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A devotional hymn of prayer and praise.

1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.

2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.

4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand and there was the hiding of his power.

5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.

6 He stood, and measured the earth he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow his ways are everlasting. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. 8 Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?

9 Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.

10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.

11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the

light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.

12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger. 13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.

14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.

15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.

16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. 17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.

LECTURE 1434.

Of praying with resignation, and rejoicing in God's glory. In this devotional hymn, the prophet begins with prayer, then thankfully commemorates God's past mercies to his people, especially when He brought them out of Egypt into Canaan, and concludes with expressing the resignation of a devout mind to whatsoever it might please God to order for the future, and a resolution to rejoice in Him at all events. The whole hymn ought to be understood as referring to the previous chapters of this prophecy, to the threatened invasion of the Chaldeans, to the perplexity arising from the success of the ungodly, and to the answer which it pleased God to give, by way of satisfying the minds of those who enquired humbly and reverentially into the administration of his providence. "O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid." Habakkuk had watched, had listened, and had understood; but much as the reply of God was calculated to comfort him, he still found matter of alarm in the judgments denounced. He therefore prays God to revive his work, and to remember mercy in the midst of wrath. Then to shew what he means by God's reviving his work, he takes occasion to mention what great things the Lord had done in the deliverance of his people of old, at Teman, and at Paran, in the heavens and on the earth, how He had forced for them a way through the midst of the nations, as well as through the rivers and the sea, how He had made bare his bow against the heathen for the fulfilment of his covenant with the Israelites, how the sun and the moon had stood still at his command, and how the guilty nations of Canaan had been driven out before the blast of his displeasure. But notwithstanding this experience of past deliverance, the prophet could not but tremble when he heard what was threatened for the future; he could not but apprehend, that this terrible invasion of a merciless enemy would actually take place, and God's people be defeated and led into captivity, and the good land which He had given them be laid waste and desolate. Still his devotion had not been in vain. His thankful recollection of mercy previously vouchsafed had prepared him for resolving, what the grace of God enabled him to resolve, that though the fruits of the earth might fail, and the flock yield no increase, yet would he rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of his salvation. May this be our own stedfast purpose. In our prayers, may we never fail to feel towards God, not my will, but thine, be done! In our praises, may we be ever ready to express our rejoicing, not so much in our earthly pleasures, as in our heavenly hopes; not in ourselves, but in the Lord our God! Our worldly means may be exhausted, our worldly comforts taken from us. But if God be at hand to comfort us, and we have assurance of his salvation, let us under all circumstances do as the apostle bids us, saying, "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." Phil. 4. 4.

Zephaniah proclaimeth God's judgments against Judah.

1 The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.

3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD. 4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests; 5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;

6 And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.

7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.

8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.

9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.

10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry

from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.

11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.

12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.

13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.

17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

LECTURE 1435.

Of taking warning from the judgments here set down. Zephaniah evidently prophesied towards the close of the kingdom of Judah, and long after the kingdom of the ten tribes had ceased to exist. For it was "in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah." The evil people of that land had derived little profit from the awful warning given in the captivity of their brethren. Probably they reasoned, that the ten tribes richly deserved their doom, if it were only for having separated from the two. For ever since their separation, these kindred communities had looked upon each other with evil eyes. And there can be little doubt, that the one which survived when the other was destroyed, instead of laying that calamity to heart as a warning to itself, would consider it as a judgment for the only one out of many sins, of which it was not guilty like its neighbour. For here we find evidence, that in Judah all manner of idolatry was practised, as well as all manner of ungodliness. Wickedness was come to such a height in Jerusalem, that God declares He will consume every thing living from off the land. Many of the prevalent evil practices are specified; and the neglecting to seek the Lord is put on the same footing, as far as regards punishment, with the turning back from Him. Nay, there are none whom He threatens to search after more closely, than those who professed utter indifference towards God, and held that He took no notice of them. These are described as 66 men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil." That any could so think within themselves, after what they had seen happen to their brethren in Israel, may be accounted for, as here supposed, by the false conclusions which enmity and self conceit are apt to suggest to the mind. Nothing could be more likely to shake the confidence of such vain reasoners, than the loud and clear prophetic warnings of entire desolation, here addressed expressly to themselves. These words they could not apply to their neighbours, as they probably had been used to apply the prophecies common to both kingdoms, delivered whilst both were in existence. Their city also is here called by its name, as well as one of its gates, and one of its quarters; so that there was no room left for misconception. What then more did these sinners look for, that even yet they turned not to God? Did they expect to see their own names set down, and wait till God vouchsafed to send them one by one a revelation of their own doom? Oh let us take warning from them, though they would not from their brethren. Let us apply to ourselves singly that which was said to them generally. And let us be assured, that if we sin as they did, either by turning away from God, or by not seeking unto Him, we shall be overtaken as they were, "in the day of the Lord's wrath."

Exhortations in reference to the judgments threatened.

1 Gather yourselves together, LORD of hosts, the God of Isyea, gather together, O nation rael, Surely Moab shall be as not desired; Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.

2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD's anger come upon you.

3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD's anger.

4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day,and Ekron shall be rooted up.

5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coasts, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.

6 And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.

7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.

8 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.

10 This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.

11 The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.

12 Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword.

13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.

14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work.

15 This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand. LECTURE 1436.

9 Therefore as I live, saith the

Of seeking the Lord, on the approach of his day. The exhortations at the beginning of this chapter are to be understood in connexion with the sore judgments which follow unto the end. And we must also look back to the judgments set down

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