s
God.” Then their father’s religion was not concealed from them. They knew that
their father had a God. It is possible not to suspect that a man has any regard
for God until we see his name announced in connection with some religions
event. We cannot read this holy book without being impressed with the fact that
the men who made the history of the world were men who lived in continual
communion with the spiritual and unseen.
III. “My father’s
God.” Yet it does not follow that the father and the child must have the same
God. You have power deliberately to serve the connection between yourself and
the God of your fathers. It is a terrible power!
IV. “My father’s
God.” Then we are debtors to the religious past. There are some results of
goodness we inherit independently of our own will. This age inherits the
civilization of the past. The child is the better for his father’s temperance.
Mephibosheth received honours for Jonathan’s sake. The processes of God are not
always consummated in the age with which they begin. Generations may pass away
and then the full blessing may come. Practical questions:
1. Your father was a Christian
--are you so much wiser than your
father that you can afford to set aside his example? There are some things in
which you are bound to improve upon the actions of your father; but are you
quite sure that the worship of the God of heaven is one of them?
2. Your father was a holy man--will you undertake to break the line
of a holy succession? Ought not the fame of his holiness to awaken your own
religious concern?
3. Your father was deeply religious
--will you inherit all he has
given you in name
in reputation
in social position
and throw away all the
religious elements which made him what he was?
4. Your father could not live without God
--can you? (J. Parker
D. D.)
A noble ancestry and a glorious resolution
I. A noble
ancestry. “My father’s God.” Who are the men who have the most illustrious
ancestry? The men who honoured
served
and trusted the one true and living
God. The same God does for all ages; His character commends itself to the
adoration of all souls. It is natural to value anything our loving fathers
love. We value their favourite books
but how much more their God
the totality
of goodness
the fountain of all blessedness?
II. A glorious
resolution. “I will exalt Him.” How can we “exalt Him?” Enthrone Him in our
affections as Lord of lords
and King of kings
ruling all thoughts
animating
and directing all activities. (Homilist.)
The living God
I. Who was the God
of our fathers?
1. A pure Being
not the “chance” of the atheist.
2. A conscious Being
not the “mere law” of the deist.
3. A personal Being
not “the all” of the pantheist.
4. A perfect Being
as revealed in the Bible.
5. An emotional Being
as manifested in Christ.
6. A communicative Being
as imparted by the Holy Spirit.
II. What is it to
exalt Him?
1. Not by tall spires.
2. Not by gorgeous ritual.
3. To adore Him as the object of our worship.
4. To give Him the chief place in our affections. (W. W. Wythe.)
My mother’s God
At a fashionable party a young physician present spoke of one of
his patients
whose case he considered a very critical one. He said he was
“very sorry to lose him
for be was a noble young man
but very unnecessarily
concerned about his soul
and Christians increased his agitation by talking
with him and praying for him. He wished Christians would let his patients
alone. Death was but an endless sleep
the religion of Christ a delusion
and
its followers were not persons of the highest culture or intelligence.” A young
lady sitting near
and one of the gayest of that company
said
“Pardon me
doctor
but I cannot hear you talk thus and remain silent. I am not a professor
of religion; I never knew anything about it experimentally
but my mother was a
Christian. Times without number she has taken me with her to her room
and with
her hand upon my head
she has prayed that God would give her grace to train me
for the skies. Two years ago my precious mother died
and the religion she
loved through life sustained her in her dying hour. She called us to her
bedside
and with her face shining with glory
asked us to meet her in heaven
and I promised to do so. And now
” said the young lady
displaying deep emotion
“can I believe that this is all a delusion? that my mother sleeps an eternal
sleep? that she will never waken again in the morning of the resurrection
and
that I shall see her no more? No
I cannot
I will not believe it.” Her brother
tried to quiet her
for by this time she had the attention of all present.
“No!” said she. “Brother
let me alone; I must defend my mother’s God
my
religion.” The physician made no reply
and soon left the room. He was found
shortly afterwards pacing the floor of an adjoining room
in great agitation
and distress of spirit. “What is the matter?” a friend inquired. “Oh
” said he
“that young lady is right. Her words have pierced my soul like an arrow. I too
must have the religion I have despised
or I am lost for ever.” And the result
of the convictions thus awakened was that both the young lady and the physician
were converted to Christ
and are useful and influential members of the Church
of God.
Verse 3
The Lord is a man of war.
The triumphs of Jehovah
I. The thought of
God’s triumphs as a man of war seems to be valuable as giving in its degree a
proof of the truth of Holy Writ. The moral expectations raised by our Lord’s
first sermon on the Mount are being actually realized in many separate souls
now. The prayer for strength to triumph against the devil
the world
and the
flesh is becoming daily more visibly proved in the triumph of the Spirit
in
the individual lives of the redeemed.
II. The triumphs of
the Lord in the individual hearts among us give an increasing hope for unity
throughout Christendom. We cannot deny the debt we owe to the labours of
Nonconformists in the days of the Church’s lethargy and neglect. We cannot join
them now
but we are preparing for a more close and lasting union
in God’s own
time
by the individual progress in spiritual things.
III. We must do our
part to set our seal to the triumphant power of Divine grace. It is the
half-lives of Christians which are such a poor proof of the truth of our Lord’s
words. They do not begin early enough; they do not work thoroughly enough. We
have the promise that this song shall be at last on the lips of all who
prevail
for St. John tells us in the Revelation that he saw those who had
overcome standing on the sea of glass
having the harps of God
singing the
song of Moses and the Lamb. (Bp. King.)
Verse 9-10
The enemy said.
The enemy’s spirit
Observe the spirit of the enemy of Israel. It was characterized--
1. By great ambition. It was the love of power and dominion. To hold
human beings as property is the vilest display of ambition.
2. Great arrogance and pride. I will pursue (rather “repossess”)
overtake
divide
etc. What self-confidence! What boasting! What assumption!
Pride goeth before destruction.
3. Insatiable avarice. Divide the spoil. Had not Pharaoh enough? An
avaricious spirit unceasingly cries
Give! give! What a cursed spirit it is!
Well has it been said that nature is content with little
grace with less
but
the lust of avarice not even with all things.
4. Reckless malevolence and cruelty. “My lust shall be satisfied
I
will draw my sword
” etc. What thirsting for blood! Ambition and avarice render
the mind cold and the heart callous. Tears
wailings
groans
mangled bodies
and the flowing blood of mankind allay not the fires of human malevolence and
lust.
5. Presumptuous confidence and security. I will do
not endeavour
no
peradventure. Contingency and doubt have no place. How foolish for the man who
puts on the armour to boast. (A. Nevin
D. D.)
God’s Church and her enemies
Israel was a type of the Church
Pharaoh a type of the Church’s
enemies in all ages of the world
both of the spiritual enemy Satan
and of the
temporal
his instruments. The deliverance was a type of the deliverance that
Christ wrought upon the cross by His blood; also of that Christ works upon His
throne
the one from the reign of sin
the other from the empire of antichrist.
The text is a part of Moses’ song; a song after victory
a panegyric; the
praise of God
attended with dancing
at the sight of the Egyptian wrecks (Exodus 15:20).
1. It was then real; the Israelites then sang it.
2. It is typical; the conquerors of antichrist shall again triumph in
the same manner (Revelation 15:3).
3. It was an earnest of future deliverance to the Israelites.
General observations.
1. The greatest idolaters are the fiercest enemies against the Church
of God. It is the Egyptian is the enemy. No nation had more and more sordid
idols.
2. The Church’s enemies are not for her correction
but her
destruction: “I will pursue; my hand shall destroy them.”
3. How desperate are sometimes the straits of God’s Israel in the eye
of man! How low their spirits before deliverance.
4. God orders the lusts of men for His own praise.
5. The nearer the deliverance of the Church is
the fiercer are God’s
judgments on the enemies of it
and the higher the enemies’ rage.
6. All creatures are absolutely under the sovereignty of God
and are acted by His power
in all their services.
7. By the same means God saves His people
whereby He destroys His
enemies: the one sank
the other passed through. That which makes one balance
sink makes the other rise the higher.
8. The strength and glory of a people is more wasted by opposing the
interests of the Church than in conflicts with any other enemy.
9. We may take notice of the folly of the Church’s enemies. Former
plagues might have warned them of the power of God
they had but burned their
own fingers by pinching her
yet they would set their force against almighty
power
that so often had worsted them; it is as if men would pull down a
steeple with a string.
But the observations I shall treat of are--
1. When the enemies of the Church are in the highest fury and
resolution
and the Church in the greatest extremity and dejection
then is the
fittest time for God to work her deliverance fully and perfectly. When the
enemy said
“I will pursue
I will overtake
I will divide the spoil
” etc.
then “God blowed with His wind
” then “they sank.”
2. God is the author of all the deliverances of the Church
whosoever
are the instruments. “Thou didst blow with Thy wind; who is like unto the Lord
among the gods.” Uses: How dear is the Church to God!
2. Remember former deliverances in time of straits.
3. Thankfully remember former deliverances. (S. Charnock
B. D.)
Vanity of boasting
When Bonaparte was about to invade Russia
a person who had
endeavoured to dissuade him from his purpose
finding he could not prevail
quoted to him the proverb
“Man proposes
but God disposes”; to which he
indignantly replied
“I dispose as well as propose.” A Christian lady
on
hearing the impious boast
remarked
“I set that down as the turning-point of
Bonaparte’s fortunes. God will not suffer a creature with impunity thus to usurp
His prerogative.” It happened to Bonaparte just as the lady predicted. His
invasion of Russia was the commencement of his fall.
Triumphing before the battle
Nothing can be got
but much may be lost
by triumphing before a
battle. When Charles V. invaded France
he lost his generals and a great part
of his army by famine and disease; and returned baffled and thoroughly
mortified from an enterprize which he began with such confidence of its happy
issue
that he desired Paul Jovius
the historian
to make a large provision of
paper sufficient to record the victories which he was going to acquire!
Providentially destroyed
During the last summer
at Coblentz
we saw a monument erected to
commemorate the French campaign against the Russians in 1812. It was a gigantic
failure; 400
000 men set forth for Moscow; 25
000
battered and worn and weary
tattered and half famished
returned. Do you ask how it was done? Not by the
timid Alexander’s guns and swords. We read in one place that “the stars in
their courses fought against Sisera”; in another
how God has sent an army of
locusts to overthrow an army of men; but here the very elements combine to
drive the invader back in disgrace. Yes. “He gave snow like wool
He scattered
His hoar-frost like ashes
He cast forth His ice like morsels--who can stand
before His cold?” Who? Not Napoleon who
with self-sufficient heart
boasted in
his own right hand
and sacrificed to his insatiable ambition the blood of
myriads of murdered men. No! God blows upon him with His wind out of the north
and
shivering and half-starved
he slinks back in defeat. What a picture! But
Alexander had not forgotten to prepare his ways before the Lord and seek the
God of Jacob’s aid. And in recognition of the Divine interposition and help
he
struck a medal with a legend: “Not to me
not to us
but unto Thy Name.” Thus
the lesson taught by ancient and modern history is
that the race is not to the
swift
nor the battle to the strong
but to the man who prepares his ways
before the Lord his God. (Enoch Hall.)
Verse 11
Who is like unto Thee
O Lord
among the gods?
The incomparable God
I. Who is like
unto thee
o lord
among the gods?
1. King of kings and Lord of lords! Who among the gods is like unto
Thee in majesty and power? Well might Israel exultingly make this inquiry.
2. Who is like unto Thee in the ineffable purity of Thy nature?
“Glorious in holiness!”
3. Who is like unto Thee in the solemnity and sanctity of Thy
worship?--“fearful in praises!” The gloriously holy God is alone worthy to be
praised
but that praise ought to be offered with “reverence and godly fear.”
II. Who does like
Thee?--“doing wonders.”
1. The wonders alluded in the text were undoubtedly the miracles
recently wrought by Jehovah for the salvation of His people. “Thou art the God
that doest wonders
” etc. (Psalms 77:14-20).
2. But not only miracles
which imply an inversion or suspension of
the laws of nature
but nature and her laws--every part of the work of God in
the heavens and in the earth is wonderful
and amply shows forth the power and
wisdom of the Creator (Job 37:14-23; Psalms 8:3-4; Psalms 19:1-7). If we only study our own
frame
we shall be led to exclaim with the Psalmist
“I am fearfully and
wonderfully made!”
3. The Lord sometimes does wonders in judgment
flood
etc.
4. The Lord does wonders in mercy. Redemption. (B. Bailey.)
Glorious in holiness.--
The holiness of God
Plutarch said not amiss
that he should count himself less injured
by that man that should deny that there was such a man as Plutarch
than by him
that should affirm that there was such a one indeed
but he was a debauched
fellow
a loose and vicious person. He that saith
God is not holy
speaks much
worse than he that saith
There is no God at all. Let these two things be
considered:
1. If any
this attribute hath an excellency above His other
perfections.
2. As it seems to challenge an excellency above all His other perfections
so it is the glory of all the rest; as it is the glory of the Godhead
so it is
the glory of every perfection in the Godhead; as His power is the strength of
them
so His holiness is the beauty of them; as all would be weak without
almightiness to back them
so all would be uncomely without holiness to adorn
them. Should this be sullied
all the rest would lose their honour and their
comfortable efficacy; as at the same instant that the sun should lose its
light
it would lose its heat
its strength
its generative and quickening
virtue.
I. The nature of
Divine holiness. The holiness of God negatively is a perfect freedom from all
evil. As we call gold pure that is not imbased by any dross
and that garment
clean that is free from any spot
so the nature of God is estranged from all
shadow of evil
all imaginable contagion. Positively
it is the rectitude of
the Divine nature
or that conformity of it in affection and action to the
Divine will as to His eternal law
whereby He works with a becomingness to His
own excellency
and whereby He hath a complacency in everything agreeable to
His will
and an abhorrency of everything contrary thereunto. In particular.
This property of the Divine nature is--
1. An essential and necessary perfection. He is essentially and
necessarily holy. His holiness is as necessary as His being
as necessary as
His omniscience.
2. God is absolutely holy (1 Samuel 2:2).
3. God is so holy
that He cannot possibly approve of any evil done
by another
but doth perfectly abhor it; it would not else be a glorious
holiness (Psalms 5:3)
“He hath no pleasure in
wickedness.” He doth not only love that which is just
but abhor with a perfect
hatred all things contrary to the rule of righteousness. Holiness can no more
approve of sin than it can commit it.
4. God is so holy
that He cannot but love holiness in others. Not
that He owes anything to His creature
but from the unspeakable holiness of His
nature
whence affections to all things that bear a resemblance of Him do flow;
as light shoots out from the sun
or any glittering body. It is essential to
the infinite righteousness of His nature
to love righteousness wherever He
beholds it (Psalms 11:7).
5. God is so holy
that He cannot positively will or encourage sin in
any.
6. God cannot act any evil in or by Himself.
II. The proof that
God is holy.
1. His holiness appears as He is Creator
in framing man in a perfect
uprightness.
2. His holiness appears in His laws
as He is a Lawgiver and a Judge.
This purity is evident--
3. The holiness of God appears in our restoration. It is in the glass
of the gospel we “behold the glory of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18); that is
the
glory of the Lord
into whose image we are changed; but we are changed into
nothing as the image of God but into holiness. We bore not upon us by creation
nor by regeneration
the image of any other perfection. We cannot be changed
into His omnipotence
omniscience
etc.
but into the image of His
righteousness. This is the pleasing and glorious sight the gospel mirror darts
in our eyes. The whole scene of redemption is nothing else but a discovery of judgment and
righteousness. “Zion shall be redeemed with judgment
and her converts with
righteousness (Isaiah 1:27).
III. The third thing
I am to do
is to lay down some propositions in the defence of God’s holiness
in all His acts about or concerning sin.
1. God’s holiness is not chargeable with any blemish
for His
creating man in a mutable slate. It was suitable to the wisdom of God to give
the rational creature
whom He had furnished with a power of acting
righteously
the liberty of choice
and not fix him in an unchangeable state
without a trial of him in his natural. And if he did obey
his obedience might
be the more valuable; and if he did freely offend
his offence might be more
inexcusable.
2. God’s holiness is not blemished by enjoining man a law which He
knew he would not observe.
3. The holiness of God is not blemished by decreeing the eternal
rejection of some men.
4. The holiness of God is not blemished by His secret will to suffer
sin to enter into the world. God never willed sin by His preceptive will. It
was never founded upon
or produced by any word of His
as the creation was.
Nor doth He will it by His approving will; it is detestable to Him
nor ever
can be otherwise. He cannot approve it either before commission or after.
IV. The point was
that holiness is a glorious perfection of the nature of God. We have showed the
nature of this holiness in God
what it is
and we have demonstrated it
and
proved that God is holy
and must needs be so
and also the purity of His nature in all His
acts about sin. Let us now improve it by way of use.
1. Is holiness a transcendent perfection belonging to the nature of
God? The first use shall be of instruction and information.
2. The second use is for comfort. This attribute frowns upon lapsed
nature
but smiles in the restorations made by the gospel.
3. Is holiness an eminent perfection of the Divine nature? Then--
God the pattern of holiness
No creature can be essentially holy but by participation from the
chief fountain of holiness
but we must have the same kind of holiness
the
same truth of holiness; as a short line may be as straight as another
though
it parallel it not in the immense length of it; a copy may have the likeness of
the original
though not the same perfection. We cannot be good without eyeing
some exemplar of goodness as the pattern. No pattern
is so suitable as that
which is the highest goodness and purity. That limner that would draw the most
excellent piece fixes his eye upon the most excellent pattern. He that would be
a good orator
or poet
or artificer
considers some person most excellent in
each kind as the object of his imitation. Who so fit as God to be viewed as the
pattern of holiness in our intendment of
and endeavours after
holiness? The
Stoics
one of the best sects of philosophers
advised their disciples to pitch
upon some eminent example of virtue
according to which to form their lives
as
Socrates
etc. But true holiness doth not only endeavour to live the life of a good man
but chooses to live a Divine life. As before the man was “alienated from the
life of God
” so upon his return he aspires after the life of God. To endeavour
to be like a good man is to make one image like another
to set our clocks by
other clocks without regarding the sun; but true holiness consists in a
likeness to the most exact sampler. God being the first purity
is the rule as
well as the spring of all purity in the creature
the chief and first object of
imitation. (S. Charnock
B. D.)
The holiness of God and that of His best saints
There is as little proportion between the holiness of the Divine
majesty and that of the most righteous creature
as there is between the
nearness of a person that stands upon a mountain to the sun
and of him that
beholds him in a vale; one is nearer than the other
but it is an advantage not
to be boasted
in regard of the vast distance that is between the sun and the
elevated spectator. (S. Charnock
B. D.)
God loves holiness
God is essentially
originally
and efficiently holy: all the
holiness in men and angels is but a crystal stream that runs from this glorious
ocean. God loves holiness
because it is His own image. A king cannot but love
to see his own effigies stamped on coin. God counts holiness His own glory
and
the most sparkling jewel of His crown. “Glorious in holiness.” (T. Watson.)
Verses 14-16
The people shall hear
and be afraid.
The world afraid of God’s people
What shall make these mighty men melt away? Seeing two or three
millions of unwarlike folks marching towards them--an unarmed rabble
without
military discipline
and without the appliances of war? Is it before such that
the mighty men of Moab are to fall back
that the chivalrous sons of Edom are
to be put to flight; that all the inhabitants of Palestine are to melt away?
Nothing of the kind. Those Israelites were not going to terrify all these
nations with any display of their own power or prowess. It was the story of the
Exodus
the story of a divided sea
the story of a certain mysterious pillar of
fire
the story of the wonderful overthrow of Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red
Sea; it was this that was to fill them with despair. Many of us are at the
outset terribly afraid of these hostile forces; is it not a comfort to know
that on account of redemption
they are actually afraid of us? In a very memorable period in “our island
story
” when Admiral Howard and Drake had defeated the Spanish Armada after the
first great battle
they continued to pursue them for a fortnight without
having a single shot or a single charge of powder left in their ships. They had
nothing left but air to fill their guns with. Yet thus without any ammunition
our fleet went sailing on and sailing on
while the terrified strangers fled
before them
until they were driven right into the Northern Sea. Then the
Admiral thought they could not do much harm there
and so he left them and came
back to get powder and shot for his own ships. Our fleet
with empty guns
chased their enemies because that enemy was afraid of them. They had had one
terrible defeat
and that was enough. And even so may we deal with the forces
of this world. Count upon your enemies being afraid of you. If instead of being
afraid of them you will only carry the war into the enemy’s camp
and seek to
win them for Christ
instead of allowing them to draw you away from Him
you
will find that redemption has already stripped them of their courage and
paralyzed their power to do you any injury. (W. Hay Aitken
M. A.)
Verse 17-18
Thou shalt bring them in.
Anticipations of faith
We are
perhaps
hardly surprised at the tone of jubilant
confidence which pervades this glorious psalm of thanksgiving. Very strong
indeed is the language used; but perhaps not stronger than might naturally have
been expected to spring from such circumstances; for what a wonderful event had
just transpired! Here they were then
on the other side of the Red Sea
the
vast wilderness stretching before them
their long weary march not yet
commenced
and wholly destitute of any adequate supplies
and without either
arms
or discipline
or any capacity for warfare. Surely the prospect might
have seemed most discouraging. They must have known perfectly well--what they
soon found out to be a fact--that the wilderness swarmed with wandering nomad
hordes
Bedouins of the desert
men of war
who might at any moment come down
upon them
cut off their stragglers
or even put the whole undisciplined rabble
to rout and make a prey of them. And even supposing they should overcome these
difficulties of the journey
what then? There lay Canaan before them
but how
were they
who could hardly hold their own against the tribes of the desert
to
undertake aggressive warfare against nations dwelling in cities with walls
great and high
and equipped with all the appliances of ancient warfare? How
chimerical their enterprise would seem on reflection! how improbable that they
would ever succeed in taking possession of the land which God had promised to
them! But faith looked on beyond all difficulties. Faith never stops for
commissariat supplies! Faith does not ask
Where is my daily bread to come
from? Faith does not wait to be clothed with armour
save such armour as the
power of God supplies. Faith does not stop to weigh the adequacy of the means
within our reach to induce the end. Children of God
it is time we endeavoured
to apply the lessons suggested by all this to ourselves. We too have been the
subjects of a great deliverance
a deliverance as supernatural in its character
and as astonishing in its conditions as ever was the deliverance of Israel from
Egypt. This deliverance is also the product of redemption. We are saved in
order that we may rise to the prize of our high calling
and become inheritors
of our true Land of Promise; and the first great deliverance is with us also
surely an earnest and a pledge of all that is to follow. I suppose it is
because we so imperfectly apprehend the miracle of our deliverance and its
completeness
and the new relations which it establishes between ourselves and
God
and between ourselves and sin
that our feelings at the outset of our new
life are so often just the opposite of those depicted in this triumphant song.
Instead of joyous anticipation
how common a thing it is to meet with gloomy
forebodings on the part of the newborn children of God
fresh from the Cross of
Christ
just rising
as we may say
spiritually out of the waters of the Red
Sea. And many of us have scarcely been saved from our condition of condemnation
and spiritual bondage before we begin to consider the difficulties that lie
before us
the enemies that we shall have to encounter
the sacrifices that we
may have to make
the trials that we may have to undergo. The wilderness seems
so vast
the enemies so mighty
the supplies so inadequate or precarious; and
while our eyes of unbelief are resting upon all these adverse considerations
our heart seems to sink within us until we are ready to turn back again into
Egypt. How common a thing it is to meet with young Christians who seem indeed
to be on the right side of the Red Sea
but who appear to be more inclined to
wring their hands in terror than to “sound the loud timbrel” in exultation! (W.
Hay Aitken
M. A.)
An encouraging deliverance
Two ways this great deliverance was encouraging.
1. It was such an instance of God’s power as would terrify their
enemies and quite dishearten them (Exodus 15:14-16). It had this effect (see
Deuteronomy 2:4; Numbers 22:3; Joshua 2:9-10).
2. It was such a beginning of God’s favour to them as gave them an
earnest of the perfection of His kindness. This was but in order to something further (Exodus 15:17). (M. Henry
D. D.)
Christ for ever
When Luther went to his trial at Augsburg from Wittemberg he
walked all the distance. Clad in his monk’s brown frock
with all his wardrobe
on his back
the citizens
high and low
attended him in enthusiastic admiration. As they went they cried
“Luther for ever!” “Nay! nay!” he answered
“Christ for ever!”
Verse 18
Hast led forth the people which Thou hast redeemed.
Lessons
1. God’s future providence as well as past deliverance is the matter
of faith’s praise.
2. God
as a shepherd
leadeth His people through their course to
rest
and will lead
as if it were done.
3. Mercy is the rule of all God’s conduct to His Church here below.
4. God hath saved
and will redeem His Israel out of all their
troubles. It is His promise (Psalms 130:8).
5. God’s holy habitation
Sion in type and heaven in truth
is the
end of all His providential guidance unto His.
6. God’s strength secureth the Church’s conduct to His holy
habitation.
7. Tender
sweet
and gentle is God’s guidance of His Church through
their way to rest (Isaiah 40:11).
8. All this promised guidance faith must return to the praise of God.
(G. Hughes
B. D.)
The song of Moses
I. Past mercies
acknowledged. The fact celebrated is redemption from Egypt--“Thou in Thy mercy
hast led forth Thy people which Thou hast redeemed.” The whole glory of
deliverance is ascribed to the Lord
without any reference to second causes.
The believer will often look back and contemplate his mercies
and celebrate
his deliverances; like Samuel
he will raise his Ebenezer (1 Samuel 7:12).
II. Future mercies
anticipated. “Thou hast guided them
in Thy strength
unto Thy holy
habitation.” Here is the language of strong faith
as if they were already in
Canaan. Moses knew that God had promised to bring them to His holy hill
and to
His dwelling; he knew that God’s promises were as good as His performances; and
we may say so too
for they are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus. The Lord had
done so much for Israel
that Moses felt no doubt as to the future--“Thou shalt
bring them in
and plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance.”
III. Israel’s
enemies confounded. “The people shall hear and be afraid
sorrow shall take
hold of the inhabitants of Palestine
” etc. The world has now much to say
against the people and cause of God. Religion is denounced by them as a
delusion--a gloomy thing--as madness; but then every objection will be
silenced. Satan
too
is now very busy with his temptations and accusations;
but this state of things shall not always last. Trembling shall take hold of
the believer’s enemies
when the people of God are safely brought to the
heavenly Canaan. Then where will be the venom of the world? where the accusations of Satan? Not
one mouth will then be opened against the meanest and most neglected of God’s
people on earth. He shall then have nothing to fear; admitted within the pearly
gates of the heavenly Jerusalem
he shall be for ever with the Lord. All
enemies will be for ever excluded. The Church shall be saved and God glorified.
IV. The Kingdom of
God permanently triumphant. “The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.”
1. To the enemies of Christ. You see that the Lord must reign; then
what must become of you?
2. To the friends of Christ
yea
to those who wish to love the
Saviour.
Verses 19-21
With timbrels and with dances.
Song
timbrel
and dance
The monuments reproduce this scene in all its parts. Separate
choirs of men and women are represented on them
singing in alternate
responses; the timbrel
or tambourine
is represented as the instrument of the
women
as the flute is that of the men; and the playing of the tambourine
unaccompanied
as here
by other instruments
is represented in connection with
singing and the dance. Further
it appears from the monuments that music had
eminently a religious destination in Egypt
that the timbrel was specially
devoted to sacred uses
and that religious dances were performed in the worship
of Osiris. (E. C. Wines
D. D.)
In the tombs at Thebes timbrels
like Miriam’s
round and square
are seen in the bands of the women; while pipes
trumpets
sistrums
drums
and
guitars are there in great abundance and variety; and harps
not much unlike
the modern instrument
with varying numbers of strings up to twenty-two. (S.
C. Bartlett
D. D.)
Cheering effect of music
Whilst the Federal army lay before the city of Richmond
the
regimental bands were silent. When they began to retreat to Malvern
the troops
marched through the acres of ripe grain
cutting off the tops and gathering
them into their haversacks
being out of rations
as well as lame and stiff
from marching. Orders were here given for the bands to strike up playing
and
the effect on the dispirited men was almost magical as the patriotic airs were
played. They seemed to catch new hope and enthusiasm
and a cheer went up from
each regiment.
Serving God with a cheerful spirit
When the poet Carpani inquired of his friend Haydn how it happened
that his church music was always so cheerful
the great composer made a most
beautiful reply. “I cannot
” said he
“make it otherwise; I write according to
the thoughts I feel. When I think upon God
my heart is so full of joy that the
notes dance and leap
as it were
from my pen; and since God has given me a
cheerful heart
it will be pardoned me that I serve Him with a cheerful
spirit.”
Verses 22-27
They came to Marah.
Marah
I. The water was
deleterious
not distasteful only. Had the people drunk it
it would have
wrought disease; but it was healed by the obedience of Moses to God’s
directions. So if we are attentive and obedient to His voice He will find us
remedies from all things that might hurt us.
II. It was not
possible
perhaps
that the children of Israel should
by persevering in the
unwholesome draught which is there typical of sin
have vitiated their taste
till they delighted in it. But it is too possible in the antitype.
III. Though we axe
compelled by God’s providence to pass through difficulty and temptation
we are
not doomed to dwell there. If we are faithful
it is but in passing that we shall
be endangered. If we use the remedy of obedience to God’s Word to-day
to-morrow we shall be beside the twelve ever-springing fountains
and under the
shade of the palm-trees of Elfin. (Archbishop Benson.)
The waters of Marah
We have here a parable of the deep things of Christ.
I. Israel was in
those days fresh from the glorious deliverance out of Egypt; they had sung
their first national song of victory; they had breathed the air of liberty.
This was their first disappointment
and it was a very sharp one; from the
height of exultation they fell almost at once to the depths of despair. Such
disappointments we have all experienced
especially in the outset of our actual
march
after the first
conscious sense of spiritual triumph and freedom.
II. Of us also it
is true that God hath showed us a certain tree
and that tree is the once
accursed tree on which Christ died. This is the tree of life to us
though of
death to Him.
III. It was God who
showed this tree unto Moses. And it was God who showed it to us in the gospel.
Applied by our faith to the bitter waters of disappointment and distress
it
will surely heal them and make them sweet. Two things there are about the tree
of scorn which will never lose their healing power--the lesson of the Cross and
the consolation of the Cross; the example and the companionship of Christ
crucified.
IV. The life which
found its fitting close upon the cross was not a life of suffering only
but
emphatically a life of disappointment. Here there is comfort for us. Our dying Lord
must certainly have reflected that He
the Son of God
was leaving the world
rather worse than He found it in all human appearance.
V. Whatever our
trials and disappointments
let us use this remedy; it will not fail us even at
the worst. (R. Winterbotham
M. A.)
Bitter-sweet
I. That great joy
is often closely followed by a great trial. “Thou hast made my mountain to
stand strong” is the grateful word of many a rejoicing Christian; and lo!
suddenly touched by the finger of Providence
it reels and rocks as though
heaved by an earthquake
and falls into the depths of the sea. In the day of
prosperity be wise! Rejoice with trembling! Do not presume on the possession of
present good. In the hour of peace forget not the preparation for a possible
storm. Trust in God with a firm hand
both in sunshine and in shade.
II. Here is a great
trial transformed into a great blessing. The bitter was not removed
but
converted into sweet. So God can make the grief a grace anti change the burden
into a blessing. The rod itself shall bud and blossom and bring forth almonds
so that the very thing that chastens the trustful soul shall present beauty to
the eye and fruit to the taste. It was a Divine work. The Israelites
even with
Moses at their head
had no skill to meet the given necessities of the hour.
“The Lord showed them a tree
” and so miraculously healed the forbidding
spring. Brothers! human wisdom
earth’s philosophies
the world’s limited
resources are all useless in the midst of our desperate needs.
III. Here is a great
trial
so transformed
preparing for and leading to a still greater blessing.
(see Exodus 15:27). Christian
be of good
courage. Egypt’s chains were heavy; but the Red Sea victory made thee glad.
Marah’s waters were bitter; but the Lord distilled sweet streams therefrom to
strengthen and refresh thy soul. Then He led thee to beautiful Elfin
with its
springs and palm-trees
and its grateful rest
and in all and through all thou
art “nearer” Canaan than when first thou didst believe. Amid all thine
alternations of joy and sorrow there shall be
if thou art faithful to thy God
a clear current
progressive gain
and it shall still be better further on.
IV. This gracious
alternation and abundant deliverance was all experienced on the line of march.
Let the Christian never forget that these are the conditions necessary to
secure his gracious progression of conquest
transformation
and exceeding joy.
(J. J. Wray.)
The sweetening tree in life’s bitter streams
Heaven has prepared a sweetening tree for the bitter waters.
I. Of our secular
life. Wrecked plans
blasted hopes
etc. The “tree” to sweeten this is Christ’s
doctrine of a Fatherly providence.
II. Of our moral
life. The bitter waters of an accusing conscience. “Whom God hath set forth
”
etc.
III. Of an
intellectual life. God’s revealed character in Christ--all-wise
all-loving
all-powerful.
IV. Of our social
life. “I am the Resurrection
” etc. “Them that sleep in Jesus will God bring
with Him.”
V. Of our dying
life. (Homilist.)
The mysterious tree
I. That prayer
will meet every painful crisis in human experience.
II. That all men
everywhere
are athirst.
III. That every man
will at length come to his well; but the water thereof will be bitter to his
taste. Sensual indulgence. Fashionable amusement; inebriety; riches; worldly
renown; infidelity. All mere earthly pools are acrid and unsatisfying.
IV. That there is a
tree which can sweeten all earth’s waters. “The tree of life”--the Cross of
Christ. “He
every one that thirsteth
come.” (S. D. Burchard
D. D.)
Life’s bitterness
The wilderness brings out what is within. It also discovers God’s
goodness and our unworthiness.
I. Earth’s
rottenness.
1. We must expect bitter pools in a bitter world.
2. Many of us make our own Marahs.
II. Heaven’s
remedy.
1. To the praying man the Lord reveals the remedy.
2. God uses instramentality.
3. God does not always take away the Marah
but drops an ingredient
into it to sweeten its bitterness. (Homilist.)
The waters of Marah
Had they been allowed to select their path
they would have taken
the short cut by the seaboard to their own promised land. But the cloud steered
their pathway through difficulty and into difficulty. Behind them was the blood
of the lamb. They were ransomed. Behind them the wonders of Egypt wrought on
their behalf. Behind them the passage of the Red Sea. And they might have
expected that
the moment they had left their foes behind
they had left all
trouble and sorrow too. But instead of that
their redemption from Egypt was
their redemption from comparatively easy circumstances into arduous and
difficult straits. God led His redeemed in the very heart and teeth of
difficulty. I am often met by men who have been redeemed by the blood of
Christ
who are truly His servants
behind whom there lies a wondrous story of
deliverance
and they have come to me with complaints
and they have said
“I
thought when I had given up my old sins that my life would be calm and placid
and that difficulty would be at an end; but instead
I never did in all my life
go through such a sea of difficulty as I have known since I became a
Christian.” Friend
that is always God’s way with His redeemed ones. You must
not think that difficulty is a proof that you are wrong. Difficulty is most
likely aa evidence that you are right. Never be daunted by it. Why? Those
verses we read from Deuteronomy answer the question. It is in order to humble
us
to prove us
and to knew what is in our heart. Difficulty is sent to humble
you. If I offer my hand to a little maiden on a cold and frosty day
and she
thinks she can keep her feet by herself
she is net likely to take my strong
hand until she has been humbled by a tumble or two. God has been compelled to
break down your self-confidence. When you started the Christian life you
thought your arm was so strong it could beat down every barrier
or that you were so
elastic that you could leap over any wall
or that your brain was so keen that
you could see through any difficulty. God began by little difficulties
and you
leapt over them; and then He put greater ones
and you successfully overcame
them; and God has been compelled to pile difficulty upon difficulty until you
are now face to face with a very desert on the one hand
and an Alpine range
upon the other; and now broken
cowed
defeated
you are just at the very
position in which to learn to appreciate
and to appropriate
the infinite
resources of God.
And there is another thing that difficulty does for a man. It proves him. “He
made a statute and an ordinance
and proved them.” There are so many
counterfeits
you do not know that you have got the real thing till you have
tested it. You do not know the stability of a house till it has been tested by
the storm. And it is only when difficulty comes that we really know what we
are. You say that you have faith. How do you know? All your life has been
sunny. Wait till God hides Himself in a pavilion of cloud. You think that you
obey God
but up till now the path that God has led you hath been such an easy
path
through a meadow where the flowers have been bestrewn. You do not know
how much you will obey until you are proved. You say you have got patience; and
there is nothing sweeter than patience--the patience and gentleness of Christ.
Yet you wait until you are put into the midst of trying and difficult
circumstances
and then you may talk about possessing patience. And then
once
more
God not only humbles and proves us
but He tries what is in our hearts;
not that He needs to know
but that He may give us the opportunity of equipping
ourselves for larger work. For God thus deals with us: He puts us into
difficulty and watches us lovingly to see how we act
for every day He stands
before His judgment bar
and every hour is the crisis of our life. If we stand
the test
He says
“Come up higher
” and we step up to the wider platform and
plateau of usefulness. But if
on the other hand
we cannot stand the test
we
step down. Will you take heart from this? Will you mind the difficulties? Oh
meet difficulty in God
and see if it be not a training-ground for great and
noble work in the hereafter. But there is disappointment too. It was hard
enough to have difficulty
but it was harder to be tantalized. They marched on
three days; they exhausted the water they had brought
or what was left was
stinking
and they could not drink it. Ah
how weary they were! Ah
you men and
women
so disappointment comes to all of us. The youth has disappointments. The
lad at school thinks that he is a slave
that the drudgery of Egypt was nothing
compared to this. How he longs for the time when he will be his own master! And
off he starts. He buries his school books
and goes forth into the world. Alas
poor lad! he finds there is no way to Canaan except by the hard plodding sultry
desert march. So it is with age--mature life! mean. So it is with the young
convert. They think Christian living is a great holiday
a march-past with
banners and bands. But they soon find that there is a stern warfare. They are
disappointed in the Church they join
they find all Christian people do not act
as they thought; they are disappointed because they do not at once find sin die
within them
or the devil yield
or Christianity become what they hoped
just
wandering through a pleasant garden plucking flowers. (F. B. Meyer
B. A.)
Moses at Marah
I. “They could not
drink of the waters of Marah
for they were bitter”--so the greatest triumphs
of life may be succeeded by the most vexatious inconveniences. You may be
right
even when the heaviest trial is oppressing you. You may be losing your
property
your health may be sinking
your prospects may be clouded
and your
friends may be leaving you one by one
yet in the midst of such disasters your
heart may be stedfast in faithfulness to God.
II. “The people
murmured against Moses”--so the greatest services of life are soon forgotten.
III. “And Moses
cried unto the Lord”!--So magnanimous prayer is better than official
resignation. All great leaderships should be intensely religious
or they will
assuredly fail in the patience without which no strength can be complete.
Parents
instead of resigning the oversight of your children
pray for them!
Pastors
instead of resigning your official positions
pray for those who
despitefully use you! All who in anywise seek to defend the weak
or lead the
blind or teach the ignorant
instead of being driven off by every unreasonable
murmuring
renew your patience by waiting upon God!
IV. “And the Lord showed him a
tree”--so where there is a bane in life there is always an antidote. (J.
Parker
D. D.)
The waters of Marah
I. A grievous
need. Do we not see in mankind a weary marching host of pilgrims
looking
eagerly for the next
well
and hoping there to find satisfaction? It is trite but true of the
greater part of them
“Man never is; but always to be blest.” There are deep
yearnings after unattained good; a burning desire for rest. Moreover
even to
them who have found “the living waters” there may be many a weary march.
II. A sore
disappointment. Intense as are human desires for final good
they are doomed
so long as fixed upon created objects
to perpetual and agonizing
disappointment. The apples that seemed ripe for the gathering and fit for
“baskets of silver” are found to contain only rottenness and dust. It is wisely
ordered that no creature should give satisfaction to the heart. Even those who
have chosen “the Lord” as their “portion” need to be perpetually quickened
lest they should cleave to the dust.
III. A rebellious
and unreasonable treatment of afflictions. “The people murmured against Moses.”
So men complain still. They “charge God foolishly”; and governmental measures
blights
panics
failure of success
etc.
are suffered to engender their
thoughts and hard speeches.
IV. The true and
sure refuge in time of affliction. There is no might of influence like that
which is wielded by those who are “hid in the pavilion” of “the blessed and
only Potentate
the King of kings and Lord of lords.”
V. The Divine
sovereignty. When men are “willing” to see what God shows
how quickly is the
bitterness of life changed into “peace and joy through believing “ “Looking
away unto Jesus
” they hear Him saying
“I am the Lord that healeth thee!” The
mystic tree is “set forth” before the eye of faith
and its goodly boughs bend
to the touch even of the chief of sinners.
VI. Another and
most significant passage occurs in connection with Israel’s sojourn by the
bitter well
and which shows the continual obligation of Divine ordinances even
in great exigencies. “There He made for them a statute and an ordinance
and
there He proved them.” They were now tested as to their disposition to obey
alike the stated and occasional commandments of God; and it is possible that
some further instructions were conveyed on Divine authority. But “the statute
and ordinance “ plainly refer to the “solemn assembly” which was now to be
observed.
VII. Once again
we
learn beside the waters of Marah the compensatory law of Divine proceedings. We
are “pilgrims as all our fathers were
” and often reach a bitter well in our
march through the wilderness; but beside each there is a tree whose virtue
makes the nauseous waters sweeter than all the streams of Goshen. (J. D.
Brocklehurst
D. D.)
Bitter things made sweet
But we have here also the means of sweetening all bitterness. The
bitterness of repentance is sweetened by this consideration
that
being a
godly sorrow
it worketh a repentance unto life
which no one repenteth of. The
bitterness of denying the world and self is sweetened by this
that he who
renounces everything for His sake receives it again a hundredfold. The
bitterness of the spiritual combat is alleviated by this
that it is the good
fight of faith to which the victory and the crown of glory is held out. The
bitterness of the various sufferings we have to endure is sweetened by the
consideration that they are not worthy of the glory that shall be revealed; and
also of the various temptations by which we are assailed
of which it is said
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for after he is tried
he shall
receive the crown of life
which God has promised to them that love Him.” In
short
this wondrous tree can sweeten all the suffering that would be otherwise
intolerable. But still it is necessary that the remedy be shown and pointed out
to us by the Holy Spirit. (G. D. Krummacher.)
Marah; or
the bitter waters sweetened
I. The evils of
the wilderness.
1. The perils and trials of the wilderness occur very early in the
pilgrim life.
2. These evils assume varied shapes.
3. They touch very vital matters. God may touch you in the most
beloved object of your heart.
4. There is a reason why the earthly mercies which supply our
necessities must be more or less bitter. What can you hope for in a wilderness
but productions congruous to it? Canaan! Who looks for bitterness there?
II. The tendency of
human nature.
1. They murmured
complained
found fault. A very easy thing. No
sense in it
no wit in it
no thought in it: it is the cry rather of a brute
than of a man--murmur--just a double groan. Easy is it for us to kick against
the dispensations of God
to give utterance to our griefs
and what is worse
to the inference we drew from them that God has forgotten to be gracious. To
murmur is our tendency; but do we mean to let the tendencies of the old nature
rule us?
2. Observe that the murmuring was not ostensibly against God. They
murmured against Moses. And have you ever noticed how the most of us
when we
are in a murmuring vein
are not honest enough to murmur distinctly against
God. No; the child is dead
and we form a conjecture that there was some wrong
treatment on the part of nurse
or surgeon
or ourselves. Or we have lost
money
and have been brought down from opulence to almost poverty; then some
one person was dishonest
a certain party betrayed us in a transaction by
failing to fulfil his part; all the murmuring is heaped on that person. We
deny
perhaps indignantly
that we murmur against God; and to prove it we
double the zeal with which we murmur against Moses. To complain of the second
cause is about as sensible as the conduct of the dog
which bites the sticks
with which it is beaten.
3. Once more
while we speak of this tendency in human nature
I want
you to observe how they betrayed an utter unbelief in God. They said unto
Moses
“What; shall we drink?” They meant by it
“By what means can God supply
our want of water?” They were at the Red Sea
and God cleft the intervening
gulf in twain
through the depths thereof they marched dryshod; there is
Marah’s water--shall it be more difficult for God to purify than to divide? To
sweeten a fountain--is that more difficult than to cleanse a sea? Is anything
too hard for the Lord?
III. The remedy of
grace.
1. Take the case of prayer to God.
2. As soon as we have a prayer
God has a remedy. “The Lord showed
him a tree.” I am persuaded that for every lock in Doubting Castle there is a
key
but the promises are often in great confusion to our minds
so that we are
perplexed. If a blacksmith should bring you his great bundle of picklocks
you
would have to turn them over
and over
and over; and try half of them
perhaps
two-thirds
before you would find the right one; ay
and perhaps the right one
would be left to the last. It is always a blessing to remember that for every
affliction there is a promise in the Word of God; a promise which meets the
case
and was made on purpose for it. But you may not be always able to find
it--no
you may go fumbling over the Scriptures long before you get the true
word; but when the Lord shows it to you
when it comes with power to the soul
oh
what a bliss it is!
3. Now that remedy for the healing of Marah’s water was a very
strange one. Why should a tree sweeten the waters? This was no doubt a
miraculous incident
and it was also meant to teach us something. The fruit of
the tree of knowledge of good and evil was eaten by our first parents and
embittered all; there is a tree of life
the leaves of which are for the
healing of the nations.
4. That remedy was most effective. When they cut down the tree
and
put it into the water
it turned the water sweet--they could drink of it; and
let me assure you
that in the case of our trouble
the Cross is a most
effective sweetener.
5. It is transcendent. The water was bitter
but it became absolutely
sweet. The same water that was bitter became sweet
and the grace of God
by
leading us into contemplations that spring out of the Cross of Christ
can make
our trials themselves to become pleasant to us. It is a triumph of grace in the
heart when we not only acquiesce in trouble
but even rejoice in it. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
The well of bitterness
I. That the first
day’s journey
in spite of the splendid scenery of the coasts of the gulf
is
probably the most wearisome and monotonous of the whole way. Sand-storms
white
limestone plains
the dust caked into a hard surface intensely hot and
dazzling
no water
no trees--it is as if the desert put on its dreariest dress
to greet its pilgrims
and gave to them at once a full taste of the foils and
wants which they must endure in traversing its wastes. And is it otherwise in
life? Is not the same character impressed for us on earth and life
when we
enter on its sterner era
when we leave the home of our childhood
the Egypt of
our careless
half-developed youth
and go out into the wilderness
to wander
freely there under the law of duty
and before the face of God. Does it not
seem to all of us strange and dreary? Who ever found the first aspects of duty
pleasant? Is it holiday pastime
the first grappling with the realities of
life? Who has not been choked and parched by the hot dust of the great desert!
though it be full of looms
and mill-wheels
and manifold activity
it is a
desert at first to us before we get accustomed to its atmosphere and at home in
its life. Well does the schoolboy know it
as he plods into the wilderness of
study
and faints under the first experience of its dryness and dust. Let him
but hold on awhile
and lie will find springs and palm-trees
where he may rest
and play; but it wants large faith and a goad of sharp necessity to get him
through the weariness of those first days. God does not conceal from any one of
us the stern conditions of our discipline.
II. It is a trite
saying
that disappointment is the hardest of all things to bear. Hardest
because it finds the soul unbraced to meet it--relaxed
at ease
and tuned to
indulgence and joy. Who has not muttered “Marah” over some well in the desert
which he strained himself to reach and found to be bitterness? It strikes me
that we have
in this miracle
most important suggestions as to the philosophy
of all miracles. I believe that the object of all miracles is to maintain
and
not to violate--to reveal
and not to confound--the order of God’s world. (J.
B. Brown
B. A.)
Marah and Elim
I. The thoughts
suggested by the changes here described.
1. That the life of a God-led man is full of changes in outward
circumstances.
2. That these changes are divinely ordained.
3. That each change brings its own temptations.
4. That these varied changes are intended to develop all our graces.
II. Thoughts
suggested by the halting-places here mentioned.
1. Marah was a place of temptation.
2. Marah was a place of disappointment.
3. Marah was a place of trustfulness and prayer.
4. Elim has its suggestiveness. God’s bountiful goodness. (A.
Rowland
LL. B.)
The moral lessons of Marah
I. We have an
expressive type of human trial in the bitterness of the waters.
1. The bitterness of the waters disappointed their most eager
expectations.
2. The bitterness of the waters left them apparently without a grand
necessity of life.
3. The bitterness of the waters immediately succeeded a remarkable
deliverance.
II. We have
unreasoning mistrust of the Divine providence the murmuring of the people.
1. Their mistrust was unreasoning
considering the person against
whom they murmured. Not Moses
but God
was their Guide
as they well knew.
2. Their mistrust was unreasoning
considering the Divine promises
they had received.
3. Their mistrust was unreasoning
considering the displays of Divine
power which they had witnessed.
III. We have an
instructive appeal for Divine help in the prayer of Moses.
1. It indicates the importance of earnest supplication to God in all
our trials.
2. It suggests the importance of a submissive spirit in supplicating
deliverance from our trials.
IV. We have a
gracious display of Divine power in the sweetening of the waters. God answers
prayer in the hour of trouble.
1. By influencing the mind in the direction whence relief may be
obtained.
2. By transmuting the temporal affliction into a rich spiritual
blessing.
V. We have an
intimation of the design of all affliction in the declared purpose of this
particular trial. “There He proved them”--tested their faith and obedience.
Afflictions prove us.
1. By discovering to us the unsatisfying nature of earthly things.
2. By disclosing the true measure of our piety. (W. Kirkman.)
Poisoned waters
What is all this
but a striking picture of human life
and of
that which the grace of God can and does effect? All the waters of human life
have been poisoned by sin. There is not one drop that has been left quite
pure
--all has been made bitter. Much there is still which at a distance looks
beautiful and refreshing; and those who walk by sense and not by faith
are often
may
always
deceived by appearances just as Israel was. It is not until they
taste for themselves that they find out the truth of Solomon’s words
that all
is “vanity and vexation of spirit.” Look at the attractions of the world
which
cause so many souls to wander. What are they all but a vain show
which can
intoxicate or lull the soul for a time
but which leave it
oh
how weary and
restless afterwards! The waters of the world are truly bitter waters. Or
look
at the occupations of life. To some energetic spirits the very difficulty and
toil of labour are attractive; but
after a while
will not the question thrust
itself upon the busy mind--oh
what is the profit? what the end of all this?
Suppose that everything prospers. Suppose that I have enough to satisfy every
earthly want
to secure me every gratification
to encompass myself and
children with every luxury. What then? There is a voice
a penetrating voice
that says
“Prepare to meet thy God!” that proclaims
“It is appointed unto men
once to die
but after that the judgment.” And then
what will become of me?
Or
look again at the relationships of life. Instituted though they are by God
yet sin has embittered them also. Whence is it
that some of the deepest and
most certain trials of life come to us? It is through our relationships and our
friendships. Deep affection
sacred as it is
has always many anxieties
associated with it. How many a mother’s heart is gradually worn out by cares
about her children! How many a father
when surveying the disturbances of his
family
is impelled to adopt the words of the aged Jacob
“All these things are
against me!” And then
how many a heart is left widowed even early in life
with a void which nothing earthly can ever fill! Is it too much to say that
this world
viewed as it is in itself
is “Marah”? Its waters are bitter. Have
not numbers who have embraced it as their all
gone down to the grave
restless
discontented and murmuring? It may seem to some as if we had invested
the world with its pleasures
its occupations
and its relationships
in too
thick a gloom. If so
we would remind you that we have been speaking of the
world
as such
as it is in itself--of pleasures which are far from God--of
business and occupation from which God is excluded--and of relationships which
are put in the place of God. (G. Wagner.)
Bitter waters
Such are often the consolations of this world. We ardently long
for them
and when we obtain them they are bitter. The things we have most
wished for become new sorrows. And this is to teach us to seek our true joys in
God alone
to make the wilderness of this world distasteful to us
and to cause
us to long for eternal life. Suppose a man to be so poor as to earn his bread
with difficulty; he can scarcely provide for his family. “Ah!” he may perhaps
say to himself
“if I were only like so many people around me
who are not
obliged to work
and are so happy in this world!” Suppose this man to become
rich; but still a prey to care
surrounded by enemies
and unhappy in his children.
How many bitter sorrows are still his lot: he was once in the desert of Shur
now he is at the waters of Marah! A woman finds herself solitary and lonely;
she wishes for a friend and protector; she marries. But she finds out too late
that her husband is a man of bad character or of bad habits. She was in the
desert
she is now at Marah. (Professor Gaussen.)
Sweetening the waters
I. Marahs of
disappointment.
I. The young
convert imagines that when he has got to the Cross he has got
so to speak
next door to heaven; he imagines that
once he has got pardon
he will never
have another sigh; but oh! it is only a three days’ march from the City of
Destruction to the Slough of Despond
only a little way out to the darkness and
the trouble; and then
when it comes
the young convert is sometimes tempted to
look back to the delights of the old days
when he had not any fear of God
before his eyes; for he has thus to learn in bitterness and disappointment that
it is through much tribulation he is to be perfected for the kingdom.
2. So
too
with the mature believer; life is full of
disappointments. It takes very little to turn the waters of our best comforts
into bitterness; and disappointment in any case is hard to bear; but sometimes
it is doubly hard when it comes upon the back of other trials.
II. Marahs of
mercy.
1. God sends no needless trims. He does not afflict for His own
pleasure
but for our good.
2. For every need God has provided the supply
for every bane the
antidote. But you will not discover it yourself. He must point it out.
3. Notice the method of the Divine mercy. God does not take away the
burden; He will give you more strength; and then you will have the strength
even after the burden is removed. You will be permanently the better for it. (G.
Davidson
B. Sc.)
The tree of healing
God’s plans of mercy to mankind are remedial. He allows sin and
suffering to exist
but He provides means for the cure of these evils. The
religion of Jesus Christ is the great healing and curative influence in the world.
1. Take
for example
the bitterness of temptation. A man has made
noble resolutions
formed high plans of life
and lo
he finds
to his utter
mortification
that his sinful nature still yields to any blast of temptation.
He is like one who has built a noble palace and finds that some foul infection
renders it hateful. Before the solemn aspect of the Crucified
the powers of
evil lose their fascinating glow.
2. And then there is the bitterness of remorse
the sting of
remembered guilt. A German writer describes a youth who returned
after a long
absence
to his home. All welcomed him with joy. Everything was done to make
him happy; but he still was oppressed with a silent gloom. Some friend urged
him to say what ailed him and kept him so depressed amidst their happiness
and
at length
with a groan
he explained
“A sin lies heavy on my soul.” But the
Cross of Christ removes this bitter sorrow
for He who is our peace has nailed
“the writing which was against us” to His Cross.
3. What shall we say about the bitter cup of suffering which God
in
His inscrutable dealings
places in the hands of so many to drink? Yet the
sufferer finds succour in remembering that his Saviour has also suffered
and
for his salvation. A poor woman in a ward of one of the great London hospitals
had to undergo a fearful operation
and
as a special favour
besought that it
might be performed on Good Friday
which was close at hand
that the reflection
on her Redeemer’s agony might the better enable her to endure her own sufferings.
Is the bitterness of poverty
or of contempt
our lot? So was it that of Jesus
our Lord; and turning to Him
with all confidence we appeal to His sympathy.
Are we called on to feel the terrible bitterness of bereavement
to gaze on the
empty cradle
or the unoccupied chair? Then think how the Cross points upward!
(W. Hardman
LL. D.)
Anticipated pleasure alloyed
We look with great expectancy for the arrival of some pleasure
which we imagine will afford us the most complete satisfaction
and no sooner does
it arrive than we find in its train a whole host of petty annoyances and
unwelcome accompaniments. It is not only so in social life
but also in the
material world. Mr. Matthew Lewis
M.P.
in his interesting “Journal” of a
residence among the negroes in the West Indies
relates how eagerly in Jamaica
after three months of drought
the inhabitants long for rain; and when the
blessing at last descends
it is accompanied by terrific thunder and lightning
and has the effect of bringing out all sorts of insects and reptiles in crowds
the ground being covered with lizards
the air filled with mosquitoes
the
rooms of the houses with centipedes and legions of mosquitoes. And it will
on
inquiry
be found that the enjoyment of nearly every anticipated pleasure is in
like manner more or less alloyed by reason of the unpleasant things which seem
inevitably to attend it. (Scientific Illustrations.)
We have not done with hardship when we have left Egypt
This may be regarded as a universal law so long as we are in the
present life
and may be illustrated as really in common and secular matters as
in spiritual things. The schoolboy is apt to imagine that he is a slave. He is
under tutors and governors; and as he grinds away at his studies
not seeing
any relation between them and what he is to do in the future
he is tempted to
think that the drudgery of the Hebrews in the brickyard was nothing to that
which he has to undergo
and he longs for the day when he shall be a free man
and enter upon the active duties of life. His emancipation from the dry and
uninteresting labours at which he has so long been held marks an epoch in his
history
and he sings over it a song as sincere
if not as exalted
as that of
Moses at the sea. The burial of the books by our graduating classes may be in
the main a foolish freak; but yet it is the expression
in its own way
of
relief from that which has hitherto been felt to be a restraint
and each of
those who take part in it is intensely jubilant. But after he has entered on
the active duties of the work to which he devotes himself
the youth has not
gone far before he comes to Marah
and his first experience is one of
disappointment. Ah! well for him then if he cries to God
and finds the healing
tree which alone can sweeten its waters of bitterness! So it is
also
with
every new enterprise in which a man engages. After his first victory comes
something which empties it of half its glory. Pure and unmingled success is
unknown in the world
and would be
let me add
a great calamity if it were to
be enjoyed; for then the man would become proud and forget God
and lose all
remembrance of that precious influence by which the disappointments in our
experience are transmuted into means of grace. (W. M. Taylor
D. D.)
A valuable tree
The eucalyptus tree is efficacious in preventing malaria. The
cause is supposed to be that its thirsty roots drain the soil for many yards
around
and that its large leaves exhale an aromatic oil and intercept the
malarious germs. An incident shows its efficacy: An officer in India whose
troops were often attacked by sickness removed their huts to a place where
several large trees grew between them and the swamp
and from that time until
the trees were cut down the troops enjoyed excellent health; afterwards sickness
reappeared. It appears to be only in the case of zymotic diseases that the
trees operate as a preventative
but that is of no slight value in many
districts. (Youth’s Companion.)
A heaven-sent plant
It is impossible for us to win any victory over this terrible evil
in our own strength. Even heathen teachers acknowledge this. Many of you will
remember the classic fable when Ulysses was on his way from the ship to deliver
from Circe those companions of his who had been changed into swine by the power
of the enchantress of sensuality
he was met by the legendary god Mercury
who
told him that he would never be able to overcome the enchantress by his own
sword. Mercury gave him a plant
the root of which was black and the flower of
which was white
and it was by the power of this plant that he was to win his
victory over the enchantress. There is a deep moral truth in that myth of the
old Greek poet. We have an enchantress to contend against; we have to contend
against a mighty power that is changing our fellow-men into swine every day
and we cannot attain the victory over that power except by means of a
heaven-sent plant
the Tree of Life
the blessed Cross of Christ. (Dean Edwards.)
Difficulties of leaders through opposition among followers
What a hard place was this of Moses here! Every great reformer has
had to go through a wilderness to the promised land of his success; and always
some of those who left Egypt with him have turned against him before he had
gone far. I think of the almost mutiny of his men against Columbus
as
day
after day
he steered westward and saw no land; I think of the trouble which
Luther and Calvin had so often with their own followers
and of the banishment
at one time of the latter from that Geneva
which
even to this day
is the
creation of his greatness; I think of the curs that yelped at the heels of the
Father of his country
when he was following that course which now the
universal voice of posterity has applauded; I think of the difficulties which
have embarrassed many meaner men in lower works of reformation
which have at
length benefited and blessed the world; and I blush for the selfishness of
those who prefer their own interest to the welfare of the community
while
at
the same time
I honour the conscientious courage which determines to go on
in
spite of opposition in the front and dissatisfaction in the rear. Oh! ye who
are bravely battling for the right
the pure
the benevolent
whether it be in
the sweeping out of corruption from political offices
or in the closing of
these pestilential houses which are feeding the intemperance of our streets
or
in the maintenance in the churches of the faith once delivered to the
saints--take heart of grace from Moses here. Go with your causes to the Lord
and be sure that they who are on His side are always in the end victorious. (W.
M. Taylor
D. D.)
The sin of murmuring
Consider that murmuring is a mercy-embittering sin
a
mercy-souring sin. As the sweetest things put into a sour vessel are soured
or
put into a bitter vessel are embittered; so murmuring puts gall and wormwood
into every cup of mercy that God gives into our hands. The murmurer writes
“Marah
” that is
bitterness
upon all his mercies
and he reads and tastes
bitterness in them all. As “to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet
” so
to the murmuring soul every sweet thing is bitter. (T. Brooks.)
The evil of murmuring
I have read of Caesar
that
having prepared a great feast for his
nobles and friends
it so fell out that the day appointed was so extremely foul
that nothing could be done to the honour of the meeting; whereupon he was so
displeased and enraged that he commanded all them that had bows to shoot up
their arrows at Jupiter
their chief god
as in defiance of him for that rainy
weather; which
when they did
their arrows fell short of heaven and fell upon
their own heads
so that many of them were very sorely wounded. So all our
murmurings
which are as so many arrows shot at God Himself
they will return
upon our own pates’ hearts; they reach not Him
but they will hit us; they hurt
not Him
but they will wound us; therefore it is better to be mute than to
murmur; it is dangerous to provoke a “consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:1-29.). (T. Brooks.)
Murmuring
the mother sin
to be fought against
As the king of Syria said to his captains
“Fight neither with
small nor great
but with the king of Israel
” so say I
Fight not so much
against this sin or that
but fight against your murmuring
which is a
mother-sin; make use of all your Christian armour
make use of all the
ammunition of heaven
to destroy the mother
and in destroying of her
you will
destroy the daughters. When Goliath was slain
the Philistines fled; when a
general in an army is cut off
the common soldiers are easily and quickly
routed and destroyed: so destroy but murmuring
and you will quickly destroy
disobedience
ingratitude
impatience
distrust
etc. (T. Brooks.)
Misery of murmurers
Every murmurer is his own tormentor; murmuring is a fire within
that will burn up all; it is an earthquake within that will overturn all; it is
a disease within that will infect all; it is poison within that will prey upon
all. (T. Brooks.)
Murmuring
the parent of other sins
As the river Nile bringeth forth many crocodiles
and the scorpion
many serpents at one birth
so murmuring is a sin that breeds and brings forth
many sins at once. It is like the monster Hydra--cut off one head
and many
will rise up in its room. It is the mother of harlots--the mother of all
abominations--a sin that breeds many other sins (Numbers 16:41; Numbers 17:10); viz.
disobedience
contempt
ingratitude
impatience
distrust
rebellion
cursing
carnality;
yea
it charges God with folly
yea
with blasphemy. The language of a
murmuring soul is this: Surely God might have done this sooner
and that wiser
and the other thing better. (T. Brooks.)
Murmuring
a time-destroying sin
The murmurer spends much precious time in musing--in musing how to
get out of such a trouble
how to get off such a yoke
how to be rid of such a
burden
how to revenge himself for such a wrong; how to supplant such a person
how to reproach those that are above him
and how to affront those that are
below him; and a thousand other ways murmurers have to expend that precious
time that some would redeem with a world. Caesar
observing some ladies at Rome
to spend much of their time in making much of little dogs and monkeys
asked
them whether the women in that country had no children to make much of. Ah
murmurers
murmurers! you who by your murmuring trifle away so many golden
hours and seasons of mercy
have you no God to honour? Have you no Christ to
believe in? Have you no hearts to change
no sin to be pardoned
no souls to
save
no hell to escape
no heaven to seek after? Oh! if you have
why do you
spend so much of your precious time in murmuring against God
against men
against this or that thing?
(T. Brooks.)
Murmuring at joys
I was tired of washing dishes; I was tired of drudgery. It had
always been so
and I was dissatisfied. I never sat down a moment to read that
Jamie didn’t want a cake
or a piece of paper to scribble on
or a bit of soap
to make bubbles. “I’d rather be in prison
” I said one day
“than to have my
life teased out
” as Jamie knocked my elbow
when I was writing to a friend.
But a morning came when I had one plate less to wash
one chair less to set
away by the wall in the dining-room; when Jamie’s little crib was put away in
the garret
and it has never come down since. I had been unusually fretful and
discontented with him that damp May morning that he took the croup. Gloomy
weather gave me the headache
and I had less patience than at any other time.
By and by he was singing in another room
“I want to be an angel
” and
presently rang out that metallic cough. I never hear that hymn since that it
don’t cut me to the heart; for the croup-cough rings out with it. He grew worse
towards night
and when my husband came home he went for the doctor. At first
he seemed to help him
but it merged into inflammatory croup
and all was soon
over. “I ought to have been called in sooner
” said the doctor. I have a
servant to wash the dishes now; and when a visitor comes
I can sit down and
entertain her without having to work all the time. There is no little boy
worrying me to open his jack-knife
and there are no shavings over the floor.
The magazines are not soiled at looking over the pictures
but stand prim and
neat on the reading-table just as I leave them. “Your carpet never looks
dirty
” said a weary-worn mother to me. “Oh! no
” I mutter to myself
“there
are no little boots to dirty it now.” But my fate is as weary as theirs--weary
with sitting in my lonesome parlour at twilight
weary with watching for the
arms that used to twine around my neck
for the curls that brushed against my
cheek
for the young laugh that rang out with mine
as we watched the blazing
fire
or made rabbits with the shadow on the wall
waiting merrily together for
papa coming home. I have the wealth and ease I longed for
but at what a price!
And when I see other mothers with grown-up sons
driving to town or church
and
my hair silvered over with grey
I wish I had murmured less.
Murmuring foolish
Seneca hath his similitude to set out the great evil of murmuring
under small afflictions. Suppose
saith he
a man to have a very fair house to
dwell in
with very fair orchards and gardens
set about with brave tall trees
for ornament; what a most unreasonable thing were it in this man to murmur
because the wind blows a few leaves off the trees
though they hang full of
fruit. If God take a little and give us much
shall we be discontent? If He
take our son and give us His own; if He cause the trees to bring forth the
fruit
shall we be angry if the wind blow away the leaves? (J. Venning.)
Murmuring injurious
It is not wise to fret under our trials: the high.mettled horse
that is restive in the yoke only galls his shoulder--the poor bird that dashes
itself against the bars of the cage only ruffles her feathers and aggravates
the sufferings of captivity.
The Lord that healeth thee.--
Jehovah-Ropheka
No human experience is uniformly joyful or sorrowful. A great
triumph is succeeded by a great obstacle and sometimes by a great defeat. But
there is another equally constant fact to offset this. As we look at this
alternation of Elims and Marahs in our life
and recognize it as a law of our
human experience
we find it supplemented by something else which is equally a
law; and that is the economy of God by which this alternation is happily
adjusted. In other words
I mean this: that if it is a law of our life that joy
and sorrow succeed each other
it is equally a law of our life that God
interposes and keeps the joy from corrupting and the sorrow from crushing us.
If sorrow is a part of God’s economy
healing is equally a part. You hear
abundance of popular proverbs to the effect that clouds have often silver
linings; that calamity usually stops short of the very worst; that time dulls
grief; that nature reacts from its depression
and much more of the same sort
all which may be more or less true
but which do not cover the same ground as
this blessed name
“Jehovah that healeth thee”: which throw man for his
compensation for sorrow merely upon nature and circumstances. Both are-lawless
and accidental
the alleviations no less than the sorrow itself. But there is a
radical difference between a grief which is accidental
and a grief which falls
in with happier things into an order arranged to make the man purer and more
blessed. There is a radical difference between accidental mitigations
and the
firm
wise
tender touch of an omnipotent Healer upon a sorrow: and there is a
radical difference between that conception of sorrow which makes it an
intrusion and an interruption
and a conception which sees both sorrow and
healing as parts of one Divine plan
adjusted by that same Divine hand all
along the line of man’s life. With the alleviations of sorrow which come in
what we call the natural order of things
I have therefore nothing to do here.
That nature has certain recuperative powers is a familiar fact: that God often uses
these or other natural means in His own processes of healing
as a physician
uses for medicine the herbs and flowers which he gathers by the roadside
is an
equally familiar fact. But we are not concerned with the question of means. Our
text leads us back of the means. That to which alone sorrow can grapple
securely is not means but God. God
on this occasion
though He uses a branch
to sweeten the water
also uses it to direct the attention of the people to
Himself. When He gives Himself a name by which they are to know and remember
Him all through this desert journey
it is not
“the God of the branch
” nor
“the God of the rod
” nor “the God of the strong east wind
” but simply
“I am
Jehovah that healeth thee.” No matter what means I use. If He had called
Himself the God of the rod
the people would have despaired of healing in any
case where there was not a branch or a rod present. He would have them know
that healing was in Him
by any means or by no means as He might choose. And
thus it is well for us to bring every bitter experience of life at once to
God--directly. The fountain of healing is there
and there is no need of our
taking the smallest trouble in seeking any lower source of comfort. God is not
like certain great medical authorities who leave all minor maladies to
subordinates and hold themselves in reserve merely for consultation on cases of
life and death. He wrought the great miracle at Marah
not only to relieve the
people’s thirst on that occasion
but to encourage them to seek His help in
smaller matters. God sometimes reduces a man to terrible straits so that he may
learn that lesson. The branch which he throws in is this: Rest in the Lord and
wait patiently for Him. When one is in such confusion and bewilderment
a great
deal of the distress is thrown off in the throwing off of all responsibility
for the way out. Many years ago
while in Rome
I went down into the Catacombs.
I had not gone five feet from the entrance when I saw that if I should try to
find my way back
I should be hopelessly lost. Passages opened out on every
side
and crossed and interlaced
and my life was literally in the hands of the
cowled monk who led the way with his lighted taper. But that was a relief.
Having no responsibility for finding the way
and having faith in my guide
I
could give myself up to the impression of the place. There is a beautiful
passage in the one hundred and forty-second Psalm which brings out this truth.
The Psalm is ascribed to David when he was fleeing from Saul’s persecution and
wandering in a labyrinth of caves and secret paths. “When my spirit is
overwhelmed within me
Thou knowest my path.” Few things are more painful or
humiliating than the sense of having lost the way. The sweetening branch then
is just this blessed consciousness that Divine omniscience knows the path; that
the knowledge is with one who knows just how to use it
who knows the path
through
the path out
knows what the trend of the trouble is and what its
meaning is. But let us not forget the other great truth of this story
a truth
quite as important as the first
and perhaps quite as hard to learn; and that
is
that God’s healing is a lesson no less than a comfort. The aim of a
physician’s treatment is not merely to relieve his patient from pain. It is
further
to get him on his feet for active duty. God did not sweeten the waters
of Marah in order that the people might stay there. Marah was only a stage on
the way to Canaan; and the draught at the sweetened spring was but to give
strength for a long march. And God never heals His people simply to make them
easy. If He takes off a load it is that they may walk the better in the way of
His commandments. Whatever God may say to us by sickness
when He comes to us
as the Lord of healing He says
“I will raise thee up that thou mayst do that
which is right in My sight; that thou mayst give ear to My commandments and
keep My statutes.” Healing means more toil and more burdens and more conflict
and these will continue to the end. But let us remember that God never forgets
to give rest along the road
and refreshment at the right places to His
faithful ones. Even on earth there will be intervals of sweet rest
though the
desert lie on beyond. (M. R. Vincent
D. D.)
The Lord that healeth
It is with healing power in the lowest form of its development
viz.
the supplying of bodily wants--the healing of physical diseases--that
this precious name is first brought to our notice. And even this is a blessing
not to be lightly esteemed. But
if our powers of perception were so adjusted
that we could estimate spiritual diseases
as God estimates them; then
we
should see
in the walks of daily life
even in the case of those who are said
to possess sound minds in sound bodies
sights sadder far than any to be met
with in our hospitals and asylums for physical and mental diseases. And the
power to heal which the Lord claims when He is pleased to reveal Himself as
Jehovah-Ropheka
is this power in its higher form--the power to heal the
diseases of the soul.
I. He is an
efficient healer. He puts His own Omnipotence into the grace by which He heals;
and what can resist that grace? He has fathomed the lowest depths of human
depravity
and the chain of His grace has reached even unto that.
II. He is a
practical healer. It sometimes happens with earthly physicians that the
medicine is mingled with our daily food
and that the food itself of which the
patient partakes is made the means of healing. But this is what our heavenly
Healer does continually. He connects the process of His healing with the food
on which the souls of His people live
and the daily experience of life through
which they are passing.
III. He is a
universal healer. In many of our hospitals there is a ward for incurables.
There are cases which every physician will decline to undertake because he
knows that nothing can be done with them. But Jehovah-Ropheka knows no such
cases. In the hospital of His grace there is no ward for incurables. There are
no limits to the range and operation of His wisdom and power. He has not made a
specialty of any particular case. There is no form of spiritual disease that
can be incurable to Him.
IV. He is a
permanent healer. No earthly physician will undertake both to restore his
patient to health
and at the same time to give him the assurance that the
disease from which he has suffered shall never return to him. This is a matter
quite beyond the reach of ordinary medical ability. But it is not so with our
heavenly Healer. He undertakes to make His healing work not only perfect but
permanent. Two things show us this.
1. One of these is the state into which Christ introduces the saved
soul after death. It is a state in which there will be no sickness
sorrow
or
sin. And what that state is
as the healed soul enters into it
it will be for
ever. It is a “continuing city.”
2. And then the state of the soul as it enters that blessed abode
will show the same thing. “Presented perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:28).
V. He is a glorious
healer. Most physicians are satisfied if they can restore their patients to the
condition in which they were before the disease seized upon them. If they can
heal a man’s wounds they are satisfied. They will not pledge that in securing
this result there shall be no disfiguring scars remaining. But it is different
with our heavenly Healer. He restores the sin-sick soul
not to its original
state
but to one infinitely better than that. The creation state of the soul
was pronounced good
the redeemed state of the soul is declared to be perfect.
(R. Newton
D. D.)
The Lord that healeth
“Many a time have I been brought very low
and received the
sentence of death in myself
when my poor
honest
praying neighbours have met
and
upon their fasting and earnest prayers
I have recovered. Once
when I had
continued weak three weeks
and was unable to go abroad
the very day that they
prayed for me
being Good Friday
I recovered
and was able to preach and
administer the sacrament the next Lord’s day; and was better after it
it being
the first time that ever I administered it. And ever after that
whatever
weakness was upon me
when I had
after preaching
administered that sacrament
to many hundred people
I was much revived and eased of my infirmities.” “Oh
how often
” he writes in his “Dying Thoughts
” “have I cried to Him when men
and means were nothing
and when no help in second causes did appear
and how
often
and suddenly
and mercifully hath He delivered me! What sudden ease
what removal of long affliction have I had! Such extraordinary changes
and
beyond my own and others’ expectations
when many plain-hearted
upright
Christians have
by fasting and prayer
sought God on my behalf
as have over
and over convinced me of special providence and that God is indeed a hearer of prayers. And
wonders have I seen done for others also
upon such prayer
more than for
myself; yea
and wonders for the Church
and for public societies.” “Shall I
therefore forget how often He hath heard prayers for me
and how wonderfully He
often hath helped both me and others? My faith hath been helped by such
experiences
and shall I forget them
or question them without cause at last?”
(Richard Baxter.)
Elim.--
The pilgrim’s pathway
I. That
in life’s
pilgrimage
God crowns His people with constant blessings and diversified
tokens of His goodness. These blessings
as here implied
are of great
practical utility; they are--
1. Essential--“Water.”
2. Refreshing--“Palm-trees.”
3. Diversified--“Wells and palm-trees.”
4. Proportionate
--“Twelve wells and threescore and ten palm-trees.”
II. That
in life’s
pilgrimage
God’s blessings should be appropriated and enjoyed. “They encamped
there.”
III. That
in life’s
pilgrimage
Elim
with its refreshing shade
is frequently not far from Marah
with its bitter waters. Therefore
as pilgrims
we should not be too much
elated or depressed with our camping-places. In the history of the Zion-bound
traveller
it should not be forgotten
that it is always better further on.
IV. That
in life’s
pilgrimage
we should remember that we are not yet home
only pilgrims on the
way. Our immortality would starve to death on the richest oasis this desert
world could give us
if we should attempt to make it our abiding home. So
they
did not buy the land
or build a city
they only “encamped there.” (T.
Kelly.)
Marah and Elim
I. The varied
experience of human life.
1. There are the sorrowful scenes of life. You know well the sources
from whence these sorrows arise. There is the sorrow that comes to us from our
disappointments. We are constantly deceived and disappointed
partly because we
indulge in unreasonable expectations
and partly because things differ so much
in their reality from what they are in their outward appearance. Then there is
the sorrow that proceeds from physical suffering. Another source of sorrow is
our bereavements. A whole generation fell in the wilderness
and as the
Israelites travelled onward
they had again and again to pause in their journey
and bury their dead. Another source of sorrow is sin. This indeed is the great
source of all sorrow
the fountain from whence these bitter waters flow.
2. There are the joys of life. Another day’s march
and the scene was
changed; verdure refreshed the eye
there was Tater in abundance to quench the
thirst
and the weary pilgrim could repose under the palm-tree’s welcome shade.
True type again of human life--“Weeping endures for a night
joy cometh in the
morning.” “For a small moment have I forsaken thee
but with great mercies will
I gather thee.” The most weary pilgrimage has its quiet resting places
and the
saddest heart is not without its joys. God is kind even to the unthankful
for
on them He bestows His providential bounties
but “the secret of the Lord is
with them that fear Him.” He gives to them a “peace which passeth
understanding
” a “hope which maketh not ashamed
” and “a joy that is
unspeakable and full of glory.” Life
then
has a varied experience.
II. But what are
the reasons for it? There can be little doubt that if it were left to our
choice
we should choose a less chequered course--we should avoid the bitter
waters of Marah
and seek the palm-trees of Elim. Why is it that joy and
sorrow
hope and fear
health and sickness
blessings bestowed and blessing
removed
follow each other in such rapid succession.
1. It is to correct our self-will. Many whose hearts were stubborn
enough when they began life
have found life so different to what they
expected
that they have at length confessed--It is vain to fight against God;
henceforth I place myself under His government--His will
not mine
be done.
2. To develop our character. If the events of life were exclusively
sorrowful
then the test of our character would be but partial; so would it be
if these events were exclusively joyful; and therefore it is sorrow to-day and
joy to-morrow. Thus our whole character is developed.
3. To open our hearts to those sacred influences which soften and
purify them. (H. J. Gamble.)
Elim: the springs and the palms
I. Elim rises
before us as the representative of the green oases
the spots of sunny verdure
the scenes of heavenly beauty
wherewith God hath enriched
though sparingly
our wilderness world. This world is not all bad; its marches are not all bare.
“Cursed is the ground for thy sake”--and because for thy sake
it is not cursed
utterly. It is not all black
bare
lifeless
as the crust of a cold lava
flood; a prison-house for reprobates
instead of a training school for sons.
II. The nearness of
Elim to Marah opens up to us a deep truth in the spiritual history of man.
1. Had they pushed on instead of murmuring at Marah
they would have
found all they sought
and more than they hoped for
at Elim. Ah! the time we
waste in repining and rebelling--scheming to mend God’s counsels! How many Elims
would it find for us
if employed in courage and faith!
2. How near is the sweetness to the bitterness in every trial! it is
but a short step to Elim
where we may encamp and rest. The brightest spots of
earth are amidst its most savage wildernesses
and the richest joys of the
Christian spring ever out of his sharpest pains. The humbling pains of
disappointment tune the soul for the joys which the next station of the journey
affords. It is when we have learnt the lessons of the wilderness
and are resolved
to press on
cost what it may
in our heavenly path
that springs of unexpected
sweetness gush up at our very feet
and we find shade and rest
which give
foretaste of heaven.
III. Let us
endeavour to discern the principle of this alternate sweetness and bitterness
of life. These lights and shadows of nature
this glow and gloom
are caught
from a higher sphere. Nature is but the reverse of the medal whose obverse is
man. The ultimate reason of the bitterness of Marah is the sin in the heart of
Israel and all pilgrims; the ultimate reason of the sweetness and freshness of
Elim is the mercy that is in the heart of God. There is a fearful power in the
human spirit to make God’s brightest blessings bitter curses. Who was it who
wanted to die
because God had found a deliverance for a great city in which
were half a million of doomed men? At the door of your own spirit lie all the
pangs and wretchedness you have known. You have cursed fate and fortune
and
protested that you were the most wronged and persecuted of men. But the
mischief lies not in God’s constitution of the world
nor in His government of
it
but in your hearts. (J. B. Brown
B. A.)
Sweetness not far from bitterness
Sorrow is not all a wilderness
even to the most sorrowful. Amid
all its bleakness and desolation it has oases of beauty and fertility. It has
Elims as well as Marahs
and frequently these Elims are very near the
Marahs--if we only knew it. But six short miles separated the twelve wells of
water and the threescore and ten palm.trees from the bitter
nauseous well that
filled the hearts of the thirsting multitudes with disappointment. And so near
in human life is the sweetness to the bitterness in every trial. A few steps
will take us through the valley of the shadow of death out into the green
pastures and beside the still waters upon which it opens. Had the Israelites of
old
instead of murmuring at Marah
pushed on a little further
they would
in
two short hours
have found at Elim all they sought and more than they
expected. And so the time we waste in repining and rebelling would be better
employed in living faith and active duty
for thus would consolation be found.
Instead of sitting down to murmur at Marah
let us march in faith under the
guidance of our tender Shepherd
who will bring us to the next station
where we may lie down in green
pastures and beside still waters. (Christian Age.)
The comparative duration of sorrow and joy
Is there ever a Marah without an Elim near it
if only we follow
on in the way the Lord marks out for us through the wilderness? The notice of
Elim occupies less than four lines
while there are as many verses in the
record of Marah
and a whole chapter following about the wilderness of sin; and
we are apt to draw the hasty inference that the bitter experiences were the
rule
and the delightful ones the exception. And so it often seems in the
checkered life of the tried disciple of the Lord. But look again. The bitter
time at Marah was quite short
though it occupies a great deal of space in the
history. These four verses tell the story probably of as many hours or less.
But the four lines about Elim are the story of three weeks
during which they “encamped
there by the waters.” When troubles come
the time seems long; when
troubles have gone
the time seems short; and so many are apt to think that
they are hardly dealt with
whereas if they would look more carefully into the
Lord’s dealings with them
they might find that they have far more to be
thankful for than to grieve over. Hours at Marah are followed by weeks at Elim.
(J. M. Gibson
D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》