The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 150

Ver. 6.-The ant. Scripture sends us to nature. Even the smallest works of nature are full of Divine lessons to him who has eyes to read them. Sometimes we are bidden to consider the heavens, but now we are invited to consider the ant. The telescope has its lessons; so also has the microscope. But when a man refuses to hear the voice of God, will he hear the voice of an insect-prophet? Possibly. It takes an eagle's eye to ~aze at the sun ; but any eye can look on the earth. If a man's vision is too weak to look at the burning bush, the fiery pillar, the mystic Shechinah, let him turn his eyes to the glowworm at his feet, and perhaps even that humble torch-bearer may save him from stumbling. I. Go TO THE ANT, A~"'D LEARN NOT TO DESPISE LITTLE THINGS, Oflate the doincrs of the ant have been very carefully looked into, and very wonderful facts have come to light.. Among _an~s there ar~ engineers, constructing elaborate tunnels and carrying on complicated bu1ldmg operations; stock-keepers, guarding and feed.incr the aphis like a cow, for ~he juice they ex.tract fron: it; agriculturists, carefully cl~aring grou~d of all weeds, m order to let only certam grasses grow within the prepared area, and staring up corn underground, which by a marvellous instinct they first kill so as to prevent it from germinating; slave-holders, who attack tribes of black ants, carry off the young and keep these to wait on them and feed them, becoming meanwhile so helpless as to be absolutely unable to feed themselves, and dying of starvation when deprived of the help of their slaves; and some so far imitating our ha.bits as to keep pet insects-insects which they feed and attend to but which apparently render them no service. As we look at the diminutive ant, we may well wonder " That one litUe head could carry all he knew." We must not mistake bigness for greatness. Tarta.ry is bigger than Greece. .Athens was a little city in comparison with Babylon. Despise not one of the little ones. And we too with our short lives and dwarf powers, may we not do something worth living for? II. Go TO THE ANT, A?,"'D LEARN NATURE'S LESSON OF WORK. It is with no small labour that the agricultural ant of Syria clears its field, keeps it well weeded, gathers in the corn, and stores this in subterranean granaries. Nature is a great factory. All life involves work. Even the silent forest apparently sleeping in the hush of noon is busy, and if only we had ears to hear, we might detect the elaboration of the sap and the growth of the leaf, showing that every tree is hard at work on its appointed task. 1. Work according to ability. The ant cannot build a cathedral. But he can make an ant-hill. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." 2. Work in face of d,anger. One careless footstep may demolish a whole city of ant- life, and crush hundreds of its inhabitants. Yet the little creatures toil on without heeding a danger which they cannot avert. 3. Work perseveringly. Any one who has watched an ant struggling with a heavy load may well be rebuked by the patient insect. If the ant-hill is destroyed, the ants soon set to work and commence _mining and build- ing, and reducing the chaos to order again. 4. Work harmoniously. It is the union of great numbers that enables the ants, though a very small folk, to effect very con- siderable results. The Church can do wha.t passes the power of individuals, but only when the individuals are severally doing their share of labour. !IL Go TO THE ANT, AND LEARN THE DU'l'Y OF PROVIDING FOR THE FUTURE, TLe ant works from instinct, and we must admire the wisdom of the great Maker, who has taught it unconscious habits of providence. But we are_ endowed w~th powers of lookin" before and after, and therefore a.re left to our own will to be deh bera.tely pro- vident It is strange that many people have no prudence in temporal things. In prosperous times they are recklessly self-indulgent. In harder times they are in destitution. These people abuse Christian charity; and unwise Christian charity is guilty of indirtctly encouraging their improvidence. Thus they lose independence, tielJ~reliance, and the wholesome discipline of present restraints for the eake of future OR, VI, 1-36.] THE PROVERBS. 141