The Pulpit Commentary — Zephaniah — Section 60

indeed, tho clim1tx. "The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, or speak lies, neither shall o. deceitful tongue be found in their mouth" (vcr. 13). II. Him maH PRIVILE0ES. 1. Deliverance from all sorrow. "Thou sbalt not see evil any more" (ver. 15), 2. Enrichment with peace and tranquillity. "For they shall foed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid" (ver. 13). 3. Safety under God's protecting ea.re. "The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee ; " "Fear thou not" (vers. 16, 16). III. liEB DIVINE REsouncEs. In the seventeenth verse the love of God towards his servants is declared in words of exquisite beauty e.nd tenderness. "The prophet speaks of the eternal love and joy of God towards his people as an exnberant joy, one which boundeth within the inmost self, and a.gain is wholly silent in hi,s love, as the deepest, tenderest, most yearning love broods over the object of its love, yet is held still in silence by the very depth of its love, and then again breaks forth in outward motion, and leaps for joy, and uttereth what it cannot form in words; for truly the love of God in its unspeakable love and joy is past belief, past utterance, past thought" (Pusey). And since he who thus loves is "mighty," the objects of this Divine love need not fear nor grow faint-hearted ever, for their resources are infinite and eternal. IV. HER RAl'TUIIOUB JOY. "Sing, 0 daughter of Zion; shout, 0 Israel," etc. (ver.14). The joy of the redeemed eventually shall be full and all-sufficing, and, in anticipation of entering into this experience at length, all God's servants, even in the dark da_ys, may well lift up their heads, and " in the darkness raise their carols of high praise." Ver. 15.-The abiding presence of God with his Church. "The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee." This truth was constantly affirmed ill the Old Testament with reference to the Jewish Church; and as the Church of God through all ages is one Church, we may take the promises of God to Israel of old as having their application to his Church still. So may we apply to her to-day those assurances contained in the Hebrew Scriptures (Ps. xlvi.; xlviii.), or that contained in the text, or, turning to the New Testament, we may grasp the gracious promise of the God-Ma □, "Lo, I am with you al way, even unto the end of the world" (Matt. xxviii. 20). I. INDICATE SOME OF THE WAYS IN WHICH Goo BAB ESTABLISHED THIS TRUTH OF BIB .ABIDING PRESENCE WITH HIS CHURCH IN .ALL A0ES. 1. By having "a remnant" to his praise even in the darkest times. It is an undoubted fact that, whatever dark clouds of persecution, or indifference, or declension may have arisen, God has had all through the season of darkness a people to show forth his praise. These Hebrew prophets, amidst their emphatic testimony against the iniquity prevailing in their times. constantly recognize with thankfulness "a remnant" as remaining true to God and tu righteousness. Elijah at Horeb thought himself to be the only servant of Heaven remaining in his corrupt day; but God removed the veil concealing from his vie IV the secret and hidden Church, and, lo, he beheld "an exceeding great army," where he had supposed himself to be the solitary warrior for the trath. "Yet have I left me seven thousand in Israel," etc. (1 Kings xix. 18). In '' the dark ages,'' when the light of Christian truth had become well-nigh extinguished, there were not wanting those who dared to maintain the truth of God in its simplicity and purity. Even within the pale of the Church of Rome in those days there were some who deplored the prevailing corruptions, and who longed for a return to the simplicity in teaching and the purity of life by which the early Christians were characterized; whilst outside her communion were associations of Free Christian societies, as in Lombardy and in the Alps, who were as lights shining in dark places. The N estorians, " the Protcsto.nts of Asia," referred to by Mr. La.yard, serve as another illustration, and who, away in the remote valleys of Kurdistan, and entirely separated from intercourse with other Christina communities, have preserved through so many centuries a knowledge of the Christian faith in the purity of its character and the simplicity of its worship. There has ever been "a remnant" true to God, and serving as a clear token of his abiding presence with his Church. 2. By raising up in her midst, and qualifying, men for special service. Whilst we may not "glory in men," we may magnify God's grace and power in them; and it is intensely interestincr to note how he has in every emergency raised up his agents to do his work. M°oses and Joshua, in relation to the deliverance of the Isrnelites and their settlement in Canaan; Ezra and Nehemiah, in connection with li8 THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH.