A JOYFUL SALUTATION AND GOD'S RESPONSE.
To the chief musician upon Gittith, to be sung to the accompaniment of
the zitherlike instrument which David brought along from the
Philistine city of Gath, a psalm of Asaph, an antiphonal, festal hymn,
probably for the celebration of the Passover, God Himsel... [ Continue Reading ]
Sing aloud unto God, our Strength, letting exultation sound forth in
His honor, to praise Him for His almighty protection; MAKE A JOYFUL
NOISE UNTO THE GOD OF JACOB, the only true God, Jacob representing the
Church of all times.... [ Continue Reading ]
Take a psalm, the summons being addressed to the chorus of Levites to
begin their songs of praise, AND BRING HITHER THE TIMBREL, THE
PLEASANT HARP WITH THE PSALTERY, zither and harp being used largely in
the Temple orchestra on account of the pleasing quality of their
music.... [ Continue Reading ]
Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, the horns, as blown by the
priests, being the most prominent instruments on the Feast of the New
Moon, the civil new year, on the first of Tishri, Numbers 10:10, IN
THE TIME APPOINTED, ON OUR SOLEMN FEAST-DAY, for trumpets were used on
all the great festivals.... [ Continue Reading ]
For this was a statute, for Israel, pertaining to the precepts
governing the covenant people, AND A LAW OF THE GOD OF JACOB, fixed by
Him to regulate the customs of the feasts.... [ Continue Reading ]
This He ordained in Joseph, this one tribe here representing the
entire nation, FOR A TESTIMONY, WHEN HE WENT OUT THROUGH THE LAND OF
EGYPT, in preparing for the exodus of His people; for from that time
dated the personal intercourse of Jehovah with His people; WHERE I
HEARD A LANGUAGE THAT I UNDERS... [ Continue Reading ]
I removed his shoulder from the burden, by setting His people free
from the serfdom of Egypt; HIS HANDS WERE DELIVERED FROM THE POTS,
from the baskets which the children of Israel were forced to carry as
hods in transporting building materials for the monuments of Pharaoh.... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou calledst in trouble, when the Egyptians oppressed them, AND I
DELIVERED THEE, Exodus 2:24; I ANSWERED THEE IN THE SECRET PLACE OF
THUNDER, literally, the veil of the thunder, the pillar of cloud, from
out of which God wrought His wonders at the passage of the Red Sea. I
PROVED THEE AT THE WATER... [ Continue Reading ]
Hear, O My people, a most impressive appeal, AND I WILL TESTIFY UNTO
THEE; O ISRAEL, IF THOU WILT HEARKEN UNTO ME! The Lord now states the
terms of the solemn covenant between Himself and Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
There shall no strange god be in thee, every form of idolatry being an
abomination before Him; NEITHER SHALT THOU WORSHIP ANY STRANGE GOD.... [ Continue Reading ]
I am the Lord, thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt,
Exodus 20:2; OPEN THY MOUTH WIDE, to receive the great spiritual
blessings due to the people of the covenant, AND I WILL FILL IT, He
alone being able to give the full and lasting satisfaction of peace
and blessedness.... [ Continue Reading ]
But My people would not hearken to My voice, as events after the
giving of the Law showed; AND ISRAEL WOULD NONE OF ME, disobedience
and self-will being its outstanding characteristics.... [ Continue Reading ]
So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust, their stubbornness,
that being God's punishment upon the stubborn and rebellious of all
times; AND THEY WALKED, were engaged IN and with, THEIR OWN COUNSELS,
totally estranged to Jehovah.... [ Continue Reading ]
Oh, that My people had hearkened unto Me, and Israel had walked in My
ways! In that event their entire history would have had a different
cast, and their fate would not have been so sad.... [ Continue Reading ]
I should soon have subdued their enemies, whom they were too
indifferent to drive out completely, Judges 1, 2, AND TURNED MY HAND
AGAINST THEIR ADVERSARIES, to exterminate them altogether.... [ Continue Reading ]
The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto Him,
brought into subjection by the almighty power of the Lord; BUT THEIR
TIME, that of the children of Israel, their pleasant relations with
the covenant God, SHOULD HAVE ENDURED FOREVER.... [ Continue Reading ]
He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat, with the
richest blessings of His goodness and mercy; AND WITH HONEY OUT OF THE
ROCK SHOULD I HAVE SATISFIED THEE. Cf Deuteronomy 32:1. Such is the
earnest appeal of the Lord as it finds its application in the Church,
also of the New Testame... [ Continue Reading ]