Bible Commentary

Expositor's Bible Commentary Exodus 34:1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. CHAPTER XXXIV. THE VISION OF GOD. Exodus 34:1-35 It was when God had most graciously assured Moses of His affection, that he ventured, in so brief a cry that it is almost a gasp of longing, to ask, "Show me, I pray Thee, Thy glory" ( Exodus 33:18 ). We have seen how nobly this petition and the answer condemn all anthropomorphic misunderstandings of what had already been revealed; and also how it exemplifies the great law, that they who see most of God, know best how much is still unrevealed. The elders saw the God of Israel and did eat and drink: Moses was led from the bush to the flaming top of Sinai, and thence to the tent where the pillar of cloud was as a sentinel; but the secret remained unseen, the longing unsatisfied, and the nearest approach to the Beatific Vision reached by him with whom God spake face to face as with a friend, was to be hidden in a cleft of the rock, to be aware of an awful Shadow, and to hear the Voice of the Unseen. It was a fit time for the proclamation which was then made. When the people had been righteously punished and yet graciously forgiven, the name of the Self-Existent expanded and grew clearer,--"Jehovah, Jehovah, a God full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation." And as Moses made haste and bowed himself, it is affecting to hear him again pleading for that beloved Presence which even yet he can scarce believe to be restored, and instead of claiming any separation through his fidelity and his honours, praying "Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Thine inheritance" ( Exodus 34:10 ). Thereupon the covenant is given, as if newly, but without requiring its actual re-enactment; and certain of the former precepts are rehearsed, chiefly such as would guard against a relapse into idolatry when they entered the good land where God would bestow on them prosperity and conquest. As Moses had broken the former tablets, the task was imposed on him of hewing out the slabs on which God renewed His awful sanction of the Decalogue, the fundamental statutes of the nation. And they who had failed to endure his former absence, were required to be patient while he tarried again upon the mountain, forty days and nights. With his return a strange incident is connected. Unknown by himself, the "skin of his face shone by reason of His speaking with him," and Aaron and the people recoiled until he called to them. And thenceforth he lived a strange and isolated life. At each new interview the glory of his countenance was renewed, and when he conveyed his revelation to the people, they beheld the lofty sanction, the light of God upon his face. Then he veiled his face until next he approached his God, so that none might see what changes came there, and whether--as St. Paul seems to teach us--the lustre gradually waned. His revelation, the apostle argues, was like this occasional and fading gleam, while the moral glory of the Christian system has no concealments: it uses great frankness; there is nothing withdrawn, no veil upon the face. Nor is it given to one alone to behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, and to share its lustre. We all, with face unveiled, share this experience of the deliverer ( 2 Corinthians 3:12 , 2 Corinthians 3:18 ). But the incident itself is most instructive. Since he had already spent an equal time with God, yet no such results had followed, it seems that we receive what we are adapted to receive, not straitened in Him but in our own capabilities; and as Moses, after his vehemence of intercession, his sublimity of self-negation, and his knowledge of the greater name of God, received new lustre from the unchangeable Fountain of light, so does all true service and earnest aspiration, while it approaches God, elevate and glorify humanity. We learn also something of the exaltation of which matter is capable. We who have seen coarse bulb and soil and rain transmuted by the sunshine into radiance of bloom and subtlety of perfume, who have seen plain faces illuminated from within until they were almost angelic,--may we not hope for something great and rare for ourselves, and the beloved who are gone, as we muse upon the profound word, "It is raised a spiritual body"? And again we learn that the best religious attainment is the least self-conscious: Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Hew thee two tables of stone. Exodus 34:1 The renewal of the two tables J. V. Burn. I. THAT THE MORAL LAW IS PERPETUALLY BINDING. Having been broken, it must be renewed. II. THAT THE RENEWAL OF THE MORAL LAW WHEN BROKEN ENTAILS DUTIES UNKNOWN BEFORE. "Hew thee two tables of stone"; "and he hewed two tables of stone." This fact is very typical and suggestive. 1. In the first inscription of the moral law upon man's heart, the preparation and the writing were exclusively the work of God. When our first parents awoke to consciousness, the "fleshy tables" were found covered with the "oracles of God." 2. When those tables were defaced and those oracles transgressed, the work of preparation fell largely upon man. Ever afterwards man had to prepare himself by acts of penitence and faith — not excluding Divine help, of course — but nevertheless those acts are acts of man. 3. But this renewal of the Divine law is accomplished in such a way as to deprive man of all ground of glorying, and so as to ascribe all the glory to God. The tables were of plain stone, all their embellishments were by the Divine hand. III. THAT WHEN THE MORAL LAW IS BROKEN, GOD GRACIOUSLY OFFERS TO RENEW IT UPON MAN'S COMPLIANCE WITH THE REVEALED CONDITION. So when man by repentance and faith "puts off the old man and puts on the new," he is renewed in the image of Him that created him, on which the moral law is inscribed ( Colossians 3:9-16 ). IV. THAT THESE CONDITIONS SHOULD BE COMPLIED WITH — 1. Speedily. "Early in the morning." 2. Personally. This great work is a transaction between God and the individual particularly concerned. 3. Patiently. Moses waited again forty days and forty nights.(1) Do not hurry the work over. What is being done is being done for eternity.(2) Don't despond if the work is not progressing as rapidly as you might wish. If God is writing on your heart, let that be your comfort, and let God use His own time. Learn — 1. The value of the moral law. 2. The importance of having that law not only on stone or paper, but in the heart. 3. The necessity of a public and practical exhibition and interpretation of that law in the life. ( J. V. Burn. ) God re-writing the law T. Guttery. Can you think of a course more merciful than this? "Bring two tables of stone just like the first, and I will write it over again; I, God, will write over again the very words that were on the first tables that thou brakest in pieces." There is no mercy like the mercy of the Lord; I never find any tenderness like His tenderness. You remember some years ago George Peabody gave half a million of money to the London poor; and I think some eighteen thousand people are sheltered in the houses that have sprung out of that splendid charity. I remember that when Peabody's charity had awakened England to a sense of his goodness, the Queen of England rose equal to the occasion, and she offered this plain American citizen some title, and he declined the honour. And then she, with a woman's delicacy of insight, and with more than queenly dignity, inquired if there was anything that Peabody would accept; and he said, Yes, there was, if the Queen would only write him a letter with her own hand; he was going to pay a last visit to his native land across the Atlantic, and he should like to take it to his birthplace, so that at any time, if bitterness should arise between these two nations, his countrymen could come and see that letter, and they would remember that England's Queen had written it to a plain American citizen. The Queen of England said she would write him a letter, and she would do more than that — she would sit for her portrait to be painted, and he should take that with the letter; and she put on the Marie Stuart cap which, I think, she had only worn, perhaps, twice since the death of the Prince Consort, and she sat day after day in her robes of state, and the painter painted one of the finest portraits of the Queen that has ever been executed. When it was finished she presented it to Mr. Peabody, and he took it, with the Queen's letter, away to his birthplace yonder. Now, suppose George Peabody, in some fit of forgetfulness, had torn the Queen's letter up, and flung it into the fire, and dashed the portrait down and broken it to fragments; and suppose that, after that, somebody had told her Majesty that George Peabody was penitent, do you think she would have written him the letter over again? do you think she would have sat again for another portrait to be painted, just like the first one? Who can tell? Yet our Father in heaven, if you have broken the tables of your covenant with Him, bring your broken heart back again to His feet, and He will renew the covenant. ( T. Guttery. ) Come up in the morning. Exodus 34:2, 3 Be ready in the morning: an address for New Year's eve Homilist. I. Be ready for a CONSCIOUS CONTACT WITH GOD in the future. 1. As a duty. 2. As a privilege. "In Thy presence is fulness of joy." 3. As a calamity. The hell of the guilty. II. Be ready for a CONSCIOUS ISOLATION OF YOUR BEING in the future. "No man shall come up with thee." 1. There are events which will give us a profound consciousness of isolation. (1) Bereavements. (2) Personal affliction. (3) Death. 2. There are mental operations that will give us a profound consciousness of isolation. Remembranee of past sins, etc. ( Homilist. ) Morning on the mount J. Parker, D. D. I. GOD WISHES ME TO BE ALONE WITH HIM. How solemn will the meeting be! Father and child; Sovereign and subject; Creator and creature! The distance between us will be infinite, unless He shorten it by His mercy! Oh, my poor broken and weary heart, think of it and be glad. He will shed His light upon thy tears, and make them shine like jewels; He will make thee young again. II. HOW SHALL I GO BEFORE GOD? In what robe shall I dress myself?" All the fitness He requires is to feel my need of Him." But when I think of Him the thought of my great sin comes at the same time, and it is like a black cloud spread between me and the sun. When I think of anything else, I am happy for the moment; but when I think of God, I burn with shame and tremble with fear. This morning I must meet Him on the mount — meet Him alone! Alone! Surely He need not have said expressly so; for to be with God is to be in solitude, though the mountain be alive with countless travellers. III. God asks me to meet Him in the TOP OF THE MOUNT. I am called to climb as far away from the world as I can. For many a day I have not seen the top of the mount. I have stood on the plain, or I have gone to the first cleft, or have tried a short way up the steep. I have not risen above the smoke of my own house, or the noise of my daily business. Oh, that I might urge my way to the very top of the hill chosen of God! "What must it be to be there?" The wind will be music. Earth and time will be seen as they are, in their littleness and their meanness. IV. The MORNING is the time fixed for my meeting the Lord. What meaning there is in the time as well as in the place! This very word morning is as a cluster of rich grapes. Let me crush them, and drink the sacred wine. In the morning — then God means me to be at my best in strength and hope; I have not to climb in my weakness; in the night I have buried yesterday's fatigue, and in the morning I take a new lease of energy. Give God thy strength — all thy strength; He asks only what He first gave. In the morning — then He may mean to keep me long that He may make me rich! Blessed is the day whose morning is sanctified. Successful is the day whose first victory was won in prayer. Health is established in the morning. Wealth is won in the morning. ( J. Parker, D. D. ) Rising early for prayer J. Caryl. We have a saying among us, that "the morning is a friend to the muses"; that is, the morning is a good studying time. I am sure it is as true that the morning is a great friend to the graces; the morning is the best praying time. ( J. Caryl. ) Rising early for devotional exercises It is told in Sir Henry Havelock's "Life," how he always secured two hours for devotion before the business of the day began, even in his busiest time, by rising at five or four, as required .... Colonel Gardiner had the same habit. Early rising for the objects of this world is usual enough, and much to be commended; but the same industry that will advance a man's temporal interests will make him spiritually rich, and give him great treasure in heaven, if it be used towards God.... On the contrary, late rising in the morning, rapid dressing, curtailing even the few moments allotted to thanksgiving and prayer, before the plunge into the world's affairs, deafens our ears and hearts to things spiritual; we exchange an interview with our God, who can give us all good, for the miserable gratification of our indolence. Meriting prayer H. W. Beecher. Let the day have a blessed baptism by giving your first waking thoughts into the bosom of God. The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day. ( H. W. Beecher. ) The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious. Exodus 34:6, 7 The name of the Lord J. Vaughan, M. A. I. "THE LORD." There we lay our basis. Unless you are prepared to admit the perfect sovereignty of God, you can go no further — you will see no more. II. Then we put it in combination — "the Lord God." And oh! what a combination! We put all sovereignty with all the mystery of the Godhead — God, that unfathomable word. But amongst all those wondrous attributes which go to make the word God, there is one stands out — that name leads us to it. The root of the word is kindness — God, the good. The Lord the good; the Lord — love; God. We put the infinitude of His sovereignty in combination with the boundlessness of His affection, and we say, "The Lord, the Lord God." III. But now we come to the goings forth of that wonderful mystery of Godhead to man — MERCY. You know that the strict meaning of the word mercy is — a heart for misery. Therefore the first thought is — the great Lord God stooping to the wretched, going forth to the miserable. IV. And why merciful? Because GRACIOUS. Grace is the free flowing of undeserved favour. V. "LONG-SUFFERING!" It is the most marvellous part of the character of God — His patience — it is so contrasting with the impetuosity, the haste, the impulsiveness of man. He is provoked every day, but He continues patient. VI. Now it rises — "ABUNDANT IN GOODNESS AND TRUTH." Abundant is enough and something over — a cup so full that it mantles — abundant, "abundant in" — VII. "GOODNESS," and — VIII. "TRUTH." IX. "KEEPING MERCY FOR THOUSANDS." There are thousands who do not yet see or feel their mercy, for whom God is now keeping it in reserve — say, persons not yet converted. X. "FORGIVING INIQUITY AND TRANSGRESSION AND SIN." We are getting all the more now into the work of Christ. And what distinction shall we make between "iniquity, transgression, and sin?" Is "iniquity" acts of injustice to a fellow-creature — and "transgression" acts of injustice towards God — and "sin," the deep root of all in the human heart? Or is it thus? Is "iniquity " that principle of all wrongness, the want of uprightness, the acting unfairly by God or man; — and then "transgression" the act, whether it be to God or man, to God through man, "transgression," — and then "sin" again the inner nature from which that transgression, which makes that iniquity, springs. I think that is the true intention — iniquity, transgression, sin. But He pardons all. XI. "BY NO MEANS CLEAR THE GUILTY." The word "guilty" is not in the original — "by no means clear." Whom? He will not clear any one whom He has not pardoned. "Guilty" means a man still subject to wrath. If a man does not accept Christ, he is still subject to wrath — that man God will never clear. XII. And then comes that very difficult part — THAT HE "VISITS THE INIQUITY OF THE FATHERS UPON THE CHILDREN, AND UPON THE CHILDREN'S CHILDREN, UNTO THE THIRD AND TO THE FOURTH GENERATION." It seems to me to be an ever-standing visible proof and monument of God's holiness and justice. He visits sin from generation to generation. There are inherited dispensations, inherited calamities. Is it unjust? It is the principle of the greatest justice that we read of in the history of this world. For the atonement all depends upon that principle. If God does visit the sin of one in the sufferings of another, has not He also laid it down that He visits the righteousness of one in the happiness and the eternal salvation of another? And did we do away with that principle, where would be our hope? ( J. Vaughan, M. A. ) God's mercy I. WHAT THE MERCY OF GOD IS. 1. That perfection whereby He assists His creatures in misery ( Lamentations 3:22 ). 2. His mercy is infinitely great ( Psalm 145:8 ). 3. He is the Fountain and Father of mercy ( 2 Corinthians 1:3 ). II. TO WHOM GOD IS GENERALLY AND ESPECIALLY MERCIFUL. 1. To mankind in general ( Psalm 145:9 ). 2. He continues life notwithstanding our sins ( Psalm 86:13 ). 3. In delivering out of troubles ( Psalm 107:13 ). 4. In granting all the necessaries of life ( Matthew 5:45 ). 5. Especially is He merciful to His people ( Deuteronomy 32:43 ). 6. In pardoning all their sins ( Hebrews 8:12 ). 7. In quickening them to newness of life ( Ephesians 2:4, 5 ). 8. In assisting us to exercise all true grace ( 1 Corinthians 7:25 ). 9. Support under spiritual troubles ( Psalm 94:17-19 ). 10. Blessing troubles for our good ( Hebrews 12:10 ). 11. Bringing to heaven at last ( Titus 3:8 ). III. THE USES THAT ARE TO BE MADE OF GOD'S MERCY. 1. Not to abuse it to licentiousness ( Romans 6:1, 2 ). 2. We should be merciful to others ( Luke 6:36 ). 3. Pardoning their injuries, pitying their miseries, and relieving their necessities ( Galatians 6:10 ). 4. We must attribute all our blessings to the mercy of God towards us ( Psalm 115:1 ). 5. This should teach us to love Him ( Psalm 106:1 ). 6. Cause us to fear Him ( Psalm 103:11 ). 7. And induce us to praise Him ( Psalm 103:2, 3, 4 ). 8. God's mercies are greater than our miseries ( 1 John 4:4 ). 9. They are sealed to us by Christ's blood ( Hebrews 12:24 ). 10. His mercy is only known by the influence of the Holy Spirit ( Ephesians 1:13, 14 ). ( T. B. Baker. ) The unveiled mystery of God J. C. Luthardt, D. D. There is in man a yearning after the unseen. Every one feels, even if he will not confess it, that another world lies, after all, behind this one. But the world of spirits is twofold — the kingdom of the powers of darkness below, and the kingdom of light in heaven. In man there is by nature a secret drawing to that which is below. There is the dark point of sin in us which draws us downward. Whoever follows this drawing goes to destruction. But there is in man another drawing — a drawing to light, a drawing to God. For we were made for Him. But although we have separated ourselves from Him, He has not altogether given up His connection with us. He who would paint God, must paint love — a fire of love which fills heaven and earth. But who can comprehend and describe this boundless and endless love? It has collected itself, and given itself a bodily form, in order to reveal itself to us. The heart of God has opened itself up to us — eternal love has revealed itself to us in Christ Jesus. But it is not in the New Testament that this is revealed for the first time. It is as old as the revelation of God's eternal counsel of love. Even in the Old Testament Christ is contained, although in type and prophecy. There is darkness round about God, He is veiled in mystery, no mortal man beholds His countenance and lives; the eyes of Moses are holden by Jehovah, whilst He passes by him. But a word falls upon his ear: in this word God pronounces His nature, and this word runs thus — "God is love." That is the unveiled mystery of God. Let us then consider this unveiled mystery in the threefold way in which our text sets it before our eyes. I. IN THE DIRECTION OF LIFE. God orders the vast and disposes of the most isolated object. That is just His greatness — attention in what is little. But how often are our ways and God's direction of our life a mystery to us! That He leads us happily and blessedly, we believe, although what we see often appears to us to be strange. Yet we shall one day stand upon the heights of light and look back upon our dark paths in the valley, and they will be light, and our understanding will give its judgment in the praise of love. That is the unveiled mystery of God in the direction of life. II. We will consider this unveiled mystery IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN. For our life is full of sins and guilt. The termination of our life is the seal of the forgiveness of sins. We bear the law of God written on our hearts. But our sin has broken it. We are sorry; we should like to be pious and holy. Hence we come and present ourselves before God with new resolutions: from henceforth it shall be otherwise with us. But how long does it continue till it is as before? It will not come to a really new life. We amend there and then; but our moral life remains at all times a wearying work, and never becomes a free, joyful matter, which is understood of itself — which gushes and streams fresh and gladly out of the heart. Whence is this? The failing is in the foundation. God must make such an impression upon us as to win our hearts, and to make it impossible for us to do other than love Him. By what means does God make such an impression upon us? Not by His infinite greatness and majesty, but by His gracious love. "We love Him because He has first loved us" ( 1 John 4:19 ). And what love is that? It is God's pardoning love: not the love manifested in the displays of His goodness, in His anxiety for our earthly life. This humbles us, but it does not yet touch our innermost being. The innermost point in us, where we are connected with God, is the conscience. And just here we feel ourselves separated from God. Here we must experience the love of God: that is His forgiving love. But this is the right foundation of all moral work. III. We will consider this unveiled mystery IN COVENANT FELLOWSHIP. The covenant of God with Israel rests on the forgiveness of sins. God dwells in the midst of them, He is their God and they are His people, and He leads them on their way, and He brings them to the goal. He thus reveals Himself to them as a covenant God. But all this is only a prophecy of the covenant of God with us in Christ Jesus. This rests on the true, real forgiveness of sins. But all this is but the commencement of the completion. We wait for the fulfilment of the promise. In hope, the abode yonder is already here. But we are not yet yonder. We are still on our pilgrimage to the hall of blessedness. There for the first time will there be the right celebration of the covenant. ( J. C. Luthardt, D. D. ) The moral nature of God L. D. Bevan, D. D. I. THE FORM IN WHICH THE REVELATION IS MADE. 1. In the first place, it is given, not in the cold and formal terms of a merely ethical and philosophical system, but in its warm and sympathetic application to the needs of man's life. The profoundest truth is here implied. But the form of the declaration is simple, couched in the every-day speech of men, such as all men, in any and every condition, could easily and readily apprehend. 2. It is not only addressed to man upon the simplest side of his nature, but it sets in the very foreground of the Divine qualities those which have regard to man's sinfulness, and the need in which he stands, of tenderness, pity, and grace. What a recognition is this of the true state of the human heart! God's revelation is no philosophy of the "might have been," of the "ought to be" — dreamy, vague, hypothetic, and useless. But it is a practical dealing with what is. It takes man just as it finds him. II. Now, let us inquire, WHAT IS THE REVELATION which is thus made in so human and so gracious a form? God declares Himself to be "merciful and gracious." By the first quality we understand pitifulness, a tenderness towards the weak and helpless, with an added sense of gentleness and forgiveness towards those that are not only weak but wicked, sinful as well as sad. And while God is this, it is all of favour, free and unmerited. He is gracious as well as merciful. But there are added qualities of mercy and grace beyond the mere broad and general fact of their possession. These might be of the Divine nature, and yet their exercise might be restrained within narrow and brief limits of occasion and duration. But God is "longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth." We must not forget that these qualities of God's moral being are related, as we have said, to human conditions, especially that of sin, and in respect of that He is "longsuffering." For man is not merely a sinner, but he perpetuates the sin, he continues sinning; he is alienated from God, and remains an alien, with hard and ever harder heart, going farther away, being less accessible, increasing his rebellion ever. And yet God's mercy does not cease. He loses no patience. He waits and watches. And of this mercy and clemency no one need doubt the power or the sufficiency. God is declared further to be "abundant in goodness and truth." Goodness is perhaps an attribute of wider reach than mercy, embracing mercy for the sinner and the wretched in the beneficent relation towards all whose welfare and happiness God ever seeks. Truth is that harmony of being upon which we may ever depend. It is order and peace, it is fidelity and changelessness — everything that renders trust in the truthful God a certain thing, not liable to disappointment, change, and decay. The emphasis, perhaps, is to be placed upon the word "abundant." God has enough and to spare. Then, these are by no means quiescent, inoperative attributes of the Divine nature. Men often lose themselves and the clearness of their thoughts in mere abstract statements of the qualities of God, but in this declaration of Himself, Jehovah shows how practical is the revelation which He gives. "Keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." The phrase "keeping mercy for thousands" is a striking one. The term thousands is indefinite, signifying a very large number. It may be used in contrast with the "third and fourth generation" of the following clause, and if so, it indicates that the mercy of God is preserved through all the ages of mankind, and remains perpetual and ceaseless, for the universal race for ever. The forgiveness, too, how full is this! It is not merely the single sin that is pardoned. The continued habit of sin, the formed and indurated character of evil, the strong and defiant wickedness, even these may find mercy and have experience of God's pardoning grace. It is His prerogative. It is His nature. All this is based upon the most absolute justice and integrity of righteousness. "He will by no means clear the guilty." The eternal claim of moral order must be recognized, and until guilt is purged and sin is destroyed, the sinner cannot be cleared. Let us, now, gather up the great truths of this sublime passage, and lay their meaning and their power to our hearts. 1. The revelation which God grants of Himself is in the sphere of moral being. 2. This moral aspect of Deity is in complete harmony with every other side of the Divine nature. 3. The. moral being of God, as it is revealed, necessarily provides a satisfaction of its claims of justice and rectitude. 4. In this completeness of revelation there is an abundance of grace and mercy which is offered to all men. This, then, is the final truth which appears in the revelation of God. Let no man despair. ( L. D. Bevan, D. D. ) God's great goodness Clergyman's Magazine. I. THE GLORY OF GOD IS HIS GOODNESS. When Moses said, "I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory," the Lord answered, "I will make all My goodness pass before thee" ( Exodus 33:18, 19 ; Exodus 34:6 ). 1. We see it in nature ( Psalm 33:5 ; Psalm 145:9 ; Psalm 65:11 ). 2. We see it in providence ( 1 Kings 8:66 ; Psalm 31:19 ; Zechariah 9:16, 17 ). 3. We see it in grace ( Ephesians 1:7 ; Psalm 23:6 ; Jeremiah 31:14 ). II. THE EFFECT OF GOD'S GOODNESS UPON THE HEART OF MAN IS MEANT TO BE. 1. Sorrow at having offended God ( Romans 2:4 ; Job 42:5, 6 ; Hosea 3:5 ), 2. Delight in praising God ( Psalm 107:8 ; Isaiah 63:7 ). 3. Desire to receive God's blessings ( Numbers 6:24, 26 ; Micah 7:18, 19 ). 4. A disposition to imitate God's character ( Luke 6:36 ; Ephesians 5:2 John 6:11 ). ( Clergyman's Magazine. ) God's goodness The late Dr. Samuel Martin, in a letter to a friend after Dr. Davidson's death, thus speaks of that pious and devoted man, whose memory is hallowed in the minds of all who knew him: — "He studied divinity at Glasgow College. Thomas and I lived together, companions and fellow-students; and I, being some years older, was considered as a kind of guardian. On looking back to that period, in reviewing fully sixty years' intercourse and friendship, I ever found in him, from first to last, genuine and unaffected piety, affection, benevolence, regular, exemplary, amiable deportment. I recollect, with pleasure, the family devotions of our little society. I well remember an exclamation, on one occasion, to me, after rising from prayer — a striking proof of his characteristic humility, gratitude, and tenderness of conscience, 'Oh, Martin, it is the Divine goodness, of all things, that humbles me most!'" God's forgiving mercy T. G. Selby. I once visited the ruins of a noble city that had been built on a desert oasis. Mighty columns of roofless temples still stood in unbroken file. Halls in which kings and satraps had feasted two thousand years ago were represented by solitary walls. Gateways of richly carven stone led to a paradise of bats and owls. All was ruin! But past the dismantled city, brooks, which had once flowed through gorgeous flower-gardens, and at the foot of marble halls, still swept on in undying music and unwasted freshness. The waters were just as sweet as when queens quaffed them two thousand years ago. A few hours before they had been melted from the snows of the distant mountains. And so God's forgiving love flows in ever-renewed form through the wreck of the past. Past vows and past covenants and noble purposes may be represented by solitary columns and broken arches and scattered foundations that are crumbling into dust, yet through the scene of ruin fresh grace is ever flowing from His great heart on high. ( T. G. Selby. ) That will by no means clear the guilty God justified in man's salvation H. Stowell, M. A. I. MAN THINKS OF GOD AS IF GOD WERE SOMETHING LIKE HIMSELF: and hence he would make God a changeable and capricious Being; he would make Him connive at sin and make light of transgression, accepting a few tears, or a few resolutions, or a few alms, as satisfaction enough for him to receive pardon. All such ideas of God are base and unwarrantable, and will cover those who entertain them with everlasting confusion. The nature of God makes it impossible for Him to clear the guilty. If the positive be true, that God loves holiness, the negative must be true, that He hates iniquity. II. And now some will probably say, "WHY, THIS IS CONTRAVENING THE VERY GOSPEL; IT IS SURELY FAVOURING THE NOTION THAT NONE CAN BE SAVED, for who can be saved, when there is no guiltless man? And if God will not clear guilty men, how is any one to meet his Maker in peace?" The view I have of it is this — that God does not clear the guilty; no, but I will tell you what He does, which is infinitely more to His glory, and of necessity more for our peace — He makes the guilty guiltless, and He makes the unrighteous perfect in righteousness. He does this in virtue of the life laid down for the guilty, for all who in Him have believed; in Him all have paid the penalty, all have satisfied God's justice, and all have perfect righteousness. ( H. Stowell, M. A. ) The guilty "by no means cleared" J. H. Evans, M. A. I. WHAT IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD BY THE LORD "NOT CLEARING THE GUILTY"? When He pronounces the sentence of acquittal, it will be in full accordance with justice. And yet the basis of this world's religion is nothing more than a belief that God will "clear the guilty." What are all the delusions of self-righteous workings? what are all the endeavours to put off till a more convenient season comes? what is all the resting in ordinances, forms, and external things? Just a forgetfulness that God is a heart-searching God. II. But now observe, WHY is it true that God "will by no means clear the guilty"? Everything in God forbids it. His very faithfulness renders it impossible. Now, faithfulness is part of the Divine goodness. What forms the real substance of our hope? that through God's grace we shall be at last in heaven? God tells me, that "he that believeth shall be saved"; He tells me, that the "blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin." What gives us confidence? Simply, God's faithfulness — I believe it, because God says it. Take that away, and where is His goodness? It is no more. Now bear this in mind, that what gives stability to the promise gives stability to the threatening. The love of God is a holy love. Now the great cause of all misery is sin; and that which forbids sin is a holy love. Yes, and one may even say that the penalty, awful and fearful as it is, is one of the great unfoldings of His love.Conclusion: 1. The subject has a very awful look, as it regards the sinner hardened in his trespasses. "He will by no means clear the guilty ones." 2. The words are full of encouragement to the poor penitent spirit — "He will by no mesons clear the guilty." "Ah!" you are ready to say, "how can He clear me? I am all guilt." Thou never hadst any due conception of thine own guiltiness, and of what thy guiltiness is before God. Yet none at all hast thou. Why? Because it has all been transferred to Jesus. Because He has taken it and borne it away. He has endured it. He was "not cleared," He endured the penalty. 3. How this truth should lead to — (1) Confession of sin; (2) holy service. ( J. H. Evans, M. A. ) Union of justice and grace in God T. D. Woolsey. "Behold the goodness and severity of God," says the Apostle Paul. In most cases the goodness is illustrated by one kind of events and the severity by another, but in Christ's work the same event of His death displayed the two sides of God's character alike and at once, and thus pardon was never offered to the guilty without a loud protest against sin. Now the pains taken to inculcate both these qualities through the entire Scriptures seem to point at something in man, some conception of character which he needs to have impressed upon him and which he ought to realize in his own life. I. And in pursuing this subject we remark, first, THAT AMONG MEN HE WHO IS CAPABLE OF EXERCISING ONLY HARD, UNRELENTING JUSTICE IS HELD TO BE FAR FROM PERFECTION, AND CANNOT BE LOVED; WHILE, ON THE OTHER HAND, A CHARACTER IN WHICH BARE KINDNESS OR GOODNESS IS THE ONLY NOTICEABLE TRAIT SECURES NO RESPECT. Only where we see the two qualities united can we feel decided confidence and attachment. They do not check each other, as might be supposed, but add to each other's power. The indiscriminately kind man is felt to be weak; the harsh rigorous nature may have intellect in abundance, but fails to warm the souls of men. When united they form character, a character in which there is depth, the depth of intellect resting below temper and impulse on a foundation of wisdom and true excellence of heart. There can be no moral government among men without wisdom, for he who makes men good must look not at immediate impressions, but at results: he must take long stretches of time into view, and long series and interactions of causes shaping character. When did instinctive benevolence ever fail to thwart its own wishes and to corrupt its beneficiaries? The union of these opposites, where alone wisdom can be found, ensures the best government, and as every one must be in some way a governor, of a family, or a workshop, if not of a town or state, the whole of the vast interests of mankind depend on this union. II. IF GOD IS TO BE HONOURED AND LOVED BY HUMAN BEINGS, HE MUST PRESENT HIMSELF TO OUR MINDS UNDER THE SAME TWOFOLD ASPECT. He must be seen in the light of those qualities which we may call by the name of justice, and of those to which we give the names of goodness, kindness, tenderness, or mercy. Sinners are recovered and reclaimed first by a sense of sin, and then by a perception of Divine love, and without the latter they would not think of the

34:1-4 When God made man in his own image, the moral law was written in his heart, by the finger of God, without outward means. But since the covenant then made with man was broken, the Lord has used the ministry of men, both in writing the law in the Scriptures, and in writing it in the heart. When God was reconciled to the Israelites, he ordered the tables to be renewed, and wrote his law in them. Even under the gospel of peace by Christ, the moral law continues to bind believers. Though Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, yet not from the commands of it. The first and the best evidence of the pardon of sin, and peace with God, is the writing the law in the heart. 34:5-9 The Lord descended by some open token of his presence and manifestation of his glory in a cloud, and thence proclaimed his NAME; that is, the perfections and character which are denoted by the name JEHOVAH. The Lord God is merciful; ready to forgive the sinner, and to relieve the needy. Gracious; kind, and ready to bestow undeserved benefits. Long-suffering; slow to anger, giving time for repentance, only punishing when it is needful. He is abundant in goodness and truth; even sinners receive the riches of his bounty abundantly, though they abuse them. All he reveals is infallible truth, all he promises is in faithfulness. Keeping mercy for thousands; he continually shows mercy to sinners, and has treasures, which cannot be exhausted, to the end of time. Forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin; his mercy and goodness reach to the full and free forgiveness of sin. And will by no means clear the guilty; the holiness and justice of God are part of his goodness and love towards all his creatures. In Christ's sufferings, the Divine holiness and justice are fully shown, and the evil of sin is made known. God's forgiving mercy is always attended by his converting, sanctifying grace. None are pardoned but those who repent and forsake the allowed practice of every sin; nor shall any escape, who abuse, neglect, or despise this great salvation. Moses bowed down, and worshipped reverently. Every perfection in the name of God, the believer may plead with Him for the forgiveness of his sins, the making holy of his heart, and the enlargement of the Redeemer's kingdom. 34:10-17 The Israelites are commanded to destroy every monument of idolatry, however curious or costly; to refuse all alliance, friendship, or marriage with idolaters, and all idolatrous feasts; and they were reminded not with idolaters, and all idolatrous feats; and they were reminded not to repeat the crime of making molten images. Jealously is called the rage of a man, Pr 6:34; but in God it is holy and just displeasure. Those cannot worship God aright, who do not worship him only. 34:18-27 Once a week they must rest, even in ploughing time, and in harvest. All worldly business must give way to that holy rest; even harvest work will prosper the better, for the religious observance of the sabbath day in harvest time. We must show that we prefer our communion with God, and our duty to him, before the business or the joy of harvest. Thrice a year they must appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. Canaan was a desirable land, and the neighbouring nations were greedy; yet God says, They shall not desire it. Let us check all sinful desires against God and his glory, in our hearts, and then trust him to check all sinful desires in the hearts of others against us. The way of duty is the way of safety. Those who venture for him never lose by him. Three feasts are here mentioned: 1. The Passover, in remembrance of the deliverance out of Egypt. 2. The feast of weeks, or the feast of Pentecost; added to it is the law of the first-fruits. 3. The feast of in-gathering, or the feast of Tabernacles. Moses is to write these words, that the people might know them better. We can never be enough thankful to God for the written word. God would make a covenant with Israel, in Moses as a mediator. Thus the covenant of grace is made with believers through Christ. 34:28-35 Near and spiritual communion with God improves the graces of a renewed and holy character. Serious godliness puts a lustre upon a man's countenance, such as commands esteem and affection. The vail which Moses put on, marked the obscurity of that dispensation, compared with the gospel dispensation of the New Testament. It was also an emblem of the natural vail on the hearts of men respecting spiritual things. Also the vail that was and is upon the nation of Israel, which can only be taken away by the Spirit of the Lord showing to them Christ, as the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Fear and unbelief would put the vail before us, they would hinder our free approach to the mercy-seat above. We should spread our wants, temporal and spiritual, fully before our heavenly Father; we should tell him our hinderances, struggles, trails, and temptations; we should acknowledge our offences.