. IV. TaE GOL_DEN !-1EAN IS TREBEFORE TO BE DESIRED AND BOUGHT. (Comp. Phil. 1v. 11, 12; 1 Tim. v1. 6-10.) Horace says, "Whoever loves the golden mediocrity is safe, free from the sordid misery of the tumble-down dwelling, free from the envied hall in his sobriety" (' Ca.rm.,' ii. 10). But let us be careful to note that the true state is to be found in the spirit itself-the inward, not the outward sufficiency. " I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Rich in estate, yet poor in spirit ; poor in estate, yet rich in grace ;-this is the true solution of the problem, the true object of pious prayers.-J.
Ver. 10.-Caution in the me of the tongue. I. THE THOUGHTS ON,E FEARS TO EXPRESS HIMSELF ONE MAY BE TEMPTED TO ELICIT FROM ANOTHER. II. IT IS JJASE TO TEMrT AN HONEST HEART TO THOUGHTS AND WORDS OF DISCONTENT. One of the most active forms of evil consists in the" putting into the head" of others feelings towards their employers or superiors which would not otherwise have arisen. III. THE BITER MAY THUS BE BIT j THE TEMPTER THUS BRING .A RECOIL UPON am.SELF. (Comp. eh. xxvi. 2.)-J.
Vers. 11-14.-Detestable phases of human character, I. THOSE UNGRATEFUL To PAREl:TS. (Ver. 11.) "·without natural affection." Solon, asked. why he had made no law against parricides, said that he could not conceive of any one so impious and cruel. In the Law of Moses the cursing of a parent was visited with the same punishment as the blaspheming of God (Lev. x.x. 9; xxiv. 11-16; comp. Isa. xlv. 9, 10; 2 'l'im. iii. 2). II. ClliSs SELF-CONCEIT AND PRIDE. (Vers. 12, 13.) The Pharisees in the gospel (Matt. xxiii. 25-27), the Laodicean Church (Rev. iii. 17, 18), are examples. But the character is a constant one, and reappears in every age as a foil to genuine Christianity. Compare Mozley's powerful sermon on the Pharisees. But it was a noble Pharisee who learned, in the humility of Christ, to "have no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. iii. 3). III. PITILESS CRUELTY AND OPPRESSION. (Ver. 14.) Wolves in human guise or in Eheep's clothing. Similar pictures are to be found in Ps. lvii. 5; lviii. 7; Isa. ix. 12; Jer. v. 17; xxx.16, 17. 'l'hese pictures of the heart, its exceeding deceitfulness and desperate wickedness, should lead us to examine our own. The germs of all the world's evil are to be found in these microcosmi-these " little worlds." When we know QUrselves truly, the prayer will the more sincerely arise to him to whom all hearts are open, that he will cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of his Holy S,Jirit.-J. Vers. 15, 16.-Reflections on the insatiable, I. THE EXTERNAL LIFE IS THE l\lIRROR OF THE INTERNAL. Our spirit finds analogies to itself in the objects of nature, ?f history, and in the general course of human life. And all that we observe there, in the great world, may serve as a light to reveal to us what passes here, in the world of each man's heart. II. IMAGES OF INSATIABLE APPETITE. Hades; the barren womb; the thirsty earth; the all-devouring fire. The vampire, or bloodsucker, seems to be intended In the first example; it is supposed to suck the blood of the sleeping by night. III. Tm; SPIRIT OF MAN IB INSATIABLE. And whether this appetite is rightly or wrongly directed, upon this depends his weal or woe, It may be directed to what is perishable or pernicious-to gold, power, pleasure, etc. Drunkenness is the commonest illustration of the insatiety of man's nature. Or it may be directed to righteousness, to the knowledge of the truth, to the enjoyment of the good; and then it carries the power and promise of the "endless life."-J. Ver. 17.-The punishment of unfilial conduct. I. THE DENUNCIATION IS IN FIGURA• TIVE FORM. JI. 1TB FULFILl\lENT LITERALLY IUD DEEN .A MATTEB OF ACTUAL 0BSE!IV.ATI0N, lll. 'l'HE GENERAL TRUTH MUST BE CARRIED INTO THE LIGHT OF CONSCIENCE. On the whole, as Bishop Butler soUDdly taught, the coll,etitution of things tends to punish evii and reward good concluct.-J. OH, ::UX, 1-33.] THE PROVERBS. 589