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An exhortation to the men of Judah to repent ere the Chaldean invaders approach and wreak destruction on their land.

I. SIN EXPOSES MAN TO RUIN. It was sin, in the form of idolatry and gross immorality, that exposed the Jewish people to the terrible doom that was now hanging over them.

1. The suffering that follows sin is sometimes very terrible. Sin brings to a people famines, pestilences, wars, hells.

2. The suffering expresses God's antagonism to sin. "The fierce anger of the Lord," or, as Henderson has it, the "burning anger of Jehovah." The connection between sin and misery is a beneficent arrangement. It is well that misery should pursue wrong.

II. THAT REPENTANCE DELIVERS MAN FROM RUIN.

1. The preparation for repentance. "Gather yourselves together." It is well for sinners in the prospect of their doom to meet and confer concerning their relations to Almighty God.

2. The nature of repentance. "Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth"; or, as Henderson renders it, "Seek ye Jehovah, all ye humble of the earth." There are two seekings here.

(1) The seeking of God. He is "not far from every one of us." But we are all away from Him in sympathy. The other seeking is —

(2) The seeking of goodness. "Seek righteousness, seek goodness."

3. The urgency of repentance. "Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you."

(Homilist.)

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KJV: Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;

WEB: Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, you nation that has no shame,