Num 10:35-36<\/strong><\/span>. J <\/p>\n Prayers connected with the movements of the Ark<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n The two prayers have no real connexion with the journeyings. They appear to belong to a time when the Israelites had reached Canaan, and used to take the Ark with them into battle. The first prayer speaks of victory over enemies; and the second implies that the Ark returns<\/em> to its sanctuary after the battle. In the desert it never returned to the people, but waited in advance until they came up to it.<\/p>\n 35<\/strong>. The prayer is quoted in Psa 68:1<\/span>.<\/p>\n 36<\/strong>. unto the<\/em> myriads<\/strong> of the thousands<\/em> ] i.e. of the clans of Israel. See on Num 1:16<\/span>; Num 1:46<\/span>.<\/p>\n Each forward movement and each rest of the ark was made to bear a sacramental character. The one betokened the going forth of God against His enemies; the other, His gathering of His own people to Himself: the one was the pledge of victory, the other the earnest of repose.<\/P> Num 10:36<\/span> may be translated: Restore (i. e. to the land which their fathers sojourned in), O Lord, the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel. (Compare Psa 85:4<\/span>, where the verb in the Hebrew is the same.)<\/P> <\/p>\n Num 10:35-36<\/span><\/p>\n When the ark set forward . . . and when it rested.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The <\/strong>march:—<\/em><\/p>\n The Church in motion and at rest<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>This camp composed of Israel, is distinguished from the enemies around it. Though we are in the world, we are not to be of the world; though we are surrounded with Anakims and Canaanites, we are still to maintain the purity of the visible Israel of God, our being upon the march is a circumstance calculated to hinder the ungodly from joining us to a great degree.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>It is marching through a wilderness of woe to a land of promise. Is their way long? Is their journey weary? Are their trials great? Are their enemies numerous? Do they often halt, and think they are upon the verge of Canaan, and that the next mandate of their Sovereign will be to enter in; and are they disappointed by finding that there are many other halting places, and many a weary journey lying between them and the Canaan of their rest? Yet are they moving toward it–at last the command will be heard by this individual, and the other tribe, to cease their wanderings, and to enter into glorious and eternal rest.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>It is under the guidance of the Mediator. It is certainly not worse off now than it was then. Christ is our Guide.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>When His Church moves forward, God rises up on its behalf. Every progressive movement of the Church of Christ, as well as of the individuals who compose it, is, in fact, directed and dictated by the Spirit of God.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>The movement of the Church ought to be always, and upon the whole, progressive.<\/p>\n 6. <\/strong>This progress will and must be attended with the defeat of the Churchs enemies. We can win no ground except we win it from the foe; we cannot advance a single footstep in our onward journey except as we beat our enemies back.<\/p>\n 7. <\/strong>The Churchs triumphant march shall end in the complete destruction of all the enemies of God.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>As one feature of that rest, we observe, that there the true Israel shall be recognised, and the words shall be heard circulating through the happy host, Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel. There, notwithstanding their multitudes, not one intruder shall be found to have entered in; there nothing shall enter that will destroy or that will even disturb in all Gods holy mountain. However the mixed multitude may accompany us by the way, there must be a separation at the Jordan of death.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>At that glorious period the Israel of God shall consist of thousands and thousands.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>They shall then have triumphed gloriously. Enemies no more shall trouble them; the sound of war shall be a sound unheard; there shall be no more conflict with temptation, no more struggles with indwelling sin. Oh, to think of Canaans rest only in this point of view! Believer, what a happy, what a heavenly rest it will be! (W. H. Cooper.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Moses prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n Moses, the mouth of the congregation, lifts up a prayer, both at the removing and at the resting of the ark. Thus their going out and coming in were sanctified by prayer; and it is an example to us to begin and end every days journey, and every days work with prayer.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Here <\/strong>is his prayer when the ark set forward: Rise up, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered (Num 10:35<\/span>). They were now in a desolate country, but they were marching towards an enemys country; and their dependence was upon God for success and <\/strong>victory in their wars, as well as for directions and supply in the wilderness. <\/strong>David used this prayer long after (Psa 68:1<\/span>); for he also fought the Lords battles. Note–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> There are those in the world that are enemies to God, and haters of Him. Secret and open enemies; enemies to His truths, His laws, His ordinances, His people.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> The scattering and defeating of Gods enemies is a thing to be earnestly desired and believingly expected by all the Lords people. This prayer is a prophecy. Those that persist in rebellion against God are hastening towards their own ruin.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> For the scattering and defeating of Gods enemies, there needs no more but Gods arising. When God arose to judgment, the work was soon done (Psa 76:8-9<\/span>). Rise, Lord, as the sun riseth to scatter the shadows of the night. Christ rising from the dead scattereth His enemies (Psa 68:18<\/span>).<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>His prayer when the ark rested (Num 10:36<\/span>).<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> That God would cause His people to rest. So some read it, Return, O Lord, the many thousands of Israel; return them to their rest again after this fatigue. Thus it is said, The Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest (Isa 63:14<\/span>). Thus he prays that God would give Israel success and victory abroad, and peace and tranquility at home.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> That God Himself would take up His rest among them. So we read it, Return to the thousands of Israel; the ten thousand thousand, so the word is. Note–<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The Church of God is a great body; there are many thousands belonging to Gods Israel.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>We ought in our prayers to concern ourselves for this body.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>The welfare and happiness of the Israel of God consists in the remaining presence of God among them. (Matthew Henry, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Protection and peace<\/strong><\/p>\n There are here two prayers for different occasions: one for active life, the other for quiet rest. In both cases they are suitable and blessed.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>So far as we are going in the way of His commands.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>So far as our actions are identified with His will. If we are fighting for our own will, our own ambition, our own ideas, we cannot say, Scatter Thy enemies.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>He slumbereth not nor sleepeth, and to Him the darkness is as the day.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>He never wearies nor is tired; hence there is nothing to hinder or prevent His constant care. (Homilist.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Church and its enemies<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The favours they received. God has set His heart upon His people. This creates envy, which soon grows into opposition and mischief.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The principles they professed.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>The expectations they cherished.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Let us learn from this passage the condescension and grace of God, in that He will dwell with us.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Let each of us inquire whether we are amongst the many thousands of Israel.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>What comfort should this give to the Church amidst her many trials.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>This subject affords to the enemies of the Church a motive for seeking reconciliation with God. (G. Clayton, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The true soldiers convoy<\/strong><\/p>\n The rising and the resting prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n Israels hymn of rest<\/strong><\/p>\n Return, O Lord, &c.<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Who were they? They were the nation chosen from all the families of the earth, set apart (like the one day in seven) for the peculiar manifestation of the Divine attributes and glories.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Looking at their present condition, what are they? After struggling through persecutions, the fiercest and most appalling, after being the one common curse and hissing of nations, divided amongst themselves by deadly antipathies, after their long and many trackings of tears and of blood, through all countries and lands, what are they now? Still shorn of their glories; still a by-word and a mockery; still the dispersed, the wandering, and the outcast.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>But in our castings <\/strong>into the future, what shall they be?<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Verse 35<\/span>. Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered<\/B><\/I>] If God did not arise in this way and scatter his enemies, there could be no hope that Israel could get safely through the wilderness. God must go first, if Israel would wish to follow in safety.<\/P> <\/p>\n 35, 36. when the ark set forwardthat Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies bescattered<\/B>Moses, as the organ of the people, uttered anappropriate prayer both at the commencement and the end of eachjourney. Thus all the journeys were sanctified by devotion; and soshould our prayer be, “If thy presence go not with us, carry usnot hence” [Ex 33:15<\/span>].<\/P><\/p>\n And it came to pass, when the ark set forward<\/strong>,…. Carried by the Kohathites, Nu 10:21<\/span>;<\/p>\n that Moses said<\/strong>; in prayer, as both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem express it; and it was a prayer of faith, and prophetic of what would be done, and might serve greatly to encourage and animate the children of Israel in their journeys; for the following prayer was put up not only at this time, but at all times when the ark set forward; and so Ben Gersom says, it was the custom of Moses, at whatsoever time the ark was moved, to pray as follows:<\/p>\n rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered<\/strong>; the Jerusalem Targum is,<\/p>\n “rise up now, O Word of the Lord;”<\/p>\n and the Targum of Jonathan,<\/p>\n “be revealed now, O Word of the Lord;”<\/p>\n the essential Word of God, the Messiah, to whom these words may be applied; either to his incarnation and manifestation in the flesh, his end in, which was to destroy all his and his people’s enemies, particularly the devil and his works, Heb 2:14<\/span>; or to his resurrection from the dead, these words standing at the head of a prophecy of his ascension to heaven, which supposes his resurrection from the dead, Ps 68:1<\/span>; at the death of Christ all the spiritual enemies of his people were defeated, scattered, confounded, and conquered; Satan and his principalities were spoiled, sin was made an end of, death was abolished, and the world overcome; at his resurrection the keepers of the sepulchre fled; and after his ascension wrath came upon the Jewish nation, those enemies of his, that would not have him to rule over them, and they were scattered about on the face of the whole earth, as they are to this day:<\/p>\n and let them that hate thee flee before thee<\/strong>; the same petition expressed in different words, but to the same sense; enemies, and those that hate the Lord, are the same, as their defeat, conclusion, and destruction, are signified by their flight and dispersion; and it may be observed, that those who were the enemies and haters of Israel were reckoned the enemies and haters of God himself; as the enemies of Christ’s people, and those that hate them, are accounted Christ’s enemies, and such that hate him. Perhaps Moses may have a special respect to the Canaanites, whose land was promised unto Israel, and they were going to dispossess them of it, in order to inherit it, and Moses might expect it would be quickly done, at the end of these three days; which brought them to the wilderness of Paran, so near the good land that they sent from thence spies into it, and in all probability they would have then entered the possession of it, had it not been for their complaints and murmurs, and the ill report brought on the good land, on which account they were stopped thirty eight years in the wilderness.<\/p>\n In Num 10:35<\/span> and Num 10:36<\/span>, the words which Moses was in the habit of uttering, both when the ark removed and when it came to rest again, are given not only as a proof of the joyous confidence of Moses, but as an encouragement to the congregation to cherish the same believing confidence. When breaking up, he said, “ Rise up, Jehovah! that Thine enemies may be scattered, and they that hate Thee may flee before Thy face;<\/em> ” and when it rested, “ Return, Jehovah, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel!<\/em> ” Moses could speak in this way, because he knew that Jehovah and the ark of the covenant were inseparably connected, and saw in the ark of the covenant, as the throne of Jehovah, a material pledge of the gracious presence of the Almighty God. He said this, however, not merely with reference to enemies who might encounter the Israelites in the desert, but with a confident anticipation of the calling of Israel, to strive for the cause of the Lord in this hostile world, and rear His kingdom upon earth. Human power was not sufficient for this; but to accomplish this end, it was necessary that the Almighty God should go before His people, and scatter their foes. The prayer addressed to God to do this, is an expression of bold believing confidence, – a prayer sure of its answer; and to Israel it was the word with which the congregation of God was to carry on the conflict at all times against the powers and authorities of a whole hostile world. It is in this sense that in Psa 68:2<\/span>, the words are held up by David before himself and his generation as a banner of victory, “to arm the Church with confidence, and fortify it against the violent attacks of its foes” ( Calvin<\/em>). is construed with an accusative: return to the ten thousands of the hosts of Israel, i.e., after having scattered Thine enemies, turn back again to Thy people to dwell among them. The “thousands of Israel,” as in Num 1:16<\/span>.<\/p>\n (Note: The inverted nuns<\/em>, , at the beginning and close of Num 10:35<\/span>, Num 10:36<\/span>, which are found, according to R. Menachem’s de Lonzano Or Torah<\/em> (f. 17), in all the Spanish and German MSS, and are sanctioned by the Masorah, are said by the Talmud ( tract de sabbatho<\/em>) to be merely signa parentheseos, quae monerent praeter historiae seriem versum 35 et 36 ad capitis finem inseri <\/em> (cf. Matt. Hilleri de Arcano Kethib et Keri libri duo,<\/em> pp. 158, 159). The Cabbalists, on the other hand, according to R. Menach.<\/em> l. c., find an allusion in it to the Shechinah <\/em>, “ quae velut obversa ad tergum facie sequentes Israelitas ex impenso amore respiceret <\/em> ” (see the note in J. H. Michaelis’ Bibl. hebr.<\/em>). In other MSS, however, which are supported by the Masora Erffurt<\/em>, the inverted nun<\/em> is found in the words (Num 10:35<\/span>) and (Num 11:1<\/span>): the first, ad innuendum ut sic retrorsum agantur omnes hostes Israeliarum; the second, ut esset symbolum perpetuum perversitatis populi, inter tot illustria signa liberationis et maximorum beneficiorum Dei acerbe quiritantium, ad declarandam ingratitudinem et contumaciam suam <\/em> (cf. J.<\/em> Buxtorf, Tiberias,<\/em> p. 169).)<\/p>\n 35. And it came to pass, when the ark set forward. Since their journey was by no means a peaceful one, but the attack of enemies was constantly to be dreaded, it was needful to beseech God that He would go forth as if prepared for battle. Thus, too, did Moses support their courage, lest any more immediate cause for terror should render them sluggish and inert. It is, then, as if he had prayed thus: O Lord, not only show us the way, but open it to us also by the power of thy hand in the destruction of the enemies. He calls them not the enemies of the people but of God, in order that the Israelites might be assured that they fought under His auspices; for thus might both a more certain victory be expected, since the righteous God, who avenges iniquity, was defending His own cause; and also, it was no slight matter of consolation and rejoicing, when the people heard, that whosoever should arise to harass them unjustly were also the enemies of God, since He will protect his people as the apple of His eye. Therefore has the Prophet borrowed this passage, in order to arm the Church with confidence, and to maintain it in cheerfulness under the violent assaults of its enemies. (Psa 68:1<\/span>.) Further, the analogy and similitude between the visible sign, and the thing signified, must be observed; for Moses was not so foolish as to address the Ark in these words; he only asked God to prove effectually that the Ark was a lively image of His power and glory. <\/p>\n (35-36) And it came to pass . . . <\/strong>It appears from these words that the marches of the Israelites began and ended with prayer, a significant lesson to the Church of all after ages. It is deserving of observation that the prayers were offered by Moses, not by Aaron. The inverted nuns, <\/em>or parenthetical marks, which are found in a large number of Hebrew manuscripts at the beginning and end of these verses, are thought by some to denote their insertion as a break in the narrative whilst others have ascribed to them a mystical meaning. The words, Return, O Lord, Bishop Wordsworth observes, pre-announced the blessed time of rest and peace, when God would abide with His Church <\/em>on earth, <\/em>by the gift of the Holy Ghost, and will Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>This has been the watchword of the church of God in all ages. The <\/strong>people of God in the wilderness were the picture of Gods Church upon earth. We are strangers and foreigners upon the earth. Albeit that they had no habitation except their tents, yet it is true of Israel in the wilderness that they always had an habitation. Do you not remember the song of Moses:–Lord, Thou hast <\/strong>been our dwelling-place in all generations. Wherever they were, God was their <\/strong>dwelling-place. This, too, is true of the entire Church; always wandering, yet <\/strong>never far from home; unhoused, yet always in palaces; sometimes destitute, afflicted, tormented, and yet always clothed, always rich, always feasting to the full; deserted, yet not alone; forsaken, yet multiplied; left, yet still abiding with Him that filleth all in all We might carry the parallel out still further, but it is enough to remark that, in another point, the people of God in the wilderness were the picture of the Church of Christ. Wherever they marched, when God went before them, they marched to victory. Even so hath it been with the Church of God in all ages; her march has been that of one who is fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners. Let but her silvery trumpet sound, and the echo shakes the vaults of hell. Let but her warriors unsheath their sword, and their enemies fly before them like the thin clouds before a Biscay gale. Her path is the pathway of a conqueror: her march has been a procession of triumph. Wherever she hath put her foot, the Lord hath given her that land to be her heritage for ever. Now, let me show how this war-cry has really been heard of God and has been fulfilled to all His people. Turn ye to this book, this book of the wars of the Lord. Wherever His Church has gone and He has risen up, have not <\/strong>His enemies been scattered? Methinks, in a spiritual sense, when Luther first bowed his knee, the Church began to chant, Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered. When Knox in Scotland upheld the glory of Jesus name, was it not once again, O God arise, let them that hate Thee flee before Thee? When Whitefield and Wesley, seraphic evangelists of Jesus Christ, went through this land, was not this the very song of Israel, O God, arise, and let Thine enemies be scattered? And shall it not be ours to-day? Let but God go forth with our arms; let Him but speak through our ministers; let Him but dwell in our elders; let Him but make the bodies of our Church-members His temples, and His enemies must be scattered, and they must consume away. I can well conceive that such a prayer as this well befits the tongue of a minister who lands as the first herald of the Cross in some barbarian land. Those brave men who risk all for Christ, not counting their <\/strong>lives dear unto them that they might finish their course with joy–methinks when <\/strong>they as pioneers for Christ bear the ark in the midst of the wilderness, they could not breathe a better prayer for themselves, and you and I cannot do better than put it up for them now, Rise up, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered; let them that hate Thee flee before Thee.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Now take the text in its reference to Christ. Ah! methinks the sorrowing Church, when they beheld their Lord dragged by cruel men to judgment, when they heard Him accused and slandered, when they saw Him mocked and spit upon, must have considered the battle to be a defeat. The <\/strong>tears must have stood in their eyes when they saw that He who was to be the Deliverer of Israel could not deliver Himself. Was it not the day of bells triumph, the hour of earths despair, the moment of heavens defeat? No; it was the reverse of all this. That moment when Christ died, He gave the death-blow to all His enemies. Even when the Master was laid in the tomb, and had to sleep there His three days as Jonah in the whales belly, if the Church had had faith, they might have come early on the dawn of the first day in the week, and standing outside the tomb, they might have begun to sing, Rise up, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>What message has this text for us, and how may we use it? Rise up, Lord! O God the Father, rise up! Let Thy purposes be accomplished! O God the Son, rise up; show Thy wounds, and plead before Thy Fathers face, and let Thy blood-bought ones be saved! Rise up, O God the Holy Ghost, with solemn awe, we do invoke Thee! Let those that have resisted Thee give way I Come, Thou, melt Thou the ice; dissolve the granite; let the adamantine heart give way; cut Thou the iron sinew and bow Thou the stiff neck! Rise up, Lord, Father, Son, and Spirit, we can do nothing without Thee; but if Thou wilt arise, Thine enemies shall be scattered, and they that hate Thee shall flee before Thee. Will you and I go home and pray this prayer by ourselves, fervently laying hold upon the horns of Gods altar? I charge you do not neglect this private duty. Pray for your children, your neighbours, your families, and your friends, and let your prayer be–Rise up, Lord; rise up, Lord. Pray for this neighbourhood; pray for the dense darkness of Southwark, and Walworth, and Lambeth. And oh! if you cannot pray for others because your own needs come so strongly before your mind, remember, sinner, all thou needest is by faith to look to Christ, and then thou mayest say, Rise up, Lord; scatter my doubts; kill my unbelief; drown my sins in Thy blood; let these Thine enemies be scattered; let them that hate Thee flee before Thee. (C. H. Spurgeon.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I<\/strong>. <\/em><\/strong>The church in motion, the Church militant.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The church at rest. We have seen it moving forward to that rest, and we have noticed that it sometimes enjoys temporary seasons of refreshment by the way, in different halting-places as it passes through the wilderness; and experiences the Divine protection and direction. But this rest is only tasted here below, and the foretaste of it is but designed to quicken the appetite of the people of God for their rest in glory.<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>We have God fighting our battles. His enemies are ours, and He will identify our struggles with His:<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>We have God protecting our periods of rest.<\/p>\n
I<\/strong>. <\/em><\/strong>The church of God has had enemies in every age. This is accounted for by–<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The enemies of the church are considered the enemies of God.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>When God rises up to judgment, the destruction of his enemies is easy, terrible, and complete.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>The constant abode of God with his church is an object of their supreme desire,<\/p>\n
I<\/strong>. <\/em><\/strong>God himself hath many enemies.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>As God hath enemies, so sometimes he sleepeth to all their enmity.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>Though God sleepeth and they work, yet there is a time when they shall be scattered; and when God ariseth they are scattered.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>Our prayers awaken God.<\/p>\n
V. <\/strong>When the people of the land go forth to war, Gods people should go forth to prayer. (W. Budge, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>The rising prayer. Here is confession, that Israels onward path was thronged with foes. It is so still, and so will always be. There is no hour when sword and shield may hang unused. Next Moses feels that his own might is nought; vain are his counsels, powerless is his arm. Therefore to God he flees. Rise up, Lord. So now, if Gods right hand be not our help the tide of foes must bear us down. But God is moved by importunities of faith. Rise up, Lord, is a cry which brings all heaven to aid. It puts sure victory on the wing. Observe here how the prayer of faith yearns for Gods glory. Let Thine enemies be scattered. These enemies hate God. They <\/em>would impede the progress of His truth. They would extinguish His Words light. They would cast down His righteous rule. Can faith sit still and see Him thus dethroned? Oh, no! It agonises with desire that He would vindicate His holy cause uphold His honour, and add trophies to His name. Rise up, Lord, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The resting prayer. The going forts would have been ruin except the Lord moved in the front. The rest will be no rest unless the Lord return Prayer called Him to precede their steps. Prayer calls Him to abide around their resting teats. Vast was the multitude. But what are numbers without God? His presence is their power, their peace, their joy, their glory, their strength, their fortress, their shield, and their repose. They know it, and they cry, Return, O Lord. (Dean Law.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I<\/strong>. <\/em><\/strong>As we meditate upon these words we are reminded generally of the exercises of evening devotion. We connect this sentence with every individual who formed a part of that mighty host: we fancy that we hear these words whispering from the lips of every one as he enters his tent, and as he folds himself for rest. And then we connect it with the families, the tribes of the people, the groups of kindred, remote and intimate, in that singularly constituted nation, which, you know, consisted of one race–all were brothers by blood. And we connect it, further, with the congregation at large–the sum total of that great multitude that was numbered in the registration, Israels Book of Life, as it was called. And so the sentence leads us to think of evening worship in three ways–in the closet, in the family, in the church.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>We are led to penetrate into that which forms the meaning, and essence, and spirit of the exercises of praise and prayer, at eventide, and at all times. We are brought immediately by prayer into the presence of God; we come into immediate contact and communion with His gracious Spirit! Rise up, O Lord; let Thine enemies be scattered. There is significancy in that expression, Rise up, O Lord! And so <\/strong>there is in this other expression, equally figurative–Return, O Lord. Rise up, O Lord! Return, O Lord. Now, such expressions are properly explained as indicating, not an absolute fact in Gods dealings, but in the perception and apprehension of God by man: not a Divine dispensation, but a human consciousness. God did not leave Israel in the days march, no, not for an instant. We speak sometimes of the returning sunrise, and we speak sometimes of the returning sunset: but the fact is, that we return to them, and not they to us. The fact is, that it is the earth that is turning, and it is the sun that remains the same. And as it is with the sun, so it is with regard to God. Absolute change in us produces relative change in Him. As we cease to think of Him, apparently He leaves us; as we return to Him in thought, desire, and purpose, He seems to return to us in actual presence. The process is ever taking place in the history of spiritual consciousness. God and man meet when man prays to God as the day is over. God and His people hold communion as the shades of evening close in upon us at our evening devotions.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>The text suggests to us the thought of the peacefulness, and the security, and the joy of those to whom god thus returns.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>We turn to this evening hymn again, and we observe that it is very large-hearted–it is thoroughly Catholic. Here Moses takes up into that great heart of his the interests of all Israel–the many thousands of Israel. Earnestly should we pray for ourselves, and with equal earnestness should we identify ourselves with the interests of others, and pray for them. An individual consciousness of moral individuality will be as a growing tree; it will be rooted in the heart, but up will it grow, and out will the branches shoot in this direction, and in that. The heart will be as a fountain, and there will come ever forth the bubbling waters, but they will flow, flow, flow, on and on, in irrigating streams, that will reach a thousand hearts. So let us throw thorough catholicity into our devotion.<\/p>\n
V. <\/strong>Last of all, we think of this hymn as what may be called the evening hymn of life. The last night will come, and we shall lie down to sleep in the grave! and oh! how beautiful then to be able, by faith, to lift up our hearts to heaven and say, Return, O Lord, return unto me! I will return unto Thee! At the end of my life-long journey, my weary spirit would find rest in Thee! Receive me to Thyself. And while this prayer is offered by us on our own behalf, we are to take heed of the whole Israel of God, and pray, as we are passing out of time into eternity, that the love and care which we have so richly enjoyed, may be vouchsafed to those who follow us. (J. Stoughton.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I<\/strong>. <\/em><\/strong>The subjects of this prayer. Israel. What the thousands of Israel are not doing for themselves let us do for them. Let us make increasing prayers at the throne of Divine grace, that the veil may be taken away from their hearts, that, under the covenant of the blessed gospel, they may realise the promise of the Spirit unto the Churches(Rev 2:17<\/span>). The thousands of Israel, tracing back their history, who were they? Looking at their present condition, what are they? And making castings into the future, what shall they be?<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The nature of this prayer. Moses beheld the awful state of the people, as described in the first verse of the next chapter; and therefore he prayed to the Lord. And now the cloud of the Lord is before the Israelites; and now in the midst of them is the ark of the new covenant: and yet, as described in that verse, they are filled with sinful complaining, and the fire of the Lord is burning amongst them and consuming them; the just judgments of God are upon their heads because of their unbelief, and pride, and obduracy; and they are sinking beneath the fierceness of His anger. In this their condition it is the great business of Christs Church to pray over them, that the Lord return to the many thousands of Israel–that by the manifestation of His Holy Spirit He show them the darkness of their natural minds–that by the strength of His Spirit He bring down their arrogancy to the dust–that by the penetrating influence of His Spirit He open a way into their hearts, that they may receive Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God unto salvation. (T. J. Judkin.<\/em>)<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n