Ver. 6. The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart— Esdras and Nehemiah inform us, that the heart of the Jews was not circumcised when they returned from Babylon: the whole Jewish history teaches us the same; and so do St. Stephen and St. Paul. It is necessary, therefore, to understand this prophecy of some future restoration of the Jews, says Houbigant; and with him many of the most judicious writers agree: for there are, in this and several other prophecies concerning the restoration of the Jews, such magnificent descriptions of it, as no way appear to be sufficiently accomplished in any restoration yet passed; and therefore they are to be interpreted of a more complete one still to come.
REFLECTIONS.—There is with God grace abounding to the chief of sinners; none who return to him shall be, in any wise, cast out. We have here, 1. The penitent return of Israel, and therein also of every sinner. (1.) It begins with serious reflection on the fulfilment of God's word, begetting humbling conviction on the heart. Note; The first step towards return to God is always conviction of our sin and ingratitude, and a sense of the just desert of both. (2.) Faith in a reconciled God must be exercised. We must, like the prodigal, call him our God and Father in Jesus Christ, though we acknowledge ourselves utterly unworthy to be called his children. (3.) Conversion will, of course, follow, from a constraining sense of God's transcendant compassions; these will engage the heart, and we shall desire, without reserve, to yield up ourselves to him, from a principle of love, and with universal devotedness of body and soul to his service. (4.) Fervent and importunate prayer will express the earnest breathings of the heart after God. Behold he prayeth, is the sign of every returning sinner. Hereupon God promises, 2. To hear and answer them, not upbraiding them with their sins, nor rejecting them, because out of trouble they cry to him; but according to their necessities he will supply them: his bowels of compassion will yearn over them. Such are God's tender mercies to the vilest, that bow with contrite hearts before him; he will from the distant lands restore them; however far gone in sin, they shall be recovered: their captivity shall be loosed, the bonds of sin shall no longer enslave them; God will do them good, temporal good, in restoring them to plenty and affluence in their long lost heritages. Note; Return to God is often attended with great blessings in our worldly affairs. Spiritual good is better still. He will circumcise their hearts, will cut off their vile affections, and shed abroad his holy love within their souls; thereby qualifying them for the obedience he requires, and securing them against future departures from him: their enemies shall now fall before them, and feel the power of victorious grace; thus sin shall have no more dominion over the returning penitent. Finally, by ten several repetitions, God engages to regard them as their Covenant-God. Happy the sinner who thus returns to God, and finds God thus return to his poor soul!