Judges 13:25

REFLECTIONS

CONTEMPLATE, my soul, the wonderful grace of God manifested to this humble family, amidst the general corruption of Israel; and remark from it, for thy comfort and encouragement in evil times, how the Lord watcheth over his people for good. Behold! how angels minister unto them that are the heirs of salvation. And may I not hope, may I not trust, that some celestial messenger will graciously be sent to my relief in any, and in every case, wherein my God and Father sees it needful.

But do I not see in this instance Jesus himself, the Almighty Angel, and Messenger of the Father's covenant? Surely, dearest Jesus, as the great Mediator of it, and in this light thy Father's servant, it is thou thyself which hast brought all the glorious revelations of heaven! It is thou which hast communicated all the important messages from Jehovah to men. Surely it was thou which didst converse with the Patriarchs, with thy church in the wilderness, and upon many occasions, like the present, to thy people, as if thou didst long for the period fixed on from all eternity to arrive, in which thou wouldest assume our flesh, and dwell among us. As if thy precious soul, in contemplating the glories of redemption, anticipated with joy and rapture the hour when by thy appearing in substance of our flesh, thou wouldest ransom the souls of thy people from everlasting destruction. Oh! thou Almighty Angel of the New Covenant, thou High Priest after the order of Melchisedec; thou Altar, thou Rock, and Sacrifice! do thou be all these, and infinitely more, if needful, in all my poor offerings; and do thou perform wondrously, and give me faith to look on, till my eyes see thee ascending in the flame of thine own complete and all-sufficient sacrifice, as an evidence that thou art all in all, and goest up with thy people's intercession in thy dear name and righteousness; and then, like Manoah and his wife, I would fall with reverence of soul and body at thy feet, as the Lord my righteousness.

But let me take one prospect more of the subject in this Chapter, and in the promised child of Samson, the Nazarite from the womb, behold him typified, who was not only separated from the very shadow of guilt, and before his incarnation devoted to his Father's service, but was miraculously conceived by the overshadowing power of the Holy Ghost. Samson, though set apart from his mother ' s womb, a Nazarite by birth, was born in sin, and shapen in iniquity. But the Almighty Samson of our salvation was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. The Samson of Manoah and his wife was indeed raised up of God to be the deliverer of his brethren from temporary affliction; and even this limited, as it necessarily was, to the boundaries of this life, by reason of death, could not be accomplished but in part. But the Almighty Samson of our heavenly Father, was raised up to be the Deliverer of his people from everlasting ruin, and to save them from the wrath to come. And in this glorious work, Jesus is not only the author, but the finisher of the work, and hath completed the eternal redemption of our souls. Hail! thou that art mighty to save! the Lord of Hosts is thy name. Lord! let thy grace be sufficient for me, and thy strength, of which Samson's was but the mere shadow in resemblance, be made perfect in my weakness. For of thee, and through thee, and to thee, are all things; to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen.