shame when we reflect, how little we have ever sacrificed to our oflended God. We all know that he has abundant reason to be displeased with us : and we know that " a broken and contrite spirit is a sacrifice which he will never despise : " but how few of us are willing to offer it ! how few are at all anxious about his favour, or will exercise any self-denial in order to obtain it ! Will not that ignorant heathen rise up in judgment against us ? ]
2. To intimidate his enemies —
[He offered his son "upon the wall" in the sight of all his enemies. What an idea did that give them of his determi- nation to sacrifice every tiring rather than sru'render to his enemies, and to sell his life as dear as possible ! We caimot doubt but that this act of his was publicly known amongst the besiegers as well as the besieged: and, methinks, it must strike them all with horror to reflect, that they had driven him to such an awful act of desperation ; and no doubt it tended also to inflame the hatred of his own subjects against them to the uttermost. We are told indeed that this effect ensued; for " they had great indignation against Israel ;" who being the principals in the war, (whilst the other two kings were only alhes,) were the more immediate objects of their resent- ment''. And certainly the expedient so far succeeded, that his victorious enemies "departed from him, and returned to their own land."]
Having seen the reasons of that extraordinary act, we proceed to,
II. Suggest some reflections natm'ally arising from it —
We observe then,
I. How great are the calamities of war!
[Dreadful indeed were the evils inflicted on the land of Moab : " the cities were beaten down ; every good piece of land was marred with stones ; the wells were all filled up ; and every good tree levelled with the ground." True it is that these judgments were inflicted by the command of God ; and therefore the agents who inflicted thein were blameless : but the warfare which has so long desolated Europe, and especially
•= The burning of Moscow by the Russians, on Buonaparte's invasion of Russia in 1812, to prevent it from being serviceable to their enemies, was an act somewhat similar, and tended not a little to convince the French that the complete conquest of Russia would be no easy matter. In fact, it produced the same effect as the expedient of the king of Moab did ; it caused his enemies to depart, without pursuing any further the advantages they had already gained.