[It could not fail but they must sometimes feel their obli- gations to God for his manifold mercies : and here was a way appointed wherein they might render unto God the honour due unto his name. In the 107th Psalm we have a variety of occur- rences mentioned, wherein God's interposition might be seen : for instance, in bringing men safely to their homes after having encountered considerable difficulties and dangers : in redeeming them from prison or captivity, after they had by their own faults or follies reduced themselves to misery : in recovering persons from sickness, after they had been brought down to the chambers of the grave : in preserving mariners from storms and shipwreck : in public, family, or personal mercies of any kind. For any of these David says, " Let them sacrifice the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing V]
2 As supplications for mercies desired —
[These might be offered either as free-will offerings, or as vows1; between which there was a material difference ; the one expressing more of an ingenuous spirit, the other arising rather from fear and terror. We have a striking instance of the former, in the case of the eleven tribes, who, from a zeal for God's honour, had undertaken to punish the Benjamites for the hor- rible wickedness they had committed. Twice had the con- federate tribes gone up against the Benjamites, and twice been repulsed, with the loss of forty thousand men : but being still desirous to know and do the will of God in this matter, (for it was God's quarrel only that they were avenging,) " they went up to the house of God, and wept and fasted until even, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offeri7igs unto the Lord : " and then God delivered the Benjamites into their hand; so that, with the exception of six hundred only, who fled, the whole tribe of Benjamin, both male and female, was extirpated"1.
Of the latter kind, namely, the vows, we have an instance in Jonah and the mariners, when overtaken with the storm. Jonah doubtless had proposed this expedient to the seamen, who, though heathens, readily adopted it in concert with him, hoping thereby to obtain deliverance from the destruction that threatened them n. And to the particular vows made on that occasion, Jonah had respect in the thanksgiving he offered after his deliverance0.
Between the peace-offerings which were presented as thanks- givings, and those presented in supplication before God, there was a marked difference : the tribute of love and gratitude was far more pleasing to God, as arguing a more heavenly frame of mind: and, in consequence of its superior excellence, the
k Ps. cvii. 22. 1 ver. 16. m Judg. xx. 26.
" Jonah i. 16. ° Jonah ii. 9.