Ver. 11.-The mighty Redeemer. L THE HELPLESS NEED A MIGHTY REDEEMER, In simple, rough times some provision had to be made to protect the weak from the overbearing insolence and tyranny of the strong. When the arm of the law was not capable of maintaining justice, private friends were required and authorized to take up the cause of the wronged. 'l'he goel, or avenger, was then needed to stand up for his helpless kinsfolk. Dut there were extreme cases iu which no such assistance could bring deli l'erance, either because no relative was living who could undertake the task or because the distress was so desperate that no human hand could relieve it. '!'hi~ might- happen with heart-broken widows robbed of hushnn,l, children, and land and left penniless and friendless. But even such cases of the utmost distress are n~t so desperat-e as that of the soul in its sin and wretchedness, utterly and hopelessly undone unless some mighty hand of redemption is stretched out to save it. II. Goo IS A MIGIITY REDEEMER. Two essential conditions were required in the redeemer. He must have a right to interfere, and he must have power to succeed. God bas both. 1. The right. The ri~bt of the old Hebrew redeemer was blood- relationship. Tb_e nearest kinsman was called to act as goel. God is nearly related to man. He is the Father of all. The friendless poor have One left who regard8 them as of bis family. Christ came as a brother-man to be the Redeemer of the human race. 2. The power. (1) God has power as the Almighty. He can overthrow the greatest. If the poor man has God on his side, he need not fear the most imperious tyranny; it is as child's play before the majesty of heaven. (2) Ghrist has power as the crucified Saviour. The great redemption from man's worst enemy, sin, is won by the cross of Christ. Now he is" able to save unto the uttermost." III. Goo's MIGHTY REDEMPTION rs AVAILAnLE. He is not only a mighty Redeemer; he is willing to help, and he does afford succour. 1. He acts in :Justice. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. xviii. 25). At present we witness cruel injustice. The poor are oppressed by the strong. Hard-toiling men, women, and children in manufacturing centres are ground into penury by the fierce mill of competition, while ruthless •• middle-men" fatten on their ill-paid labour. The few in prosperity revel in luxury that they wring out of the many in penury. God will not permit such cruel wrongs to last for ever. The Redeemer is an Avenger. The blood of the victims of tho3e who make haste to be rich at the expense of their starving brethren cries out to heaven for vengeance. It will not always cry in vain. (1) Meanwhile, seeing that the Redeemer of the poor is mighty, it would be well for the reckless oppressors to repent before the sword of judgment is unsheathed. (2) They who are working at the apparently hopeless task of helping the poor and oppressed have a great encouragement. God, the mighty Avenger, is on their side. 2. He acts in mercy. He pities the suffer- ing poor. The.I' are bis children, and be will not forget their needs. Love is the inspiration of Divine redemption. 'l'his is the secret of Christ's great redemption of sinners. Justice is ultimately satisfied here; but the first motive is mercy, for the helpless are also the ill-deserving. Yet even their Redeemer is mighty.
Vcrs.17, 18.-Envying sinners. I. THERE IS A GREAT '.l.'EMPTATION TO ENVY SINNERS. The wi~e man would waste words in giving a warning if he saw no danger. This tempta- tion is fascinating on various accounts. 1. Sinners prosper. This was the old ground of the psalmist's perplexity. The righteous were sutfering while the wicked were fat- tenin" in ill-earned luxury (Ps. lxxiii. 3-9). 2. Sinners take .forbidden paths with impu;iity. They trespass and are not arrested. Thus they attain their ends by easy ways from which conscientious people are restrained. 'l'hey are not troubled with scruples. 3. Sinners escape onerc,us duties. There are great and w~ighty obli~ations that rest like a heavy yoke on the shoulders of an earnest man who tnes to do his duty to God and his fellows, all of which are simply ignored by the man of lower morals, Hence tile apparently easier course of the latter. He can refuse the subscription list, decline to work in the benevolent society, and shirk all the burdeus that come from sympathy with the suffering. 4. Sinners enjoy wiclced pleasui·es. They are pleasure- lleekers, and they seem to obtain pleasure. Thus at a superfi~ial glan~e they a~pear to have sources of happiness from which those who are more rigorous m regardrng the law of righteousness are excluded. 'l'he child of the Puritan borne envies the gay cavalier his merry revelry. CH. xxm. 1-35.J THE PROVERBS. 449