hunter, t.be bird from the fowler. 3. If necessary, with self-humiliation (ver. 3). We hate to "humble ourselves," but we ought to be ready to do this rather than allow trouble and ruin to bang over our home. IV, THAT IF THIS URGF.NCY BE DUE TO TEMPORAL DANGERS, HOW MUCH MORE IMPERA- TIVE 18 OUR DUTY TO GAIN DELIVERANCE FROM SPIRITUAL PERILS! We may well give " no sleep to our eyes, nor slumber to our eyelids," until the peril ia passed of bemg called by the Divine Creditor to meet a debt when we ' have nothing to pay.''-C. Vere. 6-11.-Sloth and diligence. In this land and in this age, in England in the nineteenth century, there is little room for the sluggard; there is comparatively little temptation to sluggishness; the force of a rushing stream carries all along with it at a rapid pace. Nevertheless, it is true- I. 'J.'HAT SOME MEN FIND THEMSELVES UNDER SPECIAL TEMPTATION TO SLOTH. This may be a matter of (1) bodily infirmity, the misfortune of an exceptional physical con- stitution; (2) mental disposition, inherited from others, and to a large extent deserving of pity rather than censure; (3) moral character, the impress of a bad habit-a spiritual result which bas to be blamed as much as to be deplored. 11. THAT IT 18 TO BE REGARDED AS UNWORTHY OF CHRISTIAN MANHOOD. 1. Jt is rebuked by the humbler creation (vers. 6-8). That which the ant does instinctively, and without any intellige11t guide or instructor, we ought to do, who are endowed with reason, and who have so many human teachers and friends to direct, admonish, and prompt us; who have, moreover, the admonitions of a Divine Teacher and Friend to enlighten and quicken us. 2. It is contemptible in the sight of man, our brother. There is something more than a tone of strong remonstrance, there is a perceptible admixture of contempt in the address," Thou sluggard" (ver. 6), and also in the raillery of the ninth and tenth verses, "How long wilt thou sleep! . . . Yet a little sleep," etc. The industrious man cannot look at the slothfulness of the sluggard, at the supineness of the careless, at the dilatoriness of the half-hearted, without irrepressible feeliugs of aversion and contempt; he is compelled to scorn them in his heart. III. 'l'HAT IT MUST BE OVERCOME IN OUR OWN TEMPORAL INTERESTS. (Ver. 11.) Sloth soon ends in ruin. Bankruptcy waits on negligence. Temporal ruin comes: 1. Unexpectedly. "Poverty comes as one that travelleth." It has started a long time, it has traversed many a road, crossed many a valley, surmounted many a hill; but, though travelling long, it is only in sight during the last ten minutes of its journey. So rui11 begins its course as soon as a man neglects his duties; it travels far and long, its form is hidden behind the hills, it is only just toward the last that its countenance is seen and recog11ized; then, before be expected it, PovP.rty stares him in the face, and grasps hie hand with cruel clutch. 2. Irresistibly. "Want as an armed man." At la~t no measures can be taken. Friends are alienated, relatives arc wearied, all good habits are gone, the courage which might have risen to the occasion is broken by continued sluggishness of spirit; the man is disarmed of every weapon, and is at the mercy of well-armed Want. Indolence not only brings about ruinous circumstances, but it robs us of the spirit by which adversity might be met and mastered; it places us helpless at the feet of the strong. "Let us, then, be up and doing;" for while sloth is rebuked on every side, and leads down to inevitable ruin, on the other hand, diligP.nce (1) is in acconlance with the will of God concerning us (Rom. xii. 11; 1 Tim. v. 8; 2 Thess. iii. 6-14); (2) commands a genuine prosperity (see eh. xxii. 29) ; (3) braces the character and imparts spiritual strength ; ( 4) places us in a position to show kindness to the unfortunate (Eph. iv. 28); (5) in the sphere of religion ensures ultimate and complete salvation (2 Pet. i. 5, 10, 11; 2 Cor. v. 9).-C.
Vera. 12-15.-Tlie character and doom of the ahandoned. Perhaps there is no word which more ELptly designates tho man who is here described than the word "abandoned." 'l'he "man of Belia!" (" the naughty man") id he who is abandoned, who has abandoned himself, to the promptings of his own evil nature, to the fascinations and tyrannies of sin. Here we see the features of his character and his doom. I. 'l'HAT IN SPEECH HE IS UTTERLY UNPRINCIPLED. "He walks with a froward mouth." He continually and remorselessly uses the l11ngungti of falsehood, of pro- I 150 TitE PROVE!RbS. ton. vr. i-!l5;
fanity, of lewdness, of slander. From his mouth there constantly issues that which God hates to hear, and which is offensive and shameful in the estimation of the good an,i pure. II. THAT TN PRACTICE RE RABITOALLY RESORTS 'ro LOW CUNNING. (Ver. 13.) He has ways of communicating with others only known to the initiated. He cannot afford to be frank and outspoken; he must have recourse to subtlety, to low tricks, to devices which will cover his thoughts from the eye of the upright; This is (1) degradina0 td himself, and (2) disgusting to others. . Ill. THAT IN HIS HEART HE IS POSITIVELY MAUGN. (Ver. 14.) He takes a demo- niacal pleasure in doing evil. It is not only thai he will consent to sacrifice the claims or injure the cha"racter of others if be cannot enrich himself without so doina- • it is that he finds a horrible and malignant satisfaction in compassing their ruin; b~ "devises mischief continually; he sows discord." To the pure it is incomprehensible that men can positively delight in impurity; to the kind it seems impossible that men can enjoy cruelty, etc. But it is the last result of a sinful course that the "froward heart" scatwrs mischief on every hand for the sake of the evil thing itself; to him vice and misery are themselves his reward. IV. THAT Gon WILL 'DRING DOWN ON BIS HEAD IRREMEDIABLE DISASTER. (Ver. 15.) The ma.n thinks he can defy his Maker, but be is deceiving himself. God is not mocked; he that sows to the flesh shall reap corruption (Gal. vi. 8). He bas broli.en away from all !Jivine restraints; be has thrown off him the arresting hand of a merci- ful Redeemer, he has silenced the voice of a pleading spirit; but God is not altogether such as we are (Ps. 1. 21). He u:ill rebuke, and be will set our sins before our souls again. The hour will come, quite unexpectedly, when judgment will overtake him. It may be (1) public indignation, a.nd the stern rebuke of human society; or (2) ruin in his temporal affairs,-his schemes break down and iuvolve him in their fall, or some one of his victims turns against him ; or (3) sudden sickness and pain lay him prostrate on a bed from which he may never ris.e, and on which bis iniquities may confront him; or (4) death and eternity present themselves, and demand that he shall look them full in the face (see eh. :x::x:ix.. 1).-C.