as well as too faithful, to fail in fulfilling his promises. Therefore we should anticipate the praises of heaven on earth, sing the songs of Zion in the strange land, and enjoy the vision of the celestial city from Beulah heights though valleys of humiliation and waters of death may lie between. Ill. IT IS A GOOD THING TO EXPRESS OUR GRATITUDE FOR FUTURE DLESSINGS, 1. All gratitude should find utterance in praise. 'fhe grateful heart should rouse the singing voice. Of all feelings thankfulness should be the last to be mute. We may pray for mercy in secret communion with God; we should utter praise as a public testimony to others and as an uncontrollable gladness that must relieve itself in song. 2. The utterance of praise for future blessings is an assurance of our faith. It will react upon us and strengthen faith. It will be a solace for the dark hours that may yet intervene before the enjoyment of the anticipated good, Vers. 14--IS.-Jeremiah cursing the day of his birth. I. TnoonLE MAY LEAD A GOOD MAN TO THE VERGE OF DESPAm. Jeremiah was a prophet, a good man, a man of faith, a man of prayer. Yet he cursed the day of his birth. Jeremiah was not without pre- cedents for his conduct. Not to mention Jonah, whose character is by no means exemplary (though, poor man, he may have been good at heart), the patient Job and the courageous Elijah had both regarded existence as a curse, and cried passionately for death. Jeremiah had great provocations to despair. His mission seemed to be a failure; his old friends had become spies in league with his inveterate foes; he stood alone, watched, maligned, hated, cruelly misjudged. We cannot be surprised that his patience broke down. Though impatience and a yielding to despair are proofs of weakness, they are far less culpable than unfaithfulness. Many would have quietly declined the tasks which Jeremiah manfully performed, though they led him to the verge of despair. It must be noted that, though the prophet cursed the day of his birth, he did not flee from the mission of his life; though he longed for death, he did not commit suicide. From his experience, (I) the sorrowful may learn that deeper depths of sorrow have been traversed than any they are in, and yet the light has been reached on the further side; (2) the desponding may see how good men have been near despair before them, and so be encouraged by knowing that their despondency is not a sin of fatal unbelief. II. IT IS FOOLISH AND WRONG FOB A MAN TO CURSE THE DAY OF ms BIBTH. He may be a good man who falls into despair, still his despair is I' failing. This condition of Jeremiah must be distinguished from that of Simeon. Simeon was ready to depart when his life's work was finished and at God's time. His prayer was one of placid submission to the will of God (Luke ii. 29). But Jeremiah had not finished his life's work; life itself was regarded by him as an evil; his despair was contrary to a spirit of resignation to the Divine will. Jeremia.h's language should also be distinguished from that of St. Paul when he expressed his longing to "depart and be with Christ" (Phil. i. 23). The apostle was inspired with a hope of heaven, the prophet moved only by a loathing of lifo; the apostle was willing patiently to remain and do his work, tho prophet felt impatient of life. I. Such conduct is foolish, for the whole value of life ie thus judged by one ha.sty thought in a mood of gloom and distress. Life is too large and multifarious to be estimated in this way. There a.re recuperative energies in all of ue beyond what we can imagine in our moments of weakness. Besides, if the present is dark, who knows what the future will produce? 2. Such conduct ie wrong. We are not the judges of our own lives. 'l'o despair is to complain of the justice of God. The mistake of Jeremiah's hasty impatienco is apparent when we consider the value of his life. Jeremiah's life worthlese I Why, it was the most valuable life of the age. There may be persons of whom it can be said that it were better for those men if they had never been born. But these are not the men who a.re usually most ready to despair of their lives. The despondent may take courage from the mistake of Jeremiah, and know that when they think their lives most worthless they may really be of most service. Ill. THE CHRISTIAN HAS STRONG INDUCEMENTS NOT TO CURSE TUE DAY OF HIS BIRTH, Jeremiah lived before the light and grace of Christianity had been bestowed. We should_be without excuse if, while enjoying higher advantages, we imitated hie despair. I. Christianity sheds light on the purpose of sorrow. This was a profound mystery to the Jew. Christ has shown us the blessedness of sorrow, the glory of the cross, tht )
OH, ll., 1-18.j THt BOOK OF TEE PROPHET JEREMI.A.B. 169
utility of sacrifice. 2. Christianity brings new grace to help in t.he endurance of sorrow. Christians have the example of the suffering Christ, the sympathy and healinv of the great Physician and the new baptism of the Spirit, to help them to endure the baptism of sorrow. 3. Christianity reveals fresh ground for confidence in God in the darkness of trouble, God is seen as our Father. His will must be wise and good. All life must be wisely ordered by him. Thus we are taught to bend submissively to the higher will that we cannot understand, 4. Christianity inspires hope in the final triumph over trouble. It lifts the veil from eternal things and makes known the "far more exceeding and eternal weight of g_lory." It assures us that no true life can ultimately fail, that no true man lives in vam, that, though evil may vaunt itself in the present, ultimately truth and right shall triumph.