The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1 — Section 263

us by theso thrcatenini's and cries and tears?" The exclamation of ver. 1 guides us to what t-he prophet's answer would be. " My tears, which you count so causeless, rnther fall short-short beyond all expressing-of the occasion for them." 'l'he fact is that the deepest,, tenderest human pity and s01-ro,v, when compared with the actual needs of fallen man, are but a.s a slight thaw that vainly struggles with the penetrating frost of the heart. Not that human beings lack the power of deep emotion. Whole. peoples will be responsive enough to certain touches. But who is to bring before the hearts of all men a sufl1cicnt perception of what it is that underlies and perpetuates, the misery of the whole world? The thing wanted is an abiding pity for men lying in: the suffering of sin. It is perfectly true that there is not pity enough for men because of their poverty, their bodily defects and infirmities, -and all miseries that arc visible to the natural man. But the real reason why even this pity falls so lamentably short is that thern is no searching consideration of what lies deeper than any visible miseries. Nothing eif('ctual, can be done with the seen unless the unseen is put right. Then we may be sure of it that the seen will come right with wonderful.quickness and stability. \Ve must make our hearts to dwell with the utmost pity on those who are not yet born again, not yet living the life of faith, not yet in living union with the great Source.of eternal life, not yet rejoicing with the joy of the Holy .Ghost. If we ourselves are really in process of salvation, and with our increased knowledge of truth comprehending more and more what salvation will bring with it for ourselves, then it will not appear to us extravagant and rhapsodical rhetoric that a prophet should wish bis head to be waters, and his eyes a fountain of tears. It is unmanly and utterly despicable to weep for trifles, to weep over some spoiled gratification of self; but what sort of a heart must that man have who can watch, free from the deepest agitation,. bis brethren going on heedlessly into perdition ? Jeremiah would have been unworthy of bis call and his visions as a prophet if be had fallen short of his exclamation here. Not, of course, that we are to make too much of the mere shedding of t/JQ/1's. In the case of the prophet copious tears were the index of a heart within right in its thoughts, steady in its purposes. But there are many instances where copious tears have no such .value. They come and go like a thunder-shower, lasting us briefly and leaving as little trace behind. Men of fe1v 1ears may be men of a large, wise, far-seeing kindness. He who never gives to beggars ~n the street may yet be doing much to make beggary cease altogether. Jorcmiah's wish, then, was the wish of a man who saw deeply into the confusions of his time; and yet he did not see as deep as Jesus. Those few tears that Jesus dropped amid the btreaving agonies of Bethany, had in them more of a. pure and profound pity oyer men than all the tears that sinners themselves have shed. No sinful man can 1mag10e that iJeal of human life which was ever before the eyes of the Son of God. He alone knows bow far man bas fallen ; be alone knows how high fallen man can be raised. He sees what men miss who do not repent and believe in him. He sees what possibilities of remorse and shame and self-condemnation may be opening up in eternity to the negligent and the impenitent. What wonder, then, that be spoke of the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched I What tears must not be shed over those, who choose to sow the wind, seemingly forgetting that they must reap the whirl- wind l-Y. Ver. 2.-The lodging-place in the wi?dei-ness. I. WnAT IT IS TIIE PROPHET WISHES FOR. The occurrence of the word "wilderness" may easily mislead us into thinking that the prophet's wish was for solitude, and thus we may be disposed to reproach him, as if, Timon-like, he wanted to get away from his fellow-men altogether. But it is not on the word "wilderness" that we must fix our attention to discover the prophet's feeling. The reference to a traveller's lodging-place is the main thing to be considered. It is not between some hermit's humble, solitary shelter and the well-built house, which is but one out of many making up the stately city, that the contrast is made, but rather between the inn of the traveller and the abode of the man who, day after day, bas to mingle busily in the society of which he forms a part. If you a.re staying a.t a.n inn for the night, it matters very little, so far as acquaintance is concerned, who your fellow-guests may be. You scarcely meet them; you arc i_n their comp~ny _for a _fow hours, and on the morrow each takes his several way. Jeremiah prefers to_l!ve 111 an 100, where he would see a succession of strange faces, to living even amongst his own people.  cn. IX, 1-26.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMI.A.Il. 263