Deut. xxxiii. 12. Of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him ; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long.
AS God was pleased to communicate to some in former ages the knowledge of future events, so he
frequently imparted to them the spirit of prophecy in a more abundant measure, about the time of their death. Thus Isaac and Jacob were peculiarly inspired at that season to foretell the things which should be- fall their children. Thus Moses also, when about to be gathered to his fathers, was commissioned to declare the states and circumstances of all the different tribes after their entrance into Canaan. Of Benjamin he foretold, that his tribe should be situated close to the place which God had chosen for himself a ; and that his proximity to the Lord's immediate residence should be to him a source and occasion of the richest benefits.
If it be considered how comprehensive many of the prophecies are, and how the Apostles themselves continually apply them to the general circumstances of the Church of Christ, we shall not be thought to put a force upon the text, while we take occasion from it to set forth,
I. The state of God's people —
The situation of the tribe of Benjamin may serve at least as an emblem to represent the state of " God's beloved." They are " a people near unto Godh" " dwelling by him, and covered by him, all the day long."
1. They maintain a sense of the divine presence —
[They not only cannot, like the generality, live " without God in the world," or rest, as many professors of religion do, in a round of formal duties ; they are sensible that " God searcheth the heart and trieth the reins." They long to have a conviction of this fastened upon their minds, and to see, as it were, on every place this inscription written, " Thou, God, seest me." They do not harbour secret sin because it is in- visible to man; but, assured that " the darkness is no darkness
a This was remarkably fulfilled : for Mount Zion, whereon the temple was built, belonged to Judah : but the remainder of Jerusalem, and almost the whole of Mount Moriah (of which Mount Zion was a part) belonged to Benjamin : so literally true was it, that God, the head of all the tribes, " dwelt between the shoulders of Benjamin." And this very circumstance occasioned the tribe of Benjamin to adhere to Judah, when the other ten tribes, under Jeroboam, apos- tatized from the worship of Jehovah. b Ps. cxlviii. 14.