Samuel Prays at an Altar as Lightning Strikes Philistinesby emmanuel_higgins
99:7Psalms 99:7
He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them.
God spoke to Moses from the cloudy pillar, even the pillar of fire, to give solemn direction for the guidance of Israel. What He communicated in that way was His testimonies and ordinance, that is His own principles for His people. Those principles endure and are not to be departed from, and the church with its institutions is bound to obey them by standing for right and justice and virtue with no self-serving motive.
But His people afterward twisted those principles by taking up human maxims and ceremonies He had never given. Because of that perversion He was unable to impart the blessings He earnestly desired to bestow upon them.
God spoke to Moses from the cloudy pillar, even the pillar of fire, to give solemn direction for the guidance of Israel. What He communicated in that way was His testimonies and ordinance, that is His own principles for His people. Those principles endure and are not to be departed from, and the church with its institutions is bound to obey them by standing for right and justice and virtue with no self-serving motive.
But His people afterward twisted those principles by taking up human maxims and ceremonies He had never given. Because of that perversion He was unable to impart the blessings He earnestly desired to bestow upon them.