n Isai. xxxiii. 1G. and xli. 17, 18. ° 1 Pet. i. 5.
p ver. 10. i Exod. xxiii. 20, 21. with Matt. vii. 21.
r 1 Cor. vi. 20.
Isai. lxiii. 11 — 14. Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is He that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? Where is He that put his Holy Spirit within him ? that led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, di riding the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name ? that led them through the deep as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble ? As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest : so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.
r it l2
THESE are supposed, by some, to be the words of Jehovah : but they seem rather to be spoken by Israel, who, under the chastisements of the Most High, were brought to a measure of penitential re- flection. Such was the effect which God designed to produce upon thema. And he complained when his judgments did not operate thus favourably upon their
minds b A review of former mercies is at all
times very desirable, as well for our own comfort as for God's glory. I would therefore now call upon you to contemplate the Most High,
I. In a way of grateful recollection —
The wonders wrought for Israel, in their redemp- tion from Egypt, are here recounted —
[Here they record their passage through the Red Sea, and the special influences of the Spirit of God upon Moses and the elders, during their sojourning in the Wilderness, and their final rest in Canaan, the promised land. Repeatedly is every one of these mercies specified in my text. Thrice is a passage through the sea mentioned; with this particular circum- stance, that, whereas the bottom of the sea is for the most part abrupt and rugged, it was so smoothed for them, that the whole nation, men, women, children, and all their cattle, were enabled to pass it " without stumbling," and with the same facility as a horse moves in the open field. Twice also is the Holy Spirit mentioned, as exerting his all-powerful influence on the minds of their leaders, so as to conduct them in the safest way, and to the greatest possible advantage. Their final rest too in Canaan is illustrated by a beautiful simile of a beast, which, after all his labours, descends into a fertile valley, and, under the eye of his master, enjoys in the greatest perfection such provision and rest as his necessities require.
These things formed the principal theme of praise and thanksgiving to that people in all ages. After their return from Babylon, Nehemiah expatiated upon them with adoring gratitudec: and to this hour they are deservedly the great subject of that nation's boast.]
Nor are they less interesting to us than to the Jews themselves —
[In these manifestations of God's power and grace, we
a Jer. iii. 4.
b Cite Jer. ii. 5 — 7. which precisely accords with the text.
c Neh. ix. 5 — 25.