October 15

"And the Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken." Deuteronomy 5:28.

THUS he expressly mentions his having heard what they had said to Moses. It is equally true that he hears all we say, and has heard all we have ever said. This is a solemn thought, especially as he has heard all our words, not as an unconcerned auditor, but as a witness and a judge. How many of them have we forgotten! But they are all in the book of his remembrance. "For every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."

Here the words which God had heard were the words of religious avowal. "Speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it." And he has heard all our religious resolutions and engagements. First, our more private ones: when we have been impressed alone, with regard to such a temper, that we should watch against it; with regard to such a temptation, that we should pray for grace to resist it; with regard to our time, that we would redeem it: with regard to our substance, that we would honor the Lord with it. And secondly, with regard to our more public and solemn ones: when we joined ourselves to his people, and went to his table, and over the memorials of dying love, said, "Henceforth by thee only will I make mention of thy name.

'Here in thy house I leave my vow, And thy rich grace record; Witness, ye saints, who hear me now, If I forsake the Lord.'

I have heard, says he, the voice of the words of this people. And adds, with approbation containing in it complaint, "They have well said all that they have spoken." But talking and doing are two things. Even with regard to ourselves, one of them goes a very little way without the other: yea, it rather offends; it adds insult to injury. We scorn a flattering profession contradicted by actions. Actions, we say, speak louder than words. What is lipservice in religion? Judas gave our Lord the lip, called him Master, and kissed him, and betrayed. Ezekiel's hearers extolled his preaching, and brought others to admire him, but their hearts went after their covetousness. They heard his words, but did them not. So David testifies of these Jews: "When he slew them, then they sought him; and they returned, and inquired early after God. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouths, and they lied unto him with their tongues. For their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant." And so here. They spoke well in expressing their readiness to hear and to do. But God, who knew them better than they knew themselves, immediately exclaimed, "O that there were such a heart in them!"

Speech is one of the most uncertain criterions by which we en-judge of character, either as to the reality or degree of religion. From education, reading, and hearing, persons may easily learn to talk well. They may even surpass others who are far better than themselves; as an empty vessel when touched sounds louder than a full one, and as a shallow brook is more noisy than a deep river. Some speak little, especially concerning themselves, from a fear of deception, and a concern lest they should appear to others above what they really are. Baxter, in his Life of Judge Hale, says, For a time I feared he was wanting in experimental religion, as he seldom spoke of his own spiritual views and feelings. But upon better acquaintance, I found I was mistaken. He had heard from many in his times so much hypocrisy and fanaticism, that he was urged towards the extreme of silence. And it is the better extreme of the two. Christians feed on the hidden manna, and have a white stone, with a new name in it, which no one readeth save he that receiveth it. Would it not be better for some to talk less of their high confidence, and their wonderful ecstasies, before those who are weak in faith and comfort, and who are in danger of being depressed by comparison? How assuredly do some speak of the time when they were "enlightened" or "converted," as if they could ascertain the period of the second birth as exactly as that of the first. Might it not, sometimes at least, be better to speak of the fact with less decision, and always to consider the work not so much done as doing, or to pray that it might be done? So did David. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."

To how many individuals will the words before us apply. Here is a champion for the truth. He has defended its purity and importance. He has contended earnestly, and as far as argument or evidence goes, wisely, for the faith once delivered to the saints. He has well said all that he has spoken. But where is the Spirit of truth, the meekness of wisdom, the mind of Christ? Every page of controversy ought to have over it, "The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God;" and at the bottom, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Another has entered the sanctuary of God, and in language equally beautiful and true, has acknowledged, "We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep; we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts; there is no health in us." And he has well said all that he has spoken. But where is the broken heart and the contrite spirit? How often, after these confessions, is the sermon, founded upon them, disliked, and the preacher of it condemned. Here is a third. He has gone to his brethren in distress, and justified the ways of God to man. But does he justify God's dealings with himself in trouble? He has well said all that he has spoken. But he reminds us of the language of Eliphaz to Job, "Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest: it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled."

Men may mistake themselves when they do not mean to deceive others. They are often at the time as sincere as they are earnest. The young, the afflicted, in the hour of distress, the sick, and the dying, express many things which are as true as they are good, according to their present feelings. But they do not distinguish between impulse and disposition, between outward excitement and inward principle. Hazael, at the prediction of his cruelties, ignorant of the change that power would produce in him, really execrated the character he became. Peter was presuming, but not false, when he said, "Though all shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended." The disciples supposed themselves established in the faith, beyond the danger of temptation to forsake him, when they said, "Now we believe." But Jesus answered them, O that there was such a heart in you! "Do you now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me."