Expositions of Holy Scripture: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and NumbersMaclaren, Alexander
Religion
Expositions of Holy Scripture: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers
Maclaren, Alexander
Bible. Pentateuch -- Commentaries; Bible. Pentateuch -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
the divine judgments. Its ringing praises are modelled on the ancient
lyric. It, too, triumphs in God's judgments, regards them as means of
making known His name, as done not for destruction, but that His
character may be known and honoured by men, to whom it is life and
peace to know and love Him for what He is.
That final victory over 'the beast,' whether he be a person or a
tendency, is to reproduce in higher fashion that old conquest by the
Red Sea. There is hope for the world that its oppressors shall not
always tyrannise; there is hope for each soul that, if we take Christ
for our deliverer and our guide, He will break the chains from off our
wrists, and bring us at last to the eternal shore, where we may stand,
like the ransomed people, and, as the unsetting morning dawns, see its
beams touching with golden light the calm ocean, beneath which our
oppressors lie buried for ever, and lift up glad thanksgivings to Him
who has 'led us through fire and through water, and brought us out into
a wealthy place.'
'MY STRENGTH AND SONG'
'The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my
salvation....'
EXODUS xv. 2.
These words occur three times in the Bible: here, in Isaiah xii. 2, and
in Psalm cxviii. 14.
I. The lessons from the various instances of their occurrence. The
first and second teach that the Mosaic deliverance is a
picture-prophecy of the redemption in Christ. The third (Psalm cxviii.
14), long after, and the utterance of some private person, teaches that
each age and each soul has the same mighty Hand working for it. 'As we
have heard, so have we seen.'
II. The lessons from the words themselves.
_(a)_ True faith appropriates God's universal mercy as a personal
possession. '_My_ Lord and _my_ God!' 'He loved _me_, and gave Himself
for _me_.'
_(b)_ Each single act of mercy should reveal God more clearly as 'My
strength.' The 'and' in the second clause is substantially equivalent
to 'for.' It assigns the reason for the assurance expressed in the
first. Because of the experienced deliverance and God's manifestation
of Himself in it as the author of 'salvation,' my faith wins happy
increase of confidence that He 'is the strength of my heart.' Blessed
they who bring that treasure out of all the sorrows of life!
_(c)_ The end of His deliverances is 'praise.' 'He is my song.' This is
true for earth and for heaven. The 'Song of Moses and the Lamb.'
THE SHEPHERD AND THE FOLD
'... Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy
holy habitation.'
EXODUS XV. 13.
What a grand triumphal ode! The picture of Moses and the children of
Israel singing, and Miriam and the women answering: a gush of national
pride and of worship! We belong to a better time, but still we can feel
its grandeur. The deliverance has made the singer look forward to the
end, and his confidence in the issue is confirmed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account