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Biographies are generally interesting, if they are biographies; that is to say, if the events of the person's life are truly told; but the most interesting biography to any man is his own life. Turn over the pages of the book of memory, and think of those first times when you sought and found the Saviour, when you repented, when you believed, when you yielded yourself up to Jesus, when He took you to be His, and you took Him to be yours. I am sure that this exercise will awaken many happy thoughts, and I feel equally certain that it will suggest many regrets; but the happiness will be good for you if it excites your gratitude, and the regrets will be good for you if they deepen your penitence. Beloved, tim time of our conversion, the time when we joyously realised that we were saved, was a covenanting time. It is a somewhat singular thing that, in this chapter, God does not say anything about Israel's part of the covenant; He seems to pass that over as though it were never worth mentioning. So, at this time, I shall not say much about the covenant that you made with God; do not forget it, and do not forget that you have often forgotten it.

I. IT WAS A COVENANT FREELY MADE.

1. It was a covenant which He made at His own suggestion, out of the greatness of His own love; for the nation of Israel, of which He speaks, had nothing in its pedigree to suggest it. There are some who do not believe in the depravity of human nature. I must believe in it if I am myself a fair specimen of human nature; and every man who has watched his own heart,, and has any idea of the sin which dwells within him, will know that his origin is tainted, that from the very first there is a tendency to evil, and only evil; and, therefore, that there is nothing in him as to his birth that can command or deserve the favour of God.

2. There was nothing in our condition to commend it. This poor child had never been washed or clothed — it was left in all its filthiness to die; there was nothing about it to commend it to the attention of the passer-by. And what were we by nature?

3. It was also a covenant freely made. because there was nothing in our beauty to warrant it. Whatever there was there, was undeveloped and, worse still, unclean. And in that day when Jesus took us to Himself, and we took Him to be our Saviour, there was nothing as yet apparent of that which His grace has now wrought in us; it was totally absent then.

II. IT WAS A COVENANT ENTIRELY OF LOVE.

1. Taking our text in its connection, we learn that this covenant was a marriage covenant.

2. That it was a covenant which was meant to be entirely of love is proved by the way in which it was carried out (vers. 9-13). This is a covenant all of love, for these are all love-tokens, love-gifts to the beloved one. Now, will you go back in thought, and recollect when you used to receive those gifts from the Lord?

3. It must be a covenant all of love which God has made with such creatures as we are, because it could bring the Lord no profit.

III. IT WAS A MOST SURE COVENANT: "I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee."

1. The covenant which God makes with believers is intended to remain forever. It is not something which may be broken in a few hours, like a child's toys; it is an everlasting covenant (vers. 60).

2. In proof that He intended it to remain, He ratified it by an oath.

3. To make a covenant even surer than by an oath, men were accustomed to seal it by a sacrifice. Now, beloved, you who believe have the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, to confirm the covenant of grace.

4. I would have you notice, in our text, that the covenant is remembered by God. It is He who Says, "I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee."

5. Yet once more, this covenant will be remembered by Him forever (vers. 60, 62).

IV. THIS COVENANT INVOLVES VERY GRACIOUS CONSEQUENCES. "Thou becamest Mine."

1. If God has entered into covenant with us, we have become the Lord's. Whose were you before? The world's? Your own? The devil's? Well, we will not dispute with the many claimants; but now you can say, "O Lord our God, other lords beside Thee have had dominion over us: but by Thee only will we make mention of Thy name."

2. Now, we ought to be the Lord's more and more.

3. If that be our feeling, it will lead us practically to renew the bond of the covenant.

4. And you who have never done so, may you come to Jesus this very moment! Your only hope lies in Him.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

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KJV: Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.

WEB: Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord Yahweh, and you became mine.