Sermon 24: 1 Samuel 7:1-3

1. Then the men of Kiriath-jearim came and brought up the ark of the Lord and carried it into the house of Abinadab in Gibeah; and they consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord. 2. And it came to pass, from the day the ark of the Lord remained in Kiriath-jearim, the days multiplied — for it was now the twentieth year — and all the house of Israel rested after the Lord. 3. And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, saying: 'If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods from among you — the Baals and the Ashtaroth — and prepare your hearts for the Lord and serve him alone, and he will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.'

In yesterday's sermon we heard how wrongly the Bethshemites judged concerning God's judgments, by which they ought rather to have been instructed than to have removed God from themselves. For although God had punished their curiosity and boldness — those who had so rashly dared to touch the ark of the covenant and to look into it — they ought to have learned modesty and, being put to shame before his majesty, to seek him all the more ardently. And those are the punishments which the prophet Isaiah, addressing the hypocrites, threatens that God will send upon the despisers of himself: [unclear — heavily garbled text about God's punishments and hypocrites]. For what is more wretched than the condition of the hypocrite? [unclear — garbled text continues] as if stupefied by lethargy, they are further hardened. When God presses with sharper goads, they are so seized that they imagine nothing but fire and lightning in God, by which they would be consumed, so much so that they accuse him of excessive severity, as if nothing could stand before him, but rather everything would be utterly destroyed. But the prophet mocks those wretched ones and says: Those who walk most justly, and who speak most rightly, who spurn gain from fraud, who shake their hands free from holding bribes, who shut their ears so as not to hear of bloodshed, and close their eyes so as not to see evil — these shall dwell in the highest places, and the strongholds of rocks shall be their lofty place, etc. By these words he teaches that it should not be imputed to God if his majesty is dreadful to us, since the cause lies in ourselves. For if we were such as we ought to be, it is certain that we would not experience him as judge, but as father, persuaded of his paternal benevolence toward us; and that the rods and blows with which he afflicts us are rather instruments by which we are drawn and converted to him. We cannot, I confess, approach God relying on our own righteousness; but we must flee to that mediator whom the Scriptures present to us, so that since we are by nature sinners and children of wrath and of the curse, exiled from the kingdom of God, we may seek peace and reconciliation through our Lord Jesus Christ, and turn to God with a sincere mind and conscience. For then it is certain that we shall find peace with him, and shall be called to himself gently and lovingly. Therefore let us learn to cry out with the prophet: Who shall be able to stand before the Almighty God? — so that we may know that when we approach him, covered by the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall always be received gently by him; and provided all hypocrisy and stubbornness be absent from us, we shall not find in God a fire to devour us, but rather his power and might working for the advancement of our salvation.

Next, the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim are said to have come, brought back the ark of the Lord, and carried it into the house of Abinadab on the hill. Here we must first observe that the calamity which struck the people of Beth-shemesh did not emanate from that ark of the covenant, as they persuaded themselves, but from their own fault, because they had not received it as was fitting. For the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim successfully took it away and assigned it a fixed dwelling, so that no one in their whole region died. From this it is clear that the ark was not ill-fated for them, nor did it bring any calamity upon the Beth-shemites, by which they ought to have been so terrified. What distinction, then, should be made between the Beth-shemites and the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim? Namely this: the latter recognized that God wished to be honored and worshipped according to the prescription of his law, and that his worship is contained within certain laws, within which, as within fixed boundaries, one must remain, and that therefore the ark of the Lord was not to be touched with such audacity.

But here we experience in reality what the Lord declares about himself in Psalm 18 with these words: With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; with the pure you show yourself pure; but with the crooked you will wrestle. By these words all who complain of God's excessive severity are condemned, and the cause of their troubles is turned back upon themselves. So you may see hypocrites perpetually complaining about God's severity toward them, and presenting the worship they have rendered, by which they think they have bound God to themselves. But God on the contrary says that he will be merciful with the merciful — that is, he will deal with people as they in turn conduct themselves toward him — and therefore if they show themselves obedient and compliant to him with a sincere heart, he too will be merciful, and will embrace them with the same love with which mothers embrace their little children, so that they will find nothing more kind anywhere. And conversely, if they are obstinate and rebellious, they will feel his fierceness and hardness; if refractory and hard as stones, they will find him harder than any iron or steel. This is clearly seen in this account of the Beth-shemites, who, since they did not reverence the Lord's majesty, found him also hard and dreadful. But the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, made wise by the example of others, learned to walk in fear, reverence, and humility, and so God spared them.

When it is said that they sanctified Eleazar, the son of Abinadab, to guard the ark of the Lord, it does not mean that they assigned him the office of a Levite; for that was not within their power, nor would God ever have left so bold an act unpunished. For we know that God appointed the house of Levi as guardian of the sanctuary; therefore no one was permitted to claim that office for another, since — and we are not ignorant that God reserved to himself the authority to call to the ministry whomever he pleased — as the apostle teaches, no one takes upon himself the honor of administering sacred things unless he has been appointed by God. It was therefore not lawful for the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim to elect, sanctify, or dedicate Eleazar, who is mentioned here, as a Levite and priest. But nothing prevents them from having chosen him as a guardian of the ark, so that no one would approach too near the place where it was kept, and so that it would not be treated as profane — not, however, that he should approach it to handle it, which was the office of the priest alone, as we have said. But since it had been admitted into a private house, the wrath of God could be provoked and all religion and sanctity overturned if the ark of God had been mixed indiscriminately with private and domestic affairs. Therefore, so that the place where it had been set might be held more sacred and due honor shown to it, Eleazar is said to have been chosen by the common consent and vote of the whole people as guardian of that ark. so that he would take care lest God be provoked to wrath again, and lest by his negligence divine vengeance be brought upon the whole people, on account of not diligently guarding so great a treasure entrusted to him. And this is the simplest sense of these words. For the word 'sanctify' is used in various and manifold ways. Thus Eleazar is appointed over the custody of the ark, yet without their claiming for themselves the authority to elevate him to that degree of dignity which God had assigned to the tribe of Levi alone. They are said to have sanctified him because this concerned the worship of God, so that he might be duly honored, and they might have a perpetual testimony of God's presence for the defense and preservation of his people.

It follows next that, after twenty years had elapsed, the Israelites, lamenting, cried out to the Lord; and Samuel proclaimed to all the people that they should turn to the Lord and put away the foreign gods from their midst, lest they retain that confusion of gods as before. For although they professed to worship the God of Abraham, they were nevertheless inclined to superstitions and idolatries, and thus profaned the worship of God by mixing it with the abominations of the pagans. Therefore Samuel rightly exhorts them not to return to God only in part, for God can endure no division — he who wishes to be worshipped sincerely and without pretense, and demands the whole person. The time is noted so that from it Samuel's authority might appear to have been able to prevail, for he was still quite young when the ark was captured. And although even then he was a prophet and was regarded as such, because he was distinguished by revelations, he did not yet have sufficient authority to compel so hard and intractable a people as the Jewish nation to their duty and keep them in it. For we have seen before, and shall see more hereafter, that the Jews were very stubborn and difficult, so that they did not easily submit to anyone's command. Therefore Samuel, while still young, could not have kept them in their duty. And so God wished him to reach a certain age, so that thereafter he might be more easily received by the people without anyone opposing.

Moreover, from this it is evident how stupid those wretched Jews were. For even a donkey quickens its pace a step or two at the stroke of a stick; but these people, though roused by various and prolonged blows from God, were nevertheless not moved, but sunk in the mire of their superstitions, they do not think of returning to God. Therefore they seem to have been more like brute animals than pious men. For if they had had even a crumb of sound mind, it is certain they would have come to an acknowledgment of their sins. Yet after twenty years had passed, they began to weep and to lament before the Lord. From this let us learn to bear patiently the chastisements sent upon us by God; and if he redoubles his threats, so as to teach us by experience to fear his mighty hand, let us impute it to our own hardness, which God knows cannot be corrected otherwise; and this very example set before us teaches us more than sufficiently. For we easily condemn the Israelites by our reckoning, because for so many years, clinging to superstitions, they did not return to God at all. But why do we not think about ourselves? What, I ask, does each person do in his own case? We indeed, I confess, show some sign of our religion, and we profess that we never wish to depart from its sincerity and purity; but yet who departs from a vicious way of life? Therefore what is recorded about the ancient Jewish people, each person will easily find in himself. Indeed, if God, provoked by our crimes, were compelled to punish us more harshly and severely, it must be admitted that he would find such stubbornness in us that he would have to chastise us with repeated blows. But if he should grant a better mind, by which we might repent and, having returned to him, compose ourselves in obedience to him after he has gently chastised us — without special divine help we would be far worse than the Jews, and would rather be broken by a thousand blows than come to an acknowledgment of our sins and submit ourselves to his rule. When therefore we hear here the tears and laments of the Jews, let us know that their repentance is being declared. Yet not sorrow alone testifies to true and sincere contrition and repentance, nor are tears and groans sufficient for one professing conversion to God; rather, that sorrow is only a certain path and preparation for repentance. And therefore sometimes that sorrow is taken for the whole conversion to God. For true repentance flows from this as from a fountain: that people groan within themselves and are in a certain way hostile to themselves. And this is the sorrow of which Paul speaks when he says he does not regret that he had saddened the Corinthians by his letter. Because the rebuke that had come from him had caused them great sorrow and concern (although by nature people are softer and more delicate, so that they do not want their scab rubbed), he says he does not regret having brought them such sorrow, which was indeed good and salutary. Now there is a twofold sorrow: one to life, and another to death. For when, full of arrogance, we rage against God and cry out at the blows, that sorrow is to death and makes for our greater condemnation. But the other is good and salutary, to life, and never to be fled from — namely, when we are so governed by the Holy Spirit of God that we examine ourselves and weigh our sins and groan over them, and are even angry with ourselves for having been so wretched as to have provoked God's wrath against us by so many sins. Therefore those tears of the Israelites show that they were disposed toward conversion to God, because they had begun to feel their sins. From this it appears that previously, like brutes, they had continued in their vices. For although they had been struck by God with heavy blows, they did not labor to investigate the cause of the blows, but rather to send away from themselves the ark of God, which they thought was fatal to them. And they did indeed feel the hand of God and were greatly disturbed, outwardly testifying to their grief; but their tears quickly dried up, imitating dogs which bark loudly when struck with a club, but when the pain ceases, think little of the blow. So the Israelites, though greatly moved at first, yet not for a day, not for months, not for just a year, but for twenty whole years remained as if sunk in a deep sleep and hardened in their vices. But when God finally roused them, they were moved and groaned and lamented before God. From this let us learn that if we have strayed into byways, we cannot obtain grace from God nor be reconciled to him unless we are first deeply grieved and indignant against ourselves. For if we desire not to experience God as judge, he must be anticipated, as Paul says, and we must pray that he communicate his Holy Spirit to us, under whose guidance and instruction we may become teachable, lest he enter into judgment against us; and if he has entered, let us ourselves first pronounce sentence upon ourselves — not indeed like defendants who are forced to pronounce sentence against themselves, soon to be carried out, but so as to obtain grace and mercy from him. Therefore, if we consider what our native corruption is, we shall certainly find that an ample occasion for groaning has been presented to us. For even if there were not so great a self-love in us, nor so great self-flattery, yet whenever we looked upon the multitude of our sins, we ought to pour ourselves out in tears and groans. Therefore we must take care to pass such a judgment on ourselves that God may accept our humility — not only recognizing ourselves as guilty of many sins, but also offering to God a heart so crushed with sorrow that he may find our sorrow acceptable. For, as I said before, that sorrow is the true path to repentance.

Moreover, from this passage it is clear how imperfect and half-hearted the repentance of people is: they pour themselves out in the greatest groans and wailing, and yet still retain much evil in themselves, so that they do not sincerely turn to God. For we must not think that Samuel's exhortation is vain or superfluous when he says: If you are returning to God and to sincere worship, turn with all your heart. By these words he teaches that if they are to obtain salvation, something of idolatries still remained in them, and they had not seriously turned to God. For if your conversion is serious and simple, he says, it is certain that you will be pleasing and acceptable to God; but when you mix your superstitions with the worship of God, you still have an ambiguous and double mind, and a distinction displeasing to God. A sentiment truly worthy of observation, especially since people are so naturally blind that they think they have done their duty toward God well enough if they feign a light and empty repentance — namely, if they merely confess with a word that they are sinners, and thus think they will easily impose upon God and people. And indeed, you may generally see that those who have committed some crime and have been a stumbling block to all, if they confess even with the slightest word that they have done wrong, and are pressed more severely, they will take it badly and threaten almost to bring a lawsuit, because their iniquity is not buried in oblivion. But especially those who have been raised to some degree of dignity complain that they are treated too severely if, when they have shed a tear or confessed with half a mouth that they have sinned, they are not immediately absolved. What shall I say of some who profess to be ministers of the divine word, and who ought to have led others by the holiness of their life, who if convicted of fornication, gluttony, or similar sins, unless such offenses are immediately wiped out by oblivion, do not hesitate to complain and threaten to bring suit? 'Granted,' they say, 'I sinned, I confess, I acknowledge the fault — but why am I treated more severely? If I repent of the deed, should not my tears and groans be enough?' But I ask, is this repentance of theirs worth so much that they should always retain their dignity among honest and upright men — they who ought rather to be perpetually suffused with shame and seek hiding places? Let us therefore recognize how prone we are to vice, so that we may abhor such painted repentance, which is rather a mockery and an insult to God, whereby we think we have done our duty toward him well, offering lies and mere pretense. Therefore we must take the greatest care not to depart from this rule, by which we are commanded to compose ourselves sincerely in obedience to him, if we truly and from the heart turn to him; and let us not minimize guilt with circumlocutions, but, candidly confessing our offenses, turn to him with a sincere mind.

And this is the meaning of the prophet when he says in these words: If you will return, O Israel, says the Lord, return to me; and if you will remove your abominations from my face, you shall not be moved. By these words God declares himself to be the conductor and judge of his people, and therefore complains about their hypocrisy, as if saying: You indeed profess repentance with your mouth, and in fact offer many sacrifices, which have their proper use; but meanwhile you do not recognize with whom you have to deal. Therefore come, if you turn to me seriously, be mine entirely. And if you remove your abominations, wander no more, and do not, as you are accustomed, enter upon as many paths as possible, but rest in me sincerely and without guile or pretense, and persevere to the end. For people generally suffer from these two ordinary vices: either they seek God in pretense, to the point that they indulge themselves and give free rein to their vices; or if their disposition toward God is sincere, it is nevertheless not firm and stable, so that one might safely trust in it as a shield, since people generally fall back into their old ways. And therefore the prophet specifically rebukes these two vices in order to teach what conversion ought to be like if we desire to obtain mercy from God — namely, first, that it not be half-hearted and pretended, but simple and from a pure mind; then, that it not be unstable, but have a firm and fixed seat in our hearts; lest we imitate the fickle and inconstant Jews, and experience in reality that God is a consuming fire; but rather, with it taking deep root in us, let us persevere to the end in obedience and the fear of God. Finally, let us know that what Samuel says here to the Jews pertains also to us. For although, when God calls us to repentance, we are in some way moved, and we do indeed have within ourselves a sense of our sins by which we are impelled to seek God, yet we do so haltingly, and often stumble and falter in the middle of the way, so that for every step we advance with one foot, we step back again with the other. In short, we never seek God with that readiness and eagerness that is fitting. Therefore we need to be seriously admonished, lest our conversion be feigned or pretended, and that having turned to him, we submit ourselves to him alone and never turn elsewhere.

Furthermore, those words are not to be passed over lightly by which they are commanded to remove the idols from their midst, and the Ashtaroth. Concerning the word Ashtaroth, we have spoken in the book of Judges: sometimes it designates multiple gods, sometimes one alone; but in this passage it is used generally for any image that the pagan idolaters fashioned for themselves, as the Jews were skilled in seeking out new superstitions from everywhere, by which the sincere worship of God would be profaned. The word is derived from sheep, because such sacrifices were offered to those idols. Samuel therefore, with these words, taught the people that those two things cannot stand together, but are no less contrary than fire and water — namely, the pure worship of God and ceremonies instituted by men for idols. And this doctrine must be weighed by us with the greatest attention. For just as by nature we are deceived by our own opinions, and we would wish God to forgive us whenever we desire to deceive him and mock him, so also that wicked and impious inclination is innate in us, always to want to add something of our own to the worship of God, and to seek out something from elsewhere, so that we are never kept within the limits of that simplicity which God so emphatically requires of us in his worship. And indeed this vice takes such deep root in us that we never think about God's commandments, nor attend to what we are specifically admonished of in Scripture — namely, that the worship we offer to God will never be pleasing to him unless we offer it to him alone. Therefore there can be no place here for rites prescribed by God alongside human inventions; but God alone must be worshipped and adored without a partner. Hence that passage in the prophet Ezekiel, where God sends the Jews away to worship their filthy gods and plainly rejects them. For they always suffered from this vice: they persuaded themselves that they were worshipping God, provided they offered sacrifices in the temple and retained circumcision, even though they introduced foreign ceremonies and gods that they had received from the pagans into his worship. But God openly testifies that he finds none of all these things acceptable, and on the contrary, that he is deeply offended by their pretended worship, corrupted and debased by various superstitions and idol-manias. Therefore he says: 'Go to your gods — I will no longer tolerate you profaning my worship and my majesty.' And, I ask, how detestable is that profanation of the divine majesty, when people persuade themselves that they can serve both God and idols? Indeed, these things agree no more with each other than light and darkness. Therefore, if we desire to retain the purity of divine doctrine, all foreign abominations must be thoroughly rejected.

What do we think, then, will happen today to those wretched papists who so stubbornly retain their superstitions, persuading themselves that the worship they offer to God from many inventions scraped together from everywhere is not displeasing to him? They say indeed that one must invoke in the name of Jesus Christ, who is our mediator with the Father. But today you would hardly find one out of a thousand papists who knows that Jesus Christ is our only advocate and mediator with the Father. Rather, you will see them abhor this doctrine as profane, and think heaven should sooner be mixed with earth than that it could be admitted. Hence it happens that, although they confess Christ as mediator and advocate in words, they nevertheless add many partners to him: some invoke St. Catherine, St. Barbara, St. Margaret; others St. Christopher; others other patron saints, so that the number of such patrons is infinite. To which add that they indeed confess that God is to be worshipped simply and sincerely, yet they also think it a worship pleasing to God if a mass is assigned to St. Catherine, St. Margaret, St. Barbara, or any other saint. And thus the worship of God is torn into parts, and each one is assigned his portion, as if God himself were exposed as prey to all. I omit other things of this kind, for there would never be an end to such trafficking. For it is enough if we have recognized that people are by nature imbued with that false opinion and so bewitched that they can worship God together with idols, that they never allow themselves to be torn away from it by whatever arguments they may be convinced; and also that they can worship God according to the judgment and will of their own mind, and be pleasing and acceptable to him, and that nothing is taken from God by whatever innovations people introduce into his worship — as if God could bear or admit a partner or an equal. For he himself calls himself jealous. Now among men, we are not unaware that the word jealousy denotes the greatest vice, so that those afflicted by it cannot contain themselves. But God attributes jealousy to himself, not because he is carried away by passions and emotions in the manner of men, but to demonstrate that it is intolerable to him that a partner should be given to him by men. Who then would not tremble entirely and be stunned at that threat of the Lord? But such is the stupor of men that they do not become wise except when struck, and learn at their own peril that God is not to be mocked. They are so senseless that they do not recognize it is the greatest crime to assign to God whatever small portion they please and then to assign other portions to other gods, according as each person's devotion had inclined toward this or that one. What end, I ask, will there be to this? Such people seem like someone who, having an abundance of grain, wine, gold, and silver, distributes to each his own little portion. Is this how mortals will bind God to themselves, by assigning him a little portion at their own discretion? Will they place the devil beside God as a partner on his tribunal? Away with so great a crime! And yet it is certain that the devil is given to God as a partner, even if they swear the contrary a hundred times, when we venerate the names of apostles or martyrs as part of divine worship. And indeed, what greater insult could we inflict on those holy men who shed their blood for the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord, than by transforming them into idols? Therefore we must not think that the papists can worship God sincerely and purely while conferring divine honors upon the Virgin Mary and the apostles; rather, they fashion divine worship for themselves according to their own will and turn truth into falsehood, adulterate the whole worship of God and reduce his glory to nothing, as all of sacred Scripture testifies.

Not without reason, therefore, does Samuel exhort the Israelites and command them, if they are turning to God, to remove the foreign gods — not content that the people renounce their superstitions, but also commanding that the material and object of those superstitions be removed. The reasoning about images today is no different, if someone wished to restore what had been abolished and nevertheless profess the worship of God according to his word. For would it not be shameful, I ask, for those professing the Christian name, upon entering some temple, to see in it pollutions contrary and repugnant to the pure and sincere worship of God — such as those idols and images by which the very majesty of God is profaned — and to adore them and consent to that foul idolatry? Would not that, I say, be a most evident sign of impenitence and a testimony of aversion from God? Indeed, they seem to me not unlike a certain criminal who, having been condemned to death and yet having obtained grace, wants his case tried again, and his disgrace and ignominy renewed and publicized. For on the contrary, one who has obtained grace shudders at his crime, and especially grieves that it has become known, and wishes it utterly wiped out and buried. But what else are idols — with which, as sacred Scripture says, the unfaithful commit fornication — than so many heads of accusation by which an angered God is provoked to take vengeance? For those who retain images in the temples do the same as if they were insulting God himself, reproaching him for his divine glory and majesty, as if saying: You do not alone possess glory and majesty; for we have erected statues of wood or stone, to which we give the name and honor of gods. What is this but to trample underfoot the very majesty of God?

If we wish to practice serious repentance, therefore it is not enough to proclaim the doctrine of salvation purely, but the idols and images of every kind must be utterly destroyed and removed. But also all the impurities and corruptions of the true worship of God must be eradicated, so that we may purely serve him. But let us also diligently observe the doctrine we have heard from the prophet Ezekiel — namely, that not only do we pursue vain things and many empty pursuits by which we rush to destruction, but also that when we are gently invited by God to repentance, we turn away at the slightest breeze, so that even the flight of a fly deters us from our purpose. Then God must deal with us by threats, which we nevertheless still regard very lightly, and we can scarcely move a foot toward putting on a better mind. But on the contrary, when the devil provokes us even lightly and by a mere hint, we are most ready not only to run but even, if it were possible, to fly. Since therefore we are by nature so fickle and inconstant and prone to idolatry, all images and stumbling blocks must be removed early, lest we be carried away by them to destruction, as we see the greater part of the world willingly being deceived and going astray. Therefore if anyone today should introduce many ceremonies into the worship of God, asserting that the purity of divine worship is not at all harmed or profaned by them, and that those things are indifferent, at which no one takes offense — for example, if chrism and salt are added in baptism (which have already been in use for more than fourteen hundred years), nothing will be lost; and if a linen robe is added to these, to recall the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ — or if similar things are brought forward, we must carefully consider what needs to be done, lest we depart from the simplicity and purity of the gospel, since our nature is so inconstant and changeable that in a moment we are distracted to falsehood. And although we ourselves may not be moved by such things, yet there are so many recesses in the human heart that it is mere hypocrisy, unless God works in us by his power and the efficacy of the Holy Spirit. For indeed, unless we are governed and restrained by the Spirit of God, we are always prone to our foolish devotions and empty inventions, which we defend with the greatest ardor and vehemence of spirit. And for these reasons we see Samuel here exhorting the Israelite people to cast away all those prior abominations and to recognize that the worship of God had been profaned and polluted, and that as much had been diminished from the glory of God as honor had been attributed to those foul superstitions. But furthermore, he not only commands that the foul superstitions be cast away, but also demands that they henceforth direct their hearts to the worship of God with a sincere and unfeigned mind, and prepare their hearts for the Lord. By these words, when he commands them to prepare their hearts for the Lord, so that they may serve him alone — having already spoken above about worshipping God alone, to teach the people that the worship of God must not be divided, but that either he alone must be served or not at all — he goes further still when he commands them to prepare their hearts to serve God alone, namely that they should have a firm and constant purpose of worshipping God sincerely and from the heart. A doctrine worthy of fixing in our memory and putting into practice. For just as whatever you pour into a corroded vessel becomes spoiled, so people corrupted by the habit of vices are not only tainted with corrosion but are also infected with a deadly poison, and in turn infect others. When therefore Samuel commands them to prepare their hearts, he means those evil affections with which their hearts had been infected for so many years, which he commands to be changed for the better. And this is also the meaning of that passage in the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 4, when he says: Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. By these words he compares them to uncultivated and neglected soil, rough with thorns and briars, which had been unfruitful for many years; and therefore whoever sows in it without first plowing and pulling up the thorns will lose both his labor and his seed. And therefore one who wishes to gather fruit must first free that field from thorns and briars. In the same way the prophet teaches that those thorns of errors that have grown up over a long time must be torn out of hearts. Therefore he commands them to prepare and direct their hearts, to teach that the Jews were still poorly prepared. Indeed, so great is the stupidity of people that if they have once begun well, they think they have reached the pinnacle of knowledge and wisdom, when in fact they are still far off, but wretchedly deceive themselves and profane the name of God as much as lies in them. But the prophet commands the people to prepare themselves — a people that is nevertheless said to have wept, to have sought God, and to have been led by repentance. That is indeed so, but it was being sown in uncultivated soil that could not bear fruit. Rightly therefore he commands them first to prepare their hearts, as if threatening that, unless they recognized themselves and, having laid aside their former wickedness, seriously and from the heart gave themselves to his worship and trembled at his judgments, they would not find God favorable and benevolent, but would on the contrary experience him as judge — that no one can escape the judgment of God, but will always be held guilty until he obtains grace and peace from the Lord. And therefore it is necessary that to serious conversion and the fruits that are born from it, prayers must also be added, by which we invoke God to have mercy on us, and not to impute our offenses to us, by which we have provoked his wrath against us. This is made clear to us from this narrative.

Let us therefore bow down, etc.

1. The men of Kiriath-jearim came and brought up the ark of the Lord and carried it into the house of Abinadab on the hill. They consecrated his son Eleazar to care for the ark of the Lord. 2. From the day the ark remained in Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed — it was now twenty years — and all the house of Israel mourned after the Lord. 3. Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying: 'If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods from among you — the Baals and the Ashtaroth — prepare your hearts for the Lord and serve Him alone, and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.'

In yesterday's sermon we heard how wrongly the people of Beth-shemesh responded to God's judgment — judgment that should have instructed them rather than caused them to drive God away. God had punished their boldness and curiosity — they had rashly dared to touch the ark of the covenant and look into it. Instead of being driven away, they should have learned modesty, and being humbled before His majesty, should have sought Him all the more earnestly. These are exactly the punishments the prophet Isaiah threatened God would send upon those who despise Him — those who, when struck by God, only harden further as if paralyzed by spiritual numbness. What is more wretched than the condition of the hypocrite? When God presses them with sharper afflictions, they become so gripped with fear that they can only imagine fire and lightning in God — certain that they will be consumed. They accuse Him of excessive severity, as though nothing could stand before Him and everything must be destroyed. But the prophet rebukes those wretched people and says: Those who walk most justly and speak most honestly — who reject dishonest gain, who keep their hands clean of bribes, who shut their ears from hearing of bloodshed and close their eyes from seeing evil — these shall dwell in the highest places, and rocky strongholds shall be their refuge. By these words the prophet teaches that if God's majesty seems fearsome to us, the fault lies in ourselves, not in God. If we were what we ought to be, we would experience God not as a judge but as a Father — persuaded of His fatherly goodwill toward us. We would understand that the blows and afflictions He sends are instruments by which He draws and converts us to Himself. We cannot, I confess, approach God relying on our own righteousness. We must flee to the mediator Scripture sets before us. Since by nature we are sinners and children of wrath and of the curse, banished from God's kingdom, we must seek peace and reconciliation through our Lord Jesus Christ and turn to God with a sincere heart and conscience. Then it is certain we will find peace with Him, and He will call us to Himself gently and lovingly. Let us therefore learn to cry with the prophet: 'Who can stand before the Almighty God?' — so that we may know that when we come to Him covered by the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will always be received gently. And provided all hypocrisy and stubbornness are absent from us, we will find in God not a consuming fire, but His power and might working for the advancement of our salvation.

Next, the people of Kiriath-jearim came, took back the ark of the Lord, and carried it into the house of Abinadab on the hill. We must first observe that the disaster that struck the people of Beth-shemesh did not come from the ark of the covenant itself — as they seemed to believe — but from their own fault, because they had not received it as was proper. The people of Kiriath-jearim successfully took the ark away and assigned it a permanent dwelling place, and no one in their entire region died. This makes clear that the ark was not cursed for those in Kiriath-jearim, and that it had not brought calamity upon the people of Beth-shemesh as something inherently harmful. What, then, distinguished the people of Beth-shemesh from the people of Kiriath-jearim? Simply this: the people of Kiriath-jearim recognized that God wished to be honored and worshiped according to the prescription of His law — that His worship is bounded by certain laws, within which one must remain — and therefore that the ark of the Lord was not to be touched with such audacity.

Here we experience in reality what the Lord declares about Himself in Psalm 18: 'With the merciful You show Yourself merciful; with the blameless You show Yourself blameless; with the pure You show Yourself pure; but with the crooked You show Yourself contrary.' By these words, all who complain of God's excessive severity are condemned — and the cause of their troubles is turned back upon themselves. Hypocrites perpetually complain about God's severity, holding up the worship they have performed as proof that they have put God in their debt. But God says otherwise: He will be merciful with the merciful — that is, He deals with people according to how they in turn conduct themselves toward Him. If they show themselves obedient and sincere, He will be merciful and will embrace them with the same love that mothers show their little children, so that they will find nothing more tender anywhere. But if they are obstinate and rebellious, they will feel His severity. If they are hard as stone, they will find Him harder than iron or steel. This is plainly seen in the story of the people of Beth-shemesh — because they did not reverence the Lord's majesty, they found Him hard and fearsome. The people of Kiriath-jearim, made wise by the example of others, learned to walk in fear, reverence, and humility — and so God spared them.

When it says that they consecrated Eleazar, the son of Abinadab, to guard the ark of the Lord, this does not mean they assigned him the formal office of a Levite. That was not within their authority, and God would never have left such presumption unpunished. God had appointed the house of Levi as guardian of the sanctuary, and no one was permitted to assign that office to someone else. As the apostle teaches, no one takes upon himself the honor of administering sacred things unless appointed by God — and God alone reserved the right to call whom He pleased to ministry. It was therefore not lawful for the people of Kiriath-jearim to elect, consecrate, or appoint Eleazar as a Levite or priest. But nothing prevented them from choosing him as a custodian of the ark — someone who would ensure that no one came too close to where it was kept and that it was not treated as common — without, however, approaching it to handle it, which was the office of the priest alone. Since the ark had been received into a private house, God's wrath could easily be provoked and all reverence overturned if it were mixed carelessly with everyday domestic life. So that the place where the ark had been set would be treated as sacred and shown proper honor, Eleazar was chosen by the common consent and vote of the whole people as its guardian. He was to take care that God would not be provoked to wrath again, and that through negligence divine vengeance would not fall upon the whole people for failing to guard such a great treasure entrusted to them. This is the simplest sense of the words. The word 'consecrate' is used in various ways throughout Scripture. So Eleazar was appointed over the custody of the ark, yet without the people claiming authority to elevate him to the dignity God had assigned exclusively to the tribe of Levi. He is said to have been consecrated because this concerned the worship of God — so that God might be duly honored, and so the people would have a perpetual testimony of God's presence for their defense and preservation.

After twenty years had passed, the Israelites cried out to the Lord in lamentation, and Samuel called all the people to turn back to the Lord and put away the foreign gods from among them — ending the confused mixing of gods they had maintained before. Although they claimed to worship the God of Abraham, they were still drawn to superstitions and idolatries, and so had defiled true worship by mixing it with pagan abominations. Samuel therefore rightly urged them not to return to God only partially, for God will not tolerate a divided heart — He demands the whole person and insists on being worshiped sincerely and without pretense. The span of twenty years is noted so that we can understand how Samuel's authority had grown by this time. He had still been quite young when the ark was captured. Even then he was recognized as a prophet, distinguished by divine revelations. But he did not yet have sufficient authority to compel so stubborn and resistant a people as the Jewish nation to fulfill their duty and remain in it. As we have already seen, and will see again, the Jews were very difficult and headstrong — they did not readily submit to anyone's direction. A young Samuel could not have kept them in line. God therefore allowed him to reach a certain age so that afterward the people would receive him more readily, with no one opposing him.

This also reveals how dull the wretched Jews were. Even a donkey quickens its pace a step or two under a stick; but these people, though struck repeatedly and at length by God, were not moved. They remained sunk in the mud of their superstitions and gave no thought to returning to God. They seemed more like brute animals than godly people. If they had possessed even a trace of sound judgment, they would certainly have come to an acknowledgment of their sins. Yet after twenty years had passed, they at last began to weep and lament before the Lord. From this let us learn to bear patiently the chastisements God sends upon us. If He redoubles His warnings and lets us feel the weight of His mighty hand, let us blame our own hardness — which God knows cannot be corrected any other way. This very example teaches us that plainly enough. We easily condemn the Israelites for clinging to superstition for so many years without returning to God. But why do we not think about ourselves? What does each of us do in our own case? We may show some outward sign of religion and profess that we never wish to depart from its sincerity and purity. Yet who actually departs from a vicious way of life? What is recorded about the ancient Jewish people, each person can easily find in himself. If God, provoked by our sins, were compelled to punish us more harshly, He would find in us the same stubbornness — He would have to strike us again and again. And if He were to grant us a better spirit, by which we might repent and return to Him after He had gently corrected us — without that special divine help we would be far worse than the Jews. We would sooner be broken by a thousand blows than come to an acknowledgment of our sins and submit ourselves to His rule. When we hear of the tears and laments of the Jews, then, let us know that their repentance is being declared. Yet sorrow alone does not prove true and sincere repentance. Tears and groans are not enough for someone claiming to return to God. That sorrow is only a kind of pathway and preparation for repentance. Sometimes that sorrow is used to represent the whole of conversion to God. True repentance flows from this as from a spring: that people groan within themselves and are in some sense at war with themselves. This is the sorrow Paul speaks of when he says he does not regret having saddened the Corinthians by his letter. His rebuke had caused them great grief — and while people are by nature soft and tender, not wanting their wounds probed, Paul says he does not regret bringing them such sorrow, because it was good and healing. There are two kinds of sorrow: one that leads to life, and another that leads to death. When, full of arrogance, we rage against God and cry out against the blows He sends, that sorrow leads to death and brings greater condemnation. The other kind is good and life-giving — never to be avoided. This is when the Holy Spirit so governs us that we examine ourselves, weigh the gravity of our sins, groan over them, and are even angry with ourselves for having been so wretched as to provoke God's wrath against us by so many sins. The tears of the Israelites show that they were turning toward God, because they had begun to feel the weight of their sins. This also shows that until then they had continued in their vices like brutes. Even when God struck them with heavy blows, they did not try to examine the cause of those blows. Instead, they tried to send the ark of God away from themselves, thinking it was the source of their trouble. They did feel God's hand and were outwardly disturbed — giving some outward expression of grief. But their tears quickly dried up. They were like dogs that bark loudly when struck with a club, but when the pain passes, think little of the blow. The Israelites were greatly moved at first — yet not for a day, not for months, not for just a year, but for twenty full years they remained as if sunk in deep sleep, hardened in their vices. But when God finally roused them, they were moved, and they groaned and lamented before God. Let us learn from this that if we have wandered off the right path, we cannot obtain grace from God or be reconciled to Him unless we are first deeply grieved and angry with ourselves. If we do not want to face God as our judge, we must get there first — as Paul says. We must pray that He give us His Holy Spirit, under whose guidance we may become teachable, lest He enter into judgment against us. And if He does enter into judgment, let us first pronounce sentence upon ourselves — not like defendants forced to confess under duress, but in order to obtain grace and mercy from Him. If we take an honest look at our native corruption, we will certainly find ample reason to groan. Even if there were not so much self-love and self-flattery in us, the sheer number of our sins should be enough to move us to tears and groaning whenever we look honestly at our lives. We must therefore pass such a judgment on ourselves that God may accept our humility — not only recognizing ourselves as guilty of many sins, but offering God a heart so broken with sorrow that He finds it acceptable. For, as I said before, that sorrow is the true path to repentance.

This passage also shows how imperfect and half-hearted human repentance tends to be. People pour out the greatest groans and wailing and yet still hold on to much evil inside, so that they do not sincerely turn to God. Samuel's exhortation should not be dismissed as vain or unnecessary when he says: 'If you are returning to God and to sincere worship, return with all your heart.' By these words he teaches that something of their idolatry still remained, and they had not yet seriously turned to God — since if they truly wanted salvation, that had to change. If your conversion is genuine and wholehearted, Samuel says, then you will certainly be pleasing and acceptable to God. But when you mix superstitions with the worship of God, you still have an ambiguous and divided heart — a split that displeases God. This is a truth worth careful attention, especially because people are so naturally blind that they think they have done their duty toward God well enough with a light and hollow repentance — a mere verbal confession that they are sinners, by which they imagine they can easily satisfy God and men. You commonly see this pattern: when someone has committed a serious offense that has scandalized everyone, if they offer even the slightest verbal acknowledgment of wrongdoing, and are then pressed further, they grow indignant and nearly threaten legal action because their iniquity isn't instantly forgotten. Especially those who hold some position of dignity complain of being treated too harshly if, after shedding a tear or confessing their sin in a halfhearted murmur, they are not immediately absolved. What shall I say about those who claim to be ministers of God's Word — who ought to lead others by the holiness of their lives — when they are convicted of fornication, gluttony, or similar sins? Unless such offenses are immediately buried in silence, they do not hesitate to complain and threaten to bring a lawsuit. 'Granted,' they say, 'I sinned — I confess it, I acknowledge the fault. But why am I treated so harshly? If I repent, should my tears and groans not be enough?' But I ask: is their repentance worth so much that they should retain their dignity among honest and upright people — they who ought rather to be permanently red-faced with shame and looking for places to hide? Let us recognize how prone we are to such behavior, so that we may despise that painted repentance which is nothing but a mockery and insult to God — in which we think we have done our duty while offering Him lies and mere show. We must take the greatest care not to depart from this rule: that if we truly and wholeheartedly turn to God, we must turn sincerely and in obedience to Him. We must not minimize guilt with vague words, but honestly confess our offenses and return to Him with a sincere mind.

This is the meaning of the prophet's words: 'If you return, O Israel, says the Lord, return to Me; and if you remove your abominations from before Me, you shall not be shaken.' By these words God declares Himself to be the director and judge of His people, and He rebukes their hypocrisy — as if to say: You claim repentance with your lips, and you offer many sacrifices that have their proper use. But meanwhile you do not recognize whom you are dealing with. So come — if you are turning to Me in earnest, be entirely Mine. Remove your abominations, stop wandering. Do not, as you have been doing, scatter yourselves across every path, but rest in Me sincerely, without pretense or deception, and persevere to the end. People commonly fall into one of two vices: either they seek God only in pretense, all while indulging themselves and giving free rein to their vices; or their disposition toward God is sincere at first but not firm enough to hold — they slide back into their old ways. The prophet specifically rebukes both of these vices to show what true conversion must look like if we are to obtain mercy from God. First, it must not be halfhearted or pretended, but simple and from a pure mind. Second, it must not be unstable, but take a firm and settled place in our hearts — so that we do not imitate the fickle and changeable Jews and experience God as a consuming fire. Instead, rooted deeply in us, let us persevere to the end in obedience and the fear of God. Finally, let us know that what Samuel says here to the Jews applies to us as well. Even when God calls us to repentance and we are genuinely moved — even when we have a real sense of our sins that drives us to seek God — we still do so haltingly. We stumble and stall midway, so that for every step forward we take with one foot, we pull back with the other. In short, we never seek God with the readiness and eagerness that is fitting. We therefore need to be seriously warned: let our conversion be genuine and not pretended, and having turned to God, let us submit ourselves to Him alone and never turn elsewhere.

We must not pass over lightly the words commanding them to remove the idols from their midst — the Baals and the Ashtaroth. Concerning the word Ashtaroth, we have spoken in the book of Judges: sometimes it refers to multiple gods, sometimes to one alone. Here it is used generally for any image that pagan idolaters fashioned for themselves — including the many new superstitions the Jews were skilled at seeking out from every direction, by which the pure worship of God was defiled. The word derives from a term for sheep, because such animals were offered in sacrifice to those idols. Samuel, by these words, taught the people that two things cannot coexist — they are as contrary as fire and water: the pure worship of God and ceremonies invented by men for idols. This teaching demands our closest attention. Just as we are by nature prone to deceiving ourselves and would like God to excuse us whenever we try to deceive and mock Him, so there is an equally wicked and deeply rooted tendency in us to always want to add something of our own to God's worship — to reach for something from elsewhere — never content to stay within the simple boundaries God so emphatically requires in His worship. This vice is so deeply rooted in us that we seldom think about God's commandments or attend to what Scripture specifically warns: that the worship we offer God will never please Him unless we offer it to Him alone. There is no room for rites prescribed by God alongside human inventions. God alone must be worshiped and adored, without a partner. Hence that passage in the prophet Ezekiel, where God sends the Jews away to worship their filthy gods and openly rejects them. They had always suffered from this vice: they convinced themselves they were worshiping God, as long as they offered sacrifices in the temple and maintained circumcision — even while they introduced foreign ceremonies and gods received from the pagans into His worship. But God openly declares that He finds none of these things acceptable. On the contrary, He is deeply offended by their feigned worship, which has been corrupted and contaminated by various superstitions and idol-worship. He says: 'Go to your gods — I will no longer tolerate you defiling My worship and My majesty.' How detestable is that profaning of the divine majesty, when people persuade themselves that they can serve both God and idols? These things agree no more with each other than light and darkness. Therefore, if we desire to preserve the purity of divine teaching, all foreign abominations must be thoroughly removed.

What then do we think will happen to those wretched papists today, who so stubbornly cling to their superstitions? They persuade themselves that the worship they offer God — assembled from countless human inventions — is pleasing to Him. They say one must call upon God in the name of Jesus Christ, who is our mediator with the Father. But today you would hardly find one in a thousand papists who truly understands that Jesus Christ is our only advocate and mediator with the Father. In fact, they treat this doctrine as profane, as something so outrageous it could never be admitted. So it happens that even while they confess Christ as mediator in words, they add many partners alongside Him. Some invoke St. Catherine, St. Barbara, St. Margaret; others St. Christopher; others their own patron saints — so that the number of such patrons is endless. Add to this that while they confess God is to be worshiped simply and sincerely, they also consider it a form of worship pleasing to God to assign a Mass to St. Catherine, St. Margaret, St. Barbara, or any other saint. In this way the worship of God is divided into portions, each portion assigned to a different party — as though God Himself were being parceled out as plunder. I will leave aside other examples of this kind, for there would be no end to cataloguing such abuses. It is enough to recognize that people are by nature so imbued with this false belief — and so bewitched by it — that they think they can worship God alongside idols, and no argument can dislodge them from it. They also believe they can worship God according to their own will and judgment and still be pleasing to Him, as if whatever innovations people introduce into His worship take nothing away from God — as if God could tolerate or admit a partner or an equal. God Himself calls Himself jealous. Among men, we know that jealousy is considered a serious fault — those afflicted by it cannot control themselves. But God attributes jealousy to Himself not because He is driven by human passions and emotions, but to declare that it is intolerable to Him for any partner to be assigned to Him by human beings. Who would not tremble completely and be struck silent by that warning from the Lord? But such is the dullness of human beings that they do not become wise except when struck — learning at their own cost that God is not to be mocked. They are so senseless that they fail to see it is the greatest crime to assign God whatever small portion pleases them and then distribute other portions to other gods, each person following his own devotion toward whichever one he prefers. What end, I ask, will there be to this? Such people are like someone who, possessing an abundance of grain, wine, gold, and silver, distributes a little portion to each person. Is this how mortals will bind God to themselves — by assigning Him a modest share according to their own discretion? Will they set the devil beside God as a partner on His throne? Away with so great a crime! And yet it is certain that the devil is given to God as a partner — even if people swear the contrary a hundred times — whenever we venerate the names of apostles or martyrs as part of divine worship. And what greater insult could we inflict on those holy men who shed their blood for the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord, than by turning them into idols? We must not think that the papists can worship God sincerely and purely while conferring divine honors on the Virgin Mary and the apostles. Rather, they fashion a form of worship according to their own will, turn truth into falsehood, corrupt the whole worship of God, and reduce His glory to nothing — as all of Holy Scripture testifies.

It is not without reason, therefore, that Samuel exhorts the Israelites and commands them — if they are turning to God — to remove the foreign gods. He is not satisfied with the people merely renouncing their superstitions in words; he commands that the very objects and materials of those superstitions be removed. The reasoning about images today is no different, if someone wished to restore what had been abolished and still profess to worship God according to His Word. Would it not be shameful for those who bear the name of Christian to enter some church building and find there things utterly contrary to the pure worship of God — idols and images by which God's very majesty is defiled — and then to bow down to them and consent to that foul idolatry? Would that not be the most obvious sign of impenitence — a testimony of turning away from God? Such people remind me of a condemned criminal who, having been pardoned, then demands that his case be reopened and his shame and disgrace publicized all over again. By contrast, a person who has truly received grace is horrified by his crime. He is especially grieved that it became known at all and wishes it had been entirely wiped out and buried. But what are idols — with which, as Holy Scripture says, the unfaithful commit spiritual adultery — but so many charges against us by which an angry God is provoked to take vengeance? Those who keep images in their places of worship are doing the same as insulting God to His face — throwing His divine glory and majesty back at Him, as if to say: 'You do not alone possess glory and majesty; for we have erected statues of wood or stone to which we give the name and honor of gods.' What is this but trampling the very majesty of God underfoot?

If we wish to practice genuine repentance, therefore, it is not enough to proclaim the gospel purely. The idols and images of every kind must be utterly destroyed and removed. All the corruptions and impurities of true worship must be rooted out so that we may serve God purely. Let us also carefully take to heart what we heard from the prophet Ezekiel: not only do we pursue vain and empty things that lead us to destruction, but even when God gently calls us to repentance, the slightest distraction is enough to turn us away — even the flight of a fly is enough to derail our resolve. God must deal with us through threats, and even then we take those threats very lightly, barely lifting a foot to put on a better mind. Yet on the other side, when the devil provokes us even slightly — with the faintest hint — we are most ready not only to run toward him but, if it were possible, to fly. Since we are by nature so fickle, so prone to idolatry, all images and stumbling blocks must be removed early — before they can carry us away to destruction, as we see the greater part of the world willingly being deceived and going astray. So if anyone today were to introduce many ceremonies into the worship of God, claiming that the purity of divine worship is not at all harmed or defiled by them — that these are indifferent things at which no one should take offense; for example, if chrism and salt are added to baptism (practices already in use for fourteen hundred years), nothing is lost; and if a linen robe is added to these, to call to mind the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ — or other similar additions are proposed — we must carefully consider what needs to be done. We must not depart from the simplicity and purity of the gospel, since our nature is so unstable and changeable that in a moment we are pulled into falsehood. And even if we ourselves may not be moved by such things, there are so many hidden recesses in the human heart that without God's active work in us by the power and efficacy of the Holy Spirit, it is all mere hypocrisy. Unless we are governed and restrained by the Spirit of God, we are always inclined to our foolish devotions and empty inventions — which we defend with the greatest passion and energy. For these reasons we see Samuel here exhorting the Israelite people to throw away all their former abominations and to acknowledge that the worship of God had been defiled and polluted — and that as much had been taken from God's glory as had been given in honor to those foul superstitions. But Samuel goes further: he not only commands that the foul superstitions be thrown away, he also demands that they direct their hearts to the worship of God with a sincere and genuine mind, and prepare their hearts for the Lord. When he commands them to prepare their hearts for the Lord so that they may serve Him alone — having already spoken above about worshiping God alone and the need not to divide that worship — he goes a step further by commanding them to have a firm and steadfast purpose to worship God sincerely and from the heart. This teaching is worth fixing in our memory and putting into practice. Just as anything poured into a corroded vessel becomes tainted, so people who have been corrupted by the habit of vice are not merely stained with corrosion — they are infected with a deadly poison, and in turn infect others. When Samuel commands them to prepare their hearts, he means that the evil desires that had infected their hearts for so many years must be changed for the better. This is also the meaning of the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 4, when he says: 'Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.' By these words he compares them to neglected, uncultivated soil — rough with thorns and briars, unfruitful for many years. Whoever sows in it without first plowing and pulling out the thorns will lose both his labor and his seed. To gather fruit, a farmer must first clear that field of thorns and briars. In the same way the prophet teaches that the thorns of long-standing error must be torn out of hearts. He commands them to prepare and direct their hearts — which shows that the Jews were still poorly prepared. Indeed, people are so foolish that if they have once made a good beginning, they think they have reached the pinnacle of wisdom — when in fact they are still far off. They wretchedly deceive themselves and, as much as it is in them, profane the name of God. The prophet commands this people to prepare themselves — a people that is said to have wept, to have sought God, and to have been moved by repentance. Yes — but that repentance was being sown in unplowed soil and could bear no fruit. Rightly, therefore, he commands them first to prepare their hearts. It is as though he is warning them: unless you recognize yourselves truly, and having put aside your former wickedness, give yourselves sincerely and from the heart to His worship and tremble at His judgments — you will not find God favorable and kind. You will instead encounter Him as a judge. No one can escape God's judgment until he has obtained grace and peace from the Lord. It is therefore necessary that genuine conversion and the fruits it produces be accompanied by prayer — calling on God to have mercy on us and not to hold our offenses against us, by which we have provoked His wrath. This narrative makes that clear.

Let us therefore bow down, etc.