The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 160

Ver. 4.-NeCR-ssary preliminaries to a godly life. "They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God," etc. Preachers do not always deal wisely with their hearers. They call upon men to repent; they often describe repentan.ce with metaphysical accuracy, and enforce it with resistless logic and pressing rhetoric. So with faith; they explain its nature and enforce its duty. They say, "Repent or be damned," "Believe or be damned." They seldom go further. But few have any notion that there is a certain way to repent and believe, fewer still indicate the nature of that way. Long have I had the impression, which deepens with years, that there is as truly a way to "repent and believe," as there is a way to cultivate the farm, build the. house, or master any art or science. The text implies this, "They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God." What is the way? How are men to frame their doings as to turn unto their God? L BY THTh'KING ON CERTAIN SUJIJECTS. We ever act from motives when we act as men. But what are motives? 'l'he creation of our own thoughts. The man ·who centres his thoughts on the advantages of wealth, or fame, or ·knowledge, turns to their pursuit. His thoughts excite his feelings, and his feelings urge him to a resolution. But what are the subjects which thought must dwell on in order that we may move religiously? If I am to repent I must think of my sins in relation to the character of the holy God and the self-sacrificing Christ. It is only as I muse that the fires of penitence will burn. If I am to believe, I must think upon the object who alone has the attributes to command my highest confidence and unbounded trust. If I a.m to love supremely, I must meditate on the perfections of him who is supremely good. In fact, if a man is to turn to any new course of conduct, he must have new motives; and if he is to have new motives, be must have new thoughts. "I thought of my ways, I turned my feet unto thy statutes." Thought is the rudder of the soul; as it is turned, the vessel takes the direction. IL By thinking on certain subjects IN A CERTAIN WAY. There is a way to think, You may think on the most serious subjects in such a way as to produce profanity anq mirth. How must you think, then, on these subj,ects? 1. With concentration. The whole thinking foroe of the soul must be centred on them. The most solemn of them, taken up lightly e.nd despatched with a reflection or two, will not produce the result. If you would bring the beams of the sun into a scorching flame, you must draw them to a focus. And if you wonld make the great truths of religion kindle repentance within you, you must focalize them by a process of intense thinking. 2. With persistency. It is not enough to bend even the whole force of the mind upon them now and then at distant intervals; it must. be done consecutively. They must be kept constantly before the mind as objects in its horizon so grand and solemn that all else oha.11 s1:em trifling and contemptible. 3. With devotion. God must be brought to i.l,i;:m. His presence and aid mUBt be illvoked, OH, V, 1-15.] THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 159