O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are You like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays but a night? Sermons I. PRAYER IS AN INDEX OF THE SPIRITUAL STATE. Here we have the oscillation between fear and hope, doubt and faith, vividly portrayed. There is a flitting to and fro of the soul between the extremes of dejection and of confidence. All real prayer ought thus faithfully to represent the mind of the petitioner. It is a laying bare of secret thoughts and moral convictions; an unconscious as well as a conscious confession. Whilst it may be said that a man's inner being is revealed in his prayer, he is not to be judged by it by his fellow men. It is only God who can truly understand the indications which it affords, and only he who has a right to interpret them. There is a rising, a falling, and a rising again in the course of the prayer. It is the Name of God which serves as a reminder and spiritual confirmation. II. PRAYER IS A SPIRITUAL EXERCISE AND A MEANS OF GRACE. There is evident in this utterance a wrestling with unbelief. Memories of evil crowd upon the soul and seem to darken the horizon. The sinful nation confesses that in itself there is no hope, but as that conviction is arrived at, another asserts itself, namely, that God is the Hope of Israel, and that in his name or character there is the promise and potency of restoration. It is in spiritual transitions like these that the soul is lost and found again. Temptation is anticipated and overcome, sin is cast away, and God is throned in the heart, It is better to make such honest discovery of ourselves to God, even in our weakness and lack of faith, than that we should carry these into the conduct of life. It is in these transitions of despair and hope reaching to and resting in restored faith and settled purpose of righteousness, that the overcoming of the world is already accomplished. III. THE PRAYER THAT SEEMS TO BE REJECTED NOW MAY YET PROVE A CONDITION OF ACCEPTANCE. Had Israel herself really adopted the words of this her representative mediator, she would have escaped the awful abyss that yawned before her, but she knew not the day of her opportunity. By slow stages of recovery, marked by many relapses, was she to climb to the great truth from which she had fallen, that the Name of God was her salvation and hope. So it is that many a prayer uttered without apparent answer supplies in itself a spiritual condition of ultimate blessing. Its answer is really begun in the change of attitude assumed, and the spiritual truth laid hold of. By-and-by irresolution and uncertainty will give place to faith, and the windows of heaven will be opened. - M.
O the Hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble. Homilist. I. WHAT GOD ALWAYS IS TO TROUBLED HUMANITY.1. The Hope. (1) (2) (3) 2. The Saviour. (1) (2) II. WHAT GOD SOMETIMES SEEMS TO TROUBLED HUMANITY. "A stranger," etc. 1. When Christlike enterprises are frustrated. 2. When the most useful men are cut down in the very zenith of their life. 3. when prosperity attends the wicked, and adversity the good. 4. When enormous outrages are rampant in society. (Homilist.) Why shouldest Thou be as a stranger in the land. I. WHEN IT MAY BE SAID GOD WITHDRAWS AND BEHAVES AS A STRANGER TO HIS PEOPLE.1. When He withholds His wonted acts of kindness to them. 2. When He threatens to remove from them the signs and symbols of His presence. 3. When, though continuing the ordinances and sacraments, He renders them profitless. 4. When the Divine providences are adverse. 5. When He denies them access to Himself. II. WHY THE LORD DEALS THUS WITH HIS PEOPLE. 1. When they fall into gross sin and bring reproach on religion. 2. When they become earthly minded. 3. When they become slothful and formal in duty. 4. When they neglect or slight the Mediator, by whom we have access to God. 5. When they sin under or after great affliction. 6. When they do not cherish and entertain the influences of the Holy Spirit. 7. When they grow hardened and impenitent under provocation. III. WHEN IT MAY BE SAID WE ARE PROPERLY EXERCISED UNDER SUCH A PAINFUL DISPENSATION. 1. When we are truly sensible of our loss, and that our sin is the cause of it. 2. When we place all our happiness in God's favour and presence. 3. When we engage all the powers of our souls to seek after God. 4. When we diligently embrace every opportunity for finding an absent God, and use every appointed means. 5. When we wrestle with Him in prayer to return. 6. When we are not satisfied with the best means, unless we find God in them. IV. WHENCE IT IS THAT THE LORD, BEING AS A STRANGER TO HIS PEOPLE, OCCASIONS THEM SO MUCH CONCERN. 1. Because of the incomparable happiness arising from the enjoyment of His presence. 2. Because of the sad effects attending the loss of His presence.Infer: 1. There are but few true seekers of God among us. 2. The misery of these who are far from God now, and may be deprived of His presence forever. 3. The sad case of those whom God forsakes, never to return again. (T. Hannam.) (Geo. Matheson, D. D.) People JeremiahPlaces Jerusalem, ZionTopics Aside, Distress, Foreigner, Hope, Lodge, O, Pitched, Putting, Savior, Saviour, Shouldest, Shouldst, Sojourner, Stay, Stays, Strange, Stranger, Tarry, Tent, Thereof, Traveler, Traveller, Trouble, Turneth, Turns, Wayfarer, Wayfaring, Way-faring, WiltOutline 1. The grievous famine,7. causes Jeremiah to pray. 10. The Lord will not be entreated for the people. 13. false prophets are no excuse for them. 17. Jeremiah is moved to complain for them. Dictionary of Bible Themes Jeremiah 14:8 1513 Trinity, mission of Library Triumphant Prayer'O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do Thou it for Thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against Thee. 8. O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest Thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night? 9. Why shouldest Thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet Thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by Thy name; leave us not.'--JER. xiv. 7-9. … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture How Christ is the Way in General, "I am the Way. " The First Commandment Question of the Contemplative Life A Message from the Crowned Christ Jeremiah Links Jeremiah 14:8 NIVJeremiah 14:8 NLT Jeremiah 14:8 ESV Jeremiah 14:8 NASB Jeremiah 14:8 KJV Jeremiah 14:8 Bible Apps Jeremiah 14:8 Parallel Jeremiah 14:8 Biblia Paralela Jeremiah 14:8 Chinese Bible Jeremiah 14:8 French Bible Jeremiah 14:8 German Bible Jeremiah 14:8 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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