n. Wht Ibbael should not feab. For variotis reasons, viz. ; 1. 2^e security oj Ood'i service. Israel was Gh)d's servant. It is reasonable to suppose that God will protect and save those whom he honours with his name and calls to his work. 2. The promise of ultimate deliverance. " Lo, I will save thee from afer," etc. Fear may threaten now, but rest and quietude will come in the future. Fear must be overcome by hope, the darkness of the near future triumphed over by the exceeding brightness of the greater future. We shall not fear what the world can do against us when we live in the hope of what eternity will do for us. Looking at ourselves, we see our woimds incurable, and we despair ; looking at the good Physician, we see the promise of health, and we hope. 3. The assurance of the |>resence o/ God. " For I am with thee." Thus Abraham was not to I'ear because God was his " Shield, and exceeding great Reward " (Gen. XV. 1); and David could say, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me " (Ps. xxiii. 4). When hope fails faith may yet be strong. Better than the vision of the future haven far over the waves are the strong hand and sure eye of the pilot with us in the storm. When the hope of heaven fails faith in God may still sus- tain us. i. A knowledge ol the limitation and good purpose of suffering. This is (1) given to correct, either as chastisement for sin, or as pruning to make the fruit-bearing branch more fruitful ; and (2) given only in just measure, not beyond desert, require- ment, or endurance. If we nave these reasonable thoughts about our troubles ther will
CH. XXX. 1—24.] TEE BOOK OP THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 5
not be able to conjure up the terrors of illimitable distress which they naturally inipire when we do not see that they are controlled by purposes of Divine goodness.
Ver. 17. — Divine heeding, I. God re the sbeat Healer of his people. 1. God ii not satisfied to leave his people unhelped in sin and wretchedness. We may grow accus- tomed to the evil of the world till wo pass it unheeded. But it is not so with the Father of us all. He cannot endure the perpetual continuance of the wretchedness we accept (for others) with so little concern. 2. God designs to restore his people. It would seem easier to destroy the old weary world and create a new world, than to redeem and restore that which is so abandoned. But it is the glory of the gospel that it seeks and saves the lost. 3. The restoration of God's people can only be effected through the heeding of them. Israel cannot be restored to the Holy Land until the people are healed of their unholiness, and restored to God spiritually. Men are too ready to regard redemption externally as a change of state, a deliverance from distress and ruin, a gift of blessings, heaven, etc. It is all this, but not primarily. In the first and chief place redemption is healing, is not a change of circumstances, but a change in the soul itself. The richest possessions are of little use to the sick man. The sick body needs health, not wealth ; and the sick soul needs healing before all external changes of condition. 4. It is a great thing to see the source of this healing in God. No soul can cure itself. No man can heal his fellow. The disease is naturally incurable (ver. 12). It is healed only by God and through a miracle. The miracles of (Jhrist are thus visible parables of his great work of redemption. The good Physician saves men's souls by working miracles of spiritual healing upon them.
IL The obeatness of his people's distbess inclines God to heal them. Because Israel is called " an Outcast," God interferes to save him. David prays that God will pardon his iniquity, "for it is great " (Ps. xxv. 11). We feel that our sin is so great that we dare not ask for forgiveness, our wretchedness so abject that it is useless to seek for deliverance. But we may reverse the argument. The greater the sin the more does it need forgiveness, the deeper the misery the more loudly does it call for help. As claims of merit we have nothing. But when we look for pleas for mercy we find that the very bitterness of distress creates them. As the Judge, God cannot be invoked to help the sinner j as the Healer, he is most ready to come in the deepest need. The reasons for this are apparent. 1. The love of God. Love is moved by need rather than by desert. If God loves his children he will be most leady to help in their sorest distress. 2. The honour of God. The people who were called by the Niime of God were also called "outcasts." Here was a reproach on the great Name of their God. For his Name's lake God saves. 3. The special design of redemption. The physician finds his vocation in the healing art. Sickness is a call for the exercise of special functions. The worse the patient is, the more may he expect of the physician's care and attention. "They that are whole need not the physician." He is the helper of the sick. Therefore the very greatness of a man's sin and wretcheilness, instead of discouraging his faith, should encourage him to seek Christ, They who are in such circumstances may know that they are the very persons Christ chiefly seeks to help.
Vers. 18 — 21. — Joys of redemption. The joys of the restoration of Israel are suggestive of the joys of redemption which belong to those who have been healed of their sins and recovered to the favour of God. Let us consider some of the elements <A these joys.
L A EESTOBATioN TO LOST BIGHTS AHD POSSESSIONS. The oity is to be built again " upon her own mound." The people not only find the vines they grow in Ghaldea fruitful; they are restored to their own land. The prodigal would not have been satisfied if his comrades had helped him to affluence and pleasure again; he must return to the old home. There is something imperfect in the return of prosperity to Job in the fact that though he has greater riches and as many sons and daughters as before his calamities, his dead children are not raised from the grave, and the loss of them cannot be really compensated by the gift of a new family. So is it with earthly losses. The greatest are irretrievable. But the glory of God's ultimate salvation is that it restores old lost blessings as well as gives new blessings, both comforting memory arid latisfying hope.
6 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH, [oh. xxx 1—24
n. As KRJOTUENT OF INWARD OLADNKSS AND THANKSGIVING. The true life 18 the
inner life. Outward sunshine may find this black as midniglit, and leave it sd. It is much, therefore, to know that redemption from sin brings real gladness. We mioht have thought that it would h<ive been haunted with dark memories. But God's deliverance is so complete that it dis-pcls tlie gloom of a guilty conscience. The Christian should, therefore, be a man of inward joys and thankfulness.