The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 458

i. 9). 2. TIie praJ/ef' of upri,qlitness. " Accept what le good "-for thna the eccond clau_~c must he re~rlered. The IRngu11ge le not th11t of self-righteousness, but of sincero motive. The penitent knows bis unworthineR11, but 111 coMclous e.t the earnc time that. hi6 p_rnycr no longer proceeds from feigned lipR (Pe. xvi!. 1); th11t hie spirit le trnly c?~t11tc; thllt there is some good thing "in his heart towarrls the Lord God" (1 Rings xm. 14). Be recognizes this: (1) As a fruit of Divine grace In tho soul-therefore e. ple,\Fe of =ptancc. God, who by his Spirit drawR the sinner to himself, will not Cll.6t him off when be comes (John vi. 37, H, 45). (2) As essential to forgiveness. For t~ough it ie God's mercy, not our own righteousness, that savea us, it Is yet cssent,e.1 to acceptance that our spirit, in returning to God, be withnnt guile (Ps. xxxii. 2; 11. 4, 6). Coming to God with upright intent, e.nd conscious that we do so, it is natural tbe.t we should appeal to this in prayer. 3. Prayer in order to praise. "So ;nil we render the cah-cs of our lips." Salve.tion carries with It the obligation to consecration (Rom. xii. 1). The penitent has no other desire than now to live to God, rendering to him Rpititual sacrifices. He asks God to open hie lips (by forgiveness), that he may thereafter show forth God's praise (Ps. Ii. 16). We render to God " the calves of onr lips" (1) in acknowledgment of him; (2) in thanksgiving (Hob. xiii. 15); (3) in prai!ICII (Pa. :d. 3; L 23); (4) in confession of him before men. III. THE vow. (Ver. S.) With prayer is connected a solemn vow. Israel renounces all sinful tmst.e, and looks t.o God only. He renounces: 1. Trost in man. "Asshur 11hall not save us." The world is a poor saviour. It promises much, but gives little. ItR favour is deceitful Its will to help is even more limited than its power. But its power is not great. It CUlDot ~ave when God contends with us. It must leave us to 11hift for ourselves at death. It haB no salvation for the soul-for eternity. 2. Trost in hi, own strength. "We will not ride upon horses." Israel had multiplied horses. He put trnst in them for hiij deliverance. This trust, with every other of e. similar kind, he now renounced. Neither in war, nor in peace, nor in anything he did, would he exalt himself as independent of God. He would be humble. 3. Trust in idols. "Neither will we say any more to the work or our hands, Ye are our gods." Thus, in succession, Israel renounced, as Christians would say, the world, the flesh, and the devil. Every heart not serving God has its idol-its something which it puts in God's place. This it now renounces, and gives him nil the glory. 'l'he prayer concludes with an appeal to the Divine pity. "For in thee the fatherless findeth mercy." The soul without God is as one orphaned. In penitence it seeks the pity of him who com- passionates the fatherless. God feels this pity for his alienated children.-J. 0. Vera. 4--8.-God', r ~ to the;enitent. Israel's repentance will be followed by the turning away of God a anger, a.n by superabundant blessings. Figures are heaped on each other, and one figure i1 employed to fill in another, to set forth the fulness with which this blessing will descend. The prophecy, hitherto so dark and troubled, ends in heavenly peace. L BACKSLIDING HEALED. (Ver. 4.) No time is lost in answering Israel's prayer. Forgiveness follows close upon return. Bo David al.so found it: "I ea.id, I will confess my transgreRsion unto the Lord; and thou forge.vest the iniquity of my sin" (Ps. xx:xii. 6). The penitent need not fear being kept long waiting at the door of mercy (cf. Luke xv. 20-24). God: 1. Twm.tJ away his t1,11,ger. "For mine anger Is turned away from him." Terrible to him who realizes it is the thought of lying under the Divine ani!er. Infinite things a.re t.o be hoped for from God's love. Infinite things are to be dreaded from hie wrath. We dread the anp:er of fellow-men. Much more should we dread t.o be the objects of the anger of the Omnipotent. "Fear not them which kill tLe body " Christ says, "but are not able to kill the soul," etc. (Matt. x. 28). ,lust, howeve;, because God's anger is so terrible, is it a blessed thing to know, as every pardoned sinner may, that this anger ia turned away. "0 Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst roe" (J ea. xii. 1). If God's anger is turned away from us, there is nothi~g else_ we ne~d fear. A11d under the gospel it i, turned away from every one who behevee m Christ. 2. liestores hu love. "I will love them freely." The love is free e.a being (1) spontaneous, (2) uobought, (3) unlimited in measu_r~. ~od _loves the redeemed with t~e. same love wLich he bear11 to his Son. He reJOlC08 ID his love towards them. AH 1t 1s the 1:11, XIV, 1-9.]