There rose the choral hymn of praise,
And trump and timbrel answered keen,
And Zion's daughters poured their lays,
With priest's and warrior's voice between.
But present still, though now unseen,
When brightly shines the prosperous day,
Be thoughts of Thee a cloudy screen,
To temper the deceitful ray!
And oh, when stoops on Judah's path,
In shade and storm, the frequent night,
Be Thou—long suffering, slow to wrath—
A burning and a shining light.
— Sir Walter Scott , 1771-1832.
Verse 40. Quails. The quail is met with abundantly in Syria and Judaea, and there seems to be little doubt of its identity with the quails so frequently mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. "We have, "says Tristram, "a clear proof of the identity of the common quail with the Hebrew selac , in its Arabic name, salwa , from a root signifying `to be fat'—very descriptive of the round, plump form and fat flesh of the quail... It migrates in vast flocks, and regularly crosses the Arabian desert, flying for the most part at night, and when the birds settle they are so utterly exhausted that they may be captured in any numbers by the hand. Notwithstanding their migratory habits, they instinctively select the shortest sea passages, and avail themselves of any island as a halting place. Thus in Spring and Autumn they are slaughtered in numbers on Malta and many of the Greek islands, very few being seen till the period of migration comes round. They also fly with the wind, never facing it like many other birds." "The Israelites `spread them out' when they had taken them before they were sufficiently refreshed to escape; exactly as Herodotus tells us that the Egyptians were in the habit of doing with quails—drying them in the sun." Brehm mentions having been a witness to the arrival of a huge flock of quails upon the coast of North Africa, and tells us that the weary birds fell at once to the ground completely exhausted by their toilsome journey, and remained therefore some minutes as though stupefied. Cassell's "Book of Birds."
Verse 40.
Brought from his store, at sute of Israel,
Quails, in whole beavies each remove pursue;
Himself from skies their hunger to repel
Candies the grass with sweet congealed dew.
He wounds the rock, the rock doth wounded, swell;
Swelling affords new streams to channels new,
All for God's mindful will can not be dryven,
From sacred word once to his Abraham given.
— Sir Philip Sidney , 1554-1586.
Verse 44. They inherited the labour of the people. In like manner the heavenly Canaan is enjoyed by the saints without any labour of theirs; this inheritance is not of the law, nor of the works of it; it is the gift of God. Ro 4:14 6:23. John Gill.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1.
1. Praise God for former mercies.
2. Pray for further mercies.
3. Publish his famous mercies.
Verse 1. A series of holy exercises.
"Give thanks"—
"call upon his name"—
"make known"—
"sing"—
"talk"—
"glory"—
"rejoice"—
"seek"—
"remember".
Verse 2.
1. The pleasure of talking to God. "Sing, "etc.; making melody in the heart.
2. The duty of talking of God. "Talk ye, "etc. G.R.
Verse 2. The Christian's table talk.
Verse 3.
1. Those who find: or—"glory ye, "etc.
2. Those who seek: or—"rejoice."
Verse 3 (second clause). Let the seeker rejoice that there is such a God to seek, that he invites us to seek, that he moves us to seek, enables us to seek, and promises to be found of us. The tendency of the seeker is to despond, but there are many grounds of comfort.
Verse 4. How can we seek the Lord's strength?
1. By desiring to be subject to it.
2. By being supported by it.
3. By being equipped with it for service.
4. By seeing its results upon others.
Verse 4. Threefold seeking.
1. The Lord for mercy.
2. His strength for service.
3. His face for happiness. A.G. Brown.
Verse 4 (last clause). Seeking the Lord the perpetual occupation of a believer.
Verse 5. Themes for memory.
1. What God has done.
2. What he has said.
Verse 5. Our memory and God's memory. "Remember." "He hath remembered."
Verse 7. God's relation to his elect and to all mankind.
Verse 9. The making, swearing, and confirming of the covenant. See our comment on these verses with the passages referred to.
Verse 12. Comfort to the few. The typical and spiritual Israel few at first. A few in the ark peopled the world. Small companies have done wonders. Christ's presence is promised to two or three. God saith not by many or by few, etc.
Verse 13.
1. God's people may be often removed.
2. They can never be injured.
3. God's property in them will not be renounced.
Verse 14. Dr. T. Goodwin has an excellent sermon on these verses, entitled "The Interest of England, "in which he condenses the history of the world, to show, that those nations which have persecuted and afflicted the people of God have invariably been broken in pieces. ( Goodwin's Works , volume 12 pg 34-60, Nichol's edition).
Verse 15. In what respect Abraham was a prophet, and how far believers are the same.
Verse 16.
1. All things come at the call of God. He called for plenty, and it came, for famine, and it came; for captivity, and it came; for deliverance, and it came.
2. The most unlikely means of accomplishing an end with man is often the direct way with God. He fulfilled the promise of Canaan to Abraham by banishing him from it; of plenty, by sending a famine; of freedom, by bringing into captivity. G.R.
Verse 19. The duration of our troubles, the testing power of the promise, the comfortable issue which is secured to us.
Verse 2 4 (second clause). In what respects grace can make believers stronger than their enemies.
Verse 25.
1. The natural hatred of the world to the church.
2. God's permitting it to be shown. When? Why?
3. The subtle manner in which this enmity seeks its object.
Verse 32. He gave them hail for rain. Judgment substituted for mercy.
Verse 37 (first clause). Wealth found upon us after affliction.
Verse 37 (second clause). A consummation to be desired. This was the direct result of the divine presence. The circumstances out of which it grew were hard labour, and persecution. It enabled them to leave Egypt, to journey far, to carry burdens, to fight enemies, etc.
Verse 39.
1. A dark cloud of providence is the guide of the people of God by day.
2. A bright cloud of promises is their guide by night. G.R.
Verse 39. The Lord's goodness exemplified in our varying conditions.
1. For prosperity—a cloud.
2. For adversity—a light. A good text would be found in "light in the night."
Verse 40.
1. God often gives in love what is not asked. So the bread from heaven which was beyond all they could ask or think.
2. He sometimes gives in anger what is asked. They asked for flesh to eat—"and he brought quails."— G.R.
Verse 41. We have,
1. A type of the person of Christ, in the rock.
(a) Unsightly as Horeb—"When we shall see him, there is no beauty, "etc. (Isa 43:2).
(b) Firm and immovable "Who is a rock, save our God?" (2Sa 22:32).
2. A type of the sufferings of Christ, in the smitten rock.
(a) Smitten by the rod of the Law.
(b) Smitten to the heart.
3. A type of the benefits of Christ, in the water flowing from the rock—pure, refreshing, perpetual, abundant. James Bennett , 1828.
Verse 41.
1. The miraculous energy of God's grace in the conversion of a sinner: "He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out."
2. The effect in relation to others, which demonstrates at once the excellence and the reality of the miracle in ourselves: "They ran in the dry places like a river."— Thomas Dale , 1836.
Verse 41.
1. The grand source—the rock opened.
2. The liberal stream—"gushed out".
3. The continued flow—"in dry places".
Verse 42.
1. The grand source—the rock opened.
2. The liberal stream—"gushed out".
3. The continued law—"in dry places".
Verse 45. Obedience to God the design of his mercies to us.