If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. If ye will not hear - What I have spoken, lay it to heart, and let it sink down into your souls.
Give glory unto my name - That honor that is due to me as a Father, and that fear that belongs to me as a Master, Malachi 1:6.
I will even send a curse upon you - I will dispense no more good.
I will curse your blessings - Even that which ye have already shall not profit you. When temporal blessings are not the means of leading us to God and heaven, they will infallibly lead us to hell. In speaking of the abuse of temporal blessings, one of our old poets, in his homely phrase, expresses himself thus: -
Thus God's best gifts, usurped by wicked ones,
To poison turn by their con-ta-gi-ons.
Yea, I have cursed them already - This may refer, generally, to unfruitful seasons; or, particularly, to a dearth that appears to have happened about this time. See Haggai 1:6-11.