Ver. 8.-None to delive1". Bitterness was adilcd to the misery of the Jews when Chnldenn slavos-advanced to eminence and power on account of their ability-worn placed in authority over them, But there was no choice; resistance was imp0ssiblc an,\ deliverer there was none. In this respect the condition of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may represent that of sinfnl, helpless men. I. A CRUEL DONDAGE. Sinners have yielded themselves up to obey the enemy of their souls, the foe of God. 'l'his is (1) a usurper, who has no right to rule over men; (~) a tyrant, who with unjust and unreasonable exercise of authority oppresses those ·beneath his power; (3) a cruel master, whose service is slavery, whose stripes are many, whose wages are cleath nnd destruction. II. A SEEMINGLY INEVITABLE FATE. The conquered ,Jud:eans had looked hither and thither, in the crisis of their fate, for some friend and helper, but they had looked i11 vain. Similarly the captive of sin can find no earthly deliverer; his fellow-men are his fellow-sinners and fellow-captives; there is no eye to pity and no band to save. III. A SOLITARY DUT SUFFICIENT CoNSOLATION AND REFUGE. The restless waves answer their purpose when they toss the imperilled mariner towards the haven of refuge . .Affliction and adversity, chains and dungeons, oppressors and torturers, may make the one only Deliverer welcome. 'fhe Lord God has revealed himself to us Ill! the Saviour of all men. There is no prison from which he cannot set the captive free; there are no gyves and fetters he cannot strike off; there are no foes from whose hands be cann0t rescue and deliver.-T. Ver. 15.-The cessation of }oy. This fate had been foretold. "Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride : for the land shall be desolate." Well is it for those who take the warning which i:1 given beforehand, and do not wait, as Jerusalem waited, for the stem lessons of a retributive Providence. I. THERE IS CESSATION OF JOY WHICH IS NOT PID.'1TIVE. The health, the elasticity of spirits, the pleasnres of youth, cannot be protracted to old age. "Earth's joys grow dim, its glories fade away." Days of sickness, of poverty, of bereavement, of sorrow, are appointed by the Lord of the human lot, to follow days of brightness. The wail of sorrow will replace the song of gladsome joy. Yet all this experience may be spiritually disciplinary and helpful; there may be in it nothing of ptmishment, nothing of Divine displeasure. II. THERE IS CESSATION OF JOY WfilCH IS THE SIGN OF DIVL-.;E ANGER AND THE FULFILMENT OF DIVINE THREATENING. Such was the case with Judah, upon whom the siege l\nd the Captivity came, not without warning, not without space for repentance. In fact, sin puts an end to the joy which it promises to increa~e and perpetuate, and brings abO'Ut the mourning and distress a,,c,ainst which it pretends to ensure us. The retrospect of those whose joy has ceased becomes in such case:1 a retrospect of human rebellion and Divine forbearance. Conscience awl\kes and admits that sorrow is merited. APPLICATION, Yet there i., a way of repentance. God will renew the days of his people as of old, 'l'his is the cry and the hope of the penitent: "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation."-T.
Vers. 16, 17.-The degradat-ion of sin. The promise of sin is something very different from this; no flattery is untried, no prospect withheld, which may induce men to rebel against God. But, as with our first parents, as with the dwellers in Jerusalem, so is it in the experience of all men; the promises which sin makes are unfulfilled; the wages of sin are death. I. 'l'HE PICTURE OF DEGRADATION. It is highly figurative language wh:ch the pro- phet here employs; but it is not exaggerated, it is not unjust. 1. The head is uncrowned. Judah's independence and freedom was as a crown to the head; but tbo ChalJeans tore it off and flung it nwny. They who defy God must lose in so doing all that is most honourable, most sncred, most precious. 2. 'l'he heart is foint. J udah's ':PY was turn~J THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. [uR, V, 1-22,