ii. 10. _Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust,
for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty._
This is the counsel which the prophet gives his fellow-countrymen, in
view of the desolations which God was about to send upon their land
on account of their sins. He sees God's judgments sweeping down upon
them like an invading army, and therefore he cries to them, "Flee
into the caverns in the mountains:" like the _Simoom,_ and therefore
he cries to them, "Hide yourselves in the dust: bow down before the
destroying blast from which it is impossible to escape. God has been
silent, as if He were indifferent to your transgressions, but now He
is coming forth, in all the terrors of His majesty to require the
evil doers according to their works."[1] The counsel is, of course,
metaphorical; the rocks and the dust could afford no refuge from an
angry God. _The summons is to profound and penitential humility,_ the
proper attitude of man to God. It is a summons, therefore, which may
be fitly addressed to all men. +I. Profound humility in regard to God
would be befitting in us as creatures, even were we absolutely
without sin.+ Such humility is reasonable--1. In view of our relation
to and dependence upon God. He is our Maker; we are daily pensioners
on His bounty; we are the instruments with which He carries out His
purposes (ch. x. 15). 2. In view of His position as the Ruler of the
universe. 3. In view of the transcendent excellencies of His
character. The pupils of a great artist, such as Raphael, the
associates of a great patriot, such as Washington, are filled with
involuntary admiration and veneration for him. They feel themselves
to be as nothing in comparison with him. How much more should we feel
so in comparison with God! Those sinless being who see Him as He is
show us by their conduct what would be befitting in us even were we
also without spot or stain (ch. vi. 2, 3). +II. But as sinners that
which is befitting in us is, not only profound, but penitential
humility.+ To live without any sense of guilt in our hearts--with
indifference to the fact that we have broken God's laws and are
exposed to His judgements--is itself a gross iniquity; it is an
outrageous defiance of the majesty in whose presence we are. What
would be said of a rebel who in the presence of his outraged
sovereign should absolutely _ignore_ him? Would not this be regarded
as a repetition of his offence in the most aggravated form? But is
not this precisely the offence which every stout-hearted sinner daily
commits? As sinners there are two things especially incumbent upon
us. 1. _To humbly acknowledge that we are exposed to the Divine
judgments, and need a refuge therefrom._ There are two ways of
contemplating the Day of Judgment: (1) As a certain and solemn fact
in the history of our race. Contemplating it thus, we may show
argumentatively that such an event ought to occur; and we may
anticipate to some extent the principles upon which the Judge, when
He shall have summoned mankind before His bar, will proceed. We may
do this, and be merely theological or rhetorical. Or (2) we may
regard it as a certain and terrible fact in our _own_ history. And it
is thus that we should regard it. It is _we_ who are to stand before
the great White Throne. A realisation of this fact will powerfully
affect our feelings and our conduct; we shall (1) acknowledge, at the
least, that _we need a refuge._ And we shall be prepared
(2) _thankfully to avail ourselves of the refuge which God in His
mercy has provided for us._ With yet greater fulness and definiteness
of meaning God's messengers can repeat the prophet's counsel, "Enter
into the rock, &c." The sinner's refuge is the Son of God, "the Rock
of our salvation." Our refuge from God as our Judge is God Himself as
our Saviour. It is as such that He now reveals Himself to us. "Behold
_now_ is the day of salvation;" but the day of judgment is at hand!
Ere it burst upon us, let us flee unto "the Rock of Israel" (ch.
xxx. 29) crying to Him, with penitent confession of our sins,
"Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee."