Joel 2:12-14 Therefore also now, said the LORD, turn you even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:… I. A REAL SORROW FOR SIN. 1. Heartfelt. Rend your heart, and not your garments. Rending stands for the outward expression of sorrow or penitence. The prophet does not intend by the contrast "hearts" not "garments," to condemn such outward signs, but to insist upon the inward rather than the outward. We are not to affect sorrow, to display penitence. Outward usages are valuable, not as satisfying conscience or pleasing God, but as helps to realise a right spirit. 2. Deliberate. To rend garments is a sudden impulse. To rend the heart is a far harder and slower matter. 3. Intense. Rend — implying a breaking of the heart, — breaking by the irresistible force of conviction. This implies a personal sense of sin, and a holy hatred of sin. III. A TRUE CONVERSION TO GOD. It is, "Turn unto the Lord." A broken heart without this would be mere despair. This implies — 1. A change in will. "Turn." 2. An acceptance of God's call. "Turn unto the Lord." 3. An act of faith in Him. "Your God." An acknowledgment of God's claim on us. How are we to turn? The prayer of the Lenten season suggests the answer, "Turn Thou us, O good Lord, and so shall we be turned." (John Ellerton, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: |
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