I. Praise is one of the most important elements of worship. Two faults may be observed in much of our worship — both arising from our centring it in ourselves. 1. It is too selfish. We are more earnest in prayer than in praise. In sore need we cry out with terrible anxiety ; but when the need is satisfied we return thanks in poor and faint tones. We are eager to obtain blessings for ourselves, but little desirous of glorifying God. Yet the essence of worship is self-surrender. We degrade it and contradict its spirit when we make it serve the ends of self-seeking, 2. It is foo lubjective. We dwell much on our own feelings instead of going out of self in the contemplation of God. Consequently our worship is pitched too much in the minor key. We wail out "Misereres" when we should be shouting "Magnificats." We have much to say about our low estate, but little concerning the way in which God has regarded it. But the highest worship is adoration — the going out of self in wonder,
296 THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. loh. ti. 1— 64
love, and praise towarris the glory of God. It would be well if we made less mention of our own feelings and were more ready to " declare the work of the Lord our God."
II. Pbaise must be definite IP IT IS TO BE EARNEST. Muoh of our wofshlp is vapid and senseless because it is expressed in big vague phrases which carry little thought to our minds. 1. We should praise God by declaring his works. It is his character that we adore. But we see and realize this as it is reflected in his works. We see the glory of the sun, not by gazing with eagle vision into its dazzling centre, but by looking abroad on the many hues that it casts on land and sea and sky. We cannot gee the glory of God by abstract speculations on divinity ; we must study his works in nature, providence, and redemption. 2. We should praise God by noting those particular works which affect our experience. This is the secret of eainest praise. The Jews declare the works they have witnessed ; i.e. the special blessings of the restoration. Each man can call to mind some of thie blessings he has personally enjoyed, and in the consideration ol these see good ground for glorifying God.
III. The bxpbbssion of pbaise should be fublio. The people come together ; tliey assemble at Zion, the place of public worship ; they declare — ^make public — ^the works of God. This is fitting for many reasons. 1. It glorifies Ood. This is the only way in which we can glorify him. We cannot add to his glory, but we may reflect it. 2. It increases our own thankfulness. Joy is sympathetic. By sharing it we increase it. 3. It leads others to see the same glory and goodness of God. A song of praise in the most efiectual sermon on the grace of God ; for it is (1) the language of experience, (2) an expression of feeling, and (3) a vivid representation of " the works of the Lord our God.'*^
Ver. 19. — (See homily on ch. x. 16.)
Ver. 20, — Ood's battle-axe. I. God sometimes wobes DEBTBtrcrnoN. He doea not delight in destruction. It is not his chief work. But he has performed it and he may again. When a thing is absolutely evil it is best that it should cease to be. For the prevention of further evil it must be destroyed. The Creator then becomes the destroyer.
II. God ttses hithan instbuments. He might have sent death, as he created life, with a word. But he chose to use a weapon, " a battle-axe," i.e. a human instrument. Thus (1) he honours good men by making them his servaiits, and (2) he counteracts the evil influence of bad men by overruling it for ends of Divine judgment.
III. Thet who cannot serve God in the higher wobk mat yet bebve hiu m BOMB needful MISSION. The man who cannot become a prophet may act as " God's battle-axe." In God's great kingdom there is work for all classes and kinds of men. Hough and rude natures may find some misMon. Still the highest mission is not that of destruction. The most worthy servant of Otoi is he who follows Jesus Christ and " goes about doing good."
Ver. 45. — Flight from the city of Destruction. As Christ advised his disciples to flee from Jerusalem when the judgment of heaven was about to fall, Jeremiah here calls upon the Hebrew residents in Babylon to escape from tiie doomed city. The parallel suggests that similar circumstances may render similar conduct again desirable.
I. The sinful world is a city of Destbuotion. The world as God created it is good and safe. But man has made the world a dangerous place by his abuse of its lower properties. Thus the worldly spirit is an evil spirit, and the prince of this world is the supreme power of wickedness. Jesus Christ blended together his picture of the destruction of Jerusalem with a larger vision of the end of the world. In what way the wider and more distant fulfilment of his prophecy will come about we cannot tell ; the day of it is known to no man, not even to the " Son of man " (Matt xxiv. 86). Meanwhile the world lies under a certain doom. It has been so corrupted and abused that to yield to its spirit, to follow its ways, to live nudnly for its advan- tages, is to court ruin.
IL Tbe Chbistian is ubged to niBE FBOM this citt or DisnBuonoH. (2 Oor. vi. 16 — vii. 1.) It would seem that the sharp line of separation between the world and the Churoh is melting away, Perhaps it was somewhat stiff and nrhitrary. Haay innos^ant
OH. u. 1— 64,J THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 297
things were once put under the baa which most of us would not now think of con- demning, and an unhealthy sanctimoniousness was fostered by the idea that strictness was holiness. We are growing more free and more reasonable in some respects, learning that " every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving : for it is sanctified through the Word of God and prayer." Moreover, we may hope that the Spirit of Christ has penetrated into the world beyond the boundaries of the Church, so that the very atmosphere of worldly society is more or less permeated by purifying Christian ideas. Nevertheless the approach of the world and the Church is mutual. If the world is coming nearer to the Church, the Church is in some respects approaching the world. A worldly spirit in business, in pleasure, even in religion, is too apparent. We forget that we are pilgrims and strangers here and seek another city. We live too much as if worldly prosperity were the goal of life. We need to be reminded that " this is not our rest," that in so far as we yield to the sinrit of worldliness we court the doom of the city of Destruction.