Homilist Jeremiah 5:20-25 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,… 1. God is the Author and Governor of the sea. 2. God binds the sea within certain limits by law. 3. God's laws are permanent till He wills a change "by a perpetual decree." 4. God is ever prevent in His laws and contrivances. 5. God's presence in the laws of the sea, as well as in every other law, should have a restraining and reverencing influence upon men. I. GOD'S GOVERNMENT OF THE SEA. Suited to impress man with an idea of — 1. Infinite power. 2. Consummate wisdom. 3. Special goodness. II. MAN'S REVOLTING TENDENCIES. 1. God has prescribed the bounds of man's actions and thoughts by befitting laws. Love to God and man. 2. To overstep these limits is rebellion against the great Lawgiver. When thoughts are unholy and imagination irreverent, the soul has overstepped its proper limits, and is in rebellion against its Creator. 3. Man has overstepped his proper limits, and therefore rebelled. "They are revolted and gone." Differing in this from the sea. 4. Man can do what the sea can not, namely, overstep his proper limits and transgress the laws of his being. (1) Man has a heart. The sea has not. Man has a will power — a power to act to a great extent as he likes. (2) This power in man has been prostituted to evil. Man, morally, has lost his equilibrium, his heart has become rebellious; and heart rebellion is the source of all rebellions — of hand and head rebellions. Conclusion — 1. God must govern heart and will by heart and will influences. 2. It is easier for God to rule suns and systems and oceans than one man, because he has a heart, and a rebellious one. 3. Man, as a rebel, contrasts unfavourably with the material creation — the earth and sea, etc. God notices this with a painful emotion. "Fear ye not Me," etc. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,WEB: "Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, |
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