2 Kings iv. 13. What is to be done for thee? Wouldest thou he spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host ? And she answered, I divell among mine own people.
" TO be content with such things as we have " is a very rare acquirement. Every one imagines that some change of circumstances, and especially some addition to his fortune, will increase his happiness. But the answer of the Shunamite to the Prophet Elisha may well dissipate this delusion. She, in concurrence with her husband, had provided accom- modation for the prophet, that, when he was pro- ceeding on his journeys in the discharge of his ministerial office, and should have occasion to visit Shunem, he might have a place of repose under her roof. The prophet, sensible of her great kindness, and thankful for all the care she had taken of him, proposed to do any thing she might wish for the promotion of her interests. He offered to speak for
f36f3.] CONTENTMENT OF THE SHUN AMITE. 481
her to the captain of the host, or even to the king himself, if he might thereby obtain for her and her husband any thing that might conduce to their com- fort. But she dechned his kind offer, saying, " I dwell among mine own people," and possess in my intercourse with them all that my heart can desire.
Now this was a wise and good reply. It com- mends itself to us as the dictate of a sound judg- ment, I. On the principles of worldly wisdom —
Advancement in the world was offered her, but she preferred,
1. A state of independence to a state of obliga- tion—
[No man should be ashamed of a state of dependence, or of being indebted to the kind offices of others, if God has put him into a situation that requires it. God has ordained that there shall be a great diversity in the conditions of men, on purpose that every species of virtue may be called forth into act and exercise ; in the poor, contentment, and in the ricb, a liberal and tender sympathy. But to be needlessly dependent upon others is most disgraceful. No man should subsist on ahns when he is able to support himself. It w^as a blessing which God promised to his obedient people, when he said, "Ye shall lend to many nations, but shall not borrow; since by the one they would be the head, whereas by the other they would be in the degraded situation of the tail^." It was a virtuous pride therefore in this woman to decline a state of dependence, when God had given her a sufficiency for inde- pendence.]
2. A state of competency to a state of affluence —
[She had food and raiment ; What could she have more ? An abundance of the things of this life is usually productive of care, and always exposes us to temptation ; whilst yet the pos- sessor of it has " no other benefit from it than that of beholding it with his eyes''." Why then should any man affect worldly advancement ? "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things that he possesseth'^." True wisdom therefore dictates to every man the advice, which Jeremiah gave to Baruch, " Seekest thou great things unto thyself? Seek them nofi."]
a Deut. xxviii. 12, 13.
^ Eccl. V. 11. See also Ps. xxxvii. 16. Prov. xv. 16. Eccl. iv. 6. Matt, vi, 25—30. ^ Luke xii. 15, ^ Jer. xlv. 5.