_Give ear, O My people, to My law; incline your ears to the words of My mouth._ THE OBLIGATION TO OBEY GOD’S LAW I. It is the law of your nature. The foundation of morality is laid deep in human nature; its principles result from the constitution of our frame; and its authority will be supreme, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old._ THE NATURE AND DESIGN OF PARABOLIC TEACHING The word here translated parable did not probably convey to the mind of the psalmist the signification which we ordinarily attach to it. It might mean nothing more than a sublime, fig... [ Continue Reading ]
_We will not hide them from their children._ CHILDREN I. The interesting objects of our solicitude mentioned. Consider-- 1. The love which welcomes them. 2. The evils which surround them. 3. The possibilities which await them. II. The sacred duties which we owe to them. 1. They are weak; we m... [ Continue Reading ]
_For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel. .. that they should make them known to their children._ THE PARENTS’ PREROGATIVE: HOW IS IT USED Dr. Adam Clarke reminds us that there are no less than five generations specified in these verses. God has blessed no age for its... [ Continue Reading ]
_That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments._ ON THE DECEITFULNESS OF THE HEART, IN DISREGARDING PROVIDENTIAL DISPENSATIONS IN GENERAL I. Show what is implied in a diligent observation of providential dispensations. 1. A close investigation o... [ Continue Reading ]
_The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle._ GOD IN HUMAN HISTORY I. A people is a community that are most favoured with privileges are oftentimes the most sinful. Ephraim was not only one of the largest, but one of the most favoured of the Jewish tr... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the daytime also He led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire._ DAY AND NIGHT LEADING Did some man imagine this? I thank him. It was worth being born to imagine this conception of God. It is so tender, so fatherlike; it is charged to the full with inspiration of the best ki... [ Continue Reading ]
_He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths._ STREAMS FROM THE ROCK I. Consider thy rock as a representation of Christ. 1. What does a rock remind us of? (1) Solidity and firmness. Christ is “the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever.” (2) Power of defe... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they sinned yet more against Him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness._ SIN MULTIPLYING WITH MERCIES The more copiously the showers of mercies fell upon the Jew in the wilderness, the more abounding his sins. I. This is a lamentably common character. Seeds of sin innumerable are imbe... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust._ THE CONDUCT OF GOD TOWARDS THE WORLD, AND THE WORLD’S CONDUCT TO HIM I. God’s dispensations towards depraved man. 1. Wonderful mercies (Psalms 78:12; Psalms 78:24; Psalms 78:27; Psalms 78:44, etc.). There are Divine deliverances,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?_ A TABLE IN THE WILDERNESS Here is-- I. A base ingratitude. He had done so, and they had participated in the banquet. II. A miserable scepticism. Can He do it? He who peopled immensity with innumerable worlds and systems, etc. What an insane and imbeci... [ Continue Reading ]
_Can He give bread also?_ can He provide flesh for His people? THE CRY OF UNBELIEF AND PRESUMPTION I. The cry of unbelief. The question presupposes a negative; they practically said, “We do not believe that He can do any more than He has done.” The whole nation missed the meaning of history, and t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth. .. Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in His salvation._ MISTRUST THAT DESTROYS There are morbid growths in the human frame which our doctors divide into two groups--benign and malignant; and the distinction often comes to mean the disti... [ Continue Reading ]
_And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of Heaven._ THE MANNA IN THE WILDERNESS That this miraculous provision was designed to be an emblem of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of those precious blessings of which He is the Author, is evident from His own declaration “... [ Continue Reading ]
_Man did eat angels’ food._ ANGELS’ FOOD I. There are in the universe higher order of intelligent creatures than man, “Angels.” The proofs, the nature, the functions, the varieties of their existence abound in the Scriptures. II. This higher order of intelligences require food. No creatures, howe... [ Continue Reading ]
_They were not estranged from their lust._ DISSATISFACTION WITH PLENTY God gave them plenty, and they ate “and were filled.” He gave them what they sought, flesh; feathered birds came in abundance. Notwithstanding, they were not satisfied, “were not estranged from their lust”; they had still a cra... [ Continue Reading ]
_For all this they sinned still _ SINNING STILL 1. God’s revelation of His power, goodness, love and grace to the sinners of our day, in the completed canon of the Holy Scriptures, infinitely transcends anything made to ancient Israel. And yet, in the noonday light of that full and august revelat... [ Continue Reading ]
_When He slew them, then they sought Him: and they returned and inquired early after God._ ISRAEL’S HYPOCRITICAL REPENTANCE I. The acts of repentance which they performed. 1. Seeking God. 2. Returning. 3. Inquiring. 4. Remembering (Psalms 78:35). 5. Renewing their covenant with God (Psalms 78... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nevertheless they did flatter Him with their mouth._ FLATTERING GOD I. Here is a world-wide enormity. 1. It is rampant in heathendom. Men “flatter” their gods. 2. It is prevalent in Christendom. Looking at the moral character of England, for example, who can doubt that the vast majorities of al... [ Continue Reading ]
_But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not._ ALL GOOD REWARDED The whole Book of Judges may be said to be a commentary on these words, for it is a record of successive instances of idolatry and wickedness into which the people fell, of Divine judgments which i... [ Continue Reading ]
_For He remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again._ THE FRAILTY OF HUMAN NATURE I. The frailty of human nature impressively described. Two terms are used-- 1. “Flesh”; not granite, iron, or even oak, but a sentient, weak, constantly-dissolving organism.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel _ LIMITING GOD I. We limit the Holy One of Israel by dictating to him. Shall mortal dare to dictate to his Creator? Shall it be possible that man shall lay down his commands, and expect the King of heaven to pay homage to h... [ Continue Reading ]
_And smote all the firstborn in Egypt;.. . but made His own people to go forth like sheep._ GOD’S DEALINGS WITH EGYPT AND ISRAEL I. The punishment of egypt. Egypt, through its kings, had become the determined adversary of God. “Who is Jehovah, that I should obey His voice?” was the challenge flung... [ Continue Reading ]
_And kept not His testimonies: but turned back, and dealt unfaithfully their fathers._ THE DECEITFULNESS OF THE HEART AS TO DUTY I. As to the performance of duty, the heart discovers its power of deceit. 1. By diverting a person from those duties that are most spiritual in their nature. It will p... [ Continue Reading ]
He built His sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which He hath established for ever. THE GOSPEL PALACES “He built His sanctuary like high palaces”; look through this very country, compare its palaces with its cathedrals and churches, even in their present state of disadvantage, and say whet... [ Continue Reading ]
_He chose David also His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds._ DAVID, THE SHEPHERD, CALLED TO BE KING A keeper of sheep, suddenly becoming conscious that he was chosen for a great yet terrible destiny; being gradually fitted among the quiet hill-sides to meet this mighty calling; and then, r... [ Continue Reading ]