The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 125

eust!lin his widowed mother, obtaining employment es e. workman in connection with one of King Solomon's works, with '' no prospects" in life. II. MEETING MIDW.\Y IN TUEIR OAREER. When they looked one another i □ the face nt Shechcm, what woe it th!lt each saw in the other? Probably the kin"''R son rnw in the son of Nebat a man who was clothed in presumption, who had forgotte; his position, who was entertaining a daring and criminal purpose in bis heart. And probably Jero- boam saw in the enthroned monarch a man who was unfitted for his post, unequal to the strain that would be put upon bis powers, a feeble man who would prove an easy prey to bis own designs. No kindly feeling, we may be sure, shone in the eyes of either prince or subject as they confronted one another that day at Shechem. III. CHALLENGED TO MAKE A CHOIOE ON A CRITICAL OCCASION. Rehoboam was now called upon to decide definitely what policy he would pursue in bis administration- whether that of leniency and popularity, or that of stringency and force; whether he would" rule by love or fear." Jeroboam had, at this point in bis life, to decide whether he would adopt the safe policy of continuing in retreat, or the bold and venturesome one of heading a. national revolt, and being either crushed beneath the feet of authority or raised to the height of a successful revolution. IV. DISAPPOINTING THE ROPES OF THEIR BEST FR!ENDS. Singularly enough, the names of both these men signified" enlarger or multiplier of the people;" they pointed, probably, to the hopes of their pa.rents concerning them. But though they both occu- pied the throne, and one of them rose to a much higher position than could have been anticipated at his birth, both men failed in the sight of God and in the estimate of the wise_~ The one by his folly estranged and lost the greater part of his kingdom ; the other led Israel into shameful and ruinous apostasy. 1. Be not much affected by social position; very great advantages in this respect will not carry us far along the path of true success; without character their value will soon expire. On the other hand, great disadvantages may be overcome by industry, energy, patience, virtue. 2. Be prepared to make the decisive choice, whenever the critical moment may come. We cannot be sure when this will arrive, but there will come an hour-there may come more hours than one-when a decision has to be taken by us on which the gravest consequences, to ourselves or to others, will depend. Shall we then be equal to the occasion ? Shall we be prepared to speak the wise word, to choose the right course, to take the step that will lead upward and not downward? This will depend on the character that we shall have been forming before that time comes. If we shall have been neglecting our opportunity and misusing our privileges, we shall then be found wanting; but if we shall have been gathering wisdom at every open source, we shall be able to speak, to act, to decide as God would have us do, as we shall after- wards thank God we did. 3. Aspire to fulfil the best hopes and prophecies of younger days. We may have a name, a reputation, to uphold. Our parents and teachers may be looking for good and even great things from us. Let us be earnest and eager to live such a life, that not only shall there be no painful discrepancy between the hope and the reality, but that there shall be a happy and satisfying correspondence between the two.-C. Vers. 4-14.-The legacy of brilliance, etc. We have here- I. Tm: LEGA..OY OF BRILLIANCE. "Thy father made our yoke grievous" (ver. 4). No man ever had a nobler opportunity than Solomon had. His father handed to him a united nation, a country whose enemies were subdued, the kindly and helpful shado,v of a great name and a beloved disposition and an illustrious career. He was endowed by God with great talent and surpassing weaJt.h. He had before him an object of honourable ambition, which/would be acceptable to Heaven and gratifying to his sub- jects. But, instead of pursuing the path of usefulness and the prize of a people's gratitude, he aimed at overwhelming splendour. And what did he gain by his pur- su:t? Forty years of selfish gratification, not undimmed (we may be sure) by many cares, disappointments, difficulties, in his home (or harem) and in hfa co~rt; and wh~n he died he left a kinodom 0 less compact, a dynasty less secure than he iound when ne took the reins of go ve~nment from his father David. All his brilliance ende~ in a popular sense of injury, in a general consciousness that the people ~ad been weighted witll needles~ly heavy burdens, with a. store of suppressed popular d1sconten.t ready to  THE SECOND 1300K OF THE CHRONICLES. [011. x. 1-19.