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(with vers. 22-25): — There are many lights in which we can see sin; and our perception of sin very much depends upon the light in which we look at it. Sin is very terrible by the blaze of Sinai. It is an awful thing to see sin by the light of your dying day. More terrible still will it be to see it by the light of the judgment day. But of all the lights that ever fall upon sin, that which makes it "like itself appear" is that which falls upon it when it is set in the light of God's countenance. To see sin by the light of God's love, to read its awful character by the light of the Cross, is the way to see sin. I am going to speak mainly concerning God's own people, and I want to set their sins in the light of God's love to them. My object will be to set before you the contrast between God's action towards His people and His people's, usual action towards Him."

I. The first contrast lies in THE CALL.

1. I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name" (ver. 1).

(1) God called us out of nothing. "Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob" (ver. 1). Our creation is entirely due to God. An ungodly man can hardly bless God for having made him, for his end may be terrible. Blessed be God for our being, because it is followed by our well-being! Blessed be God for our first birth, because we have also experienced a second birth.

(2) Our Lord has done more than make us, for He has educated us; He has continued the fashioning of us. "He that formed thee, O Israel." Israel is the "formed" Jacob; by God's grace, Jacob grows into Israel. Let us think of all the sweet experiences of God's forming and fashioning touch that we have had. Sometimes, it has been a rough stroke that was necessary for the moulding of our clay; only by affliction could we be made to assume the shape and pattern that the Lord had determined for us. At other times, it has been the touch of very soft fingers. "Thy gentleness hath made me great."(3) Think what wonderful,, dealings He has had, next, in consoling us, for the Lord goes., on to say, Fear not. Oh, how often He has cheered us up when our spirit was sinking!

(4) That is not all, for the Lord has also called us, and conversed with us, in the matter of redemption. "I have redeemed thee."(5) The Lord has given a special nomination. "I have called thee by thy name."(6) Then comes this blessed appropriation: "Thou art Mine." This is the way that God talks to us.

2. Turn to the other side of the question, the neglected call on our part. "Thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob" (ver. 22). That may not mean that there has been literally no calling upon God on thy side, but it does mean that there has been too little of it. Let us put this matter to the test.

(1) What about our prayers? There is much less prayer than there ought to be.

(2) True as this is of our prayers, it is still more true of our praises.

(3) There are many, with whom God has dealt well, who do not venture to call upon Him for special help in His service. They keep plodding along the old roads, and mostly in the old ruts; but they do not dare to invoke the aid of the Lord for some novel form of service, some fresh enterprise upon which they can strike out for God.

(4) Sometimes in our trouble, we do not call upon God as we should.

II. Let us consider another contrast which is equally striking — that is, upon the matter of THE CONVERSE between the Lord and His people.

1. Notice, first, God's side of it. "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee," etc. (ver. 2). Notice how God is with His people in strange places. Wherever they are, He will not leave them; He will go right through the waters with them. God also keeps close to His people in dangerous places, fatal places as they seem.

2. Now listen to your side of this matter of converse with God. "But thou hast been weary of Me, O Israel" (ver. 22).

(1) Has it not been so with regard to private prayer?

(2) With your reading of the Scriptures?

(3) Hearing the Word?

(4) Are there not some also whom God loves who get weary of their work?

III. Notice the contrast in THE SACRIFICE.

1. "I gave Egypt for thy ransom," etc. (ver. 3).

(1) Here is God giving up everybody else for the sake of His people. Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba were great nations, but God did not choose the greatest. "Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called," etc.

(2) We may see another meaning in these words, for God has given for us His choicest gift. Christ is infinitely more precious than Egypt, and Ethiopia, and Seba, though they were lands of great abundance of wealth.

2. Now look at the other side. "Thou hast not brought Me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings" (ver. 23). I wonder how little some people really do give to God! I believe, in some cases, not as much as it costs them for the blacking of their boots. Then the Lord adds, "Thou hast bought Me no sweet cane with money." Not even the smallest offering has been given to the Most High by some who profess to have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. How little is given by the most generous of us!

IV. I close with one snore contrast, which refers to THE HONOUR given by God, and the honour given to God.

1. God gives great honour to those whom He saves (ver. 4). I have known persons who, before their conversion, were unclean in their lives, and when they have been converted, they have joined a Christian Church, and in the society of God's people they have become honourable. They have been taken into the fellowship of the saints just as if there had never been a fault in their lives; nobody has mentioned the past to them, it has been forgotten. This is the highest honour that God can put upon us, that He fixes His love upon us. "Thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee."

2. Have you honoured God? He says, "Neither hast thou honoured Me with thy sacrifices." Have you honoured God by your lives? By your confidence in Him? By your patience? By defending His truth when it has been assailed? By speaking to poor sinners about Him? Are you trying every day to honour Him?

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

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KJV: But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

WEB: But now thus says Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel: "Don't be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.