The Pulpit Commentary — Judges — Section 168

her way a de,ont woman. The scraping together 1100 shekels was probably not effected v-rithou!· considerable effort and self-deni~l, for it was a larg·e sum (more than £110), ele,en times the yearly wages of the Lev1te. She meant to consecrate it to Jehovah, the God of Israel. She seems too to have been a good mother for she intended this consecration to be for her son's benefit, and her language and 'conduct v-:hen h~r son confessed his g·uilt, were pious and _forgiving. And yet we find he; d1sobeymg ~be ~xpress ?ommand o~ God, an? makmg a graven and a molten image to be used m bis ~orsh1p and serVIce. In hke manner we find Micah giving signs ·of a te:nder conscience and of t~e fear _of God in confessing his sin when adjured •a?cordmg t~ the law; we find _him. anxious for the favour of God, and looking to him to do !um good; ~e find him liberal an? large-heart~d in providing at hie own expense for the ':orsh1p ?f God \ and yet, with a strang_e mconsistency, we find him domg the ver:y ~hmgs wh1c~ Gods word forbad, and se!tmg up images, and teraphim, an_d a supe_rstitious ephod !n a "ho~se of God" of_ Ins own devising, and under a pnest of his own consecration. In hke manner agam we find even Aaron making a golden calf for the people to worship, and saying (Septuagint) or encouraging the people to say, "This is thy God, 0 Israel, which brought thee dp out of the land of Egypt," and building an altar before it, and keeping a feast in its honour. We read of the golden calves of Jeroboam, and we read too of the high places and the sacrifices upon them even under the pious kings. These then are distinct examples of the superstitious worship of the true God, and lead us to the anxious question, how we are to worship God. Under the Old Testament this was not left to chance or human choice. In the nonage of the Church, before the coming of Christ, all the ordinances of Divine service were prescribed with minuteness and exactness. The sanctuary itself, the Aaronic priesthood, the Levitical ministrations, the feasts of the Lord, the gifts and offerings and devotions of the people, were all ordered by the authority of the word of God. But under the New Testament, when the fulness of the time is come, and the Church has entered into the full possession of the privileges of adopted sons, it is so no longer. Besides a few general principles and broad rules, and the institution of the two sacraments, and the Lord's Prayer, the Church has received from Holy Scripture no form of Divine service. She has to ,frame her rules and canons of Divine worship according to the light and wisdom vouchsafed to her by the Holy Spirit of God. In doing this she must have regard to two things. 1. The character and mind of God, so that the worship may be of a kind that will be pleasing and acceptable to him. 2. The nature and character of man, so that the worship may be of a kind to assist the worshipper to raise hie heart to God, and impress him with a sense of the majesty, and holiness, and goodness of God. With regard to thejirst, the general intimations of him who alone knows the things of God, even the Holy Spirit of God, are very clear. " God is a spirit, nnd they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." "The sacrifices of God are e. broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, 0 God, thou wilt not despise." "Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continue.Uy, that_is, the fruit of our lip~ giving thanks to his name." "To. do good and to commumcate forget not: for with sue~ sacrifices God is well pleased" (see too Micah vi. 6---8). ~very att~mpt to subs~1- tute costly gifts, or gorgeous ceremonies, or showy proc~ss1ons, or hghts, or mu~1c, or gestures, or anything bodily and sensuous, for the ntual of repentance, faith, fear love 1 and self-consecration-consecration of the will and affections-to the service of Almighty God can only be made in ignorance of his character and mind as revealed to us in Holy Scripture. It is as truly superstitious as were Micah'e images, and terapbim, and ephod, and house of ~od. Wit~ regard to th~ seco11,, t~e outward accessories of worship mnet be of 11 kmd to assist the worsh1ppe~ in hie endeavour to draw near to God and worship him with e.11 the powers of ~•s sou]. Under the pretence of purely spiritual w~rship, it is _ve~y easy so to_ get rid ~f _all outward acts and circumstances as to get rid of worship itself. The hght of religion in the soul cannot hum unless in an atmosphere which feeds the £lo.me. Reverence mid awe, prayer and praise, forgetfulness of the world, and thoughts of heaven need to be quickened aud encouraged _by the postur~ o~ _the bo_dy, by t?e words of the lips, by sights aud sounds expressive of those mv1s1hl~ tlungs winch tl~~ soul sec:b tu lianclle in its approaches to the tlirone of God. It 1s therefore a leg1t1mate on. xvn. 1-13.] THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 181