6. God setteth the solitary in families. The
people had been scattered over Egypt; family ties had been disregarded, and
affections crushed; but when the people escaped from Pharaoh they came together
again. He bringeth out those which are bound with chains. The most
oppressed in Egypt were chained and imprisoned, but the divine Emancipator
brought them all forth into perfect liberty. He who did this of old continues
his gracious work. The solitary heart, convinced of sin and made to pine alone,
is admitted into the family of the Firstborn; the fettered spirit is set free,
and its prison broken down, when sin is forgiven; and for all this, God is to
be greatly exalted. But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. If any find
the rule of Jehovah to be irksome, it is because their rebellious spirits kick
against his power. Israel did not find the desert dry, for the smitten rock
gave forth its streams; but even in Canaan itself people were consumed with
famine because they cast off their allegiance to their covenant God. Even where
God is revealed on the mercy-seat, some people persist in rebellion, and these
need not wonder if they find no peace, no comfort, no joy, even where all these
abound. Justice is the rule of the Lord’s kingdom, and hence there is no
provision for the unjust to indulge their evil lustings.
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