Habakkuk 3:16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself… 1. Unfold the maxim which these words contain. Fear, excited by the threatenings of God, issues in "rest," followed by the mercies of God. As a moral proverb only this maxim is susceptible of much powerful and practical illustration. The maxim presents itself in accordance with the whole Gospel of Christ. 2. The use which the Holy Spirit makes of the threatenings of the Word — the sinner is brought to tremble in himself. It was never designed that the threatenings of the Word should seize on a man with a paralysing grasp. They were intended to subserve the purpose of solemn and salutary warning. Threatening preaching is not in general effective preaching. He who trembles beneath the Spirit's teaching, trembles in himself. It is an internal shock. There may be no outward sign. The converted man is one who must have trembled in himself. 3. The state into which such trembling conducts a sinner. There is a close connection between the " trembling" and the "resting." Let the empire of Satan be overthrown, and the empire of Christ is instantly set up. "The kingdom of God is righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." And must there not be resting then? (Henry Melvill, B. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. |
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