seething, struggling, incomprehensible world-world of circumstance and world of thought-can but make vain guesses as to our true course, and are certain to wander far from the home of Goel. What the shrewdest and cleverest of men most ur"'ently and sorely need is the guiding hand of a heavenly Father, who, through all the labyrinths of life, past all the by-paths of error and evil, will concluct us to truth, righteousness, wisdom, heaven. If we trust him wholly, and acknowledge him freely and fully, we may confidently expect that he will (1) lead our feet along the path of outward life; (2) guide our minds into the sanctuary of heavenly truth; (3) help our souls up the ennobling heights of holiness; (4) direct our steps to the gates of the city of God; and (5) fi.neJJy welcome us within its" golden streets."-C. Vere. 7 (second part), 8.-.A three-linked chain. We have- I. PIETY. " Fear the Lord." It is the faculty which distinguishes the meanest man from the noblest brute, which raise..~ our race immeasurably above the next below it. Man can fear God. He can (1) recognize his Maker; (2) bow down in lowly but manly reverence before God; (3) render to him the gratitude of a heart mindful of his many mercies; (4) subject his will to the will Divine; (5) order l1is life according to the written Word. II. MORALITY. "Depart from evil." The outcome of piety is morality. 1. The morality which rests not on the basis of piety (the fear of the Lord) is on an insecure foundation. Change of circumstance, of friends, of fashions, may blow it down. 2. The morality which depends on the "thou shalt" and "thou shalt not" of the Supreme is safe against all the winds that blow. For the dark hour of powerful temptation there is no such barrier against sin and ruin as the conviction, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" For the bright hour of obligation there is no such animating incitement as "that Christ may be magnified in me." The third link in this heaven-forged chain is- III. HEALTH. "It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones." Sick- ness of body may be the portion of the best of men or women. Some are born to suffer until they die and pass to the blessed country where the inhabitant will never say," I am sick." But the constant tendency of piety and its invariable accompaniment morality is to give (1) health and strength of bodily frame; the pure blood, the clear eye, the strong muscle, the steady nerve, the "green old age." It regularly gives (2) an active mind; and it necessarily imparts (3) a soul that is "in health" (3 John 2). '!'he man who fears God and departs from evil is the man who is fitted and is likely to have the largest show of vigorous, robust, healthy life in all its forms.-C. Vers. 9, 10.-The ~·vine responsiveness. There are two ways in which God blesses us-unconditionally and conditionally. We receive very much from him in virtue of his originating and spontaneous goodness. We may, if we will, receive much from him also as the result of his faithful response to our appeal. The text suggests to us the truth, which has manifold illustrations, that if we take toward him the attitude which he desires us to assume, he will visit us with appropriate and corresponding blessings. I. IF WE LOVE HIM, HE WILL LOVE us. '!'rue, indeed, it is that " we love him because he first loved us" (1 John iv. 19), his own Divine beneficence is the source of all human affection; but it is also true that "if a man love me (Christ), he will keep my words, and my Father will love 1him" (John xiv. 23). Our love of God, of Jesus Christ, will meet with a large response in the outpouring o( Divine affection toward us. God will love us with the fulness of parental, rejoicing love. II. IF WE TRUST lilll, HE WILL TRUST us. Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus become his sou~ (John i. 12), are the objects of his Divine trust. God does not prescribe to his reconciled children the hours, places, forms, methods, and means of service. He leaves these to the promptings of the filial spirit, to the decision of the understanding which has been consecrated to him. He makes known to us his will, that he should be served and his creatures blessed and saved; then be trusts us to put out our energies in all wise ways to fulfil his purpose. His treatment of us is in response to our attitude towards him. III. IF WE HONOUR HIM, HE WILL HONOUR UB. (1 Sam. ii. 30.) IV. IF WE GIVE OF OUR SUBSTANCE TO HIM, HE WILL ENRICH us. This is the 80 THE PROVERBS. [en. m. 1-35.
illustmtion which our text supplies (see Deut,, xxvi.), The childrnn of Ismel wero encouraged to bring of their tirstfruits and to present thom unto the Lord, and to expect !hat, if they gave -~~us to God, he would give, in liko way, to them, enlarging and ennchmg them (Mai. 111. 10-12). And not only wero they tauO'bt thus to look on gift~ of piety, but_ also~ of charity; these should be repaid by tho observing and responsive Lord (eh. x1x. 11). It may be asked how fa~ we may go in anticipating hke rewards at the hand of God now. And the answer 1s: 1. We are not to expect that God will enrich us in substance irrespective of other conditions (2 Thess. iii. 10). '!'his would be a premium on idleness and imprudence. It ,vill always be" the hand of the diligent that will make rich." 2. But labour and frugality being understood, the man who "seeks first the kingdom of God," who "acknowledges him in all his ways" (ver. 6), and who liberally gives to his cause (specially remembering his" little ones "-his poor), may look for large blessings at his hand. .At least sufficiency now (Matt. vi. 33; Phil. iv. 19), and glorious abundance soon and for ever (John xiv. 13 14; x.i. 9).-C.