Return to Duty
J. R. Macduff, D. D. 1 Kings 19:15 And the LORD said to him, Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when you come, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: I. As Elijah journeyed back through the desert, one of his feelings doubtless would be this — DEEP SORROW ON ACCOUNT OF HIS PAST FAITHLESSNESS, AND A SALUTARY SENSE OF HIS WEAKNESS FOR THE TIME TO COME. Every step of that backward journey must have recalled, with sorrow and shame, the remembrance of his unworthy flight and unworthy unbelief. II. Another feeling Elijah had, in leaving his cave, must have been A LIVELY SENSE AND APPREHENSION OF GOD'S GREAT MERCY. What, in the retrospect of the recent wondrous manifestation, would more especially linger in the prophet's recollection? Not the wind, not the earthquake, not the fire; but the "still small voice." III. We may suppose another feeling entertained by Elijah in departing from his cave and returning through the wilderness, would be, A FIXED PURPOSE AND RESOLUTION OF NEW AND MORE DEVOTED OBEDIENCE. Mourning an unworthy past — penetrated by a lively sense of Jehovah's love, — he would go onward and forward, resolved more than ever on a life of grateful love and of active and unwavering service, until God saw meet to take him up in His chariot of fire. (J. R. Macduff, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: WEB: Yahweh said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.