Chapter 65. The Fifth Argument: Manifesting the Exceeding Willingness of God and Christ to Be Reconc
Fourthly, the Lord expresses His willingness to be reconciled to sinners with a sigh, a mark of earnest desire. You can see this in Deuteronomy 5:29, where God says, "O! That there were such a heart in them." When we express our desires, we might say, "I wish this were so." But when we express our most earnest desires, we add an "O!" – "O! That there were!"
Thus, God says, "O! That they had such a heart, that they would fear Me and walk in My ways." Why does God express this? It is so that it might be well with them and with their children forever: "O! That there were such a heart."
It is worth noting that if you look earlier in the chapter, the people had said that whatever God commanded, they would do. But the Lord saw that their hearts were not fully committed to Him.
Therefore, the Lord (as it were) sighs with the earnestness of His desire: "O! That there were such a heart in them."
If a man who had fallen out with another, when in his bedchamber or at his table, sighed and said, "O! That this person would come to me and be reconciled, how glad I would be," how evident would it be that he earnestly desires reconciliation? This is precisely what God does; He sits (as it were) and says, "O! That there were such a heart."
Chapter 65.
The Fifth Argument: Manifesting the Exceeding Willingness of God and Christ to Be Reconciled to Sinners