Hosea 14:1. O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
Let anyone here, who has turned aside from the Lord, hear these tender pleading words, and then yield to him who utters them. God speaks, not to condemn, but to comfort. He would fain allure you back to him with his gracious words of love: «O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.»
Hosea 14:2. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord:
But the poor penitent cries, «Alas, Lord, I do not know what to say. So God puts in the sinner's mouth the very words he is to utter.
Hosea 14:2. Say unto him. Take away all iniquity,
That is where the mischief lies, in your iniquity, your turning aside from the path of truth and iniquity. Say to the Lord, «I do not want to keep any of my iniquity, I desire to be delivered from it altogether.» «Take away all iniquity,»
Hosea 14:2. And receive us graciously:
«Lord, take us back again. According to the greatness of thy grace, restore us to thy heart of love, and let us dwell where thy children dwell: Receive us graciously:'»
Hosea 14:2. So will we render the calves of our lips.
That is to say, «We will give thee the sacrifice of our praises. We will speak well of thy name. If we have the calves of the stall, we will give them to thee; but, in any case, we will give thee the calves of our lips.»
Hosea 14:3. Asshur shall not save us;
They had been accustomed to rely either upon Assyria or upon Egypt; and one of the first signs of their real repentance was that they had given up their false dependences. So, sinner, you must give up your self-righteousness, your ceremonialism, anything and everything in which you have trusted in place of trusting in the Lord: «Ashur shall not save us;»
Hosea 14:3. We will not ride upon horses:
In the day of battle, they had trusted in their cavalry; but now, in the time of their repentance, they cry, «We will not ride upon horses;»
Hosea 14:3. Neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
What a beautiful ending there is to this verse! If any of you are full of sin and full of wants, and have become like orphans who have lost everything, and are utterly destitute, if you have none to provide for you, and none to care for you, come to the God of the fatherless, and put your trust in him: «For in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.» Then follows this gracious promise:
Hosea 14:4. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely:
Listen to the heavenly music: «I will.» «I will.» When God says, «I will,» you may depend upon it that he will do what he says he will. If you or I say, «I will,» it must be with the proviso, «If it is God's will, I will do so-and- so,» but God is the almighty king whose least word is a sovereign mandate: «I will heal their backsliding: I will love them freely:»
Hosea 14:4. For mine anger is turned away from him.
If you have come back to the Lord with true penance of heart, he is no longer angry with you, but he is ready to welcome you again.
Hosea 14:5. I will be as the dew unto Israel:
«Not as first, not as tempest; but in gentle yet effectual grace, I will visit them. I will be as the dew unto Israel:»
Hosea 14:5. He shall grow as the lily,
«He shall be as beautiful and fair as the lily, though just now he was black as night.»
Hosea 14:5. And cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
«He shall be as stable as he is beautiful. Like old Lebanon, the mighty mountain, which none can shake, so shall this poor sinner be when I have visited him with my love.»
Hosea 14:6. His branches shall spread,
«I will endue him with usefulness and influence.
Hosea 14:6. And his beauty shall be as the olive tree,
«I will load him with fruit. He shall have the beauty that belongs to that fat and oily tree, the olive.»
Hosea 14:6. And his smell as Lebanon.
God can make the foul, polluted sinner to become fragrant to him: «His smell shall be as Lebanon»
Hosea 14:7. They that dwell under his shadow shall return;
His family, his work-people, his neighbours, who wandered from the Lord because he wandered, shall get good from his holy influence. His restoration shall be a benediction to them: «They that dwell under his shadow shall return;»
Hosea 14:7. They shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
All good things come to a man when God comes to him, and he comes to God. Get right with God, and you shall get right with all things around you, and you shall be the means of helping to put other people right.
Hosea 14:8. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols?»
He will spontaneously purge himself from the evil things which he once loved. I shall not need to send the hammer to break his idols, but he shall say, out of the fullness of his own heart, ‘What have I to do any more with idols?'»
Hosea 14:8-9. I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressor shall fall therein.
Yes, they shall fall even when they are in the right ways; and I know of no falling that is worse than for men to be in the ways of religion, and yet to stumble and fall even there; for, if they fall there, where will they not fall?
This exposition consisted of readings from Hosea 11,, 14.