L A OBTTBL BONDAGE. Sinuers have yielded themselves up to obey the enemy of their souls, the foe of God. This is (1) a usurper, who has no right to rule over men , (22) a tyrant, who with \mjust and unreasonable exercise of authority oppresses those beneath his power ; (3) a cruel master, whose ser vice is slavery, whose stripes an many, whose wages are death and destruction.
II. A BEEMiNQLT iiiiEViTABLE FATE. The conquered Judseans had loolied hither and thither, in the crisis of their fate, for some friend and helper, but they had looked in vain. Similarly the captive of sin can find no earthly deliverer ; his fellow-men arc his fellow-sinners and fellow-captives ; there is no eye to pity and no hand to save.
III. A SOLITARY BUT SUFFICIENT CONSOLATION AND Befuqe. The restlesB waves answer their purpose when they toss the imperilled mariner towards the haven of refuge. AiHiction and adversity, chains and dungeons, oppressors and torturers, may make the one only Deliverer welcome. The Lord God has revealed himself to us as the Saviour of all men. There is no prison from which he cannot set the captive free ; there are no gyves and fetters he cannot strike off; there ace ao foes from whose hands he oumo*^ rescue and deliver. — ^T.
Ver. 15.— TOe cessation of Joy. This fate had been foretold. " Then will I Oknse to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride : for the land shall be desolate." Well is it for those who take the warning which is given beforehand, and do not wait, as Jerusalem waited, for the stem lessons of ft retributive Providence.
I. Theee is oessatiok of jot which is not punitivb. The health, the elasticity of spirits, the pleasures of youth, cannot be protracted to old age. " Earth's joys grow dim, its glories fade away." Days of sickness, of poverty, of bereavement, of sorrow, are appointed by the Lord of the human lot, to follow days of brightness. The wail of sorrow will replace the song of gladsome joy. Yet all this experience mav be .spiritually disciplinary and helpful ; there may he in it nothing of punishment, nothing of Divine displeasure.
II. There is cessation of jot which is the sign of Divine anoeb and thc FULFILMENT OF DiviNE thbbatenino. Such was the case with Judah, upon whom the siege and the Captivity came, not without warning, not without space for repentance. In fact, sin puts an end to the joy which it promises to increase and perpetuate, and brings about the mourning and distress against which it pretends to ensure us. The retrospect of those whose joy has ceased becomes in such cases a retrospect of human rebellion and Divine forbearance. Conscience awakes and admits that soriow is merited.
Application. Yet there is a way of repentance. God will renew the days of his people as of old. This is the cry and the hope of the penitent : " Bestore unto me the joy <rf tiby salvation."- T.
Vers. 16, 17. — The degradation of tin. The promise of sin is something very different from this ; no flattery is untried, no prospect withheld, which may induce men to rebel against God. But, as with our first parents, as with the dwellers in Jerusalem, eo is it in the experience of all men ; the promises which sin makes are unfulfilled ; the wages of cin are death.
L The piotubb of degbadation. It is highly figurative language which the pro- phet here employs ; but it is not exaggerated, it is not unjust. 1. The head is uncrowned. Jndah's independence and freedom was as a crown to the head ; but the Chaldeans tore it off and flung it away. They who defy God must lose in so doing all that is most honourable^ most sacred, most precious. 2. The heart is faint. Judah's joy WM tiumd
88 THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. [oh. ▼. 1—22.
into mourning, her hopes were dashed to the ground ; how could the heart bo other than faint? The ways of sin are ways of disappointment, weariness, and distress. The heart of the transgressor sinlts within him when he sees the fruit of his doings. 3. The eyes are dim with watching for deliverance, with tears of woe.
II. The cause op deobauation. Judah may have been unwilling to admit the truth, and may have been disposed to attribute calamities to second causes. But the prophet was just, and laid his hand upon the true explanation when he confessed on behalf of his countrymen, " We have sinned 1 " Trace up human misery and national disaster to the source, and this is to be reached only when we come to defection and departure from the righteous Lord.
III. The conscioubness op deobadation. " Woe unto us ! " is the ciy of the prophet. When men sin and suffer but fail to acknowledge their own ill desert, the intentions of Providence are as yet unfulfilled. The sin must be taken home ; the punishment must be acknowledged just ; the confession must be penitent, sincere, and frank.
IT. The lessonb op deobadation. 1. Let the virtuous and obedient abjure self- confidence and cherish trust in God. 2. Let the tempted beware of the foe, and watch and pray lest they sin and come into this torment. 3. Let the smitten sinner repent and turn unto the Lord and seek pardon and renewal.— T.
Ver. 19. — The eternal throne. The believer in God has this great advantage over the atheist and the agnostic — ^he has a firm conviction that all things are under the control and rule of a wise, righteous, and benevolent King, who reigns both in heaven and on earth. Afflictions, personal and relative, may distress his mind ; calamities may over- whelm his imagination and baffle his reason ; but he has this consolation — he knows that the Lord remains for ever on his throne.
L God'b etebnal tbbone contrasts with the perishino thboneb op babth. The King of Judah, defeated and carried captive, was torn by a foreign hand from the throne of his power and glory. All earthly monarchies are transitory and all earthly monarchs are mortal. They perish, but God endureth.
II. The stability op God'b throne bests cfon the RiaHTEOusNESs op his dominion. "A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." Injustice and oppression may prevail for a season, but only right is indestructible and immortal. Even in his mercy the Supreme has regard to the claims of justice and to the maintenance of rightful authority.
III. Tee defeat of God's enemies is assured. They may rage and they may take counsel together, but the Lord has them in derision. All their assaults upon his kingdom must fail, and those who lead those assaults must come to shame and misery. No weapon that is formed against God and his people shall prosper.
IV. The victory op God's cause is certain. Kingdoms rise and fall, princes are elevated and dethroned ; bat the King of kings goes conquering and to conquer. All his foes are put beneath his feet, and on his head are many crowns. — T.