The Pulpit Commentary — Jonah — Section 97

me, I remern bered the Lord; " here "be fainted, and wished ln himself to die "-Jonah his own reprover. The great lesson-we should sit loose to creature comforts, like the -gour<l-tlJBnkful for them while we have them, not repining, and, above all not despairing, n-hen we lose them. Habakkuk's spirit the model, "Although the fig tree shall n~t blossom," etc. (iii. 11)-Jona.h walked by sigh~ not by faith ; he should have said, "When heart and flesh faint and fail, God is the Strength of my heart, and my Portion for evermore." "But 0, thou bounteous Giver of all good Tl,ou art of all thy gifts thyself the sum i Give w~at thou !Dayst, without thee we are poor, And with thee nob, take what thou wilt away." ~• It is impossible to help 'morali~ing' on the wol'Il:1 and th_e gourd. , • , They are felt inwardly to be emblems, too faithful, of tbe swift-coursing, closely linked joy e.nd sorrow of this mortal life. The fine plant, leafy-green, type of our comforts successes joys. The single day of shade it furnished to the heated prophet . . . tr~nsiency of -our pleasure. The worm •.. a small and mean creature, may be a very formidable -enemy. The place of its operations probably under the soil •.. agents unknown to us may smite in secret the sources of prosperity. The time--morning-human helps and hopes often wither at any season when most needed. Utter loss ... warning not: to set our affections on anything which can be utterly lost. . . . The pr11paration in dice.ting how God orders trials for our good" (Raleigh abridged). u Is it not ~ blessing when the gourds wither? Is it not a mercy in God to sweep them e.we.y, ~VGn though the bee.rt should be he.If broken by the loss? . . . Many will bless God for ever because their gourds were withered. Had the gourd not withere.<l the soul would not have been saved; and the withering of the gourd therefor~ makes the anthem of the saved the louder" .(Tweedie, 'Me.n by Nature and by Grace'). IV. fuin's BEMONSTRA.NCES. (Ver. 9.) Repetition of an old question, and, e.s before, without evoking a suitable answer. We may note man's self-justifying tendency-espe- cially tendency to excuse passion; excitement of passion is sometimes so great that -e,·eo a question from God fails to convict-Jone.h's mood is so completely self-justifying, -that he justifies his wish to die-as if his suffering was really beyond what could be borne. Observe the unbecoming attitude and spirit before God; the true attitude of sinners is that in :!¾>m. iii. 19, "that every mouth might be stopped, o.nd e.11 the world become guilty before God." Silence is the true condition of the sinner, e.s far as justi• fying pleas concerned; or, when silence is broken, such words as the publican's, "God be merciful to me a sinner." . V. DIVIKE il'PLICA.TION OF THE GO'ORD-BISTORY, (Vers. 10, 11.) Unexpect~. yet felicitous, adaptation of the physical to the moral-light thrown on a. dark provideLce -a foreshadow of revelations of many enigmas of providence yet to come. Thq argument is ad lwminem: If Jonah would have spared his gourd, why should God not spare Nineveh? It is also afortiori: II the fate of the gourJ, e. perishing and trifling thing, we.s an object of concern to Jonah, m-u,ch more must .the fate of such a city e.s Nineveh be e.n object of concern to God. Observe the force of the how much, mor- the numbers so di1l"erent--the relative endurance of the two objects-the labour bestowed -0n tbem-the one .sensitive beings, the other not. The special reason for sparing Nineveh ; it contained more than a hundred and twenty thousand infants, and also much cattle. God's regard for children is here set forth-in these Eastern countries lives of children were little thought of-infanticide was common-in eome countries c(Moab, etc.) children were made to pass through the fire to their gods-miissacres of children common (Juclg. iL 5; 2 Kings iL 1)-their lives precious in eyes of God, even though pagan and uncircumcised-a foreshadow of the gospel view: "of su1:h i.s the kingdom of heaven "-children may peradventure ward off great calamities- <:hildren in great cities are often neglected-immense proportion of deaths occurs 'Ullder the age of Eve-mostly due to preventible causes-hence sanitary reform becomes a great duty-laws of healthy upbringing of children ore most important- spiritual and moral overtiight not less so---the New 'l'estament rule is, "Bring them up in t1(;; nurture and admonition of the Lord." God's regard for cattle-he likes to seo  -OU, IV, 1-11.] TllE DOOK OF JONAH. 95