Those who have been reared and nurtured among the everlasting hills always look upon them as old friends.
To them there is in mountain, valley and glen a peace reposing in the bosom of strength that soothes the heart to rest. Jean Paul says “that the great hills are like great men--the first to catch and the last to lose the light; and he might further say that, like great men, they afford kindliest shelter in their mighty bosoms to the weary and heart-sore. While the idea of stability is connected with the everlasting hills, science, with stern truthfulness, alarms that they are gradually crumbling away. They say that the Alleghanies, in their prime were three thousand feet higher than human eyes have ever seen them. There was a time when the igneous forces possessed the advantage, and island and continent and alp rose triumphant over the sea. But for thousands of years the energies of fire have been wasting, and earthquake and fire have been smitten with the palsy of age. River and stream are filching soil from mountain and plain and restoring it again to the sea. Defiant granite, which baffled the lightnings that rent Sinai, and frowned upon the flood that drowned the world, shall yet be brought down by the continuous pelting of rain and the insidious sapping of frost. (A. Macfarlane.)
The unchangeable duration of God’s kindness and covenant
I. THE CHANGEABLE STATE AND FRAME OF THIS WORLD, which shall issue in its final dissolution. “The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed.” In opposition hereunto we have--
II. THE UNCHANGEABLE DURATION OF GOD’S KINDNESS TO, AND COVENANT WITH HIS PEOPLE. “But My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenants of My peace be removed.”
III. THE CONFIRMATION AND REASON OF THIS, as contained in the words, “saith the Lord, that hath mercy on thee.” (J. Guyse. D. D.)
The enduring in the universe
I. THE GOOD MAN’S EXISTENCE IS MORE DURABLE THAN THE MOUNTAINS. This is here implied. The people here addressed are supposed to live after the mountains have departed. The fact that a man is more durable than the mountains gives consistency to our life--and grandeur.
II. GOD’S KINDNESS IS MORE DURABLE THAN THE MOUNTAINS. “My kindness shall not depart from thee.” God’s kindness is more durable even than man. Though man will never have an end, he had a beginning. God’s kindness never had a beginning, and will never have an end. Kindness is the very essence of the Eternal, the root of all existence, the primal font of all blessedness in all worlds.
1. His kindness will continue notwithstanding the sins of humanity.
2. His kindness continues notwithstanding the sufferings of humanity. In fact, His kindness is expressed in human suffering. Does not the loving father often show more love to his child in correcting him for his offences than in gratifying his desires? There is kindness in the judgments that befall men. The most terrible judgments are but God’s mercy weeding the world of its evils.
III. THE UNION BETWEEN BOTH WILL BE MORE DURABLE THAN THE MOUNTAINS. “My kindness shall not depart from thee.” These “words were addressed to His own people, and not to men in general; and the idea is, that His kindness will continue for ever in connection with the truly good. God’s kindness is indissolubly associated with the good. St. Paul challenges the universe to effect a separation. “Who shall separate from the love of Christ?” (D. Thomas, D.D.)
Fears and their antidote
When God called the Jewish captives to go forth to their own land, they began to be full of fears about the future. They mused over possible or imaginary difficulties. They groaned under prospective burdens. How should they get across the wilderness? From whence should they receive their supplies? Who would protect them from the roving bands of robbers? And even if they should really live through all the perils of the wilderness, and get safe again into Palestine, how would they find the country? Would it be desolate and waste, or cultivated and attractive? Would it be free from enemies, or full of foes T Who was then to be their shield and buckler, their strong tower, their rock of defence to save them? It was this temper of mind which the prophet was commissioned by Jehovah to remove. Why, said the fervid son of Amos, are you so fearful? Think of God’s momentary anger, and eternal mercy (verses 7, 8). Think of the covenant which God made to the preacher of righteousness (verse 9). Think of the most stable and enduring things of which you know: not of fortresses--they can be demolished, and not one stone be left upon another that is not thrown down; nor yet of temples, though they rear their heads and smite the stars, like the temple of Bolus in the city which has so long been your home. Think, not of those, but of the everlasting mountains. What so secure, so deep-rooted, so enduring? Yet, “the mountains shall depart, etc. (verse 10).
I. THE TEMPER OF THE JEWISH CAPTIVES IS ALSO THE TEMPER OF MANY GODLY MEN IN OUR DAY. The words of the prophet are words which they also need to hear, to be reassured and to recover their confidence and hope.
1. We have fears about matters purely secular.
2. There are fears which spring from matters as purely spiritual.
3. Fears also arise from temptations. These temptations are very many and very subtle.
4. There are foes to face, other foes than Satan, but who may be prompted by his evil counsels. What will be our condition in relation to them? There are foes in our own heart, foes in our own house, foes in our daily toil and our rest. Shall we be able to meet and overcome them?
5. Perhaps, with a very large number of devout and godly men, the greatest source of fear is the possibility of the coming on of an hour of darkness.
6. In numberless other instances, the fear originates through a morbid apprehension of death, a hatred of it that is far more Pagan than Christian, a shrinking back from the thought of dissolution, and all that dissolution carries with it.
II. LET US NOW LOOK, NOT AT THE FEARS, BUT AT THEIR TRUE ANTIDOTE. “For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed,” etc.
1. Here is the declaration of the perpetual providence of God.
2. Another antidote to fear is given in the Divine pledge of peace. “The covenant of My peace shall not be broken. When the sacred writers speak of God’s covenant, it is at once apparent that they are describing the things of heaven in the language of earth. But when the word is used as in the case before us, it stands for a Divine pledge or promise. Remember, still further, that “peace” was a word which, in the estimation of the Jew, carried with it every possible earthly advantage. It meant more than the cessation of hostility. It meant, opportunity for business; success in commercial ventures; home-life, home-joys, to which the ancient Hebrew was so partial; quiet, love, happiness. The blessings which Jehovah promised to the Jews were manifold; but all those blessings were summed up in this one expressive word--peace. So also to us, in the later economy. God’s pledge to us is--“peace,” putting the still larger Christian meaning into that word. But when God promises that the covenant of His peace shall not be broken, He expects us to fulfil our part of the covenant. He gives no assurance of peace, if we swerve from Him.
3. The Divine assurance of mercy is another antidote to fear. “The Lord, who hath mercy on thee.” Mercy was the basis of all God’s treatment of the ancient Jews. Mercy is still the foundation of God’s dealings with us. (J. J.Goadby.)
The unchangeableness of God’s covenant the saint’s security
I. AN ACCOUNT GIVEN OF A COVENANT, which is ascribed to God, and said to be a covenant of peace.
II. THE SPRING AND SOURCE OF THIS COVENANT. “Kindness and mercy.”
III. A MOST SOLEMN ASSURANCE OF THE STABILITY, PERPETUITY, AND UNCHANGEABLENESS OF IT. “It shall not depart nor be removed.”
IV. THE AMPLIFICATION OR FARTHER ILLUSTRATION OF THIS SECURITY. “This is as the waters of Noah unto Me, and though the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed,” etc. (S. Wilson.)
My kindness shall not depart from thee
Kindness
There is something very suggestive in that word “kindness.” Kindness is originally that which is felt and shown to one’s kind or kin. Kind is “kinned;” so that, according to the primitive signification of the word, kindness grows out of natural relationship. And this is really the basis of God’s kindness. Men are His children: and the relation of parent and child implies kindness. (M. R. Vincent, D. D.)
The kindness of God
The word kindness as applied to Deity is a very comprehensive term. It embraces the attributes of love and mercy in all their manifestations and numerous relations, and may be understood to be one with pity, compassion, sympathy, and tenderness.
I. The kindness of Deity is UNCHANGEABLE. It is contrasted with the mutability of earthly objects--even with the mightiest and the most endurable--“The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed.”
II. The kindness of God is UNIVERSAL, while in some cases it is SPECIAL.
III. The PERPETUITY of this kindness. “It shall not depart from thee. The kindness of Deity has its law. It may be granted, or it may be withdrawn, conditionally; and the law of kindness acts in union with the law of justice. (W. D.Horwood.)
The covenant of My peace
God’s peace-giving covenant
“The covenant of My peace” does not give the sense as fully as “My covenant of peace;” i.e. My peace-giving covenant. (J. A. Alexander.)
The blessings and stability of the covenant of grace
I. A VIEW OF THE PARTIES CONCERNED IN MAKING THIS COVENANT.
II. A VIEW OF THE BLESSINGS CONTAINED IN IT.
III. A VIEW OF THE STABILITY AND CERTAINTY OF THIS COVENANT, WITH ALL ITS BLESSINGS AND BENEFITS, TO EVERY TRUE BELIEVER. (J. Kidd, D. D.)
The covenant of God’s peace
1. It proceeds from Him as the God of peace.
2. In this way He hath formed between Himself and His people the most intimate, endearing connection, ratified by the Mediator, who is our peace.
3. All the blessings requisite to their peace and felicity are therein bestowed. (R. Macculloch.)
