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If you see not the cause of your calamity, it is this; Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure [that is] abominable? these are not put away, notwithstanding all the remonstrances of the prophets. 11 Shall I count [them] pure with the wicked balances, and with 12 the bag of deceitful weights? For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, 13 and their tongue [is] deceitful in their mouth. Therefore

also will I make [thee] sick in smiting thee, in making [thee] desolate because of thy sins; I will give thee enough of such wicked practices; I will cause thee to waste away like a man in 14 a consumption. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied, thou shalt be disappointed in thy expectations; and thy casting down [shall be] in the midst of thee, thy calamities shall arise from thyself; and thou shalt take hold of thy wives, children, and substance, but shalt not deliver; and [that] which thou deliv15 erest will I give up to the sword. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine; this shall make thy disappointments the more grievous.

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And the chief cause of all this is thy idolatry; For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; you learn wickedness from the Israelites; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing; you act as if you designed to provoke me to destroy you: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people; that is, worse reproach and greater punishment than any other people.

REFLECTIONS.

EE how inexcusable sin against God is. He may plead SEE sin again, and with us in particular,

as in v. 3. O my people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against me. We have no reasonable objections to make against his laws and institutions; no good reason to desert or neglect his services; especially when we reflect on his favours to us; how he hath delivered us from spiritual bondage by Christ, and given us teachers of his will. To which may be added, our national deliverances and blessings; all of which are intended to lead us to the knowledge of his righteousness, faithfulness and goodness, and thereby to repentance and obedience. When God pleads with men, they cannot answer for one sin in a thousand the only way to be safe and happy, is to make up the controversy. And we learn,

2. How this is to be done. It is an important inquiry, v. 6. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord ? how make my peace

with him, and obtain his favour? with what temper and in whose name, shall I approach him? Let us guard against trusting in insufficient means, or hypocritical promises. Men will generally part with their substance, yea, with their children, rather than with their beloved lusts. God, in much kindness, hath shown us what is good, viz. to do justly, to use no violence, oppression, or deceit in our dealings; to practise and love mercy, and to be humble before God, that is, to submit to his laws and the appointments of his providence; which to us who have the gospel, includes receiving Christ, and submitting to God's righteousness in him. It is thus alone we can hope for his favour.

3. We are taught the design of afflictions, and how careful we should be to comply with it. They are the rod of God, there is a voice attending them they teach us many important truths, which are explained by his word and ministers. Let us from all learn God's name, that is, his nature and will. He appoints the rod; let us attend to the admonitions and cautions which it gives; and see his hand, and regard his design in every affliction. By this shall we show that we are truly wise, and shall improve in wisdom.

4. It will be no excuse for men's disobedience to God, that they follow the customs of the age, of the great, or the wealthy, Iniquity was established in Israel by law, was countenanced by the house of Ahab, that is, by the royal family and courtiers: yet, being contrary to the law of the Most High, it brought desolation upon the people. Let us study what the will of God is ; not what others practise. Let those who make a solemn profession of religion be especially careful that they be not led away by evil customs and fashions; if they are, they will bear the reproach of God's people, that is, greater shame and punishment, than if they had never known his ways, or professed to walk in them.

CHAP. VII.

The church, complaining of her small number, and the general corruption, putteth her confidene, not in man, but in God.

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O is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage; [there is] no cluster to eat my soul desired the first ripe fruit; I am as a poor hungry man come into a vineyard, who 2 finds nothing to eat, no gleanings left for The good [man] is perished out of the earth and [there is] none upright among men they all lie in wait for blood: they hunt every man . his brother with a net, as they do wild beasts.

3

That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince

asketh, and the judge [asketh] for a reward; and the great [man,] who wishes to gain his cause against his honest neighbour, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up; twine it together, like a threefold cord, and so support their in 4 justice and violence. The best of them [is] a briar: the most upright [is sharper] than a thorn hedge; he that has any thing to do with them will suffer by them: the day of thy watchmen, the day that thy watchmen or prophets have foretold, [and] thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.

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Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide, who pretends to assist you: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom; that is, from thy wife; for, such is the universal degeneracy, that even she will betray her hus 6 band. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies [are] the men of his own house; a passage applied by our Lord to the Jews in his time, 7 Matt. x. 35, 36. Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when, or, though I fall, I shall arise; when, or, though I sit in darkness, the LORD [shall be] a light unto me, I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me he will bring me forth to the light, [and] I shall behold his righteousness. 10 Then [she that is] mine enemy shall see [it,] and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets; referring to Babylon, or to any idolil atrous persecuting power, [In] the day that thy walls are to be built, that is, when thou returnest from Chaldea, [in] that day shall the decree be far removed, the decree of God for thy cap12 tivity. [In] that day [also] he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and [from] the fortified cities, and from the fortress, that is, Egypt, even to the river, and from sea to sea, and [from] mountain to mountain; the Jews shall be brought back from captivity and dispersion in every place, to their own land, 13 Notwithstanding the land shall be, or, after that it hath been, desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings; that is, as a punishment for their sins. 14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily [in] the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed [in] Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old; let them be restored to their own land from their present solitary, dispersed state. This is the prophet's prayer for Israel; 10 which God answers,

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According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I show unto him marvellous things; I will do as

great things for them as I then did; referring probably to the 16 latter day. The nations shall see and be confounded at all

their might, at the might of the Jews: they shall lay [their] hand upon [their] mouth, their ears shall be deaf; they shall 17 be stupified with astonishment. They shall lick the dust like a serpent, be humbled and confounded, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth, that soon draw in and hide their heads again: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.

18 Who [is] a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth [in] 19 mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins 20 into the depths of the sea, like Pharaoh and his hosts. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, [and] the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old: the grant of Canaan was pure mercy to Abraham, but truth to Jacob, because it was grounded on the promise made to Abraham.

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REFLECTIONS.

HE declension of piety and zeal in a people ought to be the grief of all good men. It is lamentable to see professors of religion becoming bad, and acting dishonourably; children of pious parents degenerating; and families losing that appearance of religion, which had long been supported in them, And we here see the consequences of this declension: when piety is gone, no friendship is to be expected; no confidence to be put, even in relatives; domestic and social duties are neglected; and the comfort of every relation lost. Let us lay this to heart, and be so much the more vigorous in our attempts to do good, and so much the more careful to be blameless and harmless, as sons of God, without rebuke even in a crooked and perverse gen

eration.

2. In times of the greatest degeneracy, let us still look to God, and wait for him. Our best efforts will not avail, without his help. Let us rely upon him to guide and protect us. If men are bad, he is good; if they are false, he is faithful; in him we may find support in every situation; he can redress every grievance ; preserve us in the most general corruption; encourage us amidst the greatest scorn of the wicked; and, when we sit in the deepest darkness, he will be light unto us.

3. A serious remembrance of our sins will tend to promote our patience and submission. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him. Afflictions are some. times the effect of God's indignation; and the cause is sin. This is a sufficient reason why we should bear them patiently, without

murmuring and complaining; and humble ourselves under his mighty hand. Where sin is felt as heavy, affliction will be thought light. Those who are impatient and complaining, see but little of the plague of their own hearts. But if we have humbled hearts under humbling providences, we may hope that God will plead our cause, and bring us forth to the light, so that we shall behold his righteousness.

4. We have great reason to admire and adore the wonderful mercy of God. It is incomparable mercy he forgives, and none forgives like him. There are none against whom offences so great and aggravated can be committed; yet he pardons penitents, and shows mercy to them, and delights in it. He forgives their sins, all their sins, casts them into the depths of the sea, from whence they shall never rise, so as to be seen any more. And where he forgives iniquities, he will subdue them; he will take away their dominion, as well as their guilt. This is great encouragement to penitent sinners to ask mercy through Christ Jesus; the mercy promised to the fathers. Whoever obtains that mer◄

cy will see abundant reason to say, Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, transgression, and sin?