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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
‘Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and be shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.’
Hos_14:9
I. A recognition of the right ways of God.—(1) God’s ways are right in the laws He imposes. (2) God’s ways are right in the blessings He gives. (3) God’s ways are right in the troubles and afflictions He sends. This is true of nation and individual.
II. The qualities of soul necessary to this recognition.—Wisdom and prudence. The wise and prudent man studies, and endeavours to follow Providence.
III. The happiness of those who submit to the right ways of God.—The righteous endeavour to walk in them, and find that this is the way of peace. To obey His laws, to submit to His rule, is the only way to true happiness.
IV. The misery of those who rebel against the right ways of God.—‘The way of transgressors is hard.’ Disobedience, rebellion, doubt and unbelief, can only lead to discomfiture. ‘The transgressor shall fall therein.’
Illustrations
(1) ‘In Hos_14:8 Hosea has still further portrayed the renunciation of idols which should be a part of Israel’s repentance. In the last verse we have a general summing; up of the teachings of the chapter. The wise man will pay heed to the lessons which have been taught and will walk in them. The saddest thing of all is that this wonderful dream of penitence, of blessing, and restoration, never became anything but a dream. The prodigal returned to his father and found the good he had dreamed of. Israel never returned, but went on and on in sin until the nation perished.’
(2) ‘This last verse is the epilogue to the entire Book. These things. The warnings and threatenings of God regarding sin, which are recorded in this Book, and the promises regarding righteousness; compare the prologue to Revelation (Rev_1:3), and the introduction to the Book of Psalms. The ways of the Lord. The course which he takes in governing mankind. Right. Straight, righteous. The pious walk in them, observing God’s directions, and are led to life; but the wicked, opposing themselves to these ways, stumble and fall.’
(3) ‘It is the object of the prophet Hosea and of all prophecy, in the a spirit of Rev_1:9, to alarm and to warn the apostate, to confirm and to comfort the converted, and to glorify the Lord. Only the ways of the Lord are right. Then inevitable destruction must befall him who departs from them. True wisdom is to regard them, and all the prophetic Scriptures are like an uplifted finger, which warns against any departure from them, and at the same time like an outstretched finger which points to the way upon which the righteous must walk.’
‘These things.’
Hos_14:9
I. The story of the Prodigal Son was repeated in Hosea’s time, with the difference that a nation was the prodigal.—Israel had left the Father’s house, and now it was eating the unsatisfying husks of sin. Hosea was the voice to call the prodigal home. It is true that whole nations may sin and incur God’s punishment. Our own nation’s hope is in being true to God. Her wealth and possessions cannot make her great; Israel was never richer nor larger than in Hosea’s time. Our patriotism and our religion should unite in impelling us to labour for the holiness of our country. Righteousness alone exalteth a nation.
II. Foolish persons sometimes get ‘too big’ for religion.—They think they can get along very well without it. Nations have adopted the same principle, scores of times, and have surrendered their faith in God. Inevitably, of course, iniquity has followed infidelity in the history of nations, as usually in the case of individuals. When we give up God it does not take long to give up goodness. When a tide of unbelief sweeps over a people it is usually followed by a wave of wickedness. And, as in the case of Israel, prosperity cannot long abide with dissoluteness and debauchery. Drunken hands cannot hold either gold or land. So poverty stalks after sin. The bad people soon become the poor people. It never pays—to consider the subject on the lowest ground—to try to get along without God. When religion departs, righteousness and prosperity follow.
III. The trouble with Israel, as with us, was one that Assyria or Egypt could not mend.—There are some difficulties in which friends and neighbours can be of no help. The secret of Israel’s distress was sin, which is likewise the secret of most everything that is wrong in our life and in the world to-day. There is only one source of help for sin—God. The remedy that alone can make whole and holy is the love and power of our offended Father. Turning to God is the only way to better our condition and to secure happiness. In His forgiveness is peace and prosperity. God alone can kelp in life’s greatest difficulties.
Illustration
‘ “Have you ever been here before?” demanded a magistrate of a prisoner. “Once, your honour, and you let me go. Please let me off again.” But the second offence found no mercy with the court, and the man was sent to jail. This is the world’s way. It may forgive once, but there its forgiveness ends. But the mercy of God—how great it is! Again and again He forgives the penitent sinner. His pity and tender mercy are beyond finding out.’