Ver. 27.-The discipline of youth. Remember how early Jeremiah was called to prophesy. He says at the beginning, "Ah, Lord God! behold, I oannot speak : for J am a child" (Jer. i. 6). He had to bear the yoke in his youth, and doubtless this did much to fit him for a useful and well-controlled life afterwards. The comparison, ot' course, is plain. An ox might be put under the yoke when quite young, and then, though the restraint would be irksome for a while, at last the sense of restraint would pass away, and the yoke become second nature; whereas if an ox: had never been tried with the yoke until full-grown, the chances were it would not accept it in a docile and serviceable way. There is this difference between the youthful ox and the youthful human being, that the youthful ox is entirely in the hands of his master, while the youthful human being has his own choice. For we do not take the yoke here to mean chiefly the external circumstances of life. The yoke is that which we take upon ourselves, seeing that it is the right and manly thing to do. Self-denial is a yoke. 'rhe effort needful in forming right ha.bits is a yoke. 'l'he subordination of the present to the future, the lower to the higher, the human to the Divine, is a. yoke. Not that we a.re to leave external circumstances altogether out of the question. Men who had hard times when young have come to be thankful, in after yea.re, for those very hard times. It is better to be an orphan than to be the child of parents who have both the means and the disposition which make them lavishly indulgent. Only bear in mind that external circumstances have not in themselves any disciplining power. The materials of a yoke might be used to make something else, The decision rests with us. One may make a yoke out of prosperity and favourable circumstances, while another so chafes and sulks under adversity as to become worse every da.y.-Y. Vers. 31-33.-God's good purposes in causing pain. All this is the language of hope and continues naturally what is said in vers. 21 and 24. The existence of present trouble presses upon the heart, but along with it there is the confident assur- ance of future deliverance. Observe, then, certain admissions, along with the cheering qualifications which accompany them. I. THE LoBD CASTS OFF. There is a discontinuance of the signs of his presence. Enemies get their own way, and, worst of all, the prophets find no vision from the Lord. He is not towards Israel as he used to be. But then, what a qualification comes in! Not for ever. Indeed, the ea.sting off only emphasizes the bringing back. 'fhe casting off must not be taken too literally. God does not cast off as men do. They cast off and do not wish to bring back, or, if they so wish, they find tney a.re not able. When God casts off, though there is a feeling of separation, and something is lost that is not to be gained by any effort, still the truth remains that in God even the castaway lives and moves and has his being. God casts men off, a.s it were, that they may realize their weakness and true state, and then, when they make the full discovery, God's hand is stretched out to restore. II. THE Lo&n CAUSES GRIEF. Great grief, pain of body and pain of heart, must have come from the casting off. And it is of no use to make nice distinctions between God causing pain and permitting pain. Really we do not know much about the causes of pain, and it may be that we attribute to God much that we ourselves produce. The one clear thing is that God shows forth a multitude of mercies. 'l'o most of us a multitude of mercies came before there were any pains at all, and the mercies remain through the pains, eveu though at times they be greatly eclipsed. We may be wrong in attributing the infliction of pa.in to God, hampered as we too often are by tLe conceptions of earlier ages. But we can never be wrong in glorifying G(,d for the multitude of his mercieB. We may spoil and misuse the mercies and thus OD, III, 1-66.] THE LAMENTA'l'IONS OF JEREMIAH. 61
make p11in, but the mercies we could, not get for ourselves. Our very wrong-doing mn.kcs frosh morcies to arise in view. They are many, and each one of them is a great deop of love and wisdom. III. 'l'HE Lono AFFLICTS THE CHILDREN OF MEN. This is but saying what is nlready said. The new thing is the qualification. He does not <lo it willinqly. The distinction is plain between injury inflicted with malice and injury inflicted with reluctance. There have been, e.nd, alas I there still are, too many who put all their bee.rt into the hurting of others. Their very end is to cause pain; whereas the enrl God hns in view is to remove the causes of pain. The surgeon does not inflict pain willingly-he inflicts it because he cannot help it; and thus he welcomes and utilizes to the full the agent which brings unconsciowmess while he performs his operation.-Y,