I. The Creator of the heavens and earth and the spirit of man has an Israel. The idea of Israel is fellowship with God, and power with God gained in and by that fellowship. Man is haunted by a something issuing from heaven and earth that will not let him rest. A living world is round him, material, but full of spiritual suggestion, inviting him to seek God, and waking him up again when he grows dull and hard. It seems a necessity to man, when beaten and pressed down by these forces, to which he yet knows himself superior, to cry for help to the Maker of all. One so deeply conscious of the need of help cannot but seek help from the God whom He has found. And this asking, so inevitable, cannot be a futile thing. If asking be a necessity with the spirit that has communion with God, there must be room and need for it on the side of God. God's Israel consists of those who seek Him, and by seeking have power with Him.
II. God has a word for His Israel. Neither the heavens, nor the earth, nor the spirit of a man take the place of a word. They are each a revelation. But they are fuller of questions than of answers. The heart of man needs a word. It is only in words that there is definiteness. One of the grand distinguishing peculiarities of man is that he employs words. By these he reaches the fulness of his being. He makes all shadowy and vague things firm and abiding by words. And shall not God meet him on this highest platform? A word of God is a necessity to the human soul. There cannot be an Israel without a word. God has a word to Israel which makes fellowship close and confiding. The word refreshes the weary soul. It directs and cheers. It has a human tone, while it is Divine. The word gives man the necessary clue to the interpretation of the universe and himself.
III. God's word to Israel is a burden. (1) It is a burden by reason of the weight of its ideas. (2) It is a burden of momentousness and obligation. (3) It is a burden which is easier to bear in whole than in part. (4) It is a burden which removes every other load.
J. Leckie, Sermons Preached at Ibrox,p. 21.
Reference: Zechariah 12:8. T. B. Baker, Thursday Penny Pulpit,vol. iii., p. 187.