Psalms 81:12-13
12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
ABANDONED OF GOD
‘So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels,’ etc.
I. God showed His love to the Israelites by giving them a law more strict than any which had gone before it; He revealed Himself as a jealous God, Who would be obeyed; He curbed all their actions, and He punished them severely for all transgressions of His law.—It was only as a last step, when the people were determined to rebel, that He granted to them that prime blessing, as a worldly mind would consider it, namely, leisure to follow their own hearts’ lust and to do according to their own imaginations.
II. God’s principles of government are ever the same; He changes not: and if it was only in being governed by Him, in wearing His yoke, in carrying His burdens, that the people of Israel could escape bondage, and be lifted up, and be noble and free, then beyond doubt the same is true of ourselves, and we too shall be slaves as long as we are free, and shall only be free when we become in heart and soul the servants of God.
III. The man who wears Christ’s yoke feels that he must keep a watch over his life and over his thoughts.—(1) He bridles his tongue; (2) he is particular in the choice of his company; (3) he puts a curb upon his appetite; (4) he thinks it right to be particular about his devotions and his attendance on ordinances.
Bishop Harvey Goodwin.
Illustration
‘The tender affection of God in pleading with men to avoid sin is very impressive; but more impressive still are His exclamations of grief when the final step has been taken, and when, for many, recovery is impossible. Thus when Jesus looked down from Olivet upon the guilty metropolis, and knew that the die was cast, He nevertheless wept and said, “How often would I have gathered your children, as a hen her brood; but ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate!” So God here speaks: “O that My people had hearkened unto Me! that Israel had walked in My ways!” The measure of God’s love transcends all known limits; its forms are infinite in their variety! When every re edial measure has been tried in vain love can only weep.’