The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 399

diligently and earnestly to do whatsoever our hands find to do, feeling certain that "they who seek the Lord shall not want any good thing." The Israelites followed the cloud, though it led them into the wilderness, with the conviction that God was leading them ; and when it was necessary He provided manna in proportion to their wants. If God does not ignore our temporal necessities, He will certainly not fail to supply our spi1itual wants. In the Fathe1's house there is bread enough and to spare. This we may prove on earth, but its highest fulfilment will be neen in heaven, where the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, shall feed us. II. THAT Goo USES WHAT ]![EN WOULD DESPISE. With limitless resources we should have ima.gined that God would miraculously create what was required 'dis- regarding " the handful of meal'' and tlie little oil left in a cruse. Not so how~ver, There is no waste in the Divine economy. The breath of men, the erlialatione of plants, the refuse cast into the field, or into the sea, the rising mist, the falling shower, are all accounted for, and have a purpose to fulfil, a work to do. There is no physical force which becomes utterly extinct, though it passes from one form of manifestation to another. Motion passes into heat, heat into electricity, &c., in an endless cycle. The economy of force asserts itself everywhere under the rule of God. This, which is proclaimed by science, is constantly illustrated in Scripture. It is the same God who worketh all in all. If manna is given to the Israelites, it ceases directly the people can eat of the corn of the country. The supernatural rises out of the natural The miraculous provision for Elijah was not a new creation, but an increase of what already existed; and in the use of this there was no prodigality or waste. Compare with Christ's miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. After showing that He had infinite resources, He said to Hie disciples, " Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." IIL THAT Gon REVEALS OUB WAY STEP BY STEP. Picture Elijah sitting by the brook Cherith, watching its waters becoming shallower day by day under the drought. He lmew not what he should do next, but he waited, and trusted, and prayed; and when the brook was dried up, " the word of the Lord oame unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath,'' &c. God does not reveal the future to us, but draws across it an impenetrable, or at most a semi-transparent veil. We know not with absolute certainty what a day may bring forth. The advantages of this ara evident-I. It saves us from sorrow and from sin. (1) From sorrow, because if we foresaw all that we should have to endure, if we knew the day of our death, the extent of our losses, &c., our burden would be greater than we could bear. " Suffi- cient unto the day is the evil thereof." (2) From sin, because we should grow absorbed in worldly occupations it we were certain life would be long; or become despondent and spiritless in work if we lmew it would be short. 2. It fosters in us the graces of trust and prayer. If we know nothing of the future ourselves, and cannot feel confident about our own plane, we are led to confide in Him who foresees what is before us, and to ask Him in prayer for daily guidance and support. IV. THAT GOD BEWABDS OUB CONSECRATION OF WHAT WE HAVE TO HIM. It was a generous act towards a stranger, a pious act towards a servant of Jehovah, to fetch for Elijah the water which was now so costly, and to be willing to share with him what appeared to be her last meal. " There is that scattereth, and yet in- creaseth." Even in temporal affairs this is trne. Hoard seed in the springtime, and you cannot be enriched; scatter it, and the harvest will come. Give to the poor in the name of their Lord, and yon will not fail of reward-either here or here• after. We are to give, however, not for the sake of applau~e or recompense, but " as unto the Lord," to whom we owe all that we have. Thie woman not only gave to the prophet, but gave to him in the name of a prophet, and therefore "received a prophet's reward'' (Matt. x. 40-42). May Ha who commanded the widow when she gave her two mites so accept our gifts and services, and so approve our motives, as at last to say, " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me I" (Matt. xxv. 40.)-A. R. Ver. 21.-Prayer for the Dead. The portrait of the widow of Zarephath is remarkably natural. Har calmness in speaking of thl) trouble that was only Ok, XVII, 1-24,] THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 409