The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 8

of R nation is in it,s people. The vigour of a Church is in its membership. A splendid cRthedral, with & rich full service, but no congregRtion, fails in comparison with the homeliest mission, if the latter gathers the people. Doctrine may be souud and " means of grace" abundant, yet we shall not advance except as we hold the people. II. WmowBooD. Unintentionally and perhaps unconsciously, the inspired poet uses an illnstration to describe the desolate condition of Jerusalem, which may serve as a hint of her deeper distress. "She is become as a widow." Who had been her husband? The favoured city used t-0 be regarded as the mystic bride of the Eternal. She had often been accused of unfaithfulness to her marriage vows. Now the faithless wife is punished by becoming the miserable widow. Jerusalem loses the presence and favour of God. It is se.id that the Shechinah was seen there no more. 'l'he greatest loss is to be bereft of God. They who a.re unfaithful to God will find that he will forsake them. Many would retain the privilege of blessings from God, while renouncing the obligation of fidelity to God. The unfaithful wife is loth to lose the support and position con- tributed to her by her hnsband. But this inconsistency cannot be allowed. Christ tho Bridegroom remains faithful. But if his bride, the Church, dishonours his Ne.me, she will lose her Lord and become as a. widow. III. HumLIATION. The city had been the princess among the provinces, She now not only loses her dependencies ; she loses her own independence; she becomes a vassal to a. strange city. Humiliation will be the peculiar punishment of the great who abuse their rank. The doom of pride will be shame. Few troubles are more galling than to have to come down openly in the sight of those over whom a certain superiority bad been maintained. 1. Loss of position and character results in loss of influence. When the Church falls, her power over the world will disappear. Christian elevation of character is essential to Christian influence among men. 2, Loss qf power entails loss of liberty. Jerusalem weakened and conquered becomes a vassal. Only the strong can be free. Spiritual failings lead to the loss of spiritual liberty. 3. When the Church ceases to influence the world she will become sub;'ect to the world. The fallen suzerain becomes a. vassal. The Church ca.n only retain her liberty by maintaining her supre- macy. This is the great truth the abuse of which has led to the monstrous pretensions of Rome. The lawful supremacy of the Church must be spiritual, and this may be lost and the Church subject to the spirit of the world, even while she is greedily grasping after temporal power, perhaps just because she does banker a.ftor this lower advantage. Ver. 2.-0omfortless. In her distress Jerusalem looks for comfort to those neigh- bouring nations which flattered her during her prosperity and behaved then a.s "lovers;" but she is disappointed in finding that they all desert her in the hour of her need. L IT IS NATURAL TO SEEK FOB OOMFORT IN ADVERSITY FBOM THE FRIENDSHIPS OF PROSPERITY, Jerusalem had her "lovers." This fact throws a. significant light on the statement that she had " become as a widow'' (ver. 1). What shame that she, the wife of the Eternal, shonld have to be spoken to of "lovers"! But having them she must find her comfort in them. She dare not look to her husband for comfort. In plainer language, the Jews had adopted the idolatry of neighbouring nations as well as renounced the exclusive and retiring position which had been required of them by their God. It was fitting that they should find their consolation from the Babylonian invasion in these foreign connections and religions. If we let our) business, our pleasure, our ambition, or any other earthly thing usurp the place of God in our hearts, the time will come when we shall have to try what help we can got in trouble from our idol. II. UNWORTHY OONNECTIONS WILL AFFORD NO COMFORT IN TIMES OF TROUBLE, The lovers are for plea.sure; adversity dismisses them. How bitter is the disappointment! how mortifyi.nu is the revelation! The true husband could have been depended on, but the bad lover; for whom he was forsaken coldly turn from the piteous pleading of the sufferer. Thus must it be with every one who forsakes the one Friend and Comforter. No other balm of Gilead will heal the broken heart. What ca.n the pleasures of society say to one who has failed and disgraced himself? What consolation can a materialistic philosophy whisper in the ears of the mourner by the grave? How will the science of the history of religion smooth the pillow of the dying man? Ill. THE LAST DROP OF THE BITTER CUP IS TO BE C0MFORTLEBS, Mero formar consoling is a weariness when it is not an insult to grief. But the comfort of sympathy, the Olt, I, 1-22.] THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 5