God's power.
"The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers," etc. Here is a description of God's power unrivalled in its sublimity and soul stirring force. "Power belongeth unto, God." It is absolute, inexhaustible, ever and everywhere operative. "He fainteth not, neither is weary." His power is here presented in two aspects.
I. AS OPERATING IRRESISTIBLY IN NATURE.
1. It works in the air. "The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet." He is in the "whirlwind" and in the "storm," and has his way in the clouds. As men walk on the dust of the earth, he walketh upon the clouds of heaven. He creates the whirlwind and the storm; he controls the whirlwind and the storm; he uses the whirlwind and the storm. "He maketh the clouds his chariot, and rideth upon the wings of the wind." He awakes the tornado and simoom, he forges the thunderbolts, and he kindles the lightnings.
2. It works in the sea. "He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers." There is undoubtedly an allusion to the Red Sea and the Jordan. "He holdeth the winds in his fists, and the waters in the hollow of iris hands." His "way is in the sea," and his "path in the great waters." The billows that rise into mountains, as well as the smallest wavelets that come rippling softly to the shore, are the creatures of his power and the servants of his will.
3. It works on the earth. "Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth." No spots in Palestine were more fruitful than these three; they abounded in vigorous vegetation and majestic forests. But their life and their growth depended on the results of God's power. All the blades in the fields, all the trees in the forest, would languish and wither did his power cease to operate. Nor is his power less active in the inorganic parts of the world. "The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein." "He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke." He piles up the mountains, and again makes them a plain; he kindles the volcanoes and quenches them at his pleasure. God's power is seen in all the phenomena of the material world. How graphically and beautifully is this presented in Psalms 104:1 The fact that God's power is ever acting in the material universe is:
II. AS IRRESISTIBLY OPPOSED TO THE WICKED. "Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him." The mightiest rocks are but as pebbles in his hands. "He taketh up the isles as a very little thing; he weigheth the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance" (Isaiah 40:12, Isaiah 40:15) His anger, as we have said, is his determination to crush the wrong; and there is no power in the universe that can thwart him in this. Who can stand before this? Were all the creatures in the universe to stand up against it, the attempt would be as feeble and as futile as the attempt of a child to turn back the advancing tides with his little spade. Sinner, why attempt to oppose him? You must submit, either against your will or by your will. If you continue to resist, the former is a necessity. He will break you in pieces like a potter's vessel. The latter is your duty and your interest. Fall down in penitence before him, yield yourselves to his service, acquiesce in his will, and you are saved.—D.T.
Opposite types of human character, and opposite lines of Divine procedure.
"The Lord is good, a Stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. But with an overruning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies." The previous verses were introductory to the subject which the prophet now takes up, namely, the safe keeping of the Jews by Jehovah, in view of the tremendous attack the King of Nineveh was about making on their country and their city, and also to announce the terrible doom of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian foe. In these verses there is a very striking and significant contrast
I. TWO OPPOSITE TYPES OF HUMAN CHARACTER.
1. Here we have the friends of God. There is here a twofold description of them.
2. Here we have the enemies of God. "Darkness shall pursue his enemies." The men who misrepresent our characters, oppose our expressed wishes, seek to undermine our influence, and are ever in association with those who are opposed to us—such men, whatever may be their professions of regard and friendship, we are bound to regard as enemies. Is it not so with men in relation to God? Those who pursue a course of life directly opposite to the moral laws of Heaven, whatever they may say, are his enemies. How numerous are God's enemies! These two great classes comprehend the human race today. The race may be divided into very numerous classes on certain adventitious principles, but on moral grounds there are but two—God's friends and God's enemies.
II. TO OPPOSITE LINES OF DIVINE PROCEDURE. God's procedure is very different towards these two opposite classes of men.
1. He affords protection to the one. When the hosts of Sennacherib were approaching Jerusalem, Hezekiah the king, under Divine inspiration, said to the people, "Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the King of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: with him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah King of Judah" (2 Chronicles 32:7, 2 Chronicles 32:8). Thus it is ever. God is always the Refuge and Strength of his people in times of tribulation. As a Refuge, he is:
2. He sends destruction to the other. "But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies." The image of a flood which breaks through every barrier is not unfrequently used in the Bible to represent overwhelming armies of invasion. The primary allusion here, no doubt, is to the way which Nineveh was captured by means of the Medes and Babylonians. A flood in the river, we are told, broke down the wall for twenty furlongs. The rolling tide burst its barriers, bore away the defences of the city, and opened an easy and unexpected way for the invading armies. On all finally impenitent men destruction must come as irresistibly as a flood. The destruction, however, of existence, conscience, or moral obligations would be the destruction of all that would make existence worth having.
CONCLUSION. The grand question of every man is—How do I stand in relation to God? If I am his friend, his procedure is in my favour, it guards me and blesses me every step. It I am his enemy, his procedure is not in my favour, not because he changes, but because I put myself against him, and it must be my ruin if I change not. As he proceeds in his beneficent and undeviating march, he showers blessings on the good, and miseries on the evil, and this forever.—D.T.
Sin.
"What do ye imagine against the Lord? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry." These words suggest a few thoughts concerning sin.
I. THE ESSENCE OF SIN IS SUGGESTED; IT IS HOSTILITY TO GOD. It is something directed against the Lord: it is opposition to the laws, purposes, spirit of God. "The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Romans 8:7). It involves:
1. The basest ingratitude; for to him we owe everything.
2. The greatest injustice; for he has supreme claims to our devotion and obedience.
3. Impious presumption. Frail worms raising their heads against the Infinite!
II. THE SEAT OF SIN IS SUGGESTED: IT IS IN THE MIND. "What do ye imagine against the Lord?" Sin is not language, however bad; not actions, however apparently wicked. Words and deeds are no more sin than branches are the sap of the tree. They are the mere effects and expression of sin. Sin is in the mind—in the deep secret, mute thoughts of the heart. God's legislation extends to thought, reaches it in the profoundest abyss. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). Christ, in his sermon on the mount, taught this. Adultery, robbery, murder, are all perpetrated on the arena of the heart. How necessary the prayer, "Create within us clean hearts, O God"!
III. THE FOLLY OF SIN IS SUGGESTED: IT IS OPPOSITION TO OMNIPOTENCE. "What do ye imagine against the Lord? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up a second time." "How mad is your attempt, O Assyrians, to resist so powerful a God! What can ye do against such an Adversary, successful though ye have been against all other adversaries? Ye imagine ye have to do merely with mortals, and with a weak people, and that so you will gain an easy victory; but you have to encounter God, the Protector of his people" (Fausset). In opposing him:
1. He will completely ruin you. "He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time." The literal meaning of this is that the overthrow of Sennacherib's host was so complete that Judah's affliction caused by this invasion would never be repeated. The man who opposes God will be utterly ruined.
2. He will completely ruin you, whatever the kind of resistance you may offer. "For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry." You may be combined like a bundle of thorns, offering resistance; you may have all the daring and temerity of drunkards, albeit you "shall be devoured as stubble fully dry." All this was realized in the destruction of his enemy. Oh the folly of sin! Fighting against God is a mad fight. "What do ye imagine against the Lord," then? Sinners, submit.—D.T.