Judges 5:31 So let all your enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might… I. THE OBJECT: "Them that love Him." II. THE REQUEST: "Let them be as the sun." I think the chief doctrine here intended is that of infallibility. First, the sun is a faithful witness in heaven. The sun has never failed yet, and never can fail. "When He goeth forth in His might." The Scriptures are clear that the people are all predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ; that what He is they are to be. Did not Jesus Christ go forth in His might in His humiliation; and doth He not also go forth in His might in His exaltation? III. THE REPOSE HERE MENTIONED: "The land had rest forty years." How is it that they had rest forty years? Well, they had rest, liberty, and quiet, enjoying all the privileges of the promised land during these forty years, by one of the most simple things. It was by simply rejecting all false gods, and abiding by the God of Israel, and just bringing up a little of past history, and learning that this God, who had delivered them from Egypt, this God, who had sustained them through the wilderness, this God that brought them into the promised land and planted them there, He, and He alone, was God; and the consequence was that their liberty remained, their harvests were good, their vintage was good, their flocks and their herds increased, and they were every way happy. Just so now; if we would have spiritual rest, spiritual settlement, and real prosperity, it must be by simply abiding by that truth that represents the great God to us as a Saviour, that represents Him in a covenant ordered in all things and sure — simply abiding by that. Now how was it they had rest no longer than forty years? I can hardly tell; but you do not get through the next chapter before you stumble upon an altar, and say, "What altar is this?" This is not the Lord's; no, it is Baal's. And here is a beautiful grove and gardens — everything made pleasant to the flesh, a great display. Well, how in the world Baal got in again I do not know, but I should not wonder if it was either by trade affairs, or else by matrimonial affairs, or else by both. (James Wells.). Parallel Verses KJV: So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years. |
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