The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 68

action, our tongue or our hand; but we are masters of our own thoughts; our desires and purposes are our own. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" (see Mark vii. 21, 22; Matt,. xxvi. 12, 41). 2. 'l'here is an ascending sea.le in our motives, reaching from the very low to the very high. Men may have enough of the Satanic in them to be actuated in their conduct by absolute vindictiveness or even a positive delight in the misery and ruin of their neighbours; at the other end of the scale they may have enough of the Divine in them to be inspired by pure magnanimity, by a wish to befriend those who have done them injury (Matt. v. 45). Very high up in this scale stands the motive of desiring the glory of God, longing for the coming of the kingdom of Chl-ist, an earnest wish to do something for his exaltation. And though the voice may be too feeble to speak any words that men may care to listen to, though the hand may be too weak to strike any blow that will shake the walls of iniquity, yet the very wish to do something for Christ, the prayer, "Make use of me, my God," weighs much in the balances of Heaven. It may be a pure desire to give of our substance to the needy, or to go forth to comfort some stricken heart, or to take a class in a. ragged or a Sunday school, or to enter the ranks of the Christian ministry, or to do work in the foreign field. In Christian homes, in every land, there are hearts that sincerely and even ardently desire to serve their Saviour and to be a blessing to their brethren; but there intervenes some forbidding word of God, some frustrating providence of his. The purse is emptied, or health fails, or home duties suddenly assume a new form or take much larger propor- tions ; and God says, "This is not for thee." But the desire is accepted; the purpose of the soul is ta.ken for the deed ; it is chronicled in the books of Heaven, "Thou didst well in that it was in thine heart." III. ITS EFFECTIVE VA.LUE. When the pure desire of the true heart is not granted, it does not follow that it is without effect. Certainly it was not so in David's case. This desire of his heart, expressed to God but not granted by him, had very much to do with the ultimate result. It led to the Divine permission and direction extended to Solomon; it led to Solomon's personal aspiration and resolution; it led to the preparation and storage of many valuable materials. It would hardly be an exaggera- tion to say that the temple was the work of David as much as of his son; for he who originates the idea and inspires the people with his thought is as effective an a.gent as he who executes it. And many, since then, in the kingdom of Christ have succeeded where they seemed to fail; many a lonely and, apparently, unblessed worker for his Master, both at home and abroad; both in the haunts and slums of some great city here, or in the depths of India, or in the heart of Africa, or in the midst of the idolatry and iniquity of China, or a.mid some island population ;-many such have gone home with no reward in their hand, unable to point to the gathered fruits of their toil and patience; and yet their unaccomplished efforts have been a precious and powerful inspiration, moved by which others have followed in their track, like Solomon in David's, and have built the edifice, have wrought the work, in the Name and in the strength of God. The finished work is, in some real sense and perhaps even in a large degree, the fruit of the good thought "in the heart" of him whom no one regards as its author. We do more than we know when we think and feel in the spirit of our Lord.-C. Vers. 12-14.-.C;piritual attitude. We have in these three verses four references to attitude. Solr,mon "stood before the altar;" he "spread forth his hands; " he "kneeled down upon his knees;" he spoke of those who " walk before God." Now, it is worth while to observe that- I. BODILY ATTITUDE IS NOT WITHOUT ITS VALUE. In the gospel of Christ, wilh all its precious and glorious spiritual freedom, there a.re no regulation.a as to posture i.a prayer; it is in no particular position of body that we must draw nigh to God and iave fellowship with him. Tbe sufferer on his couch, the workman at his post, is as free to converse with God as the minister in the church. We glory in this divinely bestowed liberty. But it is wise to remember that one bodily attitude may be more closely associated with prayer than all others a.re, and, being thus associated in our minds, we vn that attitude more readily fall into, and more successfully maintain our- selves in, the spirit of devotion than we can in any other. The body is the servant of the mind, and we may compel it to serve us thus; by constantly suggeating to us and ell, vI, 1-42.J THE SEOOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICL:E:S. 69