Surely it is so, and surely this is why the story of Joseph has been always so popular among innocent children and plain honest folk of all kinds; because it is so simply human and humane; and therefore it taught them far more than they could learn from many a lofty, or seemingly lofty, book of devotion, when it spoke to them of the very duties they had to fulfil, and the very temptations they had to fight against, as members of a family or as members of society. "One touch of Nature (says the poet) makes the whole world kin;" and the touches of nature in this story of Joseph make us feel that he and his brethren, and all with whom he had to do, are indeed kin to us; that their duty is our duty too--their temptations ours--that where they fell, we may fall--where they conquered we may conquer.
For what is the story? A young lad is thrown into every temptation possible for him. Joseph is very handsome. The Bible says so expressly; so we may believe it. He has every gift of body and mind. He is, as his story proves plainly, a very clever person, with a strange power of making every one whom he deals with love him and obey him--a terrible temptation, as all G.o.d"s gifts are, if abused by a man"s vanity, or covetousness or ambition. He is an injured man too. He has been basely betrayed by his brothers; he is under a terrible temptation, to which ninety-nine men out of one hundred would have yielded--do yield, alas! to this day, to revenge himself if he ever has an opportunity. He is an injured man in Egypt, for he is a slave to a foreigner who has no legal or moral right over him. If ever there was a man who might be excused for cherishing a burning indignation against his oppressors, for brooding over his own wrongs, for despairing of G.o.d"s providence, it is Joseph in Egypt. What could we do but pity him if he had said to himself, as thousands in his place have said since, "There is no G.o.d, or if there is, He does not care for me--He does not care what men do. He looks on unmoved at wrong and cruelty, and lets man do even as he will. Then why should not _I_ do as _I_ will? What are these laws of G.o.d of which men talk? What are these sacred bonds of family and society? Every one for himself is the rule of the world, and it shall be _my_ rule. Every man"s hand has been against _me_; why should not my hand be against every man?
_I_ have been betrayed; why should not _I_ betray? _I_ have been opprest; why should not _I_ oppress? I have a lucky chance, too, of enjoying and revenging myself at the same time; why should I not take my good luck, and listen to the words of the tempter?"
My dear friends, this is the way in which thousands have talked, in which thousands talk to this day. This is the spirit which ends in breaking up society, as happened in France eighty years ago, in the inward corruption of a nation, and at last, in outward revolution and anarchy, from which may G.o.d in His mercy deliver us and our fellow-countrymen, and the generations yet to come. But any nation or any man, will only be delivered from it, as Joseph was delivered from it, by saying, "I fear G.o.d." No doubt it is most natural for a man who is injured and opprest to think in that way. Most _natural_--just as it is most natural for the trapped dog to struggle vainly, and, in his blind rage, bite at everything around him, even at his own master"s hand when it offers to set him free. And if men are to be mere children of nature, like the animals, and not children of grace and sons of G.o.d, like Joseph, and like one greater than Joseph, then I suppose they must needs tear each other to pieces in envy and revenge, for there is nought better to be done. But if they wish to escape from the misery and ruin which envy and revenge bring with them, then they had better recollect that they are not children of nature, but children of G.o.d--they had best follow Joseph"s example, and say, "I fear G.o.d."
For this poor, betrayed, enslaved lad had got into his heart something above Nature--something which Nature cannot give, but only the inspiration of the Spirit of G.o.d gives. He had got into his heart the belief that G.o.d"s laws were sacred things and must not be broken, and that whatever befel him he must fear G.o.d. However unjust and lawless the world looked, G.o.d"s laws were still in it, and over it, and would avenge themselves, and he must obey them at all risks. And what were G.o.d"s laws in Joseph"s opinion?
These--the common relations of humanity between master to servant, and servant to master; between parent to child, and child to parent; brother to brother and sister to sister, and between the man who is trusted and the man who trusts him. These laws were sacred; and if all the rest of the world broke them, he (Joseph) must not. He was bound to his master, not only by any law of man, but by the Law of G.o.d. His master trusted him, and left all that he had in his hand, and to Joseph the law of honour was the law of G.o.d. Then he must be justly faithful to his master. A sacred trust was laid on him, and to be true to it was to fear G.o.d.
After a while his master"s wife tempts him. He refuses; not merely out of honour to his master, but from fear of G.o.d. "How can I do this great wickedness," says Joseph, "and sin against G.o.d?" His master and his mistress are heathen, but their marriage is of G.o.d nevertheless; the vow is sacred, and he must deny himself anything, endure anything, dare any danger of a dreadful death, and a prison almost as horrible probably as death itself, rather than break it.
So again, in the prison. If ever man had excuse for despairing of G.o.d"s providence, for believing that right-doing did _not_ pay, it was poor Joseph in that prison. But no. G.o.d is with him still. He believes still in the justice of G.o.d, the providence of G.o.d, and therefore he is cheerful, active--he can make the best even of a dungeon. He can find a duty to do even there; he can make himself useful, helpful, till the keeper of the prison too leaves everything in his hand.
What a gallant man! you say. Yes, my friends, but what makes him gallant? That which St. Paul says (in Hebrews xi.) made all the old Jewish heroes gallant--faith in G.o.d; real and living belief that G.o.d is--and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
At last Joseph"s triumph comes. He has his reward. G.o.d helps him--because he will help himself. He is made a great officer of state, married to a woman of high rank, probably a princess, and he sees his brothers who betrayed him at his mercy. Their lives are in his hand at last. What will he do? Will he be a bad brother because they were bad?
Or will he keep to his old watchword, "I fear G.o.d?" If he is tempted to revenge himself, he crushes the temptation down. He will bring his brothers to repentance. He will touch their inward witness, and make them feel that they have been wicked men. That is for their good. And strangely, but most naturally, their guilty consciences go back to the great sin of their lives--to Joseph"s wrong, though they have no notion that Joseph is alive, much less near them. "Did I not tell you," says Reuben, "sin not against the lad, and ye would not hearken? Therefore is this distress come upon us."
Joseph punishes Simeon by imprisonment. It may be that he had reasons for it which we are not told. But when his brothers have endured the trial, and he finds that Benjamin is safe, he has nothing left but forgiveness. They are his brethren still--his own flesh and blood. And he "fears G.o.d." He dare not do anything but forgive them. He forgives them utterly, and welcomes them with an agony of happy tears. He will even put out of their minds the very memory of their baseness. "Now, therefore, be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither, he says; for G.o.d sent me before you, to save your lives with a great deliverance."
Is not that Divine? Is not that the Spirit of G.o.d and of Christ? I say it is. For what is it but the likeness of Christ, who says for ever, out of heaven, to all mankind, "Be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye crucified me. For G.o.d, my Father, sent me to save your souls by a great salvation."
My friends, learn from this story of Joseph, and the prominent place in the Bible which it occupies--learn, I say, how hateful to G.o.d are family quarrels; how pleasant to G.o.d are family unity and peace, and mutual trust, and duty, and helpfulness. And if you think that I speak too strongly on this point, recollect that I do no more than St. Paul does, when he sums up the most lofty and mystical of all his Epistles, the Epistle to the Ephesians, by simple commands to husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants, as if he should say,--You wish to be holy? you wish to be spiritual? Then fulfil these plain family duties, for they, too, are sacred and divine, and he who despises them, despises the ordinances of G.o.d. And if you despise the laws of G.o.d, they will surely avenge themselves on you. If you are bad husbands or bad wives, bad parents or bad children, bad brothers or sisters, bad masters or servants, you will smart for it, according to the eternal laws of G.o.d, which are at work around you all day long, making the sinner punish himself whether he likes or not.
Examine yourselves--ask yourselves, each of you, Have I been a good brother? have I been a good son? have I been a good husband? have I been a good father? have I been a good servant? If not, all professions of religion will avail me nothing. If not, let me confess my sins to G.o.d, and repent and amend at once, whatever it may cost me. The fulfilling these plain duties is the true test of my faith, the true sign and test whether I really believe in G.o.d and in Jesus Christ our Lord. Do I believe that the world is Christ"s making? and that Christ is governing it? Do I believe that these plain family relationships are Christ"s sacred appointments? Do I believe that our Lord Jesus was made very man of the substance of His mother, to sanctify these family relationships, and claim them as the ordinances of G.o.d His Father?
In one word--copy Joseph; and when you are tempted say with Joseph, "Can I do this great wickedness, and sin--not against this man or this woman, but against--_G.o.d_."
Take home these plain, practical words. Take them home, and fear G.o.d at your own firesides. For at the last day, the Bible tells us, the Lord Jesus Christ will not reward you and me according to the opinions we held while in this mortal body, whether they were quite right or quite wrong, but according to the deeds which we did in the body, whether they were good or bad.
X. SLAVES OF FREE?
"Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you to-day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace."--EXODUS xiv. 13, 14.
Why did G.o.d bring the Jews out of Egypt? G.o.d Himself told them why. To fulfil the promise which He made to Abraham, their forefather, that of his children He would make a great nation.
Now the Jews in Egypt were not a nation at all. A nation is free, governed by its own laws, one body of people, held together by one fellow feeling, one language, one blood, one religion; as we English are. We are a nation. The Jews were none in Egypt, no more than Negro slaves in America were a nation. They served a people of a different blood, as the Jews did in Egypt. They had no laws of their own; they had no fellow- feeling with each other, which enabled them to make common cause together, and help each other, and free each other.
Selfishness and cowardice make some men slaves. Above all, unG.o.dliness makes men slaves. For when men do not fear and obey G.o.d, they are sure to obey their own l.u.s.ts and pa.s.sions, and become slaves to them. They become ready to sell themselves soul and body for money, or pleasure, or food. And their fleshly l.u.s.ts, their animal appet.i.tes, keep them down, selfish, divided, greedy, and needy, at the mercy of those who are stronger and cunninger than themselves, just as the Jews were kept down by the strong and cunning Egyptians.
They had slavish hearts in them, and as long as they had, G.o.d could not make them into a nation. The Jews _had_ slaves" hearts in them. They were glad enough to get free out of Egypt, to escape from their heavy labour in brick and mortar, from being oppressed, beaten, killed at the will and fancy of the Egyptians, from having their male children thrown into the river as soon as they were born, to keep them from becoming too numerous. They were glad enough, poor wretches, to escape from all their misery and oppression of which we read in the first three chapters of Exodus. But if they could do that, that was all they cared for. They did not want to be made wise, righteous, strong, free-hearted--they did not care about being made into a nation. We read that when by the Red Sea sh.o.r.e (Exodus xiv.), they saw themselves in great danger, the army of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, following close upon them to attack them, they lost heart at once, and were sore afraid, and cried unto Moses, "Is not this the word which we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."
Cowards and slaves! The thing they feared above all, you see, was death.
If they could but keep the miserable life in their miserable bodies, they cared for nothing beyond. They were willing to see their children taken from them and murdered, willing to be beaten, worked like dumb beasts for other men"s profit, willing to be idolaters, heathens, worshipping the false G.o.ds of Egypt, dumb beasts and stocks and stones, willing to be despised, wretched, helpless slaves--if they could but keep the dear life in them. G.o.d knows there are plenty like them now-a-days--plenty who do not care how mean, helpless, wicked, contemptible they are, if they can but get their living by their meanness.
"_But a man must live_," says some one. How often one hears that made the excuse for all sorts of meanness, dishonesty, grasping tyranny. "_A man must live_!" Who told you that? It is better to die like a man than to live like a slave, and a wretch, and a sinner. Who told you that, I ask again? Not G.o.d"s Bible, surely. Not the example of great and good men. If Moses had thought that, do you think he would have gone back from Midian, when he was in safety and comfort, with a wife and home, and children at his knee, and leave all he had on earth to face Pharaoh and the Egyptians, to face danger, perhaps a cruel death in shame and torture, and all to deliver his countrymen out of Egypt? Moses would sooner die like a man helping his countrymen, than live on the fat of the land while they were slaves. And forty years before he had shown the same spirit too, when though he was rich and prosperous, and high in the world, the adopted son of King Pharaoh"s daughter (Exodus ii. 11), he disdained to be a slave and to see his countrymen slaves round him. We read how he killed an Egyptian, who was ill-treating one of his brothers, the Jews--and how he then fled out of Egypt into Midian, houseless and friendless, esteeming as St. Paul says, "the reproach of Christ"--that is the affliction and ill-will which came on him for doing right, "better than all the treasures of Egypt" (Heb xi. 24-27).
_A man must live_? The valiant Tyrolese of old did not say that (more than seventy years ago), when they fought to the last drop of their blood to defend their country against the French invaders. They were not afraid to die for liberty; and therefore they won honour from all honourable men, praise from all whose praise is worth having for ever.
_A man must live_? The old Greeks and Romans, heathens though they were, were above so mean a speech as that. They used to say, it was the n.o.blest thing that can befall a man to die--not to live in clover, eating and drinking at his ease--to die among the foremost, fighting for wife and child and home.
_A man must live_? The martyrs of old did not say that, when they endured the prison and the scourge, the sword and the fire, and chose rather to die in torments unspeakable than deny the Lord Jesus who bought them with His blood, rather than do what they knew to be _wrong_.
(Hebrews xi.) They were not afraid of torture and death; but of doing wrong they were unspeakably afraid. They were _free_, those holy men of old, truly free--free from their own love of ease and cowardice and selfishness, and all that drags a man down and makes a slave of him. They knew that "life is more than meat, and the body more than raiment." What matter if a man gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Their souls were free whatever happened to their bodies--the tormentor could not touch _them_, because they believed in G.o.d, because they did not fear those who could kill the body, and after that had no more that they could do.
And do you not see that a coward can never be free, never be G.o.dly, never be like Christ? For by a coward I mean not merely a man who is afraid of pain and trouble. Every one is that more or less. Jesus Himself was afraid when He cried in agony, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke xxii.
42.) But a coward is a man who is so much afraid that to escape pain and danger, he will do what he _ought not_--do what he is ashamed of doing--do what lowers him; and therefore our Lord Jesus had perfect courage when He tasted death for all men, and endured the very agony from which He shrank, and while He said, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pa.s.s," said also, "Nevertheless not my will, but Thine, be done."
The Jews were cowards when they cried, "Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians." While a man is in that pitiful mood he cannot rise, he cannot serve G.o.d--for he must remain the slave of his own body, of which he is so mightily careful, the slave of his own fears, the slave of his own love of bodily comfort. Such a man does not _dare_ serve G.o.d. He dare not obey G.o.d, when obeying G.o.d is dangerous and unpleasant. He dare not claim his heavenly birthright, his share in G.o.d"s Spirit, his share in Christ"s kingdom, because that would bring discomfort on him, because he will have to give up the sins he loves, because he will have to endure the insults and ill-will of wicked men. Thus cowards can never be free, for it is only where the Spirit of G.o.d is that there is liberty.
But the Jews were not yet fit to be made soldiers of. G.o.d would not teach them at once not to be afraid of men. He did not command them to turn again and fight these Egyptians, neither did He lead them into the land of Canaan the strait and short road, through the country of the Philistines, lest they should be discouraged when they saw war.
Now what was G.o.d"s plan for raising the Jews out of this cowardly, slavish state? First, and above all, to make them trust in _Him_. While they were fearing the Egyptians, they could never fear Him. While they were fearing the Egyptians, they were ready to do every base thing, to keep their masters in good humour with them. G.o.d determined to teach them to fear Him more than they feared the Egyptians. G.o.d taught them that He was stronger than the Egyptians, for all their civilisation and learning and armies, chariots and hors.e.m.e.n, swords and spears. He would not let the Jews fight the Egyptians. He told them by the mouth of Moses, "Stand you still, and the Lord shall fight for you," and he commanded Moses to stretch out his rod over the sea. (Exodus xiv.) The Egyptians were stronger than the Jews--they would have cut them to pieces if they had come to a battle. For free civilised men like the Egyptians are always stronger than slaves, like the Jews; they respect themselves more, they hold together better, they have order and discipline, and obedience to their generals, which slaves have not. G.o.d intended to teach the Jews that also in His good time. But not yet. They were not fit yet to be made soldiers. They were not even _men_ yet, but miserable slaves. A man is only a true man when he trusts in G.o.d, and none but G.o.d--when he fears G.o.d and nothing _but_ G.o.d. And that was the lesson which G.o.d had to teach them. That was the lesson which He taught them by bringing them up out of Egypt by signs and wonders, that _G.o.d was the Lord_, _G.o.d_ was their deliverer, _G.o.d_ was their King--that let _them_ be as weak as they might, _He_ was strong--that if they could not fight the Egyptians G.o.d could overwhelm them--that if they could not cross the sea, G.o.d could open the sea to let them pa.s.s through. If they dreaded the waste howling wilderness of sand, with its pillars of cloud and fire, its stifling winds which burn the life out of man and beast, G.o.d could make the sand storms and the fire pillars and the deadly east wind of the desert work for their deliverance. And so He taught them to fear Himself, to trust in Him, to look up to Him as their deliverer whose strength was shown most gloriously when they were weakest and most despairing.
This was the great lesson which G.o.d meant to teach the children of Israel, that the root and ground of all other lessons, is that this earth belongs to the Lord alone. That had been what G.o.d had been teaching them already, by the plagues of Egypt. The Egyptians worshipped their great river Nile, and thought it was a G.o.d, and the Lord turned the Nile water into blood, and showed that He could do what He liked with it. The Egyptians worshipped dumb beasts and insects, and fancied in their folly that they were G.o.ds. The Lord sent plagues of frogs and flies and locusts, and took them away again when He liked, to show them that the beasts and creeping things were His also.
The Egyptians worshipped false G.o.ds who as they fancied managed the seasons and the weather. G.o.d sent them thunder and hail when it pleased Him, and showed the Jews that _He_, not these false G.o.ds of Egypt, ruled the heavens. The Egyptians and many other heathen nations of the earth used to offer their children to false G.o.ds. I do not mean by killing them in sacrifice, but by naming them after some idol, and then expecting that the idol would ever afterwards prosper and strengthen them. Thus the kings were called after the sun. Pharaoh means the Sun-king; for they fancied that the sun was a G.o.d, and protected their kings one after the other. And G.o.d slew all the first-born of Egypt, even the first-born of King Pharaoh on his throne. The Sun-G.o.d could not help him. The idols of Egypt could not take care of their worshippers--only the children of the Jews escaped. (Exodus xii.) What a lesson for the Jews!
And they needed it; for during the four hundred years that they had been in Egypt they had almost forgotten the one true G.o.d, the G.o.d of their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; at least they thought Him no better than the false G.o.ds of Egypt. After all these wondrous proofs of G.o.d"s almighty power, and His jealousy for His own name, they fell away to idols again and again. They worshipped a golden calf in h.o.r.eb (Exodus x.x.xii.); they turned aside to worship the idols of the nations whom they pa.s.sed through on their way to Canaan. Idolatry had been rooted in their hearts, and it took many years of severe training and teaching on G.o.d"s part to drive it out of them--to make them feel that the one G.o.d, who made heaven and earth, had delivered them--that they belonged to Him, that they had a share in Him--to make them join with one heart and voice in the glorious song of Moses:
"I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song and he is become my salvation: he is my G.o.d and I will prepare him an habitation; my father"s G.o.d, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name. Pharaoh"s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.
The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my l.u.s.t shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall deliver them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the G.o.ds? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pa.s.s over, O Lord, till the people pa.s.s over, which thou hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his hors.e.m.e.n into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea." (Exodus xv. 1-19.)
This was G.o.d"s first lesson to the Jews; the first step towards making them a free nation. For believe me, my friends, the only thought which can make men feel free and strong, the only thought which can keep them from being afraid of each other, afraid of the seasons, and the elements, and the chances and changes of this mortal life, the only thought which can teach them that they are brothers, bound together to help and love each other, in short the only thought which can make men citizens--is the thought that the one G.o.d is their Father, and that they are all His children--that they have one G.o.d, one religion, one baptism, one Lord and Saviour, who has delivered them, and will deliver them again and again from all their sins and miseries; one G.o.d and Father of all, who is in all, and for all, and over all, to whom they all owe equal duty, in whom they all have an equal share.
That lesson G.o.d began to teach the Jews by the Red Sea. That lesson G.o.d has taught our English forefathers again and again; and that lesson He will teach us, their children, as often as we forget it, by signs and wonders, by chastis.e.m.e.nts and by mercies, till we all learn to trust in Him and Him only, and know that there is none other name under heaven by which we can be saved from evil in this life or in the life to come, but the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of G.o.d, the Angel of the Covenant, who led the Jews up out of the land of Egypt.
XI. DANGERS--AND THE LITANY.
"Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men."--PSALM cvii. 6-8.
This 107th Psalm is a n.o.ble psalm--a psalm which has given comfort to thousands in suffering and in danger, even in the sorrows which they have brought on themselves by their own folly. For it tells them of a Lord who hears them when they cry to Him in their trouble, and who delivers them from their distress.
It was written on a special occasion, as all the most important words of the Bible are written--written seemingly, after some band of Jews struggling across the desert, on their return from the captivity in Babylon, had been in great danger of death. They went astray in the wilderness out of their way, and found no city to rest in; hungry and thirsty their soul fainted in them, so they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to the city where they dwelt. That was the plain fact, on which the psalmist built up this n.o.ble psalm.
In the blazing sandy desert, without water, food, or shade, they had lost their path, and were at their wit"s end. And they cried unto the Lord their G.o.d for guidance, for they could not guide themselves. And the Lord answered their prayer and guided them. We do not read that G.o.d worked a miracle for them, or sent an angel to lead them. Simply, somehow or other, they found their way after all, and got safe out of the desert; and they believed that it was G.o.d who enabled them to find their way, and praised the Lord for His goodness; and for His goodness not only to them, but to the children of men--to all men who had the sense to call on Him in trouble, and to put themselves in their right place as men--G.o.d"s children, calling for help to their Father in heaven.
Therefore the psalmist goes on to speak of the cases of G.o.d"s goodness, which he seems to have seen, or at least heard of. Of wretched prisoners, bound fast in misery and iron, and that through their own fault and folly, who had cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and been delivered by Him from the darkness of the dungeon. Of foolish men who had ruined their health, or at least their prospects in life, by their own sin and folly, till their soul abhorred all manner of meat, and they were hard at death"s door. But of them, too, he says, when they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, He delivered them from their distress. He sent His word--what we now foolishly call the laws of Nature, but which the Psalmist knew to be the ever-working power and providence of G.o.d--and healed them, and they were saved from their destruction.
Then he goes on to speak of the dangers of the sea which were especially strange and terrible to him--a Jew. For the Jews were no sailors; and if they went to sea, would go as merchants, or supercargoes in ships manned by heathens; and the danger was really great. The ships were clumsy; navigation was ill-understood; the storms of the Mediterranean sea were then as now, sudden and furious; and when one came on, the heathen sailors would, I doubt not, be at their wit"s end, their courage melting away because of the trouble, and call on all their G.o.ds and idols to help them; but the men of whom the Psalmist speaks, though they were no seamen, knew on whom to call. It was by the word of the Lord that the stormy wind arose which lifted up the billows. He could quell the storm if He would, and when He would; and to Him they cried and not in vain.
"And He made the storm to cease so that the waves thereof were still.