Song of the redeemed.
I. THE STATE OF THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. They will be in the joyous realization of long-awaited blessings. A brief strain from their hymn is given—
"Lo! here is our God!
For him we have waited that he should save us;
This is Jehovah, for whom we have waited;
Let us exult and rejoice in his salvation!"
As "a sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things," so the crown of joy is the recollection of past miseries in the hour of deliverance. And how it intensifies joy—the sense of having waited, of having ploughed and sown, watched and wept, with a view to the "far-off interest of tears!" And finally, to see and know that in this mingled experience one hand has been at work, one will has been guiding, one mercy mixing the ingredients of life's cup! "Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself!" yea, but verily, also, thou art a God that dost in due time disclose thyself to reward the patience and faith of thy chosen, and to pour confusion on thy foes! On the sacred mountain the hand of Jehovah will rest, to protect his people, to judge his foes. Beautiful image! As a symbol of protection, cf. Ezra 7:6, Ezra 7:28; Ezra 8:18, Ezra 8:22, Ezra 8:31; Nehemiah 2:8.
II. THE DOOM OF THE HEATHEN. Noah seems to stand for the heathen in general. Moab, as the proud foe of Israel (2 Kings 24:2; Ezekiel 28:8-11), shall be trampled down, swamped, and contend like a swimmer for his life. But his pride will be abased; his strong walls be cut down, even to the dust. So that hand, which is outspread beneficently, like the canopy of the broad sky, to protect and bless the chosen, may be clenched in threat and for vengeance upon the wicked. There are two senses in which that hand may "rest" upon us—lightly, as the father's hand rests on the head of a beloved child, to express affection, approval, and the promise of aid; or heavily, to punish, to overwhelm, to "turn our moisture into the drought of summer." To listen to the voice, to submit to the hand of the Eternal,—this is the expression of genuine piety. To writhe and struggle and resist the pressure of that hand, to turn a deaf ear to that voice,—this is the expression of hardness of heart and impiety, bringing certain punishment in its turn. "Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts!"—J.
HOMILIES BY W.M. STATHAM