plcaus in 11triking similarity with Teafab, eayi11g, "Then he forsook God which made him, and,lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation;"" Of tlie Rock that begat thee lliou art unmindful, and bast forgotten God th11Uormccl thee" (Deut. xxxii. 15, 18). I. MAN'S l'EBU.S is 4 MOBAL ni!:mo. These tjan be ilfostra,ted from the evils and the perils of sociul anc\ nntional Hfc. They can be opened out fully under three headings: (1) intelle.ctual; (2) moral; (3) religious. II. Fo~ Sµ'0ll l'EUILB MAN 0AN NEVER PBOV.JDE EFFICIENT DEFENCES, Intellectual safeguards fail before the subUeties of aggressive unbelief. Moral safeguarrls fail bcforn the uprising swell of passions. Formal religions safezuards fail to satisfy when heart begins to cry. In the dangerous ways of an earth full of temptation and evil, "it ia not in man that walketh to direct his steps." ' III. MAN'S SAFETY. FROM ALL PERILS IS m GOD HIS Roox. On God a. man may stand scctir.1',,thoi1gb the wild storm-waves beat arouncl him: In God a man may hid() quite safely until all the calamities be overpast. .His house may feel the. blowing of the mighty winds; but it falls not, for it is founded on a rock. "God is my strong Salvation; What foe have I to fear? In darkness and temptation, My Lr.ght, my Help, is near. ·, Though hosts encamp around me, Firm to.the fight I eland; What terror can confound me, With God a$ my right hand p• R. T. Ver. 11...::_Tize mission of disappointment; 01·, disappointment used a.a II Divine Judgment. In this pa~sage is pre~ented the case of unrewarded toil Seed is sown, blades spring np,.there is every prospect of harvest; but all hopes are disappointed, the harvest proved: a failure-it was "a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow." One special feature of the discipline of life is the disappoiutrnent of our most cherished hopes and expectations. We build our castles on some new enterprise, and at first all seems to go well; but at last our castle lies in ruins about us. We set our hopes on one of our children, and fashion for him a future of honour and success, and our dis- apppintment in him almost breaks our heart. We make important changes, which pr</mise mµcb, and result in the humiliation of failure and distress. God works by dis!!.ppointments; they are keener rods for smiting than afflictions are. They bear more quicltly on the humbling of man's pride and on the conviction of hls self-help- lessness. They: try temper more. They too often result in hardening and increased wilfulness. There is no harder lesson for us to learn than this one, that God works his work of grace by shutting doors against us, and not permitting us to achieve the success which is the desire of our heart. We plan, we work, but all proves in va.in; and so we learn that it is the blessing of the Lord alone that maketh rich, and giveth good success. We observe- • I. DISAPPOINTMENT DIFFEIIS FROM AFFLICTION, Take two scenes from David's life. The rebellion of Absalom was an affiiction. The refusal to permit him to build the temple was a disappointment. The one was no more under God's overruling than was the other. They are perfectly distinct in character and in influence. One difference may be effectively illustrated. With" afflictions" the1e is usually an enfeebled and depressed state of body, involving weakened will and limitation of resistance. With "disappointments" there is usually the full health and energy; and the conflict, that ends in true submission, is therefore more severe. II. DISAPPOINTMENTS MAY INFLUENCE WHEN AFFLICTIONS WOULD NOT. That depends on dispositions. Many a man can bear sufferings who would be thrown into the most violent struggles by having his will crossed. 'l'hrn that "crossing of his will" may be the only wo.y to acromplish his sanctifying. We should rejoice that he who knows the best methods of chastisement also knows us on whom the correction comes. For us the way to heaven may he round by II series of lifelong disappointments. Most persons, pe1haps, looking back over their lives, would say that their bitterest hours were tho~1• in which they realized that thoy " could not do the things that they would." 304 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [oa. xvm. 1-7.
St. P11ul knew such times. The story of one such is very simply told, but those who read between the lines may find indic11tion of much feeling. "Wo assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered us not." And it is not easy to estimate the ~duca- tional influence on our Lord's disciples of that overwhelming dis11ppointment, which came when he who they thought should have redeemed Israel w11s "hung up 11nd crucified." 'l'bat rn&y be just the kind of weapon which our heavenly F11tber may need for our correction; and, in our various disappointments, we m11y hear hie gr&cious voice saying, "Should it be according to thy mind? "-R. T.