Ver. 11. — Conmlation for afat'hei's dying bed. Perhaps there is no greater sorrow than is su-isested here — the husband and father leaving widow and helpless children apparently vithout a friend to support or aid them. If it were not for the beatific vision of God, the perfect persuasion of his wisdom and power and love, which the blessed dead enjoy, they would be entreating God piteous'y to allow them to return Dither once more, and to shelter their loved ones from the cruel hardships of this
260 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH, [oh. XLH. 1— 39.
pitiless world. We wonder, sometimes, how it is possible for a loving mother who was wont to lavish her heart's deepest, tenderest affection upon her children, to find joy and to be happy in heaven, whither she has been suddenly translated, leaving her Qusband and children heart-broken at losing her. Here she could never be happy with- out her children. How can she be happy there and they yet here ? Because she is at the fountain of all love, from which all her love was but a rill; she is with God, who U lx)ve, and who she knows will deal only in the best of ways — ways far better than she herself covdd have devised, for those who are now weeping over her grave, and missing and mourning her every hour of the day. Now, of those told of in this verse we note—
I. That to leave them to God is all we can do. We may and we ought to make provision for them to the best of our power. That is but a spurious and miser- able travesty of faith in God which would neglect aU such aids as life insurance and the like, on the ground that making such provision shows distrust and unbelief in God. Some speak thus, but they speak foolishly. Might we not as well refuse to work for our daily bread, on the ground that it is written, " My God shall supply all your need " ? But who does not know that God's way of supplying our need is by giving us strength to work and minds to think, enduing us with the means of gaining our bread ? And is it not so in this case also? Would not a man be most wiong who, because of what is here said, neglected to make all due provision in his power ? But having done this, like Jacob and Joseph, we may safely leave our children, as they did, to the care of God, confident that he will care for them according to his word.
IL And God honours sdch tbust. As a fact, and a very interesting one it is, how wonderfully such bereaved children and widows are cared for 1 How God raises up one friend here and another there, and probably, if a comparison could be maHe, it would be found that such children have been as well cared for as any others ; life has been aa bright to them as for those whose earlier years were clouded over by no such sore bereavement. There may be exceptions, but the rule is surely for God to honour such trust. Can he who has said, " Ask, and ye sliall receive," refuse the prayer of a believing man at such a time ?
HL And it is a reasonable trust. What would we desire more for our children than that they should be cared for by such a one who, so far as man can be, is like Q6d? — having the power and the will, the knowledge and wisdom, and, above all, the love, which are in God. Who would not crave for our dear ones a guardian like that ?
IV. The conditions of the trust are that he who is about to leave behind widow and children should be himself one who trusts in God; that he have trained his children in the ways of the Lord, and sought to make his home a godly home. Verily such shall have their reward, yonder in heaven and here on earth, and especially at that supreme moment when he has to leave his loved ones and to lie down and die. Then for him shall the faith of this promise be precious indeed. — C.
Ver. 16. — Vain confidences. "Thy terriblen ess hath deceived thee,*" etc. Taking the different expressions in this verse, we can see how such confidences are begotten in men's minds.
I. Their fellow-men help to deceive them. " Thy terribleness," etc. All around them held them in terror, were afraid of them, deemed them too mighty to be over- come. And the consciousness of this kept in them a confidence whi^ now was to be shown to be but vain.
II. Men's own pride. " The pride of thine heart." What myriads has not pride slain ! what woe hath it not brought upon mankind 1 " Pride goeth before destruction," etc. (Cl. homily on Pride, ch. xlviii. 29.) See Sennacherib's army (Isa. xxxvii.), Pharaoh's ovenhrow (Exod. xiv.); and " all the ages all along" pride has done the like and does so still.
III. Men's ciRcnMSTANCES. No dwellings could seem more secure than were theirs ; their fortress seemed impregnable. Hence they "said in their hearts," " We shall ■ever be moved." (Of. on these duellings, introduction to homily on Desirable habita- tion, suprn, ver. 8.) (,'f. the rich fool (Luke xii. 20). Prosperity and security do tend to beget these vain confiden(^es.
IV. Past success. Not only did these Edomites dwell in the clefts of the rock, Irat they had held them fast hitherto against all invaders. A career of success, opponeuti
OH. XLix. 1— 39.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. Ml
vanquished, difficulties surmounted, wealth and honour won; who can persuade such a man to call himself a poor, lost sinner, dependent utterly on the mercy of God ? It is much easier to say, " Have mercy on us miserable sinners," than to feel and belier* we are so.
Conclusion. There are two ways in which this spirit of false confidence may be got rid of or liept under. 1. By surrender of the soul to Christ. He makes us like himself, forms his Spirit in us, so that the truer the surrender the more we become " meek and lowly in heart " as he was. This the best way, the easy yoke, the light burden. 2. By the crushing fm-ce of Ood's judgments. Edom was to be humbled thus. And there are many wlio will only be humbled so. They will have their own way, and they have it for their woe, and then, afier a weary while, they come to themselves. They "made their bed in hell," and as they made it so they had to lie upon it, until even there God's hand shall find them, and they shall humble themselves beneath the mighty hand they had heretofore dared to defy. 3. And in some way this humility must be wrought in ub. For Gi d will have all men to be saved ; but without this lowly mind, this rejection of all vain confidences, we cannot be. Which way, then, shall it be — through Christ or through the fire of hell ? — 0.