The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 320

a~meed to ~dole.tro~s us~e e.t the. time wh~n he destroyed them. He did not spy aroond him, scentmg peril of idolatry in every image or other representation of natural forme that_ had com~ ?own to him from fo~mer age~, even when they were employed in the eerv1ce of relig10n. He was on the side of e. nch and gorgeous and artistic ceremonial of e. musical service (2 Chron. xxix. 25-27), a highly ornamer,ted sanctuary, a "house,: as "magnifies!" as art could make it (1 Chron. xxii. 6). He reco"nized that the preservation of artistic objects devoted to religion was the rule, destruction of them the rare exception, on_ly justified (1) wh~re idola_trous abuse had actually crept in ; and (2) where such idolatrous abuse still contmued. An observance of these ,viee limitations would have saved much that is now irrevocably lost in the past, and may be required to save what remains to ue of religious art in the future. Vere. 5-7.-God's service not really a hard service. God's service is not the hard service that some suppose it to be. No doubt it involves a certain amount of pain and suffering. For, first, there is no true service of God without self-denial; and self- denial is painful. Secondly, it involves chastening at the hand of God; for "whom the Lord loveth he chastenetb, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth" (Heh. xii. 6); and chastening is "not joyous, but grievous" (Heh. xii. 11). But there are to be set against these pains Bo many and so great compensations as leave a vast pre- ponderance of advantage, and even enjoyment, to the godly over the ungodly. I. THE BATIBFACTION OF A GOOD CONSCIENCE. Just SB there is nothing 80 painful, 80 depressing, so burdensome, as an evil conscience, the continually abiding sense of guiltiness and ill desert, so there is nothing which is a greater comfort to a man, more calculated to sustain him and maintain within him a perpetual quiet cheerfolnesR, than "the answer of a good conscience towards God" (1 Pet. iii. 21), the knowledge that one has striven and is striving to do God's will, and that by God's grace one has been kept from falling away from him. Notwithstanding their self-depreciation and self-distrust, good men have, on the whole, a self-approving conscience (Rom. ii. 15), which is a source of inward satisfaction and enjoyment. II. THE ESTEEM AND APPROVAL OF GOOD MEN. There is implanted in man a love of approbation, tbe gratification of which is the source of a very positive pleasure. Godly men, good men, whatever amount of dislike they may arouse among those whose deeigns they thwart, or to whom their lives are a continual reproach, elicit from the better sort a much greater amount of very warm and cordial approval. This cannot but be a satisfaction to them. 'l'he praise of men is not what they seek; but when it comes to them unsought, as it will almost certainly come at last, it cannot fail to be grateful and acceptable. III. TEMPOilAL PROSPERITY ARISING FROM MAN'S RESPECT AND ESTEEM. The approval of our fellow-men naturally leads on to temporal advantages. Men place those whom they esteem in situations of trust, which are also, generally or frequently, situations of emolument. They make them presents or leave them legacies. '!'hey give them their custom, and recommend their friends to do the same. The worldly maxim, "Honesty is the best policy," witnesses to the worldly advantage which accrues, by mere natural causation, to the upright, honest man. ".All things work together for good to them that love God;" and, generally speaking, even this world's goods seem to gather round them, and to cling to them, in spite of their slight esteem for earthly dross, and their proneness to scatter their riohes on those around them. IV, TEMPORAL PROSPERITY ARISING FROM THE DIRECT ACTION OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. Of this we have iu Hezekiah a notable example. He "clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, ... and the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth." The Divine blessing rested on all that he did; God "prospered him in all his works." When he seemed at the point of death, he miraculously recovered from his sickness, and God added to his life fifteen years (eh. xx. 6). When he provoked e. judgment by indiscreet ostentation, the boon was granted him that the judgment should not fall in his days (eh. xx. 19). When an over- whelming calamity seemed about to fall upon him, and to crush both him and his nation, the catastrophe was averted by a stupendou11 miracle-the Assyrian host was destroyed, and the peril escaped (eh. xix. 35). "Riches and honour exceeding much" were given him (2 Chron, xxxil. 27), and he was "magnified in the sight of all the  368 THE SECOND BOOK OF 'l'HE KINGS. [ell. xvm. 1- 37,