The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1 — Section 262

and hearty enjoyment of it, it will always cast some slight shadow over the sunshine of our delight. But there is no shadow here, no sense of insecurity, no fear of disappoint- ment. Ravo your soul in con~cious fellowship with God, and you may rest in the thought that "nothing shall ever be able to separate you from his love" (Rom. viii. 38, 39). "Thie is life eternal," etc. (John xvii. 3). "The water that I shall give him shall be in him," etc. (John iv. 14). II. UNLIKE OTHER FORMS OF GOOD, IT IS INCAPABLE OF ABUSE. What natural gift is there that men may not tum, and have not actually turned, to some purpose contrary to that for which it was given? The false use grows, not so much out of any quality or tendency in the thing itself, e.s out of the innate perversity of oar human nature. And there is nothing in the thing itself, or in the fact of our possessing it, that necessarily acts as a cure for that perversity. Intellectual capacity, genius, literary culture, rank, wealth, etc.,-how often have these been allied with moral corruption, a.nu given their possessors the ability to inflict incalculable mischief on the human race? The graces of holy character which spring from fellowship with God cannot, in the nature of things, be thus abllSed. You cannot conceive of their being prostituted to evil ends. They bear within them the pledge of their Divine use and issue. III. IT ENABLES US, AS NOTHING ELSE CAN, TO APPRECIATE ALL THAT IS TRUE AND GOOD IN THIS PRESENT WORLD. You must know God before you can rightly understand and realize the highest profit of the world in which he has placed you. There are two popular errors in this direction-ono is the error of supposing that the apprehension of the truth of nature depends solely on mental capacity and scientific investigation. Does not the inability of some of the most illustrious thinkers of every age to find out the Divine in nature, rather show that it is more a question of spiritual sympathy than of intellectual power? The other error is that of supposing that the power to procure the good of this life is the same thing as the power to enjoy it. And yet how many pampered children of wealth and fashion are there who bear upon their faces the marks of weariness and discontent I Their souls are withered by excessive physical indulgence and artificial culture. They have lost the capacity of pure and simple enjoyment, and childlike wonder and delight are things to them unknown. Let your spirit be in fellowship with God, let your" heart be set to hallow all you find," and the deepest treasures of truth and the sweetest satisfactions of life are within your reach. God h!IB made purity of heart the condition, not only of knowing himself, but of knowing the best of his gifts. It both creates and verifies- " The cheerful faith that all which we behold le full of blessing." "Godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Tim. vi. G). "Dlessed nre the meek," etc. (Matt. v. 5). "All things arc yours," etc. (1 Cor. iii. 21-~3). IV. IT GIVES US THE POWEII TO CONFEII HIGIIEST BENEFIT ON OUB FELLO\\'- CIIEATORES. We are disposed sometimes to envy the talents, the ran!!:e of influence, the means of usefulness, that others possess. It seems a grand thing to us to be iu certnin commanding positions, and have resources that may be useu at pleasure for the working out of certain desired ends. Remember, however, that what can alono givo worth to theso things are precisely those persounl, moral qualities that nro within tho reach of all, 'l'he influence of godly character is deeper, more radical, more productiv& of enduring fruits of blessedness than any other kind of influence. Who would not rejoice in the power to confer this highest good upon the world ?-W. Ver. I.-lncessane weeping over the calamities of Israel. We havo here still anothe1 measure of how great, in the estimation of the prophet, the calamity was which baa fallen upon his people. Other measures have already been given, in the despoiling of the tombs (eh. viii. 1, 2), in the exile worse than death (eh. viii. 3), in the visitation of serpents which were beyond the charmer's power (eh. viii. 17), and in the suffering through the sin of his people, which even a true servant of God could not escape (eh. viii. 21). And now this extraordinary desire of the prophet comes in to make plain from yet another direction how great he reckoned the impending calamity to be. Wo may well imagine that as he set before Jerusalem these gloomy prospects, the people in their light-heartedness replied, "Why make all this ado? Why try thus to alarm 262 THE BOOK OI<' THE PIWPHET JEUEMJAH. [cu. 1x. 1-26