The Pulpit Commentary — Philippians — Section 192

Ver. 6.-The cure/or anxiety. I. TnE DISEASE. We must, of course, be careful for many things, in the sense of taking thought about them or taking pains in working on them. Christianity does not favour indolent improvidence; for it teaches, "If a man will not work neither let him cat." Nor does it encourage reckless carelessness; for it everywhere instils a thoughtful, conscientious sense of responsibility. What it does discourage is anxiety, 1. Thia is painful. How painful most of us know only too well. The wear and 1\·et of care sometimes make the advice to rejoice alway read like a mockery. 2. This is in}urious. Men rarely die of hard work, but often of vexing anxiety. It is not toil, but trouble, that turns the hair grey before its time. 3. This hinders spiritual energy, 'fhe " cares of this world " choke the good seed as much as its pleasures and riches. When absorbed in worldly anxiety, men have no energy, heart, nor timo for spiritual concerns. In the petty cares of a day they drown the grand claims of eternity. IL Hu!IU.N REMEDIES. 1. ReasO'TI. Care is foolish and nseless. "Care is no cure, but rather corrosive, For things that are not to be remedied." Often it is grouudless, a shadow of our own imagination, and of no real trnnhle. Thus Burns says- "Bnt humo.n bodies are sic fools. For a' their colleges e.nd schools, That when nae real ills perplex them, They make enow themsel's to vex them." But anxiety ls. too strong for reason. It persists against reason. 2. Philosophic coin- plarency in the best of all possible woi-lds. We cannot think that " whatever is is best." Philosophers may say so in their calm seclusion; toilers and sufferers will never believe it in the rough experience of real life (Christianity does not require this optimism, or it would not encourage prayer for changes). 3. Stoical indifferences. Here and there this may be possible ; but it is not natural, and it is only got with the loss of much human tenderness. 4. Cynical carelessness. This may come with despair. It is not the cure of anxiety, but its fatal victory ov~r a ruined life. III. THE D1vINE CUBE, Christ taught ·uS •o conquer earthly anxiety in two ways, by trusting in our heavenly Father (Matt. vi. 32), and by transferring our care to more worthy objects, by which means it becomes itself transformed into a noble concern for the kingdom of God (Matt. vi. 33). St. Paul follows on the same lines. 1. Prayer is the remedy for care. We are distinctly invited to bring our anxieties to God. We are to be anxious about nothing, by making supplication about everything. Thus, as the area of p1·ayer advances, that of care recedes. The conventional limitation of prayer is the secret of much unconquered anxiety. 2. Thanksgiving perfects the rem~dy. This is o. ground of encouragement in prayer for future help and a direct relief from pressing anxiety. Care has a bad memory. Grateful recollections of the vast will greatly allay nnll.ieties about the future.-W. F. A.  196 THE :KPISTLE 'I'U THE PHILIPPIANS. [OH. IV, 1-28.