Ver. 87 (last clause).-Pricie humi1iated. I. Tm: GREATEST PROSPERITY co::.- TAINS IN ITSELF NO SECURITY AGAINST THE GREATEST ADVEHSITY, 1. As all earthly things are changeable, it is foolish to place our trust in the permanence of any. Yet there is a tendency to infer that because all is well, all will remain well, as though the mere existence of prosperity were a guarantee of its permanence. This may result from a misapplication of the true principle that the future is determined by the present, and with a certain law of similarity-like producing like (Gal. vi. 7, 8). But if so, it is forgotten that outward prosperity is a very superficial thing, a.nd tha.t the real life and its outgoings lie deeper and may be preparing its very opposite beneath the shallow pleasure of the hour. 'l.'herefore to assure one's sell for the future, it is necessary to have some deeper and larger ground to rest upon than the mere outside aspect of affairs. 2. Happiness depends far more upon the conciition of the inner life than upon any external circumstances. Nebuchadnezzar thought himself a beast of the field. With this idea in his mind, all his resources counted as nothing in respect to his comfort. To a blind man the world is dark. A gloomy mood throws a shadow over the brightest scene. Tbe rich and discontented man is miserable, while the poor man will be happy so long as he is contented, because happiness depends not upon possession, but upon satisfaction. Therefore it is useless to be assured that our outward affairs are safely prosperous, unless we have also the assurance of peace of mind and inward gladness. II. THE FITTING PUNISHMENT OF PRIDE IS HUMILIATION'. There fa a just and natural association of certain sins with corresponding forms of punishment; e.g. the luxurious Dives tormented with a burning tongue ; the man with one idle talent deprived of his talent (cf. Hoe. viii. 7). '£his conception is worked out in Da.nte's 'Inferno.' So he who will not .humble himself shall be humiliated against his will Pride prepares its own fall (1) by making its possessor careless and self-confident; (2) by disturbing the sobriety of his judgment with the giddiness of self-elation ; (3) and by rousing the jealousy and envy of rivals and subordinates. III. THIS PUNISHMENT OF PRIDE, THOUGH SEVERE, 18 NOT HOPELESS. The tree is to be hewn down, but the stump and roots a.re to be left (ver. 15). So Nebuchad!!eZZ:lI' was to suffer only for a limited period-seven "times" (ver. 25). When prophets threatened the overthrow of the Jew~, they promised that this should not be total-a. remnant should be spared (Isa.. i. 9; Jer. xv. 11); nor final-the people should be restored (Isa.. Iii. 1-10). Even the severest cala.mities are tempered with mercy and relieved of despair ( Amos iii. 12 ; Ha.b. iii. 2). IV. THE ODJEOT OF THE HUMILIATION OF PRIDE IS NOT VENGEANCE, BUT SALVATION', The spite which seeks pleasure in tbe shame of humiliated pride is itself a fruit of sinful pride, and can find no place in the heart of God. Nor is the feeling of complacency which arises in us from the contemplation of the "poetic justice" this exemplifies, a true image of God's feeling in the humbling of proud men. All God's purposes are, at the root, love. He humbles the proud ma.n because he loves him, and for his good. 1. This humiliation is beneficial in making a. man feel the folly and sin of pride. 2. It is helpful in making him feel his own insufficiency and the need of higher grounds of confidence than are to be found in his own merits and resources. Nebuchadnezzar was led to recognize the true God, and humble himself before him with faith and worship, and thus his salvation was accomplished through his humiliation. THE BOOK OF DANrnt. [en. 1v. 1-37
So the aalvation of mankind is effected by the humiliation of its representative Christ, and through the self-humiliation of eRch individual when he takes up his cross and follows Christ in the narrow path of self-denial,
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Veni. 1--3.-The comeliness of confession. "To me it sermed comely to declare the signs and the wonders that God Most High for me hath wrought 11 (ver. 2, amended translation). The history of the king's inMnity is told, not by the Prophet Daniel, but in a state paper, under the hand of the kiug, and quoted by the prophet. The edict is true to human nature and to the king's character, The following motives may have influenced him: 1. Gratitude. 2. C ,nscience. It was right to admit sin and to recount it~ judgments. 3. A certain complacency in being the object of Dil'ine dealing. 4. A self-respectful independence of the op•nion of the crowd. From tho t.ixt. oooasion may be taken to discourse on the propriety of recounting the Lord's dealinfl:S with onrselves. I. 'l'BE REOOUNTING should be marked by the following characteristics. 1. The subject-matter should be of public concern. The facts should either be already public, or Buch as may with propriety be made public property. '!'here are deep things of the human Bpirit, which, to recount, would be good neither for ourselves nor for others. In Nebuchadnezzar's case, the facts w.,re notorious, though it rested with him to exhibit them in a Divine light. 2. The audience may then be one whole circle. The largeness of our circle depends in part on our social elevation. The higher our standing, the larger the number who know us. Not entirely our social elevation; for much will depend on our moral elevation. Thomas Wright, the prison philanthropist; Levi Coffin, who wa, "the underground railway" by which slaves passed from misery to Canada,-were names known all over the world. All who had any knowledge of the king were to hear what the Lord bad done for his sonl (see ver. 1). 3. The tone should be kindest. « The royal style which Nebuchadnezzar makes use of has nothing in it of porn p or fancy ; but is plain, short, and unaffected., •Nebuchadnezzar the king.' " 4. Integrity should pervade the recital. It should constitute one whole. God's rebukes, as well as his favours, should come into our account, even though humili- ating to ourselves, if the good of others and the glory of God demand it. Some striking instances of such recital of sins and the Father's chastisement, will be found in the narrative of his early life by George Muller, in' The Lord's Uealings.' 6. The motive should be God. Certainly not our own glory-not self, nor others, save subordinately. lL THE PROPRIETY OF IT. Such a recounting of Divine dealing with us is: 1. Good for ourselves. In the case of the king, he was led (1) to admire the Divine acl:A!; (2) to infer the Divine rule. 2. Salutary for others. 3. Conducive to the IJivine glory and the exten.,ion of the IJivine kingdom.-R.