make, and I am finished. You know, my friends, that as there is something in the song of Moses which is typical of the song of the Lamb, there was another song sung by the waters of the Red Sea which is typical of the song of hell. “What mean you, sir, by that dread thought?” Oh! shall I use the word music? Shall I profane the heavenly word so much as to say, it was doleful music which came from the lips of Pharaoh and his host? Boldly and pompously, with roll of drum and blast of trumpet they had entered into the sea. Suddenly their martial music ceased; and ah! oh heavens and oh floods what was it? The sea was coming down upon them, utterly to devour them. Oh! may we never hear that shriek, that awful yell of hideous agony, that seemed to rend the sky, and then was hushed again, when Pharaoh and his mighty men were swallowed up, and went down alive into hell! Ah! stars, if you had heard it, if the black pall of waters had not shut out the sound from you, you might have continued trembling to this hour, and maybe you are trembling now; maybe your twinklings by night are on account of that terrible shriek you heard; for certainly it would be enough to make you tremble on for ever. That dreadful shriek, that hideous moan, that horrible howl, when a whole army sank into hell at once, when the waters swallowed them up!
17. Take heed, my friends, take heed, lest you should have to join in that terrible miserere; take heed, lest that horrible howl should be yours, instead of the song of the redeemed. And remember, so must it be, unless you be born again, unless you believe in Christ, unless you repent of sin and renounce it wholly, and with trembling hearts put your confidence in the Man of Sorrows, who is soon to be crowned the King of kings and Lord of lords. May God bless you, and give you all to taste of his salvation, that you may stand upon the sea of glass, and not have to feel the terrors of the mingled fire in the lower depths of it! God Almighty bless this vast assembly, for Jesus’ sake!
{a} The fires that Queen Mary (1553-1558) ordered to be lit at Smithfield put to death such Protestant leaders and men of influence as Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer and Hooper, but also hundreds of lesser men who refused to adopt the Catholic faith.
Mercy, Omnipotence, And Justice
No. 137-3:241. A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Morning, June 21, 1857, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.
The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. {Nahum 1:3}
1. Works of art require some education in the beholder, before they can be thoroughly appreciated. We do not expect that the uninstructed should at once perceive the varied excellencies of a painting from some master hand; we do not imagine that the superlative glories of the harmonies of the Princes of Song will enrapture the ears of clownish listeners. There must be something in the man himself, before he can understand the wonders either of nature or of art. Certainly this is true of character. By reason of failures in our character and faults in our life, we are not capable of understanding all the separate beauties, and the united perfection of the character of Christ, or of God, his Father. Were we ourselves as pure as the angels in heaven, were we what our race once was in the garden of Eden, immaculate and perfect, it is quite certain that we should have a far better and nobler idea of the character of God than we can possibly attain to in our fallen state. But you cannot fail to notice, that men, through the alienation of their natures, are continually misrepresenting God, because they cannot appreciate his perfection. Does God at one time withhold his hand from wrath? Lo, they say that God has ceased to judge the world, and looks upon it with listless phlegmatic indifference. Does he at another time punish the world for sin? They say he is severe and cruel. Men will misunderstand him, because they are imperfect themselves, and are not capable of admiring the character of God.
2. Now, this is especially true with regard to certain lights and shadows in the character of God, which he has so marvellously blended in the perfection of his nature: that although we cannot see the exact point of meeting, yet (if we have been at all enlightened by the Spirit) we are struck with wonder at the sacred harmony. In reading Holy Scripture, you can say of Paul, that he was noted for his zeal — of Peter, that he will ever be memorable for his courage — of John, that he was noted for his lovingness. But did you ever notice, when you read the history of our Master, Jesus Christ, that you never could say he was noble for any one virtue at all? Why was that? It was because the boldness of Peter magnified itself as to throw other virtues into the shade, or else the other virtues were so deficient that they set forth his boldness. The very fact of a man being noted for something is a sure sign that he is not so notable in other things; and it is because of the complete perfection of Jesus Christ, that we are not accustomed to say of him that he was eminent for his zeal, or for his love, or for his courage. We say of him that he was a perfect character; but we are not able very easily to perceive where the shadows and the lights blended, where the meekness of Christ blended into his courage, and where his loveliness blended into his boldness in denouncing sin. We are not able to detect the points where they meet; and I believe the more thoroughly we are sanctified, the more it will be a subject of wonder to us how it could be that virtues which seemed so diverse were in so majestic a manner united into one character.
3. It is just the same about God; and I have been led to make the remarks I have made on my text, because of its two clauses which seem to describe contrary attributes. You will notice, that there are two things in my text: he is “slow to anger,” and yet he “will not at all acquit the wicked.” Our character is so imperfect that we cannot see the congruity of these two attributes. We are wondering, perhaps, and saying, “How is it he is slow to anger, and yet will not acquit the wicked?” It is because his character is perfect that we do not see where these two things melt into each other — the infallible righteousness and severity of the ruler of the world, and his lovingkindness, his longsuffering, and his tender mercies. The absence of any one of these things from the character of God would have rendered it imperfect; the presence of them both, though we may not see how they can be congruous with each other, stamps the character of God with a perfection elsewhere unknown.
4. And now I shall endeavour this morning to set forth these two attributes of God, and the connecting link. “The Lord is slow to anger”; then comes the connecting link, “great in power.” I shall have to show you how that “great in power” refers to the previous and the next sentence. And then we shall consider the next attribute — “He will not at all acquit the wicked”: an attribute of justice.
5. I. Let us begin with the first characteristic of God. He is said to be “SLOW TO ANGER.” Let me declare the attribute, and then trace it to its source.
6. God is “slow to anger.” When mercy comes into the world, she drives winged steeds; the axles of her chariot wheels are glowing, hot with speed; but when wrath comes, it walks with tardy footsteps; it is not in haste to kill, it is not swift to condemn. God’s rod of mercy is always in his hands outstretched. God’s sword of justice is in its scabbard: not rusted in it — it can be easily withdrawn — but held there by that hand that presses it back into its sheath, crying, “Sleep, oh sword, sleep; for I will have mercy upon sinners, and will forgive their transgressions.” God has many orators in heaven; some of them speak with swift words. Gabriel, when he comes down to tell glad tidings, speaks swiftly: angelic hosts, when they descend from glory, fly with wings of lightning, when they proclaim, “Peace on earth, good will towards men”; but the dark angel of wrath is a slow orator; with many a pause between, where melting pity joins her languid notes, he speaks; and when only half his oration is completed he often stops, and withdraws himself from his rostrum, giving way to pardon and to mercy; he having only addressed the people that they might be driven to repentance, and so might receive peace from the sceptre of God’s love.
7. Brethren, I shall just try to show you now how God is slow to anger.
8. First, I will prove that he is “slow to anger”; because he never strikes without first threatening.
