I. THOUGHT. "The preparations of the heart belong to man" ( Revised Version). "Thy thoughts" (" thy purposes," Revised Version;. vVe are told of Peter, after the denial, that" when he thought thereon, he wept' (Mark xiv. 72). But if he had thought beforehand what grief he would cause his Master by such unworthiness, he would not have had occasion to weep at all. "When Judas saw that he was con- demned, he repented." But if he had thought, he would have seen that this was the plain and inevitable issue of his action. 'l'he pity is that we do not think as we shoul,l before we act. The preparation of the heart belong~ to us; it is our most bounden duty to think, and to think well, before we act. And we must remember that speech is action, and often most important and decisive action too. We should include in our thought, when we are forming our "purposes" (Revised Version), the consideration of the effects of our prepared action upon (1) our whole nature-bodily, mental, Bl,Jiritual; (2) our family and our friends; (3) our neighbours and associates; (4) our fellow- worshippers and fellow-workers; (5) the cause of Jesus Christ; (6) not only the immediate, but the further future. Vie should, so far as we can, thi!lk the whole subject through, look at it from all those pointo of view that we command; above all, we should take a decreasingly selfish and an increasingly generous and devout view of the subjects that come before us. II. ACTION. "Thy works." Thought must be followed by vigorous effort, or it will "lose the name of action." Our works include not only those industries in which we are professionally engag~d,-these are of great importance to us, as those which occupy the greater part of our time and most of our strength; but they include also our con- tributions, larg~r or smaller, worthy or unworthy, to the condition of our homes, to the character and the destiny of our children, to tho comfort and well-being of our depen- dents or our employers, to the improvement of our locality, to the stability and freedom and success of the institutior.s (social, literary, ecclesiastical, municipal, national) upon which we can bring any influence to bear. We may move in a humble sphere, and yet, when all is told that the chronicles of heaven can tell, we may inclutle in a busy and conscientious life many "works" that will not want the Divine approval or the blessing of mankind. III. l'RAYEli. "The answer of the tongue is from the Lord . . . and thy thoughts shall be established." '!'he two clauses imply, respectively, (1) that God sometimes makes other .issues to result than thos11 which we expect; (2) that God continually brings to pass that which we strive to accomplish, especially when we commend our cause to his Divine favour. The practical conclusions are these, respectively: 1. That we must be quite willing for the hand of God to give a different direction to our activities; quite prepared to accept another issue from that which we bad set bef0re our own minds. For God "seetb not as we see," and he works out bis gracious pur- poses in other ways than those of our choosing. 2. That we should always realize our dependence on God for a favourable issue, and earnestly ask his blessing on our labour. It is the touch of hie Divine hand that must quicken into lire, that must crow11 with true success.-C.
Ver. 2.-(See homily on ver. 25.)-C. Ver. 6.-Tlie penitent's review and prospect. Placing ourselves in the position of the man who has sinned and suffered, and has been led to repentance and submission, of the man who is earnestly desirous of escaping from the sinful past and of becowi11g a new man and of living a 118W life, let us ask-What is his hope? what are his possibilities? J. lN VIEW OF THE PAST AND OF HIS RELATIONS W1TH Goo. What is his hope there? What are the possibilities of his sins being forgiven, his iniquity purged e.wn.y? What he must rely upon, in this great domain of thought, is this-truth in himself and mercy in God. l. He himself must be a true penitent, one that
" . . . feels the sins be owns, And hates what he deplores; " that intends with full purpose of heart to turn from all iniquity and to cleave to 826 THE PROVERBS. [en. nt. 1--<13.
righteousness and purity. 2. He must cast himsclt on the boundless mercy of God gained for him and promised to him in Jesus Christ his Saviour. II. IN TIEW OF THE PAST AND OF HIS UELATIONS WITII MEN. God accepts true penitence of spirit and right purpose of heart, for he can read our hearts, and knows what we really are. But man wants more. Before he receives the sinner to his con- fidence and re~tores ~im to the position from which he fell, he wants clear proofs of pemtence, mamfestat10ns of a new and a clean heart. The man who has put away his sin can only " purge " the guilty past by the practice of "mercy and truth " of kind- ness and integrity, of grace and purity. He has done that which is w;oncr false, hurtful. Let him now do that which is just, true, right; that which is kind, 'fi'elpful, pitiful, generous; then we shall see that he means all that he says, that hi8 professions are sincere; then he may be taken back-his iniquity purged-to the place which he has lost. III. IN vmw OF THE FUTURE, HA VINO REGARD TO HIMSELF. How shall the penitent make good the promises he has made to Ms friends·? How shall he ensure his future probity and purity? how shall he engage to walk in love and in the path of holy service, as be is bound to do, taking on him the name of Christ? The answer is by walking on in reverence of spirit, by proceeding in" the fear of the Lord;" thus will he "depart from evil," and do good. It is the man who cultivs,tes a reverent spirit, who realizes the near presence of God, who walks with God in prayer and holy fellowship, who treasures in his mind the thoughts of God, and reminds himself frequently of the will of God concerning him-it is he who will "never be moved from his integrity;" he will redeem his word of promise, he will Jive the new and better life of faith and holiness and love.-C.