The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 441

many kinds of" stooping," some of which are to be commiserated, one of which is to be honoured and even envied and emulated. There is the stooping which is- I. A MISFORTUNE. That of bodily deformity; such as was suffered by the poor womnn of whom we read that "she had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bountl together, and could in no wise lift up herself" (Luke xiii. 11). We do not wonder that the Lord of love had compassi(,n on her, and "loosed her from her infirmity." Perhaps few men and women are more to be pitied than the deformed. They see all others round them standing, walking, running, erect in the full stature and freedom of man- hood, and they themselves are subjects of uncomeliness and inability. How cruelly unchristian to treat these with contempt, or even with disregard I How are we bound as the followers of our Lord, to extend to these stooping ones our sympathy ou; brotherliness, our honour I "Trust me no more, but trust me no less," our great popular novelist makes such an afflicted one say continually; and here, as often, the secular writer is more Christian than he may know. II. A MARK OF TIME. This is the case of those named in the text; they "stoop for age." The burdens of life have rested on their shoulders and he.ve me.de them stoop. They have carried much, and they bend with the weight of the years they have spent. It is an honourable mark, like that of the "hoary head.n Shall we pity them that stoop for a~e? Yes, if they have lived a life that has not been worthy, and move toward a future in which no star of hope is shining. No, if they a.re bent down with estimable and fruitful labour, with work that will leave many traces behind it- especially if the weight beneath which they stoop is the burden of others which they have generously and (perhaps) nobly borne (Ga.l. vi. 2); no, if this mark of the passage of time only indicates that he who thus stoops is nearing the end of his earthly service, that he may lay it down and take up the better work in the brighter light and the broader sphere, where toil knows no fatigue, and, instead of wearing out the worker, continually multiplies his power. But let those who " stoop for age" remember the.t their work below is nearly finished ; the.t what else they would do here for the Master and for their kind they must do quickly; "so much the more (therefore) as they see the day approaching." ill A SERIOUS DISCREDIT. There is: 1. The stoop of ser'l!ility. This is discreditable. No one need be a.nd no one should be servile. It is a mistake as well as a fault and a dishonour. Civility every one appreciates; respect, all who are worthy of it look for and like to receive; but cringing or servility is e.s unacceptable to him to whom it ill shown as it is dishonourable e.nd injurious to him by whom it is offered. 2. The stoop of immoral,ity ; the lowering of the standard of morals in order to accommodate our• selves to circumstances, in order to be free to gain or to enjoy that which, in our truer and worthier moods, we could not touch. This stooping of the soul is pitiable indeed; it is also condemnable indeed. If we have yielded to it, let us be ashamed of it; let 11s rise to our true height, let us stand erect a.gain in the full stature of honourable and estimable Christian manhood. Only then ca.n we respect ourselves and enjoy the esteem of the pure and good. IV. THE HIGHEST sPmITUAL ATTAINllENT. We know who it is that has stooped the furthest; it is that Son of God who became the Son of man. It is he who, "though he was rich, for our sake became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich" (2 Cor. viii. 9; and see Phil. ii. 3-8). We never rise so high in the estimation of our Divine Lord as when we stoop thus. When we are thus reduced we are enlarged indeed. Wheu we renounce our right, whether it be (1) of enjoyment, or (2) of adornment, or (3) of enrichment, in order to reach and rescu~ others, then do w~ rise toward the nobility of our great Exemplar, and then a.re we m the way of ree.pmg a large rewa.rd.--C. Vere. 18, 19.-Desecration and destruction. We look e.t- I. A BAD HISTORICAL FACT. Perhaps a Jew would say, the saddest of all the facts of history. Thls is the very climax of disasters-the great temple of Jehovah in Jeru- 11alcm burnt down e.nd all its precious treasures and all its sacred vessels carried away into a heathen la~d, to be there profaned by irreverent and wanton bands I Could anything happen more painful to tbe feelings, more shocking to the imagination, of the devout than that? Ali the work to which David consecrated his eacrgies with such on, xxxvr. 1-23.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 115