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