HOMILETICS. Vere. 10-17.-The /UJ,rvest-.field again. Let us return to the Oriental harvest-field. Harvest-fields in general are lively scenes. Emphatically so in the East, where bright weather may be calculated on with almost absolute certainty. Pleasantry and work go hand in hand. Dr. W. M. Thomson, speaking of Philietia, says, "When the fog dispersed, the whole plain appeared to be dotted over with harvesting parties • men reaping, women and chi!dren gleaning and gathering the grain into bundles, o; taking care of the flocks, which followed closely upon the footsteps of the gleaners. All seemed to be in good humour, enjoying the cool air of the morning. There was singing, alone and in chorus, incessant talking, home-made jokes, and laughing loud and long" (' The Land and the Book,' p. 543). The harvest scene as represented on the shield of Achilles may be recalled (see the eighteenth book of the 'Iliad'). 1. We find Boaz and Ruth still standing where we left them (vers. 9, 10). Surely some great attraction is detaining the busy husbandman, a 'man of affairs.' 2. A group of Graces are tripping round about Ruth. There is, firstly, gratitude, always lovely and welcome. If in any soul it be meagre, stinted, stunted, the soil of that soul is shallow. There is, secondly, res'Rectfulness. "She fell on her face, and did obeisance to the ground" (ver. 10). Respectfulness is the homage that is due to a noble nature, and to him who is the Creator of it. We are to "honour the king." True; but we are likewise to "honour all men" (1 Pet. ii. 17), for there is something kingly after all in the nature of all. Then there is, thirdly, wonder. "Why have I found favour in thine eyes, so that thou takeet notice of me, and I a stranger?" (ver. 10). Some accept attentions and kind- nesses as things of course. Some almost exact them, as if they were dues. Not so the nobler souls. They wonder when distinction is conferred on them. Moses wondered : "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" (Exod. iii. 11 ). David wondered: 11 Who am I, 0 Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto ? " (2 Sam. vii. 18). Paul wondered: 11 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph. iii. 8). 3. Boaz explained to the wondering stranger why it gratified him to show her attention. 11 It hath been fully showed unto me, all that thou hast done toward thy mother-in-law since the death of thy husband : and that thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and hast come to a people whom heretofore thou knewest not" (ver. 11). His spirit seems to kindle as he proceeds, so that his words become tipped with brightness and beauty. He 11 winds the robes of ideality around the bareness" of mere facts (J. lngelow).
He says, 11 The Lord requite thy work, and may thy recompense be complete from the Lord God of Israel, to trust under whose wings thou art come" (ver. 12). Words "fitly spoken I " 11 W orde spoken in due season I " 11 How good they are I ' A word, in particular, of well-deserved appreciation and commendation is peculiarly 11 good." It goes to the heart, and is often mighty to animate to victorious courage and hope. Nobler in its aims than II fame," it is yet, like "fame," a "spur, that the clear spirit doth raise, to scorn delights and live laborious days" (Milton). 4. Note the fine expression, "to trust under whose wings thou art come." Compare what the Psalmist says: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." "He shall cover thee with his feathJrs, and under his wings shalt thou trust" (Pa. xci. 1, 4). Compare what Jesus said: "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not" (Matt. n:iii. ~7). Compare what the Christian poet says: 40 THE BOOK OF RU'l'B. [err. 11. 10-17.