The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 1 — Section 286

now am old.". We may regard him therefore as speaking in this psalm with the fulness of knowledge and the cou6dence of ripened wisdom. His old experience has attained to prophetic strain. Let us consider two pictures. I. THE EVILS OF ENVY. _It _is commo1!· It takes_ its rise and works upon the lower par~ of o?-r nature, bhndmg ou~ mmds, pen-erti~g o~r _hearts, and stirring up all our evil passions. It "frets" 1·1s with a sense of our inferiority; it "fret.a" us with a fee(ing of thl' injustice with which we_ arc trea~cd; it "frets II us with a proua consciousness of what we would have done, 1f only things had been othcrwi~e, and we had fair opportunities. In these and other ways it breaks our peace and embitters our lives. And yet bow useless is envy as a resource amidst the ills of lifo I Instead of remedying, it only aggravates our troubles. Nothing but evil can come of evil. Envy leads not only t-0 waste, but to worry, and not ouly to worry, but to wearing away of our powers, as by the slow a11d insidious progress of disease. Besides, envy is manifestly unreasonable in view of the realitieJJ of character. The prosperity of the wicked is vain and delusive. Look to the tendencies of things, look to the effect upon character, look to the end, and then see how, even in the deepest sense, it is infiuitely better to have little with a clear conscience, than a full purse of unrighteous gains; to take the lowest place among men, with the love of God, than lands and heritages and the highest honours of the world, by the sacrifice of truth and righteousness. Moreover, envy is in reality a grievous offence against God. We are slow to admit this. We regard "fretfulnt'SS" as more an unhappy temper than a sin. But in this we err. "Envy" implies dissatisfaction with God's government, distrust of his justice, and doubt of his truth. When we give way to" envy," we place ourselves first, and as good as say, "If God were ju,t, if he really loved us and cared for us, he would settle things other- -wise, and not suffer our enemies to triumph over us." Thus in our selfishness we blind ourselves to the truth, and act not only unworthily towards God, but inconsistently with our own best faith and hopes. "The tree is known by its fruits." To judge rightly of envy, let us mark its effects. See how it wrought in Cain. See how from tl,at time onward, wherever it had had sway, it has wrought terrible evils-as iu Saul, and Ahab, and Haman, and the wicked Jews, and even in the Christian Cl,urch. If these things are so, how great a sin do we who profess to be the followers of the meek and lowly Jesus commit by yielding to this mean and degrading vice that has wrought such havoc in the world and in the Church I II. THE BLESSEDNESS OF TnusT IN Goo. Trust is the true antidote to envy. We see this in the dispositions it produces-towards God, piety (vers. 3-6) ; towards man, beuevolence (ver. 8). Next in the benedictions it secures. It brings settledness. Instead of distressing cares and passions, we have tranquillity. Instead of pain, we have peace, We are at home with God. There is also sustenance. We are" fed" with heaveuly food. We gain strength for all work. "Daily bread" fits us for daily duty. There is also satisjadion. Uur higher nature is set above our lower nature. Reason rules instead of passion. Love binds us to our brethren instead of our being separated by envy. Trust in God brings to us all that is really good for us, and we bask as in the sunshine of God's favour instead of being alienated from him by wicked works. Mark the Divine order with regard to these blessings. '!'here must he a right spirit before there can be rig1,t conduct. Mark also how, a~ we live a true and unselfish life, doing good and hop1ug for nothing again but what God the Lord sees fit to give, we secure not only our own self-respect, but grow in favour with Gud and man. The surest way to get rid of discoiitent with the present, and fear of the future, is to do right and lonve all to God. "Careless seems the Great Avenger: history's pages but record One death-grapple iu the darkness, 'twixt old systems aud lho Word, Truth for ever on the scaffold-wrong for ever ou the throne. Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim uoknown, St&.ndeth God within the shadov, keeping watoh a.hove his own." (Lowell.) W.F. Vers. 4-6.-Here we have a sweet picture o/ a noble life, I. QUIET HEAnT. 'l'he eye, the ear, the imagination, continually bring before us objects tbat appeal to our PB, XXXVII, 1-40.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 295