The Pulpit Commentary — Jeremiah — Volume 1 — Section 289

Ver. 23.-" The way of man." The prophet probably speaks here not merely for himself, but in the name of the whole nation. He gives articulate utterance to the better elements of thought and feeling existing among them, their conscious short- sightedness as regards the meaning and issue of their own national experiences, their belpless dependence on the unseen Divine power that is working out through the terrible events of the time its own all-wise purposes. An important view of human life is here presented before us. Consider (1) the fact asserted; (2) the influence it may be ezpected to have over us. L THE FACT ASSERTED. cc The way of man is not in himself," etc. All human life is a "way," a journey, a pilgrimage, through various scenes and circumstances, to the "bourn from whence no traveller returns." And, free as we may be and accountable for our own actions, there is a sense in which it is equally true that it is given to none of us to determine what that way shall be. We are called on to recognize a governing power external to ourselves, above and beyond ourselves. Look at this fact in two lights as indicative of: l. Moral inability. A man's own judgment and impulse are not in themselves a safe rule for the conduct of his life. He cannot always trace the mutual relation of interests and events, is liable to be deceived by appearances, blinded by the glamour of his own feelings, misled by the force of his own self-will. The very complexity of the circumstances among which he "walks" is often a source of danger. He is as one surrounded by the diverse interlacing paths of a forest; he needs both external guidance and internal influence to direct his choice. The right way is not" in l:imself." 2. Practical restraint. No man has the actual power to determine altogether the course of his own life. Free as he ma.y think himself to be to take what "steps" he pleases, he is, after all, often ruled by circumstances over which he has no control. He is not always master of his own movements, cannot do t.he thing that he would, constrained perhaps to do something totally different from what he intended. Who has not found himself to have been drifted, by the silent, unobserved current of events, into a position entirely other than he would have chosen for himself? Who has not had to accept, as the issue of his own doings, something strangely unlike what he looked for? " M:i.n proposes; God disposes." "There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will." Human history-national, social, individual-is full cf illustrations of the governing and restrai □ ing effect of some mysterious force that underlies all the phenomena of life. Faith penetrates the heart of this ruystery, and discerns in it a person:i.l Divine provi- dence, the energy of a will that is "holy and just and good." II. Ts:E INFLUENCE THIS FACT MAY DE EXPECTED 'l'O S:AVE OVER UB. Such a truth, even in the purely negative form in which this passage presents it, may well have a marked effect on the whole habit of our daily thought and action. It teaches several important lessons. 1. Distrust of self. If our jud6 mcnt is thus fallible, our impulse nmleadiug, our power limited, shall we think to make our own will the sole rule of life? "'!'rust in ihe Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own under- ~~ap,ding," et,c, (l'rov. iii, 5, 6); "Go to now, ye th~t say, 'fo-d11,y or to-u.orrow we will en. x. 1-25.J THE DOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 289