proqessos V,:ffich cl9 not disturb the sense of national security. Of the roor the words may well be usocl, "ln quietness and confidence shall be your strength." II. ITB BEAI\ING ON THE RICH. They are always the aim of attack in lawless timPs, whethe~, the evil ~o~o through. aggressi;vo enemies outside the nation, or through turbulen~ people ms1de the nation. The one wants "booty," and the ofher wants excuse (or robbery. : The rich need national security (1) for the retention of what they have; (2) for the increase of what they have; (3) and for the enjoyment of what they have. National distress becomes especially afilictive to the rich, because by training and associ,ation they are unfitted for self-help when their riches are taken away. III. ITS MISSION AS BENT DY Goo. It is often that which we find illustrated in the case of Moab. National distress, circumstances that unite the whole lai:d in a common grief, and in a common sense of helplessness, is the Divine corrective of the evils which attend prolonged peace, security, and luxury. Those evils may be traced : 1. In the sphere of men's thought. The material is exaggerated, the unseen and spiritul\\ are at disadvantage, and cannot hold their due place and proportion. 2. In the spliern of social life. In prolonged times of peace and prosperity, the separations between classes of society are grievously widened, and there grows up a painful contrast between the few who are unduly rich and the many who are miserably poor. National distress brings rich and poor together, in mutual ~epe0:deD:ce and service. 3. In the spheres of religion. Like the voyager, men can easily d1sm1ss the thought of God when, for long .times together, seas are calm and heavens are clear; but when the skies are black, and the wild waves shake the frail ship, and fear whitens every face, tbe soul b<>gins to cry for a sight of God and a touch of his protecting hand. We are with God as our little childre.n are with their mothers. They run about and play, taking little heed of her, until the head· aches, and the pulse is high, and pain wearies; and then there is nobody in all the world will do but their mpther. National distress brings nations back to the though~ and love of God. The atheist, the agnostic, and the secularist ha'{e their_ c_hl!,nce when .the sun shines; nobody wants such vain helpers when the tempests rage, Then nobody will do but the God of our fathers. IV. ITS SHAME, IF CAUSED BY llAN'B WILFULNESS OB MAN°S NEGLECT. And tli.ese are too often the immediate causes of national distress. \Var is almost always the issue of somebody's wilfulness or masterfulness.. Nobody would nee,l to go to war if they did not hanker after something-·to which they had no right, or were not com- pelled' to resisl; these envious, masterful folk. And such distresses as come by prevailing disease are usually traceable to men's neglectings of social and family and household duty.· God makes even man's errors and sins serve his purpose, but he never ceases to declare woe unto him by whom the offence cometh.-R. T. Ver. 6.~Divine f1dg1r1ents in precise adaptations. The point which arrests atten- 'tiqn here is that Moab, being so largely a sheep-feeding country, was dependent on its pastures, and these wc_ro. dependeut on the dews, and rains, and fountains, anrl streams. 'fo a grazing country no greater calamity, no more precisely adapted calamity, could come than is described in this verse : " The waters of Nimrim Ehall be desolate : for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing." Possibly tbo mischief was wrought in part by the malicious act of the invaders in stopping the wells nnd defiling the streams. If one thing more than another is impressed on devout minds by; a review of life, it is the marvellous way in which Divine wisdom has fountl the best, 'most adapted forms for judgment and chastisement to take. Chastisement 11ent by_ the Divine Father is always precisely corrective of the evil which bas called for it, .and always precisely corrective to the individual and to the particular nation. '!'his general subject may be'opened out thus- I. DIVINE JUl)GMENTS HA VE l;'BECISE AIMS. The aim expressed in general terms is- -humiliation with a view to exall.aiion. . II. DIVINE JUnGMENTB ARE DIRECTED TO SECURE THOSE AIMS. And this decides the form aud the degree of the humiliation that is found to be necessary. !If. DIVINE JUDOMENTS ARE ADAPTED IN WAYS THAT MAY ESCAPE PRESENT NOTICE. Aud this occasions some of the gravest perplexities, and sternest struggles of life. IV. 'fm,: ADAPTATION OF ALL DIVINE JUDGMENTS, TO THE SECURING OF THEIR PREOIBE AIMS, WILL DE TUE _DELIGHTFUL DISCOVERY OF THE l'IJTURE. It will be our THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [ oa. :I.VL 1-U.
reading of our own history, and of the world's history, when we have learned how to read aright.-R. T.
Ver. 7.-The imecurity of w01·ldly po,suaiona. The picture is a striking one. In the national fright, the people are seen picking up what they can of their treasures, and escaping for lifo to the border districts; learning the lesson that "riches take to themselves wings, and flee away." The word "abundance,n in the text, should be replaced by the word "remainder ; " and the most probable mooning of the verse is that the Moabites shall carry what they can save of their possessions into the land of Edom. The picture suggests two topics. L THE INSECURITY OF THE MAN WHO IS RICH IN WHAT BB HAB. Illustrate from riches (1) in land; (2) in money; (3) in houses; (4) in goods. How dependent he is on a thousand things for the retention and use of all I 'l'he lesson of Job is that no form of earthly possession can possibly be secure. Land is unlet; money cannot be profitably exchanged; houses get out of repair, a.ud eat up rentals; and goods deteriorate in the warehouses. When ordinary forces leave our property alone, the heavens can send tire; the earth can heave and quake; and by mysterious influences we can be made to lca.m our lesson, that " this is not our rest." II. THE SEOURITY OF THE MAN WHO IS RICH IN WHAT HE IS, No human and no supernatural forces, here or hereafter, can deprive a man of his possessions in what he is. Character, piety, are beyond reach of moth, or worm, or rust, or storm, or earth- quake, or death. It is said of knowledge that a man "only possesses what he under- stands." It might be said of a man's wealth that he "only has what he is." When calamities come, the man of character never has to gather hie treasures hurriedly tocrether and make off for the border-land. Wherever he is, he has his riches with him. Stripped of all his so-called wealth, he is not deprived of one grain. He holds it all, and his riches none can take away. The Lord Jesus men called poor. He was the only truly and perfectly rich man that ever lived; and such as he was we would desire to be.-B. 'L