Ver. 7.-Pk/Uant thi,,n,gs iA the day, of old. I. IN TIMES OF TROUBLE WE OAl.L TO llTh'D TllE PLEASANT THINGS IN THE DAYS OF OLD. I. There have been pleasant things in the days of old. Few lives, if any, are wholly joyl<>ss from cradle to grave. There are rifts in the clouds of the darkest lot. Indeed, for most of UR, the pleasant things far outnumber the painful 2. These pl,easamt things are too often undervalued when in Ofl,r possessiO'TI,. The fact that they may become snbjects of fond and sad regret should lead us to take more account of them while they are with us. Let/us not add to tl:.e lamentations of the loss of them remorse for an ungrateful and depreciatory treatment of them. 3. Truuble calls up the recollection of these pl,easant things. (I) It does this because it leads to reflection. We may observe a great contrast between the intellectual effects of joy and sorrow. Joy is usually thoughtless, sorrow meditative. When joy does stimulate the intellect, it urges it to look forward and inspires hope ; but sorrow turns its gaze backward and contemplates the past. 2. It does this by the force of contrast. One experience suggests the thought of its opposite. Darkness makes us dream of light, silence of music, pain of joy. 4. Such recollections are likely to ezaggerate tlie pleasantness ef the past. Mem0ry is not an even mirror. It is warped by prejudice and (emotion. When we regret the loss of past happiness, we exalt that 1appiness in memory above what it ever was in experience. Unconsciously we drop the vexationR out of notice. We remember the fine view, and forget the weary climb that preceded the enjoyment of it. The roses of a regretful memory have no thorns. The soft evening lights 8pread a glamour over the past which gilds its plain features and softens its rugged form and hides its ugly defects in a delicious haze of dreamy melancholy. lL RECOLLECTIONS OF PLEASANT TIDIIGB IN THE DAYS OF OLD EXAGGERATE THE DISTRESS OF TlllES OF TBOUBLE. On the whole, it may be, life is prosperous. The balance is in favour of the pleasa.nt things. But we cannot take life in the lump. We COIUJfttDe it piecemeal ; and that portion which is with us at each moment is for us tho life it.self-the whole life. Our real Ii ving is in the present. It is true that " we look before and a.fter" and hope may greatly lighten the burden of the present, but only by coming into the present as the twilight of dawn enters the world before sunrise-a rtal light. 1. 'fhis fact helps us f<> su a 'f/UYre even equalizing of lots than is obvious ut CII, I, 1-22,] 'J'HE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 7
flrse. IC man is born to trouble, he who seems a.tone time to have an unfair advantage will have to pay for it by the keener suffering of hie adversity when that cr>meH. 2. This fad should warn us against the foll,IJ of enjoying the present without pr-,paring for the future. 'l'ho more heartily we enjoy earthly treasures the worse will be rJur distress If we have no treasure in heaven to inherit. 3. It is fooli.~h to yield to fond regi·ets of the pleasant things in the days of old. The past cannot be recalle<l. Let it dio. 'l'he future is ours. 'l'he west will not brighten again with a return of the fading glow of sunset, but a. new day will break in the east. 4. We may call to mind the happy things in days of old, not to increase our present, distress, but to encourage hope. 'l'he sun did shine, then it may shine again. God is the same now as ever. If ho blessed in the past be can bless in the future. Former mercies encourage us to hope for better things still to come. Ver.12.-Sorrow unequalled, yet unheeded. Jerusalem sits alone in her unparalleled grief, and the bitterness of it is intensified by the pitiless disregard of spectators. Bedouins of the desert pitch their tents in sight of her ruined towers, and merchants passing north and south see her deserted streets, and yet all gaze unmoved at the heart-rending picture. I. THE SORROW w AS UNEQUALLED. 1. Never was city more favoured than Jerusalem. She was the chosen seat of Divine grace. In her temple stood God's mercy-seat. High privileges of revelation and spiritual blessings descended on her sons and daughters. The loss of these privileges brought a distress that men who had never enjoyed them could not feel. They who have tasted of the heavenly gift will find the outer darkness more terrible than those who have had no anticipation of the joys of the wedding feast. Apostate Christians will suffer agonies which the heathen and godless will not have to endure. 2. Never was city more loved than Jerusalem. This city of sacred memories and tender associations was dear to the hearts of her inhabitants. Her overthrow brought a. grief that was proportionate to this love. The most fatal wound is one aimed at the heart. We are pained most cruelly when we are wounded in affection. What grief can be greater than that of parents for ruined children, and especially when the parents' sin has been the children's temptation? 3. Never was city mere visited by Divine wrath than Jerusalem. Here is the secret of her deepest trouble. She is afflicted in the day of God's fierce anger. God is most angry with her because she has sinned against most light, most ungratefully, and most rebelliously. II. THE SORROW WAS UNHEEDED. It would be thought that such unequalled grief would arrest the attention of the most hasty and strike pity into the hardest. But no; it seems that all will pass by with cold and stony indifference. 1. Note the causes of this Indifference. (1) Callousness. Men look with the eye who do not feel with the heart. 'l'he very sight of misery often encountered hardens men's sensibilities. (2) Selfishness. People are self-absorbed. Sympathy requires effort, attention, self-renun- ciation. It costs more than the selfish will give. (3) Contempt. The worst trouble of Jerusalem was her humiliation. But humiliation leads to contempt. Now, it is hard to pity those who are despised. 2. Consider the exceptions to this indifference. (1) Good Samaritans. Thank God, such exist, though no synagogue honours them. One such is worth scores of priests and Levites who "pass by on the other side." (2) The Divine compassion. 'l'he sufferer looks down and looks around him and sees no pity. If he will look up, he will see that the very Being who smote in righteous wrath is waiting to heal in merciful forgiveness (Hosea vi. 1). In conclusion, a parallel may be drawn between the sorrow of Christ and that of Jerusalem. 'l'he text cannot be understood to be written of our Lord. But it may illustrate that sorrow which far surpa,1sed all other human grief. To how many is it as nothing I They pass the cross as Arabs and Phcenicians passed Jerusalem in her ruin. Yet, is it nothing to them? (1) Their sins caused Christ's sorrow. (2) Christ's sorrow can save their souls. (3) Christ's sorrow calls, not for pity, but for gratitude and faith.