been nothing like it before, God had. lifted up a mighty hand, and stretched forth a strong arm. Show that, in Christ's <lealings with the sin-foe, the same impression is made on us. See the doxologies in the Book of Revelation. III. Oun APPRIJ!HENBION OF THE FOLNEBS AND COMPLETENESS OF THE DELIVEBANCE waoucrnT, Compare the results of God's intervention with the consequences of a mere victory on an ordinary battle-fiold; God wrought a perfect triumph. So Christ "leads captivity captive," and "saves to the uttermost."-R. T. Ver. 6.-The power of the Lord's rebulce. "At thy rebuke, 0 God of Jacob, both chariot and horse are cast into a deep sleep." Byron pictures the scene with great poetical force- " And there Ia.y the steed with hiB nostril all wide, But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride: And the foa.m of his gasping la.y white on the turf, And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf. "And there lay the rider distorted and pale, With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail." "God did but speak the word, as the God of Jacob that commands deliverances for Jacob, and, at his rebuke, the chariot and horse were both cast into a dead sleep. See the power and efficacy of God's rebukes." "It is impossible to mistake the allusion to the deeper sleep of death, falling on the sleeping Assyrian army, before the valiant men could 'find their hands,' in the half-waking grasp of weapons in the hour of danger." I. Goo's REBUKES ABE SOMETIMES WORDS. Illustrate by Moses' messages from God to Pharaoh. Or the case of the prophet who went to Bethel to rebuke Jeroboam. Or Nathan's rebuke of DJ.vid.. Or Elijab's rebuke of Ahab. What is it that specially calls for the Lord's rebuke? Wilfulness. Persistent forcing of a. man's own way. And even more precisely, the daring of the man who forces his way when he knows it is contrary to the will of Gl'<l, or when he means to put dishonour on God. This is the case before us now. Sennacherib was forcing his own way, with designed intention of insulting and humiliating the God of Israel. And still the Divine rebuke is called forth wheu we fall into the committal of" presumptuous sins." II. Goo's REBUKES ARE SOMETIMES DEEDS. But tbey a.re voicefnl deeds. See here, the rebuke was a night-blast that slew the tens of thousands, and drove Sennacherib back to his land, a defeated and humiliated man. God's rebuke to hardened Pharaoh was the flower of his army drowned in the Red Sea. God's rebuke to over-confident David was three days' plague in the land. God's rebuke to Herod, who accepted the homage due alone to God, was a. terrible disease, that carried him off in agony and disgrace. Read life aright, and we may find God's rebuke in disappointments that we have known, and disasters we have suffered. Blessed are they who (1) receive, who (2) heed, and who (3) respond to, their Lord's rebuke !-R. T.
Ver. 7.-The Divine anger. "Who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?" God can only be apprehended through human figures with which we are familiar, So we find in the Diviue revelations of Holy Scripture anthropomorphic figures for God, taken from man's limbs and bodily organs; and anthropopathic figures taken from man's feelings, emotiuns, and passions. But in applying such figures to God, we must carefully eliminate the sin-element which belongs to all such things when they concern man. As man is made in the image of Gud, from man we may learn of God. But as man has marred the image by his wilfulness and sin, we must take care how we apply the likeness which we now think we see. In applying such terms as "anger" to God, it is important to observe the distinction between the anger of an official and the anger of a private person. The anger of an official-a king, or a judge-should have no feeling in it; it should be the proper response to some public wrong. The anger of an individual may have feeling in it, and be a sign of hatred, In this psalm God is thought of as an official. He is the great King, and so t,is "anger" is really indignation against the foe that imperils the country, and agaiast the self-willed people who play into the hands of the national 108 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [re. LXXVI. 1-12.
enemy. There is, then, a sense in which the king of a country ought to bo angry i but in bis anger there should be no feeling of bate, no feeling towards individuals, only feeling concerning the wrong which either individuals or combined bodies msy do. I. THE SENSE IN WHICH GoD MAY BE ANGRY. Three terms need to be careru!ly defined and illustrated. Indignation is the proper revolt of all noble natures against wrong-doing, and especially wrong-doing of a mean character, as when the strong takes advantage of the weak. .&.nger is the state of mind suitable for a king, governor, or judge, in the presence of any form of public injustice or crime. Wrath is the t~rm that b~ings in the additional idea of giving expression, in vigorous action, to ngorous feelmg. In some senses, each term may be applied to God. II. 'l'HE FEAR WHIOH GoD'S ANGER MAY PROPERLY INSPIRE. Because it is asso- ciated with perfect wisdom, absolute righteousness, and irresistible power. We smile sometimes at the futile anger of men; for they can do nothing. We dare not sn1ile at God's anger; for be can do everything. None can stand before him.-R. T.