The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 161

III. By thinking on certain subjects WITH A PRA0TI0AL INTENT. To think upon religious subjects in order to increase our theological knowledge or to make our feelin11s glow for a time with a religious sentiment would be of little service; but to think in order to translate the thought into action, to embody the idea in the life-this is tbe way. They must be thought upon in order to answer the question, "Lord, what wilt thou ha.ve me to do?" CONCLUSION, " This is the way; walk ye in it." Think. Thoughtlessness is the curse of humanity. Think on right subjects; wrong subjects will do you harm. Think on right subjects in a right way; thinking on right subjects in a wrong way must prove disastrous. Think on right subjects with a practical intent, not for specu- lation nor sentimentalizing, but for action-real, living, godly action. Thus frame your doings, and "turn unto the Lord." Think, brethren, think; there is nothin"' like noble thoughts. "It is a grand thing when, in the stillness of the soul, thought bursts into flame, and the intuitive vision comes like inspiration ; when breathing thoughts clothe themselves in burning words, winged as it were with lightning; or when a great law of the universe reveals itself to the mind of genius, and, where all was darkness, his single word bids light be, and all is order where chaos and confusion were. Or when the truths of human nature shape themselves forth in the creative fancies of one life, the million-minded poet, and you recognize the rare power of heart which sympathizes with and can reproduce ell that is found in man" (F. W. Robertson).-D. 'l'. Ver. 6.-Too late. "They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord ; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them." This verse directs us to two subjects of thought. I. THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL WORKS. "They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord." " Seek the Lord:" this implies a distance between man and his Maker. The Bible abounds with allusions to this distance. What is it? It is not the distance of being, for both are in close vital contact. "In him we live and move and have our being." It is the distance of character. Between the sympathies, principles, and aim of the two there is a distance vast as infinitude. "His thoughts are not our thoughts,'' etc. Hence the great work of man is to seek the Lord morally- to seek his character, and thus become a " partaker of the Divine nature." 1. This is a work in which all men should engage. The grand duty of all souls;is to be "holy, even as he is holy." Holiness is the condition of fellowship with him in "whose presence there is joy, and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore." 2. This is a work which all men must attend to sooner or later. The time hastens on when the most wicked and worthless man on earth will wake up to the importance of holiness, and strenuously try for his friendship. Of all works, then, this is the most important. Every other avocation of life is puerile compared with this. Man's great want is the Lord-the Lord's character, the Lord's fellowship. Without this, whatever else he has, he is lost-lost to happiness, to usefulness, and to the grand ends of bis being. ' II. The most important of all works UNDERTAKEN TOO LATE. "They shall not find him; he bath withdrawn himself from them." Though they take with them their flocks and their herds, and are prepared to make the greatest sacrifices, their efforts are fruitless-" He bath withdrawn himself from them." This is the language of accom- modation. He puts forth no effort to conceal himself, he alters not his position, but he seems to withdraw from them. As the white cliffs of Albion seem to withdraw from the emigro.nt as his vessel bears him away to distant shores, so God seems to withdraw from the man who seeks him" too late." CoNOLUSION. " Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek. me early, but they shall not find me : for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: they would none of my counsel ; they despised all my reproof. 'l'herefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices."-D. T. Ver. 8.-An earnest ministry. "Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet iD Ra.mah : cry a.loud at Beth-a.ven, after thee, 0 Benjamin." The prophet in vision sees  160 THE BOOK OF HOSEA. [oH. V, 1-16.