The Voices of Our Days
(No. 3283)
A NEW YEAR'S SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 1912.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"I said, Days should speak and multitude of years should teach wisdom."
Job 32:7.
In the discussion between Job and his three friends, Elihu was present,
but though by far the wisest man, he remained quiet. Sometimes a still
tongue proves a wise head. In our text he gives his reason for
refraining from speech. He felt inclined to deliver his mind, but being
the younger man he modestly said, "These gray-headed men ought to know
better than I. Perhaps if I speak, I shall display my ignorance and
they will say, "Be silent, boy, and let your fathers teach you."
Therefore he said to himself, "Days should speak and multitude of years
should teach wisdom."
Elihu had, however, been disappointed. His words plainly say that he
had heard but little wisdom from the three ancients. And he added,
"Great men are not always wise; neither do the aged understand
judgment." He was not the only man who had been disappointed when
looking to his seniors for wisdom, for it is a sorrowful truth that the
lapse of years, apart from the Grace of God, will not make us wise.
Though with the teaching of the Holy Spirit, every year's experience
will make the Christian riper, yet without that teaching it is possible
that each year may make a Christian not more ripe, but more rotten.
Among all sinners the worst are those who have been longest at the
trade and among saints he is not always the best who has lived long
enough to grow cold. We have known some exhibit ripeness of experience
in their very youth through Divine teaching and by growing on the sunny
side of the wall of fellowship–while others who have been far longer
on the tree are still sour because they hang out of the blessed
sunlight of the Divine Presence in the cool shade of worldliness. You
cannot measure a man's wisdom by the baldness of his head, or the
grayness of his hair– and yet, if the Spirit of God were with us to
sanctify each day's experience, it ought to be so–"Days should speak
and multitude of years should teach wisdom."
This, then, is our New Year's theme–the teaching of our years as they
pass over our heads. What are we learning from them?
I. Our first remark shall be that DAYS HAVE A VOICE. Elihu said, "Days
should speak." Every day, as a day, has its own lesson. "Day unto day
utters speech, and night unto night shows knowledge." The sun never
breaks upon the earth without light of a superior order for those who
have intelligence–especially for those who have the Holy Spirit. For
instance, the mere fact of our beginning another day teaches us to
adore the mercy which kept us alive when the image of death was on our
faces during the night–an extraordinary mercy, indeed–for sleep is
near akin to death, and waking is a rehearsal of the resurrection! When
the day begins, it tells us that God has already provided us with
mercies, for there are our garments ready to put on and there, too, is
the morning meal. Each day in its freshness seems to hint that the Lord
would have us attempt something new for Him, or push forward with that
which we have already commenced, or draw nearer to Him than we have
ever been before. The Lord calls us to learn more of Him, to become
more like He, to drink more fully into His love and to show forth that
love more clearly. Every hour of the day teaches us its own lesson and
till the shadows fall, the voices speak to us if we have ears to hear.
Night, too, has its teaching. Does it not bid us pray the Lord to draw
a curtain over the day and hide the sin of it, even as He draws the
curtain across the sky and makes it more easy for us to fall asleep? Do
we not delight, as we go to our beds, to ask to be unclothed of all our
sins, even as we are stripped of our garments? And should we not pray
to be prepared to fall asleep and lie in our last bedchamber, till the
everlasting morning breaks upon us and we put on our Glory robes? Did
we but exercise sanctified thought, each day would bring its precious
power of wisdom and make us better acquainted with the Lord.
What a message do our Sabbaths bring to us! To those who toil all the
week long, the light of the Lord's-Day seems fairer and fresher than
that of any other day. A person at Newcastle who had a house to let,
took an applicant for it to the top of his house. He spoke of the
distant prospect and added, "We can see Durham Cathedral on a Sunday."
"On Sunday," said the listener, "and pray why not on a Monday?" "Why,"
he said, "because on the weekdays great furnaces and pits are pouring
forth their smoke and we cannot see as far–indeed, we can scarcely see
at all! But when the fires are out, our view is wide." Is not this a
true symbol of our Sabbaths when we are in the Spirit? The smoke of the
world no more clouds the heavens and we see almost up to the golden
gates! Such days do speak, indeed, and tell of the rest which remains.
They sing in our ears with soft and gentle voices and tell us that we
shall not always need to bow like galley slaves, tugging at the oar of
this world's work, but may even now look up to the place where our Home
awaits us and the weary are at rest! These peaceful Lord' s-Days call
us away to the top of Shenir and Hermon, where we may view the land of
our inheritance! They cry to us, "Come up higher!" They beckon us to
commune with Him "whom having not seen, we love; in whom, though now we
see Him not, yet believing, we rejoice with unspeakable joy and full of
glory." All days speak, but Sabbaths speak best–they are orators for
God! These resurrection days, these days of the Son of Man–these have
angel voices. "He that has ears to hear, let him hear."
While each day speaks, some days have peculiar voices. Days ofjoy speak
and bid us bless the Lord, and magnify His name. Days of sorrow speak
and cry, "Arise and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is
polluted." Days of communion with God speak saying, "Abide with Me,"
and days of lost communion cry in warning, "Are the consolations of God
small with you? Is there any secret thing with you?" Days of health
say, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." And
days of sickness say, "In the day of adversity, consider." Each day,
whether bright or dim, clear or cloudy, festive or desolate, has its
own tone and modulation and speaks its own message. Some of these days
are great preachers and from them we have learned more than in months
before. Solemn days of decision when sins have been abandoned. Joyous
days of manifestation when Christ has been precious. Triumphant days of
victory in which God has been exalted–these speak, indeed–and like
Prophets claim a hearing in the name of the Lord. Whether common or
special, each day is to us a new page of sacred history, a new window
into the Truth of God, another rest stop in the march to the Celestial
City!
Here let us add that all our days have had a voice to us. There were
youthful days and we thought they said, "Rejoice, O young man, in your
youth"–and we listened all too eagerly–yet we misunderstood those
voices. Had we hearkened to the end of their sermon, we would have
heard them say, "But know you that for all these things God will bring
you into judgment." To some of us, our youthful days were full of
blessed teaching, for they called us to seek Him early in whom we have
rejoiced and found our All-in-All. Days of middle life have a voice
which we hear as we buckle on our harness for stern fight and find but
little space for rest–and none for self-congratulation. What do these
days say to us but "Work while it is day, for the night comes when no
man can work"? Those gray hairs scattered upon our brows warn us that
our sun will not remain at noon for long. I hear a voice which cries to
me, "Quick! Quick! Quick! The night comes!" As to those later days, to
which our text more pointedly alludes, they say to you, dear Brothers
and Sisters who have reached them, "Make sure work for eternity. Hold
time loosely. Lay hold on eternal life." The declining strength, the
teeth long gone, the limbs trembling, the eyes needing glasses to aid
them, the hair snowy with many winters–all these are messages of which
the purport is–"Be you also ready, for the Bridegroom comes." Knowing
our frailty, each day sounds in my ear the trumpet call, "Boot and
saddle! Up and away! Linger no longer. Press on to the battle!"
One of the loveliest sights in the world is an aged Believer waiting
for the summons to depart. There is a lovely freshness in the green
blade. The bloom upon the ripening corn is also fair to look upon, but
best of all we delight in the gold ears drooping down from the very
weight of ripeness, expectant of the sickle and the harvest home! We
have some among us who are so lovely in their lives and heavenly in
their conversation that they seem like shining ones who have lingered
here a little late–they ought to be in Heaven, but in mercy to us they
tarry here to let us see what the glorified are like! I have heard of
stray sunbeams and these are such. It is well when our old age is such
a voice from Heaven! But with the unconverted man or woman, how
different are all things! To them we must tenderly but faithfully give
warning. "You must soon die. The young may die, but you must–you know
you must. Be wise, therefore, and prepare to meet your God." The
eleventh hour with iron tongue calls to you– give heed to it, or you
will have to hear it sound your condemnation forever!
"Hasten, Sinner, to be wise, Stay not for the morrow's sun– Longer
wisdom you despise, Harder is she to be won. Hasten mercy to implore.
Stay not for the morrow's sun Lest your season should be over Ere this
evening's stage is run! Hasten, Sinner, to return, Stay not for the
morrow's sun Lest your lamp should fail to burn Ere salvation's work is
done! Hasten, Sinner, to be blest, Stay not for the morrow's sun Lest
perdition you arrest Ere the morrow is begun."
Our days all have a voice and those which mark the different stages of
our life and the flight of time have voices which demand special
attention. Birthdays, as often as they come, have a chiding voice if we
are lingering and loiter-ing–and they also have a voice appealing to
us for gratitude for years of mercy past. They have a voice calling to
us for more strenuous exertions and bidding us draw nearer to God than
before. There is always a buoyancy and gladness about the first days of
the year–they speak of thankfulness and call us to devote ourselves
anew to God–and ask for new Grace to make the coming year more holy
than the rest. The dying hours of the last day of the year are well
kept as a watch, for by their fewness we see their precariousness.
There are also last days to a life–and it will depend upon what that
life is whether they will be rung out with joyous peals or knelled with
despair.
Let days speak, then, for they have much to say to us!
II. The next thing in our text is that INCREASING YEARS SHOULD INCREASE
OUR WISDOM–"multitude of years should teach wisdom." A man ought not
to be at this moment as foolish as he was 12 months ago. He should be
at least a little wiser. Christians ought to learn several things by
the lapse of years.
We ought to learn to trust less to ourselves. Self-confidence is one of
the most common faults of the young–they judge themselves to be better
than their fathers and capable of great things. Untried strength always
appears to be greater than it is. For a man to trust himself in the
beginning of his Christian career is very unwise, for Scripture warns
him against it! But for him to trust himself after he has been 20 or 30
years a Christian is surely insanity, itself–a sin against common
sense! If we have spent only a few years in the Christian life, we
ought to have learned from slips, follies, failures, ignorance and
mistakes that we are less than nothing! The college of experience has
done nothing by way of instructing us if it has not taught us that we
are weakness, itself. To rest upon yourself, or upon any particular
virtue which you possess or upon any resolution which you have formed
is vanity itself! Brothers and Sisters, has the spider's thread already
failed you so many times and do you still call it a cable? Has reed
after reed broken beneath you and do you still rest on them as though
they were bars of iron? Are you an aged Christian and yet
self-confident? Surely this cannot be!
Age should teach every man to place less and less confidence in his
fellow men. I do not mean that we are to lose that legitimate
confidence which we should place in our fellow Christians and in the
moral integrity of those we have tried and proved. I refer to that
carnal confidence which makes flesh its arm–this should be cured by
age. When we begin the Christian life, we are like feeble plants
needing a support. We cling to our minister and everything he says is
Gospel, or we follow some superior person and place our admiring
confidence in him. Alas, it often happened that helpers fail–and
unless we have, in the meantime, learned to do without them, the
consequences may be very serious! In the course of time, I think most
Christians find their idols among men broken before their eyes. They at
one time said, "If such a man were to fall, I should think that there
was no truth in Christianity." But they have now learned better! God
will not have us make idols of His saints or ministers–and years prove
to us that those are cursed who trust in man–but he is blessed that
trusts in the Lord!
We ought to learn, again, that there is no depending upon appearances.
Have you not found, as far as you have now gone, that the direst
calamity that ever overtook you was your greatest mercy? And have you
not found that what you thought would have been a choice blessing had
really been a terrible danger to you if it had been bestowed? You have
judged the Lord according to your folly–by the outward manifestation
of His Providence! Have you not now learned to believe in His tried
fidelity and to trust Him at all times, let Him do what He may? In
this, age should instruct us. We ought not to be afraid because the day
is cloudy but remember that if there were no clouds, there would be no
rain–and if no rain, no harvests! Surely it is time that we had done
judging each inch of time by itself and began to see things upon a
broader scale! We would neither be too much depressed nor too exultant
because of our immediate present condition if we knew that things are
not what they seem.
Years should also teach us greater reliance upon the Divine
faithfulness. I t ought every day to be easier for a Christian to trust
in God. The young Believer is like a young swimmer who, for the first
time feels his feet off the bottom and scarcely knows what will become
of him. But the old swimmer feels like a fish in its native element–he
is not afraid of drowning. The little waves which in his boyhood he
thought would swamp him, he takes no notice of whatever! And even if
huge billows roll, he mounts them like a sea bird! Oh, it is a grand
thing to be established in the faith, grounded and settled, so as to be
able to say, "Therefore will we not fear, though the earth is removed."
So it ought to be with us– "Days should speak and multitude of years
should teach wisdom."
And truly, dear Friends, we ought to attain a deeper insight into the
things of God as every year rolls over our heads. The conversation of
mature Christians is always very delightful. Young Christians sparkle,
but old Christians are diamonds of the first water! You may get good
fruit from a young and earnest Christian, but it lacks the mellowness
and full flavor of the ripe Believer. I love to talk with aged
Christians even when they are uneducated people. Many holy women may be
met with among the poor of the Church who know a world of sound
Divinity–and if you will but listen to them, you will be surprised.
They do not deal in theories–they tell you matters of fact. They do
not explain points like the schoolmen, but they illustrate their
experience! They have been instructed by living near to God, by feeding
upon His Truth, by lying in Jesus' bosom like the poor man's ewe lamb
which did eat of his bread and drink of his cup–this makes men wise
unto salvation and, in such cases, years sanctified by Divine Grace
teach them wisdom!
I shall have to speak a long time if I have to show in what respects
Christians ought to grow wiser. They ought to grow wiser with regard to
themselves, to be more watchful against their besetting sins, more
intent in that particular department of service for which they find
themselves most qualified. They ought to be wiser towards Satan–more
aware of his devices and of the times when he is likely to assail them.
They ought to learn how to work better with others, to manage more
easily people with odd tempers, to get on better with those who are
under them, or with them, or above them. They should be learning how to
deal with trembling sinners, with hard hearts and with tender
consciences–with backsliders, with mourners and the like. In fact, in
all things every year we ought to be more fully equipped and, under the
blessing of God's Spirit, years should teach us wisdom!
Brothers and Sisters, if we are Christians, we ought to learn if we
remember who it is that has been teaching us. It is the Holy Spirit
Himself! If your boy goes to a school two or three years and does not
make progress, you do not feel satisfied with the master. Now, you
cannot, in this case blame the Teacher–then let the pupil take much of
the blame to himself. "Days should speak and multitude of years should
teach wisdom," since the Holy Spirit dwells in us who are converted to
God! Let us remember how sweetly He has taught us by means of the
choicest mercies. They used to teach their children the alphabet, in
the olden times, by giving them A B C on pieces of gingerbread–and
when the boy knew his letters, he ate the gingerbread for a reward!
That is very much like the way in which we have been taught
Doctrine–it has been sweet to us and we have learned it by feasting
upon it! I know it has been so with me. The mercy of God has been a
Divine Instructor to my soul. "Your gentleness," says one of old, "has
made me great." With such sweet teaching, kind teaching–loving
teaching, forbearing teaching–we ought to have learned something in
all these years!
And then, sometimes, how sharply the Holy Spirit has taught us. I have
heard say that boys do not learn so well now because the rod is so
little used. I should not wonder, for in God's school the rod has never
been put aside! Some of us do not go long without a stroke or two–if
you have been very much tried and troubled, and yet have not learned,
my dear Brother, my dear Sister–what can be done with you? What? With
this smarting, with all this sickness, with all these
losses and crosses and yet no profiting? O vine, with all this pruning,
are there so few clusters? O land, with all this plowing and harrowing,
is there so slender a harvest? Let us mourn before God that it should
be so!
And let us remember, again, how much teaching we have had from the
ministry under the blessing of God's Holy Spirit. I should not wonder
if some Christians do not profit–their Sabbaths are very dreadful days
to them. All the week they are hard at work and on Sunday there is
nothing to feed upon in what they hear, so they come home from public
worship dissatisfied and troubled. Now, if your souls have been fed–if
you have often said, "Surely God was in this place and I knew it," and
you have gone home with your souls fed with the finest of the
wheat–should there not be some wisdom to show for it? Consider the
position which some of you occupy as teachers of others, as heads of
families and instructors. If you do not learn, how are you to teach?
And if there is no learning with you, you cannot wonder if your
scholars make no progress under your instructions! With God as our
Teacher, if we do not learn, we cannot blame others if they do not
learn from us who are but men and women! May God grant that instead of
wasting time in frivolities, or "killing time," as the worldling calls
it, we may seek to increase in the knowledge of God and in likeness to
Jesus, so that every day we may be better heirs of Heaven!–
"So let our lips and lives express
The holy Gospel we profess!
So let our works and virtues shine
To prove the Doctrine all Divine!
Thus shall we best proclaim abroad
The honors of our Savior God,
When His salvation reigns within,
And Grace subdues the power of sin!" III. My last word shall be a short
one. And it is this–according to my text, THOSE WHO HAVE WISDOM
SHOULD COMMUNICATE IT TO OTHERS.
"I said, Days should speak"–not be silent–"and multitude of years
should teach wisdom." That is to say, those who have days and multitude
of years should try to teach the younger folks what they know! Now, it
is a fault with some of our Brothers and Sisters that they do not teach
our young people enough. They are too quiet. I should not like them to
die and go to Heaven without having told us all they knew. And yet,
when a venerable saint is buried who has been very reticent in speech
and has never used his pen, what a mint of teaching is buried with him!
It always seems to me to be a pity that anything should be lost through
the hand of death–it should rather be a gain! There are some of us who
have told people all we know and we are always repeating it, so that if
we die, no secrets will sink into oblivion. But there are others of the
opposite sort–a great deal goes into them–there must be a deal of
wisdom in them for none ever comes out! Doubtless many Believers have
been walking with God and enjoying the means of Grace for so long a
time that they are quite able to teach others–but they are of small
service to us because they are so retiring. I never like to see a
Christian like an old-fashioned moneybox into which you put the money,
but from which you cannot get it out again unless you break it! It
ought not to be so. Does not our Savior tell us that the well of water
in us is to become rivers of water streaming out from us? As we
receive, we should give! The more we learn, the more we should
teach–and if God teaches us, it is because He expects us to instruct
others.
Now, Brothers and Sisters, I presume to speak to those who are older
than I am. Try and teach somebody! Ask yourselves how did you learn
what you know? You were taught. Return the blessing by teaching
somebody else. You were taught. Did your mother teach you? Are you a
mother? Then teach your children. Did you learn from your father? Then,
Father, be not ungenerous to your family. Hand on the inheritance–what
your faith gave you, pass on to your sons, that they may teach the same
to their heirs! Or did you learn from a Sunday school teacher? Be a
Sunday school teacher, yourself, and teach the rising generation.
Remember that according as you have ability, you are a debtor to the
Church of God by whose means you received the Truth of God–and to the
Church of God pay back, in the shape of instrumentality, the teaching
which you have received by teaching those around you!
Note, next, that you are bound to do it, for without this, the Truth of
God cannot be propagated in the land. There is not a tree that stands
at this moment leafless and bare in the winter's blast but has within
itself preparation for casting its seed into the earth next year. Take
off a bud and you will find concealed within it the flower and
everything prepara-
tory for the creation of another tree like itself when the fullness of
time shall come! The violet and the foxglove in the hills are waiting
for the time to cast seed abroad, that the species may be continued on
the face of the earth, each after its kind. In like fashion should each
Believer, by having known the Truth of God, secure a succession of the
faithful among men. Are those of ripe years among us attending to this
as they should?
Again, remember that the devil is always teaching and his servants are
always busy! When the sons of Belial invent some new blasphemy, their
lips ache to tell it! Let but a loose song be sung in any music hall in
London and before many hours it will have a thousand voices occupied
with it. The devil has his missionaries ready to teach iniquity
wherever they go–and they neither lack for zeal nor courage! And shall
Satan have such busy servants and Christ's cause languish for want of
agents? God forbid! If you have learned a great Truth, go and tell it!
If you have found out something that is fresh to you concerning the
Lord and His love, do not wait till the morning light, but tell it at
once! If you have found the Savior, tell about Him! Tell about Him!
Tell about Him with all your might whenever you have opportunity! And
spread abroad the gladsome news of His salvation! Remember that to tell
others what you have known is often the very best way of deepening and
increasing your own knowledge. Holy occupation is one of the most
important things for our spiritual health. If you see a church sinking
low, the last persons to leave that church are the Sunday school
teachers and others who are practically occupied with serving God–and
the first to go are those fluffy professors who are neither useful nor
ornaments, but cling to a church like dust to your coat! Very largely
will you find that in proportion as you serve Christ, Christ will serve
you–therefore seek you to feed His lambs–and He will feed you!
At the beginning of this year I would urge each one of you to say,
"Cannot I make this year better than the last? Can I not pray more,
believe more, love more, work more, give more and be more like Christ?"
Was last year an improvement upon the previous one? Whether it was so
or not, let this year be an advance upon last year! It ought to be, for
it is a year which lies somewhat nearer Heaven than its predecessors!
If you have lived up till now without a Savior–end that dangerous
state! Listen to the Gospel message, "Believe and live." Ere New Year's
Day is over, look unto Jesus Christ and be saved! He will have Glory
and you shall have happiness–and thus shall you begin aright another
year of our Lord–and His Holy Spirit will make it to you a year of
Divine Grace!
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: EXODUS 13:21,22; 14.
We are going to read once more the familiar story of how the Lord
relieved His people from the power of Egypt after He had brought them
out of the house of bondage.
Exodus 13:21-22. And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a
cloud, to lead them the way: and by night, in a pillar of fire, to give
them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the
cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people.
Exodus 14:1-2 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the
children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi Hahiroth
between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal Zephon: before it you
shall encamp by the sea. It might have been sufficient for the pillar
of cloud to move that way, but it was really such an extraordinary
thing for the Lord to lead the people right down to the sea that He
gave a special command as well as the movement of the cloud! That Moses
himself might not be staggered by what would seem to him to be such
strange guidance, the Lord tells him what to say to the people and then
gives him this explanation–
3, 4. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are
entangled in the land, the wilderness has shut them in. And I will
harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will
gain honor over Pharaoh, and over all his host, that the Egyptians may
know that I am the Lord. And they did so. Those four words, "And they
did so," though they are very short and very simple words, express a
great deal! Oh, that it might always be said of all of us whenever God
commands us to do anything, "And they did so."
5. And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the
heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and
they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from
serving us?Nothing but the Grace of God will truly humble men! These
Egyptians had been crushed by terrible plagues into a false kind of
humility,
but they were soon as proud as ever! Nothing but the Omnipotent Grace
of God can really subdue a proud and stubborn heart.
6-8. Andhe made ready his chariot, and took hispeople with him: andhe
took six hundred chosen chariots, andall the chariots of Egypt, and
captains over every one of them. And the LORD hardened the heart of
Pharaoh, king of Egypt, andhe pursued after the children of Israel: and
the children of Israel went out with an high hand. They were resolute
and brave as long as they realized that God was with them! And the
Egyptians behind them were bold and proud although God was not with
them! There were two high hands that day–the high hand of the proud,
puny Pharaoh– and the high hand of the ever-blessed Omnipotent
Jehovah!
9, 10. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and
chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them
encamping by the sea, beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon and when
Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and,
behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sorely afraid.
Forgetting what God had done for them and promised to them, they became
timid at the sight of their old masters! They knew the cruelty of the
Egyptians in time of war, and their hearts failed them.
10, And the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. Ah, dear
Friends, if they had cried to the Lord in true believing prayer, they
would have been worthy of commendation–but they did not do so! They
cried out unto the Lord in an unbelieving complaint, as the next verse
plainly shows–
11, 12. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in
Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you
dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the
word that we did tell you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may
serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the
Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness. What cowards they
were, and how faint-hearted! Were these the people that were to conquer
Canaan? Were these God's chosen people? Ah, judge them not, for you and
I have often been quite as fainthearted and quite as fickle as they
were! May God forgive us as He again and again forgave them!
13-15. And Moses said unto the people, Fear you not, standstill and see
the Salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you today: for the
Egyptians, whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more
forever The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Why do you cry unto Me? Speak unto
the children of Israel, that they go forward [See Sermon #548, Volume
10–FORWARD! FORWARD! FORWARD.] Moses was no doubt praying in his
heart, though it is not recorded that he uttered any words in
prayer–but it was not the time for prayer–it was the time for action!
When people sometimes say, when they know their duty, "We will make it
a matter of prayer," they generally mean that they will try to find
some excuse for not doing it! You need not pray about any matter when
you know what you ought to do–go and do it!
16-20. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and
divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through
the midst of the sea. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the
Egyptians, and they shall follow them: andI will get Me honor over
Pharaoh, and over allhis host, over his chariots, and over his
horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have
gotten Me honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.
And the Angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and
went behind them: and the pillar of the cloud went before their face,
and stood behind them: and it came between the camp of the Egyptians
and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it
gave light by night to these; so that the one came not near the other
all the night.God was like a wall of fire between them and their
enemies–so that they had no cause for fear even though the Egyptians
were so near!
21-25. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea: and the LORD
caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and
made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of
Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the
waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the
sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it
came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host
of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and
troubled the host of the Egyptians. And took of their chariot wheels,
that they drove them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee
from the face of Israel; for the LORD fights for them against the
Egyptians.They were now in the midst of the sea between the two high
walls of water, and before they could flee see what happened to them–
26-31. And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out your hand over the
sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their
chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand
over the sea, and the sea returned to its full depth when the morning
appeared, and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the
Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the water returned, and covered
the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the hosts of Pharaoh that came
into the sea after them; there remained not much as one of them. But
the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea;
and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their
left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out the hand of the
Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptian dead upon the sea shore. And
Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and
the people feared the LORD, and believed the Lord, and His servant
Moses. And well they might! Yet how soon they murmured both against the
Lord and against Moses!