Vera. 9-23.-Sennacheri'b and Hezekiah : abasement and exaltation. We have here brought out in very vivid contrast-- • I. Tm;i HISTORY OF THE HAUGHTY. 1. Appearances are all on its side. It bas apparently overwhelming numbers, superior military training antl equipments, the prestige of previous success and acknowledged worldly power. 2. It is honeycombed with spiritual evil. It is (1) lamentably ignorant of the truth which it distorts (ver. 12); (2) scornful (ver. 11), indulging in a contemptuous spirit and correspondingly con- temptuous language; (3) pride, and its accompanying vain-gloriousness (vers. 13-15); (4) impiety, speaking of the living God as if he were to be classed with the gods of the heathen (vers. 13, 15). All these evil tempers and baneful utterances are serious sins, either against self or against others, or directly against God. 3. It draws down upon itself the decisive displeasure of the Divine Ruler. For the vauntful Sennacherib, who made so Eure of an easy victory and an added honour, there was reserved, in the righteous providence of God, a calamitous disaster (ver. 21; and see 2 Kings xix. 15) and bitter shame, "So he returned with shame of face to his own land" (ver. 21). Thus he that exa.lted himself was abased; and thus the haughty may expect to be brought low, for there are two powers working against them. (1) The moral con- dition of haughty-heartedness is one that conducts almost certainly to negligence, to imprudence, to some fatal error of either action or inaction. (2) God's high displeasure is kindled against them. Again and again has he "revealed his wrath" against this evil and baneful passion, To fall under its power is penalty indeed, but it leads on and down to other sorrows. II. THE HISTORY OF THE HUMBLE. Humility, in the person of the godly Hezekiah, presents an opposite picture to that of his formidable and defiant enemy. 1. It is apparently in great peril. The outward and visible forces-those of this world-are decidedly against it. If the race were always to the swift and the battle to the strong, there would be no chance for humility. It would never clasp the goal, nor win the victory. 2. Its character is one of beauty and of piety. There ie no little moral come- liness in humility; it is "fair to see;" it attracts the gaze of the purest eyes above and below, Moreover, its spirit is re.-erent; it knows itF: own helplessness, and it looks upward for the aid it needs; it "cries to Heaven" (ver. 20); it leans on God. 3. Its end is not only deliverance, but honour. The Lord saved Hezekiah from the band of Sennacherib (ver. 22); and to the King of Judah were brought valuable gifts, and" he was magnified in the sight of all nations" (ver. 23). Concerning humility now, as it may appear in all men's hearts, we may say that (1) it is a fair and beautiful grace in itself, most worth possessing for its own sake, really enriching its subject; (2) it brings with it the favour of God our Father (Isa. lvii. 15; Matt. v. 3; xvi ii. 4; xxiii. 11; 1 Pet. v. 5, 6); (3) it will be honoured in due time. Not only is it the case that humility introduces us into the kingdom of Ch1ist, but it is also true that it leads us on to an advanced position in that kingdom. "Tbe lowly heart that leans on thee" is not only "happy everywhere," but it is spiritually prosperous everywhere; it is certain to receive proofs of Divine regard, probably in human esti~ntion (as with Hfzekiah); but, if not thus, in some other way of gracious and gladdening enlargement.-C.
Vcrs. 24-26, 31.-The trial of restoration. The incident to which the text refers 890 THE SEOOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [oa. xxxn.1-83,