Vore. 9-11.-0orrupt ambition. Ambition may be pure and lofty, and when tl,iH ls the c11se it cannot be too highly commended. It is "the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds." "It is to the human heart what spring is to thu onrth, mnking every root e.nd bud and bough desire to be more." Headway cannot bo mndo in life apart from it, and destitute of this spirit a man must be outstripped in the rnce. Ambition, IJOwever, may take the opposite form, and it is to ambition corrupt and low in its nature that these verses refer. Observe indicated here concerning such unworthy ambition- !. !TB AIM. The concern of the rulers of Babylon was to secure unlimited supremacy, to reach an eminence where, secure from peril anrl in the enjoyment of ease aud luxury, they might, without restraint, exercise despotic control over the nations. "That he may set bis nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil" (ver. 9). False ambition, whether in individuals or nations, is directed to the attainment of worldly dis&inction, authority, and power, and has its foundation in pride and self- esteem. II. 1TB UNSCRUPULOUSNESS. "They coveted an evil covetousness to their house" (ver. 9), totally disregarding the sacredness of property and the rights of man. Their acts were marked by oppression, plunder, and cruelty; they impoverished feebler nations and even "cut off many people" (ver. 10) in seeking the accomplishment of their selfish purposes. -So is it ever that "such ambition breaks the ties of blood and forgets the obliga.tions of manhood." III. lTs ISSUE. The prophet indicates that all this self-seeking and self-glorying must end in disgrace and dishonour. 1. The very monuments reared thus in the spirit of pride should bear adverse testimony. In the language of poetry he represents the materials which they had obtained by plunder and which they had brought from other lands into Chaldea, to be used in the construction of their stately edifices, as protesting ago.inst the way in which they had been obtained and tho purposes to which they had been applied (ver. 11). 2. Shame and ruin should overtake the schemers and plotters themselves. "'l'hou hast sinned against thy soul" (ver. 10). Whatever their material gain, they had become spiritually impoverished by their course of action. They had degraded their higher nature aud had incurred guilt and condemnation. 3. All connected with them should share in the disgrace and di~bonour. "Thou hast consulted shame to thy house" (ver. 10); "God visits the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, unto tho third and fourth generation of them that bate him" (Exod. xx. 5); "He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house" (Prov. xv. 27). Men who have sought, by grasping and extortion, or by war and conquest, to establish and perpetuate a high reputation, have, through their unrighteous deeds, passed away in ignominy, leaving to their posterity a tarnished and dishonoured name. "The house of the wicked shall be overthrown; but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish" (Prov. :xiv. 11).-S. D. H.
Vers. 12-14.-Tlie two kingdoms: a contrast. Reference is made in these verses to two kingdoms-the kingdom of Babylon and the kingdom of God; and this association serves to indicate several points of contrast. l. 'J'HE GLORY OF THE KINGDOMS OF 'l'IUS WORLD IS MATERI.I.L j THE GLORY OF THE KINGDOM OF Goo IS SPIRITUAL. The glory of Chaldea centred in its magnificent city of Raby Ion, so grand in its situation, its edifices, it defences, and in the stores of treasure it contained, its greatness consisting thus in its material resources; but the glory of the kingdom of God is spiritual. It is "the glory of the Lord" that constitutes its excel- lence-all moral beauty and spiritunl grace abounding therein. II. 'l'HE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD HAVE OFTEN BEEN FOUNDED AND ESTABLISHED BY MEANR OF WRONG-DOING j THE KINGDOM OF GoD IS FOUNDED AND ESTABLISHED IN PUHE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND TRUE HOLINESS. 'l'he Cbaldeans, by their superior might and powers, conquered other tribes, and with the spoils of war and the forced labour of the conquered they reared their cities. They "built a town with blood, and established a city by iniquity" (ver. 12); but" a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptro of God's kingdom." Ill. HUMAN TOIL IS INVOLVED IN THE IN'fERESTS OF BOTH; yet notice, by way of contrast: 1. 'l'oil in the interests of earthly kingdorns is ofteu compulsory and is rendered ro TRE BOOK OF HADAKKUK. [err. n, 1-20.