The 23rd Psalm--the Shepherd Psalm--is one of the best-known portions of the Bible; yet, as is the case with all Scripture, few, if any, who repeat the familiar passages of this psalm over and over, comprehend the depth of meaning they are designed to convey. The words, "He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake," (Psalm 23:3) are wonderfully illustrated in the dealing of God with the people who made and worshiped the golden calf while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the tables of the law which forbids such worship, and which the people had heard spoken but a few days before.
When we remember that God is the "Shepherd of Israel," (Psalm 80:1) and that He was leading His people "like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron," (Psalm 77:20) through the Red Sea and the desert, we can, in reading the 32nd chapter of Exodus, especially verses 7-14, see how strikingly these words apply: "The Lord is my Shepherd; ... He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." (Psalm 23:1,3)
A more flagrant insult than that which the Israelites offered to God can scarcely be imagined. He had delivered them from cruel bondage, and overthrown their oppressors in a manner that left no room for doubt that the Almighty God alone had accomplished it. The people themselves had done nothing to contribute to the wonderful deliverance, and could not have accomplished anything if they had tried; and the marvelous distinctions that are placed between the Israelites and the Egyptians in the matter of the plagues showed clearly that they did not happen "in the ordinary course of nature." God had said to them, "I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you unto myself;" (Exodus 19:4) "In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old." (Isaiah 63:9)
Yet, in the face of all this, they said to Aaron: "Up, make us gods [literally, God] which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him." (Exodus 32:1)
Mark how the people repudiated God. They gave Him no credit whatever for carrying them from bondage to freedom, from danger to safety; and, moreover, in the place of the God who bore them in His arms, they were content to have a god of their own making, which should go before them. So, "They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Saviour, which had done great things in Egypt; Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea." (Psalm 106:19-22)
It must have been in bitter irony that Aaron said to them when the golden calf was made: "These be your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt." (Exodus 32:4)
But the people in their blindness saw no incongruity in it; and when Aaron built an altar before it, and made a proclamation and said: "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord, ... they rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play." (Exodus 32:5-6)
Not the simple, innocent games of childhood, but the rude, coarse, boisterous, lascivious and indecent revelings of the heathen. In later times the Christians at Corinth, who had formerly been heathen, turned the Lord's Supper into a drunken revel, after their former heathen custom when worshiping their dumb idols; (1 Corinthians 6:17-22) and from this we get a glance at what the Israelites did before their idol.
It was a shameful performance in itself, and much more so when done in the name of Jehovah; for the calf was not another god before God, but the professed worship of God under the form of a beast. This was really a worse insult than direct repudiation of God. "Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His servant stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He should destroy them." (Psalm 106:23)
How did Moses stand in the breach, and turn away the wrath of God from Israel? What arguments did he use? What plea did he make? Did he tell the Lord how good the people had been, and plead that this was a "first offense"? Did he promise on their behalf that if He would only spare them this time they would "never do it again"? No; for neither of those things would have been true. Here is the plea of Moses for the sinful people: "And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why does your wrath wax hot against your people, which You have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom You swore by your own self, and said unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever." (Exodus 32:11-13)
His oath, His covenant, and blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
--Edward Mote, Hymn: My Hope is Built on Nothing Less, 1834.
When God made a promise, He confirmed it by an oath, (Hebrews 6:17) swearing by himself, (Hebrews 6:13) "That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for a refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us." (Hebrews 6:18)
It was not for Abraham's encouragement, but for ours, that God has sworn by himself, pledging His honor and His life for our salvation. His name is in Christ, and this is why we pray "in the name of Jesus," for "the sake of Jesus," or "for your name's sake." That ought to be with us something more than a mere form of speech. It is our recognition of the fact that we shall obtain mercy from God as surely as He lives; that, having pledged His honor, God is under obligation, not to us, but to himself, to save us from our sins, if we are only willing that He should.
But a little while before the making of the golden calf the people had made a covenant; promising to obey the Lord. (See Exodus 19:1-9; 24:3-8) But that covenant was not once mentioned as a ground for pardon. There was no pardon in it or because of it. Indeed, that covenant could have no effect except to tend to prejudice the case of the people; for the fact that they had broken their promise only aggravated their guilt. But there was, even as there is yet, forgiveness in and through God's own promise, and in nothing else; and this promise had been made long before. The covenant made with Abraham is our plea in coming to God.
Here is a lesson for all time, which, if heeded, will save us from despair when we fall into sin. God's promise stands fast, and cannot be made of none effect by our sin, no matter how great it is, because it was given with special reference to that. We may always say, with Daniel: "We do not present our supplications before You for our righteousnesses, but for your great mercies." (Daniel 9:18) "Though we believe not, yet He abides faithful; He cannot deny himself." (2 Timothy 2:13)
We may say, I give up every plea beside--Lord, I have sinned, but You have died.--Charles Wesley, Hymn: Jesus, the Sinner's Friend, 1739. "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)
How boldly may we come? Moses gives us an example. We must plead God's own honor, not that there is danger that He will forget it, but in order to "assure our hearts before Him;" (1 John 3:19) for when we say, "for your name's sake," we at once see that God would never allow His name to be dishonored by breaking His word, and so we rest securely on His promise. We find a similar case of boldness in approaching to God, in Jeremiah 14:7, 20-21. Israel had sinned worse than the heathen that had been cast out of the land before them, and the prophet said: "O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do it for your name's sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against You. ... We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You. Do not abhor us, for your name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of your glory; remember, break not your covenant with us." (Jeremiah 14:7,20-21)
Think of a mere man daring to use such language to God! At first it seems presumptuous almost to insolence; but when we consider everything we see that it is not, but that, on the contrary, it is the strongest plea that humble faith could prompt.
We can do no greater honor to God than to believe that He will perform the mercy that He has promised, and boldly to claim anything for which His name stands pledged. It is the violent that take the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 11:12) Let none therefore be disheartened because they have made shameful failures, but press close to the Lord's throne of grace and righteousness, "strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." (Ephesians 6:10)--Present Truth, July 10, 1902--Exodus 32:1-35
E.J. Waggoner