God's honour secured in spite of his people's sins.
The heartlessness and negligence of the priest leads God to say that the fires of the altar might as well be extinguished, and the temple shut up as it had been in the days of Ahaz; for no offerings would any longer be accepted at their hands, and "Ichabod!" "No glory!" was written on the altar. The godly remnant of the Jews naturally begin to say, "What a dishonour that would be to the God of Israel!" and to ask, like Joshua (Joshua 7:9), "What wilt thou do unto thy great Name?" And even the formalists, who had not entirely cast off God, but wished to keep on speaking terms with him, would shrink from such a public slight being offered to the God of their nation. To all such fears God gives an answer in the declaration and prediction of verse 11, "My Name shall be magnified; my honour shall be secured, in spite of my people's sins:"
I. AMONG NEW AND MORE NUMEROUS WORSHIPPERS. It was an inveterate superstition of the Jews that the honour of God was in some way bound up with sacred places or persons. He had taught them in the past that his glory was not attached to the ark, as they thought when they took it into battle (1 Samuel 4:1-22.), or to one line of priests (1 Samuel 2:27-36), or to the tabernacle at Shiloh (Psalms 78:59-64), or to the temple (Jeremiah 7:1-16). He now teaches them that his glory is independent both of the revived priesthood, the restored temple, and the nation brought back from captivity. The temple may be again destroyed; the priesthood may be abolished; the people disinherited. God has a larger temple than the sanctuary on Mount Moriah, or even than the land of promise itself. His temple extends "as far as the east is from the west." His worshippers shall be as numerous as the tribes and the tongues of the heathen world. No longer shall it be especially true that "In Judah is God known; his Name is great in Israel;" "For from the rising of the sun," etc. Comparing this prediction of the kingdom of Christ on earth with others, we are reminded of a few truths respecting the way in which God's honour would be secured among the nations of the earth. His judgments would arouse them (Isaiah 59:18, Isaiah 59:19). His free love would seek those who knew him not (Isaiah 65:1). The atoning sacrifice on the cross would attract their sin-burdened consciences (John 12:32), and the beneficence of the reign of Christ would allure all classes to accept his dominion (Psalms 72:8-14, especially Psalms 72:12, "For," etc.). Thus the Name of God would be glorified in his Son. Apply this truth:
1. To those who refuse to give to God the glory due unto his Name. So did the Jews in the days of Christ. But God's honour could be secured in other ways (cf. Matthew 21:41-43; Luke 19:37-40). Note in the former and latter parts of Psalms 22:1-31. the contrast between Psalms 22:6-8 and Psalms 22:27-31. "His own received him not," but "the Gentiles glorified the word of the Lord" (Acts 13:48; cf. Isaiah 49:3-9; Matthew 8:11, Matthew 8:12).
2. To those who are tempted to shrink from honouring God because of the risk to themselves or the sacrifice required at their hands. Illust.: Esther 4:10-14. The loss will be only our own (Matthew 10:39). God will find other servants in our place to render the honour he asks at our hands, and to receive that which he bestows in return (1 Samuel 2:30).
3. To God's faithful servants who are needlessly anxious about his glory in "a day of trouble and of rebuke and of blasphemy;" e.g. Moses (Numbers 14:11-21), Joshua (Joshua 7:9). But God is more jealous for his own honour than we can be (Deuteronomy 32:26, Deuteronomy 32:27), and is wiser than we can be in answering the prayer he has taught us, "Hallowed be thy Name."
II. BY PURER AND MORE SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES.
1. By the revelation of God in Christ as "the Saviour of all men," God's Name was truly magnified (Psalms 96:1-13. and 98.). That revelation included a sacrifice, the sacrifice of a sinless soul to suffering in order to do the will of God (Hebrews 10:7-10), and thus to offer a propitiation for the sins of the whole world. Thus the prayer was answered (John 12:28) and the prediction fulfilled (Romans 15:8, Romans 15:9).
2. By the spiritual sacrifices the acceptable services, like fragrant incense, presented by Gentile hearts, e.g. the penitence of the woman of Samaria; the pertinacious prayers of the Syro-phoenician; the marvellous faith of the centurion; the alms and prayers of Cornelius; the unrecorded acts of faith and service of unknown worshippers in the heathen world;—these are accepted by God, while the tainted sacrifices of the Jewish priests are refused. This a warning to all formalists.
3. By pure offerings from all hearts that "in every place call upon the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours" (cf. John 4:21-24). Our hearts were once impure, but have been cleansed by the blood and the Spirit of Jesus Christ. And now we are eager, impatient to express our sense of the greatness and goodness of God by acceptable sacrifices, our "bodies" (Romans 12:1), our gifts (Philippians 4:18), our praises, our good deeds, and any means by which we can "communicate" to others, and thus glorify our Saviour-God (Hebrews 13:15, Hebrews 13:16).
Notice, in conclusion, what an encouragement this truth may be to those who long to give unto God the glory due unto his Name, but are dissatisfied with their own efforts. God's honour will be secured in spits of our failures. These may stimulate us to seek that greater purity by which our offerings may themselves become purer. It will not provoke us to envy, but rejoice our hearts that others are able to render to God more useful service than we do. And if, in the midst of our efforts to offer such pure offerings and fragrant incense as our poor hearts can present, we are called away from this service, we may rejoice to know that God's honour will not suffer because our services are withdrawn. Illust.: In one Roman Catholic convent there is a chapel of "perpetual adoration," where, every hour, night and day, some service is being offered at the altar. So will be the true worship of God throughout the world—universal and perpetual.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK