Caetneee is to incur such spiritual shame and distress, such hiding of the face of God, as to be more intolerable than the fiercest persecution (cf. the history of Cranmer and his piteous misery). But-as with Jeremiah-turning to the Lord in prayer. We cannot commend the spirit of his prayer, it is all unlike our Lord's in regard to his enemies, and therefore not a pattern for us to follow; but it was right, and ever is so, when persecuted by man to turn to him "who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself." His grace will keep us from being wearied and faint in our minds. Patience, too, will greatly help. Persecutors soon tire when they find that their methods are of no avail. Prudence, likewise, should not be forgotten. Sometimes we may get out of its way, and at no time is there need to provoke persecution by imprudent, ill-timed, and ill-toned obtrusion of the distasteful theme. There are times when at all costs a man must stand to his post and speak out, but there are other times, and more of them, when the quiet, consistent life will do more for God and his truth than the longest and loudest speech. But in such difficult circumstances it is well to keep near to God in constant prayer for counsel and direction how to bear one's self wisely as ho would have us. Relief also is found in contemplation of- VI. lTs suBE RESULTS if faithfully endured.;_ It makes us have real fellowship with Christ. It wins for us a glorious recompense at his cowing. Even now the soul is cheered by the communications of his approval and the clear vision of the shining of his countenance upon his faithful servant. .And not seldom likewise by beholding the lion turned into the lamb, tbe persecutor becoming an apostle and preacher of the faith he once destroyed. These are consolations indeed, And confirmation in the truth for which we have suffered is gained by seeing the manifest displeasure of God against the persecutors. How it hardens them in their sin I How it fills up the cup of their iniquity I How sore the vengeance that befalls them I These considerations aro derived from the contemplation of tbe persecution of the Lord's servant Jeremiah. They will be all of them strengthened if we mark the sufferings of the Lord himself. Here, but there most vividly, are seen warnings most solemn against this great sin, and consolations most precious to all the " blessed" who endure.-C.
Vere. 19-23.-The prophet's prayer for vengeance on his enemies. (Cf. homily on "lmprecatory prayers," eh. xi. 2O.)-C. Ver. G.-The potter and the clay. The analogy here instituted enshrines truths that are of universal application. They have their individual quite as much as their national bearings. Nowhere does the representative character of the house of Israel appear more clearly than in this passage; nowhere do we get a more striking view ol' the general method of the Divine dealings with the human race. It suggests- !. Goo's ADSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE BEING AND LIFE OF EVERY MAN. The figure of the potter and the clay is one of frequent occurrence in Holy Scripture (vide Job x. !) ; Isa. !xiv. 8; Rom. ix. 10). It vividly represents the subjection of our nature and our personal history to the Divine control. The fact of our moral freedom, the mysterious prerogative that belongs to us of choosing and following our own way, must needs make the comparison defective. There is some point at which all such physical analogies fail duly to set forth the realities of moral aud spiritual life. But it is deeply true as suggestive of the power God has over us to ruould us as he pleases. Free as our will may be, is not our whole nature as plastic material in the hands of him who made us? Free as we may be to pursue our own chosen course of life, can we ever escape the "Divinity that shapes our ends"? There is a hidden power, whether we acknowledge it or not, the mastery of which over thought, feeling, purpose, and action is the deepest reality of our existence. II. His FORMATIVE PURPOSE. Distinguish between a sovereign power nnd one that is arbitrary and capricious. Complete as the Divine mastery ovor us may be, it is not 1:J.wless or purposeless. It has always a definite end in view, and that end is wise and holy and good. As the potter seeks to fashion the clay into some beautiful or useful form that bis own brain has first conceived, so God, by his providential and spiritual control seeks to work out a Divine idea in our being and life, to body forth in us somu archetype of moral beauty that exists in his own eternal mind. He would fain fashion us into a noble form and fit us for some noble use, In God's " great house" there are 454 THE IlOOK OF TH'.E I'ROl'HE'l'' JEREMIAI!. [011. xvnr.'1~23.
n many utilities, And even tha -vessel "unto dishonour has its place ati.d its purpose;'. Our faith iu the infinitely wise and holy love that goverp.s 1111 leads us to rest in the' thought- • "Thnt nothing walks with aimless feet; Thnt not one life shall be destroyed Or cast as rubbish to tho void, When God hath mnde the pile complete."