Vers. 20-35.- Warning• from the wisdom of ezpmence. I. TltE TEBBmLB TORMENTS OF THE WICKED. (Vere. 20-24.) 1. Li/dong pain. Notwithstanding all appearances of ease and prosperity, the bad man inly suffers. 'l'he sword seems ever suspended above the tyrant's head. The serpent is ever busy with the tooth of remorse at his heart. 2. Drwd fancies throng through every sound into his imagination; he is ever in terror of some sudden doom. He sees a darkness coming upon him from which there is no possibility of escape. In the glance of dread fancy he sees himself already singled out for the fatal sword-stroke. The gaunt shape of famine seems to haunt hie steps ; from his soft couch and splendid table he looks out into a dark scene, and realizes it as present; he is overcome by anguish and trouble, as a king is home down &midst the turmoil of battle. Thw conscience makes the guilty man a coward, and the "native hue of resolution is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought." "A guilty conscience ! I ask no other hell" IL Tm: CA.UBE OF BIB SUFFERINGS. (Vere. 25-28.) 1. RebeUion agaimt God, This is presented under the powerful figure of a warrior, rushing against his foe, on the field, in headstrong fury. Self-will, leading to contempt of the moral order of God, and this to violent resistance to all moral re~traint; here is tbe genesis a.nd development of sin. See the history of Pharaoh. 2. His sel,fish life. He lives in luxury, pampering his body till he becomes a gross mass of flesh, full of carnal appetite. In his UDeocial ambition and greed he has laid waste flourishing cities rich in men, that he may abids in them alone, as if he could not find place enough for tbe dwelling of his body, and preferred to live alone amidst wide desolation, rather than peace- fully among a multitude of the happy. So in Isa. v. 8, "Woe to them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth I " "He enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be eatiBfied, but gathereth UDto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people" (Hab. ii. 5). "He builds a town with blood, and lays its foundations i.r! iniquity " (Hab. ii. 12). The picture is one of grasping, insatiable greed and cove- tolll!ness, which shut a man out from the sympathy of his fellows. Some, however, take ver. 28 as referring further to an act of disobedience in fixing hie dwelling among n1ins, cursed by God and forbidden to future habitation. IIL THE INSTABILITY OF '.l'BE WICKED. (Vera. 29-33.) Hie hopes are disappointed, ri.cb11 elude him, hie accumulation11 melt awa1. Unlike the heavy harvest of the OH, XV, 1-85.] THE BOOK OF Jon. 273
waving corn, he ls rather like the tree whOl!e roots do not sink deeply into the earth (ver. 29), so that every outward misfortune becomes an extreme source of danger-all bis blossoms and fruits are cast away before the time of gathering I Then, again, the figure of darkne~s returns, which he only escapes, to fall into the glowing bre,i.th of God's anger, which blasts everything that is green and fair in his prospects. IV. TUE VANITY AND FOLLY Oil' THE WICKED. (Vere. 34, 35.) He begins by trusting in vanity, in what is baseless, such as all absence of moral principle; and vanity, according to the more.I constitution of the world, must be the end of his schemes. The time of ripeness and harvest must be that of destruction; or like the blossoms of the olive in certain years, which fall off without fruit being formed, his plans never come to maturity. The" brood" of the wicked man is unfruitful; the fire devours bis tent, Or like the woman who has falsely conceived, and remains long in deception, but at last perceives with grief the nothingness of her hopes, so with the wicked ma.n (comp. Ps. vii. 14-17; Isa. xxxiii. 11). LESSONS. 1. Goodness alone bas substance, vitality, endurance, fruitfulness. 2. Evil is emptiness; it carries with it self-delusion; its end is disappointment and fa.ilure.-J. Vors. 2, 3.-The wise man speaketh wisdom. There is a fitness of things, and wisdom becomes the wise man-the man who. is either truly wise or who would presume to be wise. Let his words testify to thll justness of bis profession. Consider- !. THE INCONGRUITY OF WORDS OJ!' FOLLY PROCEEDING FROM THE LIPS OF THE WISE. All may reasonably hope that he who is tutored with knowledge, a.nd who bas accustomed himself to direct his knowledge to µ;ood ends, will speak only words of truth and soberness-words trustworthy and useful. For one known to be wise, or professing to be wise, to use words of foolishness is a.n utter incongruity. The speech is the expression of the soul. Out of the heart the mouth spea.keth. The world bas need of wisdom-need of its salt-to save it from the corruptions of error and folly. "Should a. wise man utter vain knowledge?" It is inconsistent; it is misleading; it is destructive. II. THE PRECIOUSNESS OP THE WOBDB OJ!' HIM WHO TRULY SPEA.KETH WISDOM. To assume the position of the teacher, to dare to guide the ignorant, to set up one's self as a. ruler in the worlcl of thought, io to assume a position of the highest possible importance. Knowingly or unknowingly, the world is led by the words of its teachers, good or b[ld. 'l'he souls of men a.re in the bands of the teacher. His words lead to life or death. The bulk of men a.re ignorant and timid, and therefore under the control of the stronger minds. The world's sa.d history proves tba.t men, like a. flock of sheep, may be led into any path by their teachers. The dry a.nd arid sands will not keep the feet of the sheep from following their leader a.nd shepherd, nor will the rugged and stony ground. 'fbll world is led by the ears. How precious, then, to the world are words of true wisdom I Truli the feet of him who publisbetb peace, and bringeth good tidings, are beautiful. The world is more indebted to its teachers of wisdom than to lta chieftains in valour. Error binds men in chains ; but words of wisdom, which are words of truth, set them free. III, THE TRULY WISE MAN IS HB WHO DOTH NOT "REASON WITH UNPROJ!'ITA.BLE TAl,R," AND WITH WHOSE SPEECHES IT CANNOT nE SAID, "HE 0A.Y DO NO GOOD." He is truly wise who, with words which he bas good reason to believe are wise words, seeks to lead the world in paths of safety-paths of light, joy, and blessing. Let the man be judged by his words, a.nd. by his words condemned before the universal bar. Let the world ea.et its uttermost condemnations on him who by false words leads the unsus- pecting fool into the path of peril; but let the world gather its garlands for him who with wise words proves himself to be wise, and leads the f01,t of men into the way of life. 'fo be able to do good by speech is a great endowment; to be faithful in the use of right speech is to be truly wise, and a wise word is a word of life.-R. G.