Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee.
God’s witness
I. Must be quick.
II. Busy.
III. Bold.
IV. Faithful. For--
1. He must speak all that he is charged with.
2. He must speak to all that he is charged against.
(1) Because he has reason to fear the wrath of God if he should be false.
(2) Because he has no reason to fear the wrath of man if he is faithful. (M. Henry, D. D.)
Service requires concentration
The girdle is often yards in length, and is a significant part of a man’s apparel when in full dress; and the first sign that a man is in earnest about any work would be that he would gather his skirts about him and tuck them into his girdle; so as to be unhampered and free. The idea for us is that Christian service demands concentration. It needs the fixing of a man’s power upon one thing, and the gathering together of all the strength of one’s nature until its softest and loosest particles are knit together and become strong. You may take a handful of cotton down and squeeze it tight enough to make it hard and as heavy as a bullet, or you may stretch it out into tissue paper. The reason why some men hit and make no dint is because they are not gathered together, compacted--their loins are not girded. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)