2. Honourable —
[If any man, under the Law, had regarded the Temple, the sacrifices, and the vessels of the sanctuary, in no other light than as a common house, or common utensils, or common food, he would have been considered as greatly dishonouring God. Thus the very sanctity of the Sabbath should render it " honourable " in our estimation ; and we should labour to " honour it" by every possible expression of our regard.]
3. Delightful—
[The arrival of that day should be greeted by us with holy joy : we should say, " This is the day that the Lord has made ; we will rejoice and be glad in it." If we could suppose an angel sent clown to this lower world to labour in some common occupation, and permitted every seventh day to return to his heavenly abodes, and spend that day in the employments suited to his taste, with what delight would he look forward to the stated returns of that day ! So should it be with us ; and so it toill be, in proportion as we have attained to the views and dispositions of those blessed spirits. Not that we should delight in it merely as a day of rest to the body, but as a day wherein God calls us, like Moses, to come up and commune with him on his holy mount : and, instead of abridging it, or complaining of it as long and wearisome, we should rather say, with Peter, " It is good for us to be here ;" and should almost regret the arrived of the period when we must descend from the mount, to the less-pleasing occupations of time and sense.]
But we will proceed to state more particularly, II. In what manner we should employ it —
In what manner we should not employ it, is here distinctly told us —
[Worldly business, and carnal pleasure, and unprofitable conversation, are all expressly proscribed : " we must not do our own ways, nor find our own pleasure, nor speak our own words." On all the other days of the week we may find time for these things ; but on the Sabbath-day they are to be ex- cluded altogether. It is a grievous mistake to imagine, that after the public services of the day we are at liberty to engage in vain pursuits, invented only to beguile the time, which otherwise would be a burthen upon our hands : there are pur- suits proper to the day ; and in them exclusively should our time be occupied. We do not mean to say, that such things as can neither be anticipated nor postponed may not be done with innocence : for even under the Law, a latitude was allowed in relation to " what every man must eatd." In reference to
d Exod. xii. 16.