Hosea 12:6

Therefore turn thou to thy God,.... Judah, with whom the Lord had a controversy, is here addressed and exhorted to return to the Lord, from whom they had backslidden; and this is urged, from the

Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually. Therefore turn thou - who dost wish to be a true descendant of Jacob.

Therefore; no more vainly boast of Jacob; but, as he, do you approve yourselves to God. Turn thou to thy God; repent, leave idols, and all sins. He worshipped God alone, do you so; he cast idols out of his family, do you so too, be Jacob’ s children herein. Keep mercy; show kindness to all who need it, cast off cruelty and inhumanity, and be merciful to the afflicted: this contains all the duties we owe to any that are in straits. And judgment; wrong none, but with justice in dealings, in judicatures, and public offices, render to every one their due. Acquit the innocent, and condemn the guilty, and let none have just cause to complain of injuries. Wait on thy God; in public worship, and private duties of prayer, and seeking God, him only serve and, trust, let not idols have either sacrifice, prayer, praise, or trust from you. Continually: and let your hope and worship be perpetuated, for ever continued towards God, till he save and rescue; trust, pray, and resign yourselves to him, who will be yours as he was Jacob’ s God, on these terms and no other. This short phrase, wait on they God, includes all duties of the first table of the law, all religions worship of the true God; do this, and the Lord will be to you. as to Jacob, defence against danger and fullness in your wants.

Hosea 12:6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.Ver. 6. Therefore turn thou to thy God] The premises considered, repent; and so return to God, from whom thou hast deeply revolted. It is "to thy God" to whom thou art exhorted to turn; not to a tyrant, but to a God in covenant; yea, it is "with thy God" (as the Hebrew hath it), with his good help, that thou shalt turn. Only cry unto him, Turn us, Lord, and we shall be turned, draw us, and we will run after thee. Of turning to the Lord see the note on Zechariah 1:3. Keep mercy and judgment] Those magnalia legis, those weightier matters of the law (as our Saviour calleth them, Matthew 23:23) which Ephraim had made light of, Hosea 4:1 He is therefore called upon to evidence the truth of his turning to God, by bringing forth fruits meet for repentance, Matthew 3:8, such as are tantamount, and weigh just as much as repentance comes to. Optima et aptissima poenitentia est nova vita, saith Luther; The best and most fit repentance is a new life, universal obedience to both tables of the law. Mercy and judgment are here put (by a figure) for the duties of the second table; as constant waiting upon God for the duties of the first; for the prophet here observeth not the order of nature, but of our knowledge, when he instanceth first in the second table, as doth also the prophet Micah, Hosea 6:8. Mercy must be kept and exercised, by 1. Giving, 2. Forgiving ( donando, condonando). This, God prefers before sacrifice, Hosea 6:7. This, Chrysostom saith, is a more glorious work than to raise from the dead. And here let those that would keep mercy (and not show it only sometimes, when they are in a good mood) steep their thoughts in the mercies of God; and so strive to be merciful, as their heavenly Father is, Matthew 6:24-34. Judgment also must be kept, and justice done, Isaiah 56:1, after the example of God, who is said to "exercise lovingkindness," but with all "judgment and righteousness in the earth," Jeremiah 9:24. "Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful," Psalms 116:5 : the mixture of mercy and judgment is very comely; as in public persons, Psalms 101:1 (where we see that David’ s ditty was composed of discords, which made an excellent harmony), so in others of all sorts, Proverbs 21:21, who are required to be mercifully just and justly merciful in all their interdealings; according to that golden rule, given by our Saviour, Luke 6:31, "Whatever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye to them likewise." This is the standard.

(6) Therefore . . .—More correctly, But do thou return to thy God. There is an implied contrast between the patriarch and his degenerate descendants in the days of Hosea.

Verse 6. Therefore turn thou to thy God] Because he is the same, and cannot change. Seek him as faithfully and as fervently as Jacob did, and you will find him the same merciful and compassionate Being.

6. Therefore turn thou to thy God] Lit., ‘And thou—return thou in thy God’; i.e., such being the character of God, who lets Himself be won by wrestling prayer, return thou to thy God, and rest in Him. (For this condensed expression there is no exact parallel.) And how is this ‘return’ or repentance to have its reality proved? By thine observance of the rules of blended justice and kindness towards man and trustfulness towards God (comp. Micah 6:8).

Therefore turn thou to thy God - (Literally, “And thou, thou shalt turn” so as to lean “on thy God.”) “And thou” unlike, he would say, as thou art to thy great forefather, now at least, “turn to thy

6. Therefore — Because thy God is identical with the God of thy ancestor Jacob, a God whose pleasure it is to show mercy to every one who earnestly seeks him.