The Pulpit Commentary — Jonah — Section 93

11re treated often as our o_wn gains, and so are godlessly enjoyed. They arc understood 0nly_ when. God 1s seen Ill them, and rightly used when used as from his hand; hut, reee1,ved ~nth the _dry _e-r:e of ingratit11de, or with the shut eye of insensibility, they 11re oeforced of their D1vme element, aud to U8 are God's gifts no longer. III. How ~1? 00:Nl"ERS SOME GIFTS O:SLY TO TAKE THEM AWAY AClAIN. (Ver. 7.) ,fonnh got his tune <>f the gourd, but it was a short time. For one day he reclined lu~uriousl_y beneath its shtvlow; the next came the worm, and his shelter was gone. It 1e so with many comfortable earthly things. God gives them in mercy, e.nd· seeiu" them either inappreciated or idolized, he in further mercy takes them a.way. They "perish in the using." At best they could only last a lifetime; often they do not liu;t so long. They are flowers that only bloom to wither, mists that melt away a.a. soon as the sun ~s _risen. And, w~ilst this is tru~ of them as a class, it is specially true of ~ome vanet1es. "~hen thmgs c~me to 11s 1n h3:5te, _they as hastily part age.in; when nches come too quickly they qmckly take their flight; sudden glories decay s11Jden!y ;_ the fruit which is soonest ripe is found to be soone8t rotten" (Abbot). There 1s m the sudden remove.I of valued blessings a needful assertion of the Divine control. The things we have are not our own. We hold them at God's pleasure. And he emphasizes this fact occasionally by taking away the thing or the good of it, when we are just settling down for a whole life's enjoyment. Then we make idols of our mercies sometimes. We put the gift into the Giver's place. The most effectual cure for this is to be left without it. Our Father bestows his favours" not with a view to make man happy in the possession of them, but to win upon man, and to allure bis heart to himself by his gifts. Abraham's servant did not bestow the jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment on Rebekah to make her joyful in a heathen land, but to win her heart to Isaac" (Jones). IV. CALA.MITY SHOWS ll[EN HOW B.!DLY THEY COULD DO WITHOUT Goo's GIFTS. (Ver. 8.) The withering of the gourd and the rising of the hot sirocco were timed to synchronize. And there was disciplinary value in the adjustment. The loss of a gift becomes a. lesson by emphasizing what and how much it means. Had the gourd remained, the heat would have been little felt. Had not the sirocco followed, the withered gourd might never have been missed. The concurrence of the two: events and their obvious adjustment to ea.eh other reveal the hand of God, and point the lesson of tbe providence- beyond mistaking. So misfortunes often march on us in companies, and support each other. One trial prepares the way of another, and lays bare the breast for its darts to penetrate. The discipline of grace is a lengthened process, and advances stage by stage to its lofty end of lust killed and a transfigured life. V. FROM OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD OUR LOVED OBJECTS WE IIIAY ARGUE UP TO. Goo's A'ITITUDE TOWA.RDS BIS. (Vers.10, 11.) Our creation in the Divine image involves this, Rnd all parabolic teacbing takes it for granted. The soul ls a miniature of God, and the order of coming to pass in it is" after God." Hence the unanswerableness of the question with which the parable and the book both close. 1. Th8 things ·we love art1 paltry. A gourd against a city, a worthless plant against half a million of immortal souls. Such is a sample of the contrast between the objects of God's compassion andi of ours. May we not argue that the compassion itself in the one case and the other is in still profounder contrast? God's love and mercy have reference to a lost race. Ours, unlese in ·so far as we are God-like, refer to some trifling earthly object. Let the fact be realized, and the lesson is learned-a lesson of admiration and awe, and lowly gratitude and love. 2. We have but a limited interest in the things we prize. The gourd did not belong to Jonah. He "did not make it grow." He got the use of it for a while, but that was all. So the things we have are not our own. 'l'hey are left with us as a loan, and held as a brief trust. Our attachment to them has no element of ownership in it, and is therefore destitute of a fundamental excellence. But God loves souls as his property and portion, and with a view to the fruition of them through all eternity. His is indeed a sublime affection-- '' love which passeth know- ltdge." a. We have done but little for them. (Ver. 10.) "For which thou hast not laboured." We love what costs us something. It is to the sickly child, whi~h has cost her yean of anxiety and care, that the mother's heart cleaves in most intense affection. Labour and se.crilice for an object bind us to it by a special tie. Created by our skill and effort, it is our ofl'~pring in a sense, and dear accordingly. This tie on. 1v. 1-11.J TIIE WOK OF JO~ AII. 01