Exod. xiv. 15. Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go
forward.
IT is truly said by the prophet, " He that believeth shall not make haste ; " that is, he shall not yield to any fears, so as to be driven by them to adopt any hasty or improper measures for his deliverance. We may say on the other hand, He that believeth shall not delay : he shall, in proportion to the degree in which his faith is exercised, discern the seasons for action, as well as for prayer : nor shall he be so occupied in one duty, as to overlook and neglect another. That Moses believed God's gracious pro- mises of deliverance, we can have no doubt : for he reported them to the Israelites with unshaken confi- dence : yet it should seem, by the continuance of his urgent petitions after he had received these promises from God, that he was almost afraid that his enemies would be upon him, before the promises could be ful- filled. Doubtless God was pleased with his fervent prayers at other times : but here he gently reproves Moses for remaining occupied in one duty, when there was another which the immediate occasion more urgently required : " Wherefore criest thou unto me ?" Go and give the proper directions to the people : go and execute your office as their leader, and command them to " Go forward."
Though this command was given under peculiar circumstances in which it cannot literally be applied to us, yet, in the spirit of it, it is applicable to all the Lord's people when reduced to difficulties in the way of their duty. And it may, not improperly, suggest to us the following reflections. Difficulties in the way of our duty, I. May be expected —
God is pleased sometimes to screen his people from trials, so as scarcely to let them suffer at all from persecutions, and very little even from internal con- flicts. As he led not the Israelites the near way to