OF THE TRUE SERVICE OF GOD.
A psalm of Asaph, one of the directors of the Temple-chorus at the
time of David, distinguished for musical and poetical ability, 1
Chronicles 26. The hymn shows how the grandeur and solemnity of the
divine judgment should instruct men in the true worship and encourage
t... [ Continue Reading ]
The mighty God, even the Lord (in the Hebrew: El Elohim Jehovah), the
God of gods, Jehovah, the supreme God of earth and heaven, HATH SPOKEN
AND CALLED THE EARTH FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN UNTO THE GOING DOWN
THEREOF, as far as the earth extends, all its inhabitants are included
in this mighty summo... [ Continue Reading ]
Out of Zion, where His Tabernacle and later His Temple stood, where He
lived in the midst of His people, THE PERFECTION OF BEAUTY, the Church
and congregation of God being the most beautiful object on earth,
Psalms 48:2, GOD HATH SHINED, sending out the brilliance of His
majesty, more awe-inspiring... [ Continue Reading ]
Our God shall come, in this revelation of His divine essence, AND
SHALL NOT KEEP SILENCE, bound to make known His glory before men
everywhere; A FIRE SHALL DEVOUR BEFORE HIM, especially in the words of
the Law, AND IT SHALL BE VERY TEMPESTUOUS ROUND ABOUT HIM, fire and
tempest being the heralds of G... [ Continue Reading ]
He shall call to the heavens from above, the heavenly hosts being
summoned as His servants, AND TO THE EARTH, as witness, THAT HE MAY
JUDGE HIS PEOPLE. Cf Deuteronomy 4:26; Deuteronomy 30:19; Isaiah 1:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
Gather My saints together unto Me, those who, by virtue of the
righteousness imputed to them, are holy in His sight; THOSE THAT HAVE
MADE A COVENANT WITH ME BY SACRIFICE, the reference being to the
division of the sacrificial animal, the two parties making the
covenant passing between the divided po... [ Continue Reading ]
And the heavens shall declare His righteousness, the hosts of the
heavens witnessing to the justice of all His sentences; FOR GOD IS
JUDGE HIMSELF. SELAH. Everything is now ready for the great scene of
judgment: the court is about to open.... [ Continue Reading ]
Hear, O My people, for He addresses those whom He wanted as His own,
AND I WILL SPEAK; O ISRAEL, AND I WILL TESTIFY AGAINST THEE, namely,
for their failure to give Him the proper worship. I AM GOD, EVEN THY
GOD, He bore the rightful title to act as judge over Israel,... [ Continue Reading ]
I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices, He had no complaint to
make that they had not been offered, OR THY BURNT OFFERINGS, TO HAVE
BEEN CONTINUALLY BEFORE ME, rather, "and thy burnt offerings are over
against Me always," they had omitted none of the sacrifices enjoined
by the Law.... [ Continue Reading ]
I will take no bullock out of thy house nor he-goats out of thy folds,
God felt no interest in the sacrifices as brought by Israel; all
outward ceremony of divine worship is futile without the true faith of
the heart.... [ Continue Reading ]
For every beast of the forest is Mine, all creatures being His, men
could not offer Him anything which He did not already possess, AND THE
CATTLE UPON A THOUSAND HILLS.... [ Continue Reading ]
I know all the fowls of the mountains, all the birds that prefer to
nest there; AND THE WILD BEASTS OF THE FIELD ARE MINE, all the animals
that played in the valleys and lowlands.... [ Continue Reading ]
If I were hungry, I would not tell thee, to plead for a sacrifice as
food for Himself; FOR THE WORLD IS MINE AND THE FULNESS THEREOF, and
there is no desire on His part which might be satisfied through
sacrifice.... [ Continue Reading ]
Will I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Any
believer bringing his offering should not do so under the delusion
that he was doing something good to God personally, that he was
obligating the Lord toward himself. The manner of true worship is now
described.... [ Continue Reading ]
Offer unto God thanksgiving, for true communion with Jehovah, AND PAY
THY VOWS UNTO THE MOST HIGH, Leviticus 7:38, namely, by bringing the
homage of the heart, faith, penitence, and love,... [ Continue Reading ]
and call upon Me in the day of trouble, after the right relation has
thus been established by the proper worship. I WILL DELIVER THEE,
helping the worshiper out of all his difficulties, AND THOU SHALT
GLORIFY ME, giving all praises to God alone for His every deliverance.
That is the right relation w... [ Continue Reading ]
But unto the wicked God saith, in a severe rebuke of hypocritical
worship, WHAT HAST THOU TO DO TO DECLARE MY STATUTES, by imitating the
behavior of the true believers, OR THAT THOU SHOULDEST TAKE MY
COVENANT IN THY MOUTH, joining with the congregation in confessing the
Word of God,... [ Continue Reading ]
seeing thou hatest instruction, namely, the rebuke of hypocrisy and
sin as contained in the Word, AND CASTEST MY WORDS BEHIND THEE,
turning his back upon the divine instructions with a gesture of utter
contempt?... [ Continue Reading ]
When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, taking
pleasure in the form of wickedness practised against the Seventh
Commandment and thus becoming guilty of the same crime, AND HAST BEEN
PARTAKER WITH ADULTERERS, in transgressing also the Sixth Commandment.... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou givest thy mouth to evil, to slanderous talk of every kind, AND
THY TONGUE FRAMETH DECEIT, deliberate falsehoods in order to take away
the neighbor's good fame.... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou sit test and speakest against thy brother, the nearest relative
by blood not being safe against the tongue of the slanderer and
reviler; THOU SLANDEREST THINE OWN MOTHER'S SON, the lowest and
meanest form of betrayal. Throughout this passage the idea is brought
out that God was amazed at the da... [ Continue Reading ]
These things hast thou done, and I kept silence, Cf Romans 2:21; THOU
THOUGHTEST THAT I WAS ALTOGETHER SUCH AN ONE AS THYSELF, conniving at
such wicked behavior, because He did not punish the wickedness
outright; BUT I WILL REPROVE THEE, as soon as His patience which
intended the sinner's salvation... [ Continue Reading ]
Now consider this, ye that forget God, those who depend upon an
external righteousness of works and forget the need of true piety of
the heart, LEST I TEAR YOU IN PIECES, in a punishment of utter
destruction, AND THERE BE NONE TO DELIVER, for when God once begins to
strike, it is impossible to escap... [ Continue Reading ]
Whoso offereth, praise, the true thanksgiving of a believing heart,
GLORIFIETH ME, the external worship in this case being an expression
of the faith of the heart; AND TO HIM THAT ORDERETH HIS CONVERSATION
ARIGHT, making his whole life conform with the rule of God's divine
will, WILL I SHOW THE SALV... [ Continue Reading ]