_Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy
voice _
GOD’S CONTROVERSY WITH ISRAEL
In this text we have God offering to plead before the sinner.
The parties, who are they? On the one part, the Lord of universal
nature. On the other part, man, Israel, the Church. The manne... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out
of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and
Miriam _
REASONS FOR GRATITUDE
Ingratitude often meets with, what it always deserves, the most
grievous punishment.
The highest aggravation of this ingratitude... [ Continue Reading ]
_O My people, remember now _
A DIVINE READING
This chapter is a pathetical expostulation of God with His chosen
people, the Jews, for their ungracious demeanour and miscarriage
towards Him.
This expostulation is carried in a gracious manner. God pleads the
justice and equity of His cause by a thr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherewith shall I come before the Lord _
PLEASING GOD
This is a momentous question, which the world has ever been
asking--“How shall we approach God?
” For men feel that they are separated from Him,--that there is
something which prevents access, and they have sought how to remove
the obstacles... [ Continue Reading ]
_But he hath shewed thee, o man, what is good _
PIETY AND TRUE RELIGION
I. What is good? You may conceive of true piety as of a tree of life
planted in the midst of Paradise, in the midst of the Church,
spreading as it were its branches; whereof these three in the text are
the fairest. Justice and... [ Continue Reading ]
_The lord’s voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall
see thy name, hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it _
THE VOICE OF GOD IN HIS JUDGMENTS
I. This text announces that there is a message sent from God, The
voice of the Lord, as the written Word, is the ordinary, the appointed
m... [ Continue Reading ]
_The scant measure which is abomination _
CIVIC SINS
In these verses we have a sample of the crimes which abound in the
city, and which would bring on the threatened judgment.
I. Their variety.
1. Here is fraud. Fraud is one of the most prevalent crimes in all
cities.
2. Here is violence. “The... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the rich men thereof are full of violence _
TRYING THE IMPOSSIBLE
The folly of expecting real prosperity by committing acts of
injustice, or pursuing courses of sin, is here forcibly represented by
comparing it to the absurdity of attempting to run horses upon a rock,
or to plough the rock wi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap _
USELESS LABOUR
Mark the vexation of it--sowing and not reaping; sowing, and somebody
else reaping.
Here is the uncontrollable element in life. A man says, I certainly
did tread out the olives, and I have not a small vessel full of oil
with which to anoint... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the statutes of Omri are kept _
OMRI AND AHAB: LESSONS WORTH STUDY
On the long dark roll of human infamy there are but few darker names
than those of Omri and Ahab.
Learn--
I. The religious sentiment in man is often terribly perverted. Omri
and Ahab were not idolaters themselves, but they e... [ Continue Reading ]