II. The TBonBLG is fourfold. It is various in form, touching one in one way and another most in a different way. But for each it is complex. \. Itbwnsasfire. At once it is felt to be fierce, poignant, and consumino;. Thus does Grod seek to bum the chaff out of us. 2. It catches our feet like a net. God arrests the headlong career of folly with the net of trouble. It flings the heedless man to the ground, entangles his feet, and vexes his feelings. But it saves him from rushing on to his ruin. We may thank God for the distresses which stop our course when that runs in a wrong; direction. 3. It gives us pain and faintness like a sickness. Thus are we humbled and subdued. The faintness of heart that sorrow brings is the best remedy for headstrong self-will and pride. 4. It burdens like a yoke. The transgressions bound and wreathed by the hand of God press upon the neck of the guilty. Several points in the image of a yoke may be obsei ved. (1) It is a weight oppressing and wearying ; (2) it is a constraint, hiudering free action and imposing irksome conditions of motion; (3) it is connectec with other impediments ; (4) it presses very close upon our person ; (5) it is carried about with us wherever we go, burdening us in all scenes and all circumstances ; and (6) it is so " bound" and " wreathed" that it cannot be shaken off. Nevertheless, this trouble is sent for our good. It will be removed in due time if we repent and seek the grace of God in Christ. After it has gone, the relief from the distress of it will heighten the enjoyment of forgiveness.
Ver. 18. — The righteousness of Ood confessed. I. The eighteousness of God as a FACT. 1. What it is. In its fulness and breadth it is the goodness of God, his sinless- ness, his pure and holy character. But it has characteristics of more special impor- tance. Eighteousness in God is conformity with truth, justice, and honour. It means that God has no subtle double-dealing, but acts in perfect integrity. He moves in straight lines. Purtlier, it means that God is fair to all, doing, if not the same thing to each, which would often be unjust, that which is fitting for every one. It also includes God's regard for the standard of right in his government, his care to make his creatures righteous, and his determination to check all unrighteousness. 2. Why we are to believe in it. It is declared most forcibly by those who know Otoi best. Sceptical strangers may donbt it ; but they who have entered into the presence of God, whether in holiness or in inspiration, alike agree in tesiifying to the righteousness of God, The deeper our Christian experience the more shall we be brought to admit this great truth.
II. The righteousness of God hidden under a cloud. There are times when it is hard to say from our hearts, " The Lord is righteous." Doubts and difficulties should be boldly faced, for God cares for no lip-service of unbelieving flatterers. 1, Trouble darkens our vision of the righteousness of Ood. We fail to see the object of the storm while the darkness of it lowers over us. It seems to be greater than it is, and more than just, because we cannot take a fair view of it. 2. Our own trouble seems to be out of proportion to that of other people. We feel the full weight of our own burden ; our neighbour's burden is seen at a distance, and then only seen, not felt In her grief Jeru- salem feels that she is visited with a strange pre-eminence of sorrow. Never was sorrow equal to hers (see ver. 12). This appears to be unjust. 8. Our trouble looks more than w deserve. So we think till we see our sin. To the impenitent God must often seem unjust. 4. Qod has many purposes in sorrow that are unknown to u$. Therefore we fail to see the justice of the blow. But part of the discipline of trouble depends on our
CH.L1— 22.] THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEBEMIAH. «
ignoraace of its end. If we knew whither it was leading us we should not be led. Darkness is necessary for the training of faith.
III. The BIQHTE0D8NESS OP GoD CONFESSED. This is grand ! In the midst of wailin<; and weeping Jerusalem confesses that the hand that dealt the blow was right. 1. Faith is requisite for this confession. The righteousness cannot be seen ; it is still shrouded in darkness. Bat faith holds to it. Thus we must use in the darkness the knowledge which we have won in the light. 2. Penitence is also necessary for this con- fession. When we confess our guilt we are ready to confess God's righteousness, but not till then. Even Job had to abhor himself and repent in dust and ashes in order to see the righteousness of God (Job xlii. 6).
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHOES,
Vers. 1, i.—Tht contrasts of adversity. The key-note of this strain of sorrow, this poetical and pathetic dirge, is struck in the opening words of the composition. The heart of the prophet laments over the captured and ruined city. How natural that the prtsent should recall the pastl Jerusalem, now in the hands of the Ctialdeans, was once, in the days of David and of Solomon, the scene of glory and the seat of empire, the joy of the whole earth. So much the sadder is the contrast, the deeper the fall, the bitterer the cup of woe.
L The once populous city is solitaby. Not the walls, the streets, the palaces, the temples, but the inhabitauts, are the true strength and glory of a city. Formerly Jeru- salem was thronged with citizens who took pride in her majesty, of sojourners who came to gaze with wonder and admiration upon her splendours. Now her population has been reduced by famine, by exile, by war; and silence is in her streets.
II. The city once a fbincess is tbibutary. The time was when other cities acknowledged her sway, paid her their tribute, sent her of their produce and of the labour of their sons. Now she is reduced to subjection, yields her treasure to the foe, and the toil of her children is for the profit of the alien.
III. The city that once was joyful weeps. Mirth and music have given place to mourning, lamentation, find woe. No longer are the sound of the viol and the harp, the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, heard in her dwellings. They resound with the cries of grief and anguish. She weepeth in the night, and her tears are on her cheek.
rV. The city once the spouse of the Lobd is widowed. To Jerusalem it had been said, " Thy Maker is thy Husband I " But because of her unfaithfulness and apostasy the Lord has forsaken her ; she is become as a widow, unprotected, deserted, solitary, and comfortless.
v. liB city once kioh in allies and helpers 18 UNFRIENDED. Not Only is she fe«ble within, she is friendless without. In prosperous days neighbouring nations somght her good will and alliance, and were forward with their offers of friendship and of help. All this is of the past ; those who vowed faithfulness have proved treacherous, and have became the enemies of Judaea in the es.tremity of her desolation, forsaking, and woe. — ^T.