I. A PENITENTIAL CONFESSION. "Other lords," &c. Exegetically the
point to be determined is whether the "other lords" who "have ruled
over us," are the king and people of Babylon or idol gods; the former
with coercion, the latter with their own wicked consent? Perhaps both
ideas are included and a sad sequence implied. They had wandered of
their own wicked will into the service of pagan gods, and now against
their will were forced to serve pagan kings. Paganism had led to
vice; vice had destroyed all true manliness. Heroism in Jewish
history had lived only so long as fidelity to Jehovah had lasted.
Piety having decayed, heroism was dead; they could not stand before
their invaders. Paganism had enslaved them. This they now feel, and
hate paganism, and shun it more thoroughly than ever before.
II. A HOLY RESOLVE, involving, 1. _A recognition of Divine claims._
It is right that we should consecrate our services to Thee. By Thee
created and sustained, it is robbery to carry our services elsewhere.
Thou art our Father, and to honour others instead of Thee is unfilial
ingratitude. Our King Thou art, and not to serve Thee is sedition.
2. _A consciousness of dependence on Divine help._ "But by Thee
only," &c., _i.e.,_ "Only by Thy Divine help can we hope to be
faithful to Thee." Here is a renunciation, not only of heathenism,
but also of all self-sufficiency. By sad experience they have learnt
that without God they can do nothing.
III. A SHOUT OF VICTORY (vers. 14). The struggle against sin may be
severe and long. Bad habits not easily overcome. But Divine help
gives victory to human endeavours. He who uttered the almost
despairing cry, "O wretched man that I am," &c., can now give the
victorious shout, "I thank God through our Lord Jesus Christ." There
are those who once served mammon, and bowed to ambition; who followed
the Moloch of revenge and hate; slaves to drunkenness and nameless
vices, who now through Divine grace can say of these bad habits,
"They are dead . . . Thou hast visited and destroyed them," &c.--_W.
Parkes._
Man is a responsible being. To say he is responsible to himself is to
say nothing more than that he claims to act according to his own
inclination. Responsibility has regard to another. Lordship from
without is exercised by every human soul. Good and evil--God and
Satan--contend for the dominion. Evil usurps the dominion until an
inward revolution occurs. Thus the Jewish people had cast off the
authority of Jehovah, and placed themselves under the dominion of
other gods. The captivity in Babylon converted them from this folly.
They then determined that thenceforward they would only "make mention
of," celebrate and honour, give the dominion to the Lord their God.
Here is a penitential confession and a good resolution.
I. A PENITENTIAL CONFESSION. "Other lords beside Thee have had
dominion over us." The dominion of evil in human souls is:
1. _Multiform._ It assumes many shapes. The gods the Jewish people
served were numerous as the nations under whose influence they fell.
So the form of evil most congenial to a man's own nature is sure to
assail him (H. E. I., 4679-4683). Not only so; while each has
probably his special besetment, each has also multitudinous
besetments (H. E. I., 4550, 4551). The penitent sees that his sins
pass all power of numeration or recollection; they have become lords
and masters (Rom. vi. 16; H. E. I., 4482-4484). 2. _Wrongful._ "Other
lords beside Thee." The language implies that God ought to have had
the dominion. Then it must be wrong to give it to others. He is the
rightful sovereign on every ground. Nor can he divide His throne with
any rival. As it is impossible to serve two masters whose interests
are opposed to each other, or to adhere to two claimants of the same
crown, so is it to make mention of the name of God and at the same
time to submit to the dominion of other lords. But we have attempted
this. "Will a man rob God?" Yes. Men who would not wrong each other
will defraud God daily without compunction and without shame. To
allow the dominion of other lords is a wrong done to God.
3. _Voluntary._ It has been entirely with our own consent. Those who
make this confession mean that they have been blamable for the
wrongful dominion of other lords. Freedom is essential to
responsibility. We have consented to sin--loved it. Nor does it avail
to say we are unable to break from its power. If unable, what has
brought our moral nature in to such a state of imbecility? Are not
its chains wound round our nature by our own consent? Is not the
wretched victim of intemperance responsible for his inability to
resist the cup, when that inability is the result of the voluntary
indulgence of years? The fetters of the sinner have been forged by
himself. The criminality reaches farther back than the present sin;
to the sins freely chosen long ago, which have led up to the present
power of sin over the will. If the will is in bondage to sin, it was,
in the first instance, voluntarily surrendered. _Now_ the penitent
sinner sees all this. He comes with lowly submission and penitential
confession.
II. A GOOD RESOLUTION. "By Thee only will we make mention of Thy
name." The confession of the ransomed Jews meant more than empty
words. They had seen their error; they intended a complete change, a
radical reformation. Idolatry was for ever renounced.
This is a type of the conversion of a sinner. The confession means
not only that he seeks forgiveness, but also--1. _Intends
reformation_--abandonment of all sin, no reservation of any sin, the
course of life completely altered. 2. _Supposes regeneration._ Man
can only see the outward change; but what does it represent?
Awakening to the danger, sight of the evil of sin. The disposition is
different; the heart is changed. Hence the will determines the other
way. 3. _Proceeds from God._ There is a work of the Holy Spirit in
conversion. We need His help to fulfil the resolution. "By Thee only."
Have you experienced this change? It is a personal one. Whether you
have or not, He is the Lord--your Lord; therefore right that He
demands your service. O yield His claim!--_J. Rawlinson._