gre~_t favours: (1) ~he re~toration of her son (cl1. iv.); (2) direction for herself o.nd family t-0 leave their old home during the seven years' famine; and then when she returned fr?m the hmd of the P~ilistines? where sh~ had sojourned seven' years; (3) the rcstorat10n of her old home, wh1eh had e1thrr fallen mto the hands of covetous persons, or been confiscated to the crown (ver. 6). 'l'hese are confessedly signal favours; but why were they rendered? Undoubtedly on account of the kinduess which this woman had manifested to Elisha., as recorded in the fourth chapter (vers. 8-10). She had shown him great hospitality, built a chamber for him in her own house, furnished it, a~d boarded and lodged h~m for a considerable time. Here, then, is the reward of kin_dness. Observe: 1. Kindness should always awaken gratitude. The very consti- tution of the human soul and the moral laws of God as revealed in Christ show this. Yet, alas! so far away has the human soul gone from its pristine state that real grati- tude for favours is somewhat rare. So much so, indeed, that it often turns out that the person on whom you bestow the greatest favours turns out to be your opponent and foe. Seneca has truly said that "were ingratitude actionable, there would not be in the whole world courts enough to try the causes in." So common is it that it is almost a maxim that, if you would alienate a man from you, you should bestow on him favours. Shakespeare has compared it to the cuckoo- " The hedge-sparrow fed the cuokoo so long That it had its bead bit off by its young." 2. Gratitude will always requite favours. The man who receives favours without some practical acknowledgmeut is an ingrate. "A man," says L'Estrange, "may as well refuse to deliver up a sum of money that is left him in trust, without a suit, as not to return a good office without asking." "He that has nature in him must be grateful ; 'Tie the Creator's primary great law, That links the chain of beings to each other, Joining the greater to the lesser nature, Trying the weak and strong, the poor and powe1-fu]. Subduing men to brutes, and even brutes to men." ' (Madan.) IL THE IGNORANCE oF BOY.ALTY. When the Shunammite woman had returned from the land of the Philistines, she made application to the king for the restoration" of her house and for her land," whereupon " the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done." Now, mark the igncrance of this King of Israel. He was so ignorant of Elisha-the man who had been working such wonders in his country, delivering such sublime truths, and rendering such high service to the state, that he here inquires of the prophet's servant concerning him. "It was to bis shame," says Matthew Henry, " that he needed now to be informed of Elisha's works, when he might have acquainted Limself with them as they were being done by Elisha himself." Shame I that kings sbuuld be ignorant of the morally best and greatest men in their kingdom I Yet they have always been eo, especially if the men, as in Elisha's case, lived in poverty. They know all about the moral pigmies that live in splendid palaces, bear high-sounding titles, are lords of castles, and owners of broad acres. Such, they not only know, but will honour with their visits, consort with them, shoot with them, etc. But to go into the obscure home of a truly great man who blesses the country with bis soul- quickening thoughts, and holds fellowship with Heaven, they would no more think of doing, than of travelling to the moon. Will it be always thus? Heaven forbid I JIL THE INFLUENCE OF GODLINESS. When the king heard from Gehazi what Elisha had done, "his majesty" (as we say) granted the woman her request. "And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a ce1tain officer, saying, Rtstore all that was here, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now." It was the involuntary ;nfluence of Elisha that disposed the mooarch to do all this. Who shall tell the good that even the involuntary influence of a godly man communicates to his e.ge? 'l'he voluntary iu6uence of a man's life-that is, the influence he exerts by intention and conscious efforts-is truly insignificant compared with that stream of u11co11scious influence oa. vm. l-2fl.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KING~. 181
that goes forth from him, not only at all times through his life, but even a.fter he bas quitted this mundane sphere. "Though dead, he yet speaketh." "As a Ii ttle silvery ripple," says Elihu Burritt, "set in motion by the falling pebble, expands from its Inch of radius to the whole compass of the pool, so there is not a. child-not an infant Moses-placed however softly in bis bulrush ark upon the sea of time, whose existence does not stir a ripple gyrating outwards and on, until it shall have moved across and spanned the whole ocean of God's eternity, stirring even the river of lif1; a.nd the fountain at which his angels drink."-D. T.