The Pulpit Commentary — Nahum — Section 17

~poken unto us, and that the truth which heathen worshippers did not know baa been so clearly revealed to us in the bright assurance, "The Lord is good." "'l'ho Lord is good." Nature, with her ten thousand voices, bears emphatic te~timony here. Benevo- lence nrnrks all the operations of the Creator's hands. All his works declare his good- ness. The majestic sun, the full-orbed moon, the sta.rs countless in number and ~rarkling in the vault of heaven, the refreshing and fertilizing shower, the gentle breeze, the woods re-echoing with the notes of little sonasters, the varied landscape, the carpctPd earth, the tinted flowers, all seem to speak and to s11.y, "The Lord is good.'' "0 Lord, how excellent is thy Name in all the earth I" (Ps. viii. 1); "0 Lord, how man1 lold,'' de.! (Ps. civ. 24). "The Lord is good." As in creation so in providence, the same testimony is borne. Specially is this so in the Divine dealings with man, supply- ing his wants, ministering to his necessities, scatterin~ blessings in his path, and daily, yea, hourly, susta.ining a.nd preserving h1m from peril and da.nger. His goodness, too, is seen in that he is " kind even to the unthan.kful," and bestows his favours not only upon" the just" but also upon" the unjust," sustaining even those who live in rebellion ap:a.inst him. Nor does the fact that whilst the ungodly orten seem to "prosper in their way," "wat.ers of a full cup are wrung out to bis people," militate against the declaration of this text; for God's providence takes into account the entire weifare·of his servants, and adverse scenes may be necessary in order to the promotion of this; and, tbe discifline accomplished, deliverance shall be theirs, whilst the arm of the oppressor shal be broken (vers. 12, 13). "The Lord is good." This truth, impressed upon the pages of the Old Testament, receives its highest exemplification in the records of the New. In him whose advent prophets predicted, and whose work was shadowed forth in type and symbol, and in the free redemption he has wrought; in the seeking and self-sacrificing love and the compassionate mercy and grace of God as thus expressed, we see the noblest, purest, brightest token that "the Lord is good." In this Divine goodness, ever watchful to guard us; almighty, and hence equal to every emergency of our life; immutable too, and therefore an unfailing dependence amidst the mutations and fluctuations of our earthly lot,-let us rest with unswerving trust, until at length, every bond sundered, we, as" the ransomed of the Lord, come to Zion with sorigs and everlasting joy upon our heads," there with adoring gratitude to reflect upon the memory of his great goodness, and to praise him for his mercy and grace and love for evermore.-8. D. H. Ver. 7.-God our Stronghold. Great, indeed, is the honour sustained by the man who fulfils the mission of being a comforter to others, who is enabled to minister to sorrowing and stricken ones, who watches with them in their Gethsemanes, and bY, his gentle words and tender sympathy imparts consolation to their wounded heart,e. "I dwelt as a king in the army; as one thatcomfori,eth the mowrners"(Job xxix. 2sr Ne, service makes a greater demand upon a man than this, yet; he has an abundant reward for the self--sacrifice involved, in beholding the objects of his regard no longer in "ashes," but raised out of the dust and made comely; no longer with disfigured countenance through grief, but radiant with joy; no longer arrayed in gloom, but clad in the beautiful garments worn on festal days (Isa. lxi. 2, 3). Nahum, whilst the minister of condewnation to the Ninevites, was also the minister of consolation to Li<J own people in their sadness and sorrow. Only a few of his words to Israel are recorded, but they are words full of consolation and hope. Here he pointed to God as the Strong- hold of his servants. "He is a Stronghold in the day of trouble" (var. 7). We have here-- I. A COMMON UNIVERSAL EXPERIENCE. "Trouble." Man is born to this. Trials arillC; conflicts must he engaged in ; the cares and anxieties of life press ; bopea a_re frustrated; injustice triumphs; slander blights; sickness, disease, death, previul; our best and dearest pass away from our view; graves are opened ; the tears fall fast ; and immunity from all this is granted to none, e,a,cl,, must pass through dark experiences and encounter adverse influences: this is the discipline of life. "In this vain world the days are not all fair : To suffer is the work we .have to do ; And el'ery one .has got a cross to bear, And every oue some secret 4c;i.ft-a.chc too." en. 1. 1-l!i.J THE BOOK OF NAHUM. 15