EXPOSITION
Rule thou, etc. The gratitude of Israel to their great deliverer, added to a sense that it would be for their own security, and to a desire, already perhaps beginning to he felt, to be like the nations around them (1 Samuel 8:5), naturally led to the offer, "Rule thou over us." But the time predicted by Moses (Deuteronomy 17:14, Deuteronomy 17:15) was not yet come. And so Gideon returned an answer replete with moderation and piety: "I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you" (cf. 1 Samuel 8:7; 1 Samuel 10:19; 1 Samuel 12:12).
I would desire a request of you. Again human weakness breaks out in this great man, and we seem to see the effect of great prosperity in stirring up selfish desires in his heart. It was perhaps not without significance that mention was made in Judges 8:21 of his taking the ornaments that were on the camels' necks in connection with the slaughter of the kings. Anyhow we have now a second instance of a love of spoil. It seems to have been a national custom with the Ishmaelites, among whom the Midianites are reckoned (see Genesis 37:25-1), to wear golden rings; hence when they came to strip the slain there was a vast booty of gold rings. These Gideon asked for as his share, and the people readily agreed to the request. Ear-rings. The word is singular in Hebrew, which agrees with its more proper signification of nose-ring, an ornament often worn by both men and women in the East. Gesenius mentions having seen at Leipsic some Indian dancing women with nose-rings. It is distinctly marked as a nose-ring in Genesis 24:22, Genesis 24:30, Genesis 24:47, because in the last verse Abraham's servant says that he "put the ring (han-nezem) upon her nose" (face, A.V.). Again, in Ezekiel 16:12 the Hebrew is, "I placed a ring upon thy nose" (I put a jewel upon thy forehead, A.V.). So also Job 42:11, "one ring of gold," implies that it was a nose-ring, and not an ear-ring. In other passages, however, as Genesis 35:4; Exodus 32:2, it is expressly said that these rings were worn in the ears; while in others, again, there is nothing to mark whether they were worn in the ears or in the nose, as Proverbs 25:12; Hosea 2:13, except that in the latter passage the singular number in the Hebrew is more favourable to the nose-ring than to the ear-rings, as the A.V. translates it. It is thought by many, with some probability, that the nose-ring did not pierce the gristle of the nose, but hung down upon the nose from a fillet round the forehead. In every case they were of gold.
A garment. Rather, the cloak. Probably Gideon's military cloak (see Isaiah 9:5), which lay in his tent ready for use as a cloak by day or a coverlet by night (Deuteronomy 22:17).
A thousand and seven hundred shekels—equal to about fifty pounds weight, and probably to above £3000 worth of our money, reckoning a shekel of gold at £1 16s. 6d. If the rings, like that given to Rebekah (Genesis 24:22), weighed each half a shekel, they would be the spoil of 3400 dead bodies. If they each weighed less it would of course imply a larger number of slain. The ornaments, as in Judges 8:21, the collars. The word so rendered seems rather to mean drops or pendants. When worn by women (Isaiah 3:19, chains, A.V.) they were often of single pearls. The purple raiment, the famous Tyrian purple, made from the juice of a shellfish which is found in the Mediterranean, which was the distinctive colour of royal and imperial raiment. Chains. Perhaps the ornaments mentioned in Judges 8:21 as on the camels' necks were suspended to these chains. In Song of Solomon 4:9 the chain is mentioned as an ornament of a woman's neck; in Proverbs 1:9 of a man's neck. Many interpreters understand these last-mentioned articles as not being part of Gideon's spoil, but being the people's portion. But it seems much more probable that the spoil of the kings should be Gideon's portion, as indeed Proverbs 1:21 implies. It is best, therefore, to take all these articles as being the property of the kings, and to understand the writer to tell us that Gideon had the rings, which were the people's spoil, in addition to all the spoil which naturally fell to his own share.
Gideon made an ephod thereof. There is great difference of opinion among commentators as to the significance of this statement. The ephod (Exodus 28:4, Exodus 28:6-2) was that part of the high priest's dress (1 Samuel 14:3; 1 Samuel 21:9) which covered the breast in front, and the upper part of the back behind, the two parts being clasped together by two large onyx stones, one on each shoulder, and kept together by the curious girdle, just above which was fastened the breastplate of judgment. In a modified form the "linen ephod" was worn by all priests; but it was especially worn by the high priest when he inquired of God by Urim and Thummim (1 Samuel 23:9; 1 Samuel 30:7). Hence it was also connected with idolatrous worship, as we see by Judges 17:5, and Hosea 3:1-28, being probably used for purposes of divination, as we know that idolatrous kings of Israel, instead of inquiring of the Lord, inquired of the false gods (2 Kings 1:2, 2 Kings 1:3). What, then, was Gideon's purpose in making this costly ephod? We may infer from his proved piety that at all events his intention was to do honour to the Lord, who had given him the victory. Then, as he was now at the head of the State, though he had declined the regal office, and as it was the special prerogative of the head of the State to "inquire of the Lord" (Numbers 27:21; 1 Samuel 22:13; 1 Samuel 23:2,1 Samuel 23:4, etc.; 1 Samuel 28:6, etc.), he may have thought it his right, as well as a matter of great importance to the people, that he should have the means ready at hand of inquiring of God. His relations with the great tribe of Ephraim may have made it inconvenient to go to Shiloh to consult the high priest there, and therefore he would have the ephod at his own city of Ophrah, just as Jephthah made Mizpeh his religious centre (Hosea 11:11). Whether he sent for the high priest to come to Ophrah, or whether he made use of the ministry of some other priest, we have no means of deciding. The people, however, always prone to idolatry, made an idol of the ephod, and Gideon, either because it was a source of gain or of dignity to his house, or thinking it was a means of keeping the people from Baal-worship (verse 33), seems to have connived at it. This seems to be the explanation best supported by the little we know of the circumstances of the ease. A snare, i.e. as in Judges 2:3, that which leads a person to eventual destruction. See Exodus 10:7, where Pharaoh's servants say of Moses, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? See also Exodus 23:33; Exodus 34:12; Deu 7:16; 1 Samuel 18:21, etc. Observe in this verse how the narrative runs on far beyond the present time, to return again at 1 Samuel 18:28 (see note to Judges 2:1-7; Judges 7:25; Judges 8:4).
Lifted up their heads no more. Thus showing the wisdom of Gideon's perseverance in pushing on his victory to completeness (see Homiletics on Judges 8:4-7). The narrative goes back to Judges 8:26, or perhaps rather to Judges 8:21.
Gideon had threescore and ten sons, etc. This notice helps us to fill up the picture of Gideon's state after the Midianitish victory, lie had indeed nobly refused the kingdom, as a Pericles would have refused to be tyrant of Athena But he did not return to poverty and obscurity, as L. Q. Cincinnatus, in the Roman legend, returned to his plough after his victory over the Volsciana He was judge over Israel for forty years, with a household and a harem like a great prince, living in his paternal city, with the ephod set up there, himself the centre round which the powers of Church and State gathered; directing the affairs of his country, both civil and ecclesiastical, with eminent success, so that the country was at peace for forty years
, used of the name given to a child at its birth or circumcision. The other is, he gave or set him the name, or, he gave or set his name so-and-so, and this phrase is only used of additional names, or surnames given later in life. The examples are Jdg 13:1-25 :31; 2 Kings 17:34; Nehemiah 9:7; Daniel 2:7; Daniel 5:12. The inference is that the name of Abimelech, which means father of a king, and was the name of the royal family of Gerar, was given to Abimelech as a significant surname, and was perhaps one of the causes which induced him to seize the kingdom. A third phrase is found in 2 Kings 23:34; 2 Kings 24:17; 2 Chronicles 36:4 : he turned his name to Jehoiakim; changed his name to Zedekiah. The Hebrew is the same in all these passages.
And it came to pass, etc. Cf. Judges 2:11, Judges 2:12, Judges 2:19; Judges 3:7; Judges 4:1; Judges 5:1; Judges 10:6; Judges 13:1. Baal-berith. See Judges 2:13, note. He was like the Ζευς Ορκιος of the Greeks, the god of covenants.
Neither showed they kindness, etc. Forgetfulness of God is often the parent of ingratitude to men. The heart of stone which is not touched by the love of Christ is also insensible to the kindness of man.
HOMILETICS
Prosperity.
God has two ways of trying men: one in the furnace of affliction, that the trial of their faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, may be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ; the other in the fining-pot of prosperity, and this is much the harder trial of the two. Affliction tends to humble and soften and subdue; but in prosperity, self-esteem, self-reliance, self-satisfaction, self-will, pride, and security, are prone to spring up with a rank luxuriance. Disregard for the rights and feelings of others strengthens with the inordinate estimate of the regard due to a man's self. The Scripture lessons as to the dangers of prosperity, and the snare which the possession of unbounded power is to men in general, are very many and very striking, culminating in our Saviour's saying, "A rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:23). The latter part of David's reign compared with the first part of his life, the latter part of Solomon's contrasted with the beginning, Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:16), Joash king of Judah (2 Chronicles 24:22), Amaziah after his successful campaign in Edom (2 Chronicles 25:14), even good Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:27-14), all teach us the danger of prosperity, and the inability of the human heart to drink a full cup of success without intoxication. If we turn to secular history it is still the same story. Men of diverse characters and temperaments have all alike deteriorated under the influence of too much success in life, and shown themselves unfit to be trusted with unlimited power. Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, Nero, Constantine, Charlemagne, Louis Quatorze, Napoleon Buonaparte, men of the most different characters, may all be cited as having shown in different ways and degrees how hard it is for man to pass through the fining-pot of prosperity without bringing to light more or less the dross of a corrupt heart. It is an interesting and instructive inquiry how far Gideon passed through this fining-pot uninjured, and with his religious character undimmed. We have already glanced (Homiletics, Judges 8:13-7) at the brilliancy of Gideon's success, and at the great qualities by which, under God, he obtained it. We had occasion too (Homiletics, Judges 7:9-7) to notice the singular strength and perfectness of Gideon's faith, and the excellent fruits which it bore in practice. The humility and simplicity of purpose displayed by him, the docility and trustful obedience, the entire surrender of himself into the hands of God, without a thought for himself or a fear of the result, which marked his course, were of the highest calibre of human excellence guided and informed by the Holy Spirit of God. It is not, as we have already seen (Homiletics, Judges 8:13-7), till his wonderful victory was consummated by the capture of the two kings that we can see any flaw in his character at all. The fining-pot had not yet begun to do its work. But when we come to the incident of the severe punishment of the men of Succoth and Penuel, to the slaughter in cold blood of the captive kings, and the plunder of their spoils, even when we have made every allowance for the manners and opinions of the times, and given due weight to the circumstances of the case, it is impossible not to feel that certain dormant passions of pride, and resentment of injuries, and "insolent joy," born of overmuch prosperity, had been aroused by his successes. His request for the gold rings which formed a portion of the people's prey, and the making therewith a costly ephod, without any direction from God or knowledge that he was doing what would be acceptable to him, showed a presumption far removed from the trustful docility which had been so beautiful a feature in his previous conduct; and we see a departure from the simplicity of his early life in his many wives and concubines, and in his connivance at the irregular concourse of the Israelites to Ophrah for a semi-idolatrous worship before the ephod, which conduced to his own worldly dignity, and was perhaps a source of emolument to him. These things are undoubtedly blots in Gideon's fame. On the other hand, his pious moderation in refusing the hereditary kingdom offered to him, the persistent "goodness which he showed to Israel" to his life's end, as we may safely conclude from the last verse of the chapter, the good government by which he gave rest to the land for forty years, and the continued repression of Baal-worship as long as he lived, are all evidences that he maintained his integrity before God, and never forfeited his claim to be a servant of God; and it is in entire agreement with this view that we read that he "died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father," words by which the sacred historian evidently means to set before us the picture of one who, under God's favour, was happy in his death, as he had been in his life. Nor can we doubt for a moment what it was which held him up in the slippery path of worldly greatness. If God left him, as he did Hezekiah, "to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart," he did not leave or forsake him wholly. The faith in God which had carried him down to the Midianite camp, though it may have been dimmed, was never extinct. The communion with God, if less fresh and less constant, was never wholly interrupted. Ills belief that God is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek him, once so deeply graven upon his heart and confirmed by his experience, never, we may be sure, departed from him. "Faint, yet pursuing," may probably describe the warfare of his soul at the most unfavourable times of his life. For ourselves, let us rise from the contemplation of Gideon's career with the firm determination to shake off those things which may be a snare to us, and not to slacken our pace in the pursuit of those things which are above. It is by constant prayer that our faith must be kept alive; it is by resolute resistance to those manifold lusts which war against the soul that our spirit must be kept free for holy obedience, and the eye of our mind kept clear to discern between the precious and the vile. We must keep a close watch against the first buds of those sinful dispositions in our hearts which are stimulated into growth by objects of carnal desire, or by wrongs or insults or taunting words, and we must nip them in the bud by crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts. And if we find ourselves prosperous in this world, if riches increase, if friends multiply, if all goes well with us, if the world smiles upon us, if we are rising in consequence, in power, in the estimation of men, if new sources of gratification are opened to us, and life puts on its gayest, gaudiest co]ours for us, then above all it behoves us to be on our guard, and to maintain the supremacy of the love of God within us. Then let us humble ourselves before the cross of Christ; then let us bring the glories of the kingdom in full view, till the glories of earth pale before them; then let us strive more earnestly than ever to feel how immeasurably the pleasure of doing the will of God rises above the pleasure of pleasing ourselves, and how far the happiness of obedience to God's law transcends the happiness of yielding to our own desires. Such a victory over ourselves will be far more glorious than the conquest of ten thousand Midianites, and ours will be a richer booty than the richest spoils of kings.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR
Noble self-abnegation.
The whole situation naturally described. In the flush of victory the impulse is to honour Gideon, and secure a permanent connection with the glory of his name by establishing a hereditary monarchy in his family. This honour he refuses. We have here—
I. GENEROUS BUT MISTAKEN GRATITUDE. It was a natural impulse in the soldiers. But their mistake was twofold—
(1) in exalting man instead of God, and
(2) in seeking to put an end to the theocracy.
The natural mind acts always thus, in the face of the plainest signs of Divine intervention and authority; building itself out from the Unseen by human authorities and institutions. The chain of connection with God is weakened by lengthening it. The plainest commands of God are disobeyed in mistaken self-interest. The human agent is depended upon because the perception of the Divine is weak. Exalting one of themselves was but a species of self-glorification. The motive of Gideon too is misunderstood.
II. DISINTERESTED SERVICE. The honour is refused. If prudence aided the decision, it was chiefly due to unaffected faith and reverence for Jehovah. He may have felt that his "might" and success were solely individual, and due to direct inspiration; and the incapacity and disagreements of his children may have already betrayed themselves. He thereby vindicates his own patriotism and disinterestedness. His humility and magnanimous loyalty to God as only Sovereign for Israel outshine all his exploits.
1. How hard it is for men to believe in the disinterestedness of benefactors!
2. God, who imparts might and inspiration, can also purify the heart from worldly ambitions and weaknesses.
III. DEVOUT RECOGNITION OF DIVINE AID AND AUTHORITY. The ephod is explained and described in Exodus 28:1-2. It is the priestly garment, with breastplate attached to it, worn in the sanctuary. The Urim and Thummim were also used in connection with it for oracular consultation. It meant, therefore, a tabernacle and its service wherever it was placed.
1. So far as this was to the honour of God and commemoration of his mercy, it was a pious act.
2. By using the spoils of the people for its construction, a national sacrifice was effected.
3. But by placing it in Ophrah he encouraged schism, gave his own family undue importance, and tempted his countrymen to superstitious practices.—M.
The mistake of a good man.
I. ORIGINATING IN MOTIVES FOR THE MOST PART NOBLE AND HONOURABLE.
(1) Desirous of a national testimony to God's gracious deliverance, and a commemoration of it to future ages, he
(2) persuades the Israelites to make a national offering, and
(3) increases the means of grace in his own district.
II. REFLECTING THE DEFECTS OF HIS CHARACTER AND BETRAYING ITS LATENT VICE. In his zeal for the religious reformation of Israel he did not sufficiently consider the bearings of the step he had taken. It was a hasty and crude expedient, from which greater experience or sage advice, or, above all, God's Spirit, would have saved him. And therein lay the root of the mischief. He relied on his own wisdom, and forgot to ask God's guidance. In getting to look upon himself as in a special sense the re-introducer of the Jehovah-worship, and the exponent of the mind of Jehovah, he forgot that it was only as he was taught of God that he could be preserved from error. Of all inventions, religious ones are to be most carefully scrutinised. And in the background of this assumption there lay a secret tendency to self-esteem because of his spiritual endowments and character, and the great achievements of the past. Pride because of his own humility—is it not a failing that many have shared? By this mistake he sowed the seeds of grave evils: schism, superstition, hero-worship. But—
III. THE SUBSTANTIAL GOOD DONE WAS NOT WHOLLY DESTROYED, Whilst he lived—a quiet, steadfast, righteous life—the people observed the true worship of Jehovah. His own example was a guide and a deterrent. And when at his death superstition ran riot, and the old licentious idolatry flowed back in an obliterating wave over the land and the institutions of Jehovah's worship, there were some things that could not be destroyed, remaining as germ ideas in the spiritual consciousness of Israel—the immediate obligation of the moral law upon every one, the direct responsibility of every one to God, and faith in the personal help of Jehovah.
(1) God superintends the development of his truth, and
(2) restrains the evil that mingles with the good in men's works.—M.
The after life.
It is interesting to watch the after life of great men. In some it is a continual progress, in others a growing weakness of character and faculty. Gideon's was—
I. A REWARD AND CONSEQUENCE OF FAITHFUL SERVICE TO JEHOVAH. Long life, quietness, prosperity, honour.
II. KEPT ON THE WHOLE RIGHT, AND MADE A BLESSING BY THE GRACE OF GOD. He had begun well. His youth was a consecrated one; his old age was its true outcome. And yet not by natural virtue, but by the blessing of God.
III. CONTAINING THE GERMS OF NATIONAL EVILS. He was not ever on the heights of spiritual excitement. Perhaps his was a nature that required great difficulties to be surmounted in order to keep it right. At any rate he fails to rise above the laxities of his age, and he enters into connection with the Canaanites. How much too of his after-life could be explained as a living on the memory of a glorious past, and a growing estimation of the part he himself had played. The ephod, the natural son by the Canaanitish woman, the conflicting interests of the many heirs to his influence and renown—these were the occasions of untold evil.—M.
The consequence of the imperfect recognition of Jehovah.
I. AN IMPURE, DEFECTIVE WORSHIP OF THE TRUE GOD PREPARED FOR THE WORSHIP OF FALSE GODS. "False worships make way for false deities."
II. UNDUE MAGNIFYING OF HUMAN IMPORTANCE AT THE EXPENSE OF THE HONOUR DUE TO GOD ALONE, DIVERTED FROM THE WORSHIP OF JEHOVAH, AND SO CUT THE ROOTS OF THE PERSONAL RESPECT IN WHICH HIS SERVANT WAS HELD. True religion is the foundation and safeguard of all the esteem and respect due from one to another. The heavenly Father is the key-stone of the whole house of life.—M.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY
Gideon and the theocracy.
This incident may be regarded in relation to the conduct of the men of Israel, to that of Gideon, and to the historical fact of the theocracy.
I. THE INCIDENT REGARDED IN RELATION TO THE CONDUCT OF THE MEN OF ISRAEL.
1. These men assumed a power which they did not rightfully possess. They had no authority to revise the constitution, no right to elect a king. The election of Gideon was an act of rebellion against "the Eternal."
2. These men were so dazzled by the splendour of human achievements that they ignored the Divine influence which was the source of them. Gideon's campaign was especially designed to avoid the danger of the people attributing to men what was really the work of God (Judges 7:4). Yet they regarded Gideon as the sole hero, and forgot to glorify God. We are all too ready to recognise the human instrument only, and ignore the Divine power which is the source of all that is good and great. The very richness with which God has endowed a man of genius may tempt us to make this mistake. Yet the more gifted a man is, the more reason have we to attribute his greatness to the Giver of every good and perfect gift.
3. These men were drawn aside from trust in the Unseen to a desire for earthly greatness. The glory of Israel was its government by the unseen King. This implied faith. But the temptation often was to lose this faith and the holy life and simple state it required, and desire a human kingship and the pomp of an earthly court, such as that of the heathen nations. There is always great difficulty in living in the power of the spiritual. Tangible force and visible display tend to allure us from the serene spirituality of life in the unseen.
II. THE INCIDENT REGARDED IN RELATION TO THE CONDUCT OF GIDEON.
1. Gideon proved himself to be an unselfish patriot. True patriotism is incompatible with personal ambition. A nation has no greater enemies than its ambitious men of genius. The worthy statesman is he who aims at his country's good to the neglect of his own aggrandisement.
2. Gideon showed himself strong in resisting the popular wish when he knew this was unwise. We must not mould our character simply in obedience to the dictates of public opinion. The wish of the people is no excuse for doing wrong. There is no more difficult feat than to resist successfully the tHis-taken kindness of those who are seeking to promote a man's own honour and greatness, though in a way which he believes to be wrong.
3. Gideon proved himself firm in fidelity to God. Here lay the secret of his resistance. He had been called from the threshing-floor by God. He held himself throughout to be the servant of God. It is better to be a servant and faithful to God than a king and in rebellion against him.
4. Gideon showed his discernment at once
(1) of the existence and power of the theocracy which his contemporaries appear to have ignored, and
(2) of its suitability for the happy government of his nation.
III. THE INCIDENT REGARDED IN RELATION TO THE THEOCRACY.
1. It is not wise to propose a revolution of government except for great and necessary ends. It is easy to overthrow the present order; it is not so easy to be sure that what we substitute will be better. We cannot calculate on the possible uses to which the new power we create may be appropriated.
2. The best method of government is that which is best suited to the condition of a nation. There Came a time when a human kingship was necessary for Israel. The attempt to force this on before the country was ripe for it only ended in disaster (Judges 9:5).
3. No government can be better than a true theocracy. This must be distinguished from the rule of priests and prophets which is sometimes falsely named a theocracy, although it is as much a human government as the rule of kings and soldiers. Nothing can be better that for a people to be guided by the thought of God to do the will of God. The government of the Church is a theocracy. The Papal assumption is therefore treason to Christ. "One is our Master" (Matthew 23:8). To substitute any human authority for the direct guidance of Christ is to fall back to a lower state, like the conduct of Israel when the people were willing to abandon their Divine King for a human monarch.—A.
Forgetfulness and ingratitude.
As we pass through the historical records of the Bible we must often be struck with the stern faithfulness with which Jewish chroniclers describe the wicked and shameful deeds of their own nation. This fact is not only valuable as a proof of the unvarnished truthfulness of the narratives; it gives to the history of the Bible a universal character by making it a mirror of human nature. Thus the forgetfulness and ingratitude here recorded are unhappily typical of the too common conduct of mankind generally.
I. THE PREVALENCE OF THIS CONDUCT. Unnatural and monstrous as it appears in the narrative, it is so common in experience as to be scarcely noticed. It was constantly repeated in the history of Israel (Psalms 78:11, Psalms 78:42). It is prevalent in Christian communities.
1. It is not limited to atheism. The atheist denies the existence of God. The godless man believes that God exists, yet ignores his existence. The atheist is rare. But is there not something pharisaical and hypocritical in the horror with which he is regarded, as though the great multitude of men were far better than he, though so many of them forget the God of whose existence they are champions, and never render him worship or obedience.
2. It is not limited to open irreligion. We must not suppose that all people who do not go to church are utterly godless; but neither can we believe that all who do engage in public acts of worship really acknowledge God in their hearts. It is possible to forget God in the house of God, and to be guilty of base ingratitude while singing his praises.
3. It is not limited to total godlessness. There are those who, like the Jews, have known God, but have since forgotten and neglected him, and those who live nearer to him for a season, but are tempted at times to forsake him.
II. THE CAUSES OF THIS CONDUCT.
1. Sin. The people of Israel went after Baalim, and the result was that they forgat the Lord. We cannot have two supreme gods. Immorality is fatal to religion.
2. Worldly distraction. When no special fall into great sin has been experienced the mind may be drawn aside from Divine things, and so engrossed in business, politics, or the cares and pleasures of life, that no time or energy is left for spiritual thoughts (Matthew 13:22).
3. Unspirituality. Even when there is no great worldly distraction we may sink into a low, unspiritual habit of life, in which the thought of God becomes faint and feeble. It does require some spiritual effort to preserve the memory of God fresh and bright, because
(1) he is invisible, and can only be apprehended in the inner life, and
(2) his action is gentle, and does not rouse our attention by sensational methods (Habakkuk 3:4).
4. Loss of love to God. We remember what we love. Indifference of heart creates negligence of thought.
5. Selfishness. Israel remembered God in the time of need and forgot him in the season of prosperity. Selfishness inclines us to remember God only when we want his aid.
III. THE GUILT OF THIS CONDUCT.
1. It implies disloyalty to the rightful authority of God. If we forget God we forget his will and neglect his service. We are not free to do this, for we are naturally subjects of his supreme sovereignty.
2. It implies indifference to his Fatherly nature. He is our Father, and we are bound to him by ties of nature (Deuteronomy 32:18).
3. It implies an unworthy return for his goodness. Thankfulness is closely associated with thoughtfulness. The unthankful forget; those who do not take the trouble to think fall into gross ingratitude. Ingratitude to God is joined to ingratitude to his servants. The same spirit is seen in both sins. We are not likely to be true to man until we are first true to God.—A.