“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus—Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock uncustomed to the yoke; turn thou me and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh; I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him. I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord” (Jer. xxxi. 18-20). Let us notice (1) The penitent bemoaning himself; (2) the interest with which the Lord regards him; (3) the answer which He makes to his moaning. (1) The penitent bemoaning himself. His moanings are poured out before God. It is to God he speaks. He owns the chastening hand of the Lord. “Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised.” He felt it. It made him smart. It brought him low. His own behaviour under the chastening is intimated in the confession he makes of his own behaviour under it: a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. He did not know how to act in it, or how to bear it. It was a restraint upon his liberty. Free before, now under the yoke; running wild before, now brought under control; but stupid, self-willed, all his care and struggles directed to the shaking himself free from the yoke and to recover his former liberty and enjoy his former indulgences. But the yoke that God puts on is not thus to be shaken off. It must remain on, till God’s time for removing it comes. He wearies himself, hurts himself, and puts forth unavailing efforts until he is obliged to cease, and give up his struggles and submit to bear the yoke and become bidable and obedient. His petition in his bemoanings, “Turn thou me.” He wishes to turn, but cannot, and prays to God to turn him. His faith, “And I shall be turned.” He believes in God’s power to turn him. He is actually turned, and sees the contrast between his wild struggles at the first to get free of the yoke. It was chastening that he bewailed at first; it is sin now. “I repented, I smote upon my thigh, I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.”