Ver. 2.-IIRich and poor." The great problem of excessive wealth and pitiable po\lerty confronts us still, and seems likely to task our united wisdom for many years, if not for several generations. We may regard- I. THE BROAD AND NAKED FACT VISIDLE TO EVERY EYE. The fact that, while this world is stored with wealth beneath the ground, and is capable of bringing forth upon its surface ample .supplies for_ all the need of the race, there is found amongst 1~s a vast mass of miserable indigence. Children are born into the world in homes wherQ paren1s do not know how to feed and clothe them, where an early death would scom to be the happiest fate; and other children are born into and brought up in homes where parents hnve a great deal more than they need to provide for their necessities, and where life offers every opportunity for enjoyment with no necessity for labour. i36 THE PROVERBS, [OII, XXII, 1-29,
II. How FAR THIS DISTINCTION IS OF GoD. 1. Such deep nnd wide distinctions as now exist m~st be_ con_trary to his purpose. \ye c~nnot possibly suppose that it is in ~corda.nce with bis mmd that thousands of h1~ children should be starving, unclad or 111 clad, homeless, exposed to the saddest suffenngs and the darkest evils, whilo other thousands of bis children have more than they need or know how to make good use of. 2. These distinctions are the ultimate result of the laws which he ordained. Poverty has its origin in sin; it is one of the penalties of wrong-doing. All the evil we see and sigh over, of every kind, we must trace to sin and to the consequences which sin entails. It is a Divine law that sin and suffering go together. 3. Some inequalities amongst us are directly due to his Divine ordering. He creates us with very different faculties. Some a.re fitted a.nd enabled to do great thinas which raise them in position and in circumstance above their brethren; others" ~re not thus qualified Much, though very far indeed from everything, depends upon our natural endowments. Ill. THE UNDESIRABLE SEPARATION WHICH EXISTS BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE rooR. We do not know our neighbours as we should. We pass one another with cold indifference. 'l'?o often me_n tu~n ~way from their inferio~s (in circumstance) with a contemptuous disregard which signifies that the poor man 1s beneath their notice· too often men fail to appeal to their fellows because they think themselves unworthy to addre;s them. Between man and msn, between brother and brother, there is a gulf of isolation which must be painful and pitiful in the sight of the common Father, the Maker of them both. IV. THE OCCASIONS WHEN THEY MEET. 1. Those on which they must feel the distinction between them-in business anrl in society. 2. Those on which they should not do so--when they meet in public worship or for Christian work, then all differences of a material and social kind should be forgotten and ignored. (1) What are these in presence of that which separates both rich and poor from the Infinite and Almighty One? (2) What are these in comparison with the question of moral and spiritual worth? In the sight of God, the poor but. holy man is far more acceptable than the rich but unholy man. With him all questions of income or of title are utterly insignificant, positively invisible in presence of the questions of moral rectitude and spiritual worth. 3. One on which they will not do so (Rev. xx. 12). 1. Do your best to bridge the gulf, or, still better, to fill up the chasm which separates one class from another. 2. Take care to have that distinction which -will survive the shocks of time and change.-C.
Ver. 3.-Thoughtfulness and thoughtlessness. All men might be divided into the thoughtful aud the thoughtless. '!'hey belong either to those who look before them and prepare for the struggle or the danger that is coming, and avoid it; or else to those who go blindly on anrl stumble over the first impediment in their way. 'l'he "prudent man" of the text is not only the ca~tious ma~; he is,the man of sag~city and foresight, who takes large and extended views of things. 'Ihere are many illus- trations of the thought, of which we may select. I. THE EVIL OF PECUNIARY E~TANGLEMENT, The prudent man forbears to enter into that alliance, or into those r1Jlationships, or on to that course of action which will .iemaud more re~ources than he can supply. But the simple "pass on "-become involved, and pay the penalty of prolonged anxiety, of great distraction, of painful humiliation, of grave dishonour, of financial ruin, II. '!'HE STBAL'f OF UNWISE COMPANIONSHIP, A prudent man will consider well what company he can wisely keep, whose society will be beneficial and whose injurious to him, whether or not he can bear the pressure that will be put upon him to _indulge in this or that direction, and he will shun the social circle that would be penlous to his integrity. But the ~imple take no heed, accept the first invitation that comes lo them become associated with those whose influence is deteriorating, succumb to their solicitation, and pay the penalty of serious spiritual declension. Ill. 'l'HE FORCE OF SOME PAIITICULAR 1'EMP'l'ATI0N, 'l'he wise perceive the danger of the intoxicating cup, of the saloon, of the racecourse, of the gambliag-table, and they keep steadfastly away, 'fhe simple pass on-$e}f-confident, presumptuowi, <loomed, and they are punished indeed, mr. x:m. 1-29.] THE PROVERBS. 437