of our lives. He will not disappomt us. He will not forget our work of faith and our labour of love. The slightest service shall "in no wise lose its reward." He will generously regard what we do for his humble disciples as somethincr rendered :o himself. Here we shall possess bis loving favour, and there his bo~ntiful recom- pense.-C.
Vers. 23-27 (and :ver. 8).-A commendation of diligence. It is likely enough that Solomon, oppressed with the burdens and vexations, with the difficulties and dangers, of the throne, looked longingly toward those pastoral scenes which he here describes. But, keen and shrewd man that he was, he must have known that contentment does not always find a borne in the homestead, and that there may be as much disquietude of heart in the fields of the beautiful country as there is in the streets of the crowded city. ·we look for something more than an ordinary "pastoral" in these verses. We recognize in them a royal commendation of diligence. I. 'l'nERE IS NEED OF DILIGENCE IN EVERY SPHERE. "Be diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds." Pastoral prosperity demands the ea.re and the labour of the shepherd or the herdsman, as well as do the transactions of princes and the affairs of state. It will be a poor season and a bad harvest if the farmer is dreaming all day long. It is true that kids and calves and lambs grow up "of them- selves," and that" the earth bringcth forth fruit of itself" (Mark iv. 28); but it is also true that without watchful care on the shepherd's part the flock will be sickly and small, and that without toil and skill on the part of the farmer the hay crop and the wheat crop will be quite disappointing. And so in everything. Whatever the sphere may be, diligence is the invariable condition of success. The man who will not take pains, who does not work and strive, who does not throw bis strength and energy into bis occupation, will soon find how great is his mistake. II. DILIGENCE MUST BE CONCENTnATED IF IT IS TO BE REMUNERATIVE. (Ver. 8.) A man that is everywhere but at home, who is interested in everybody's business but his own, who can tell his neighbours how to improve their. estate while bis own is neglected, who bas a hand in a. hundred activities, may be exceedicgly busy and (in his way) diligent; but he is not a "man of business,'' and he does not show the dili- gence which yields a good result. Let a man know "his place" and keep it; and, while selfishness acd narrowness of spirit are bad and bla.meful enough, it is needful for him to give his strecITT.h to bis own sphere, his forces to his own fields. ill A WISE DILIGEN~E WILL BE WELL REWARDED. 1. It will procure domestic comfort (vers. 25-27). 2. It will lead to honour and reputation (eh. xxii. 29). 3. It will invest with power (eh. xii. 24). 4. It will enrich with various kinds of hu~an wealth (eh. x. 4; xiii. 4; xid. 5). Patient industry is the so1;1rce of all the good winch beautifies acd briahtens, which adorns and enlarges, human life. IV. 'l'HEBE 18 °A SERIOUS UNCERTAINTY AGAINST WHICH 'l'O rnovIDE. (Ver. 24.) You may be the son of a kicg, but the crown sometimes changes hands;_ dynasties are not immortal. You may have a large tree.sure at command, but the thief, who wears many guises and comes to us in many forms, may ~t~l it away. Bette~ depend on self-reliance than on such props as these ; have the d1hgent. band at your s1d_e, and you will be able to defy the chances and the losses that come in the hour and m the wo.y when we look not for them. V. TnEnE IS ONE SPHERE IN WHICH DILIGENCE IB OF INESTIMADLE VALUE-THE KEEPING OF ouR owN HEART. ,vith the most devout and the most sedulous care ~bould we "keep" our spiritual nature, for from it flow the streams of life or death (see homily on eh. iv. 23).-C.
EXPOSITIO~. the various destinies of the powerful and the CHAPTER XXVIII. weak, tho sinner and the righteous. This chapter is still part of the Hezekiah Ver. 1.-The wioked fiee when no man collection, anc! not a. new series by another pnrsueth. The unreasoning terror of the ullthor. It muy be regarded H dei,cribing einncr arises pnrtly from bi~ u11c11sy co~- clI. xxvm. l-28.] THE PROVERBS, 533