Notes on the book of ExodusMackintosh, Charles Henry
Religion
Notes on the book of Exodus
Mackintosh, Charles Henry
Bible. Exodus -- Commentaries
However, while it is generally admitted that all this is true in
reference to the Church collectively, many find considerable
difficulty in making a personal application thereof. They are ready to
say, with the Psalmist, "Truly, God is good to Israel, even to such as
are of a clean heart. _But as for me_," etc. (Ps. lxxiii. 1, 2.) They
are looking at themselves instead of at Christ in death and Christ in
resurrection; they are occupied rather with their appropriation of
Christ than with Christ Himself; they are thinking of their capacity
rather than their title. Thus they are kept in a state of the most
distressing uncertainty, and, as a consequence, they are never able to
take the place of happy, intelligent worshipers. They are praying for
salvation instead of rejoicing in the conscious possession of it; they
are looking at their imperfect fruits instead of Christ's perfect
atonement.
Now in looking through the various notes of this song in Exodus xv, we
do not find a single note about _self_, its doings, its sayings, its
feelings, or its fruits; it is all about Jehovah, from beginning to
end. It begins with, "I will sing unto the Lord, for _He_ hath
triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath _He_ thrown into
the Sea." This is a specimen of the entire song. It is a simple record
of the attributes and actings of Jehovah. In chapter xiv, the hearts
of the people had, as it were, been pent up by the excessive pressure
of their circumstances; but in chapter xv, the pressure is removed,
and their hearts find full vent in a sweet song of praise. Self is
forgotten; circumstances are lost sight of; one object, and but one,
fills their vision, and that object is the Lord Himself, in His
character and ways. They were able to say, "Thou, Lord, hast made me
glad through Thy work; I will triumph in the works of Thy hands." (Ps.
xcii. 4.) This is true worship. It is when poor, worthless self, with
all its belongings, is lost sight of, and Christ alone fills the
heart, that we present proper worship. There is no need for the
efforts of a fleshly pietism to awaken in the soul feelings of
devotion; nor is there any demand whatever for the adventitious
appliances of religion, so called, to kindle in the soul the flame of
acceptable worship. Oh, no! Let but the heart be occupied with the
Person of Christ, and "songs of praise" will be the natural result. It
is impossible for the eye to rest on Him and the spirit not be bowed
in holy worship. If we contemplate the worship of the hosts which
surround the throne of God and the Lamb, we shall find that it is ever
evoked by the presentation of some special feature of divine
excellence or divine acting. Thus should it be with the Church on
earth; and when it is not so, it is because we allow things to intrude
upon us which have no place in the regions of unclouded light and
unalloyed blessedness. In all true worship, God Himself is at once the
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