The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 42

spoken of as a time of plM!!uro, Older people do their best to d1tmp the joyousness of the yonng by telling them that these are their hnppy days, ~oon will conw the dark days of trouble, let them enjoy the bright time wbile it lRsts. Even if such a view· of life were correct, the wisdom of thrusting it formml is not easy to discover. Why spoil the feast by pointing t-0 the sw~rd of Dar:nocles? Why dir~ct the walk on a fair spring day to the graveyard? Surely 1t were wiser t-0 say, "Suffimrnt unto the day is the evil thereof.~ But th)s view is false. It arises from the disturbe<l imagination of later years. Grown morose with <IIIJ'6, men look back on the earlier days of their life and imacrine them to have been far brighter than those they now enjoy; but they only do so by that common trick of -memory that selects the pleasant pictures and drops the unpleasant ones. 1. Youth is a time of restraint. With all their lightness of heart, children feel the bonds of authority and long for the time when they shall be their own masters. It is difficult for grown men who have the free command of their own actions to under- Rtand the irksomeness of the necessary bonds of childhood. Restrained in the nursery and in the schoolroom under law and supervision, liable to ignominious rebuke, many children foel themselves in slavery. Wiser treatment gives more liberty; but still it necessarily continues many restraints. And in full-grown life, when the bondage is more galling, young men commonly have· to obey and submit to direction more than older men. 2. Youth is .a time of t<,i,l. Men generally have to work hard in their younger years. The hours of labour are longest; the tasks imposed are the most disa§!:reeable; the wages paid are the lowest. Most men as they advance in years work for shorter hours at more agreeable tasks and for greater rewards. II. THE YOKE 1s G-OOD FOR YOUTH. We have seen that it is incorrect to regard youth as a time of exceptional pleasantness. For a normal life the day brightens as it lengthens, at lea.st till the meridian is attained, and even later the soft light of evening is to many a source of deep, calm joy unknown in the feverish excitement of youth (see Words- worth's poem on the superiority of the quiet September songs of the birds to their wild, restless spring songs). Nevertheless, the very yoke of youth is good. 1. If it must be borne at a.11, the yoke can be best borne in youth. The mind is then most supple to shape itself to the unwont.ed burden and pressure of it. Then a man can yield to authority with most pliancy and face hard labour most confidently. 2. The yoke is necessary/ for youth. It is a good thing to bear it in youth. (1) Restraint is then necessary. Liberty wonld be abused. Until an independent conscience has been developed, instructed, and strengthened, the ext.ernal conscience of authority is needed. (2) Worle is also good for youth. Even the discipline of unpleasant tasks is wholesome. It con- quers self-will and the idle love of pleasure, and trains in self-denial. 3. Later years are benefited by the yoke of yooth. Even if the years during which it is borne aro not so happy as they might be, the man himself is better in the whole of his life. He profits by the discipline. He learns habits of self-restraint and industry. He is able better to appreciate the privileges of advancing stages of life. Vers. 31-33.-Chastisement only for a season. I. THE FAOT THAT OHABTISEMENT IS ONLY Fon A SEASON. God does" cast off" and "cause grief.'' His love does not nullify his wrath. When grieved and disowned by God the soul feels utterly desolate. Dut the terrible judgment is only for a season. It will end in reconciliation and com- passion. This gre!l.t tru~ gives an entirelr new complexi?~ to o~r views of life and providence. We see at tunes the severe side. But we misjudge 1f we take that as a sample of the whole. Indeed the very severity prepares the way fo1· mercy ; for God c,-an show compassion after chastisement to a degree that would not be good before the wholesome discipline. The sunshine, which would wither the plants before the storm, coming after it helps them to grow and flourish on the water it has brought to their root£. 1. This/ad is no groondfor reckless indifference. For (1) the wrath is terrible enough while it lute; (2) it must endure as long as impenitent guilt is persisted in; and (3) sin that presumes on mercy is the most gross and culpable ingratitude. 2. This fact shoul,d be a wnsol,a,tion in tf'OWJl,e. Hope may buoy up the sufferer. And resort ·may be had to prayer. It seems as though the soul were abandoned. But if God bas nut cast it off for ever, he must still feel interest in it, and may therefore be appealed to for mercy. 3. This/act is an enwuragement to repentance. Endless punishment dis- courages repentance. It acts in the opposite way from that of all useful punishment. en, m. 1-66.] THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 43