carbonate of soda of modern chemistry." (Smith's Dictionary.) The combination of the acid and alkali would, of course, produce effervescence. 23. Driveth away. Rather "Brings forward the rain-clouds." Most modern commentators adopt this rendering of the verb, and read the latter phrase to suit the metaphor "So a secret or slanderous tongue, a troubled countenance." 26. Falling down—i.e., “ yielding” or “wavering.” Corrupt. Rather “Ruined.” 27. The last phrase in this verse is variously rendered. The words is not are not in the Hebrew. Stuart reads, "Searching after one's own glory is burdensome”—i.e., Honour, like honey, is good only when sought in moderation. Zöckler renders " To search out the difficulty, brings dificulty”—ie, "Too strenuous occupation of the mind with difficult things is injurious." Delitzsch translates :— "But, as an inquirer, to enter on what is difficunt, is honour"—i.e., To overdo oneself in eating honey is not good, but the searching into difficult things is nothing less than an eating of honey, but an honour. The word translated glory is literally weight, and is often used to mean excellence and honour. But it will bear the opposite meaning of a burden or difficulty.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH. Verses 1-3.

GOD'S MYSTERIES AND MAN'S RESEARCH.

I. There is much connected with God's nature and with His government that will never be revealed to man in his present state. This is in accordance with the greatness of God and the littleness of man in comparison with him. There are many things connected with God which man in his present state could not comprehend, and there are others which he might comprehend, but of which it is better he should remain in ignorance. The parent conceals many things from a child because the concealment is more consistent with a wise training than the revelation of them would be. Some of them the child could not understand, and others it is better that he should not know until he attains to riper years. When he has become a man he will admire the wisdom of his parent in thus withholding from him what he did. God, as the infinitely wise Parent and Trainer of human creatures, often doubtless conceals much from us from similar reasons, and we shall one day see that the concealment was to the glory of His gracious character. When a physician is called to treat a man whose life is hanging upon a thread, he is not expected to enter into an explanation of the nature of the remedies he uses or to give a reason for all the treatment he prescribes. Such an explanation would be unworthy of the dignity of his profession and hurtful to his patient. Concealment is often an essential and necessary part of his plan, and when the sick man is restored to health he acknowledges that it was to the glory of his healer that he kept him for a time in ignorance, God is the great Physician and Healer of human souls, and it would neither befit His majesty nor further His purposes of mercy to reveal the reasons of all He does to His fallen creatures. When they have attained to perfect moral health they will give glory to Him for all that He concealed as well as for all that He revealed.

II. But there is much that is hidden that will be revealed to the diligent seeker. If it is God's prerogative and a part of Ilis divine plan to conceal much from man, it is His purpose and desire to reveal much to him if he will only seek after it. How many of God's operations in nature are full of mystery to one who only looks upon the surface of things, but how far diligent and earnest searchers have penetrated into the secret workings of the Divine wisdom in this direction. Although there is much hidden from them, still there is much that was once a mystery that is now made plain. And it is doubtless the same al in relation to God's working in higher regions-in His dealings in providence and in His plan of redemption. Although there is much here that must remain a mystery to the human mind, he who diligently and reverently seeks to know the mind and purpose of God in relation to these things will not lose his reward.

III. While then, it is God's prerogative to determine what He will reveal to

man it is man's glory and duty to be ever seeking to know more of God's ways and works. The third verse seems to institute a comparison between the Divine and human rulers. These latter have their state secrets-sometimes for arbitrary purposes and in other cases from necessity they conceal their plans until their ends are accomplished. If the government is a despotic one this secrecy is to be feared and deprecated; if, on the other hand, the ruler or rulers are merciful and just their subjects may safely trust them when their plans of action are for a time hidden. But however it may be with human kings, there is no questioning the right of the King of Kings to hide what He pleases from His creatures, and no reason for His creatures to doubt either His wisdom or His love in so doing. But man has a duty to perform in relation to this concealment. His Maker and his Ruler does not desire to see him sit down in indolent indifference, making no effort to penetrate the secrets of the world around him, or to apprehend in some degree some of the deep things of God's "unsearchable dealings." (Rom. xi. 33). The veil seems to have been cast over some of these problems for the very purpose of stimulating man to search and to test the depth of his interest in them. While, then, the pursuit of knowledge of any kind is good, there is none so elevating, none that brings so rich a reward, and none that man is so bound to follow after, as the knowledge of God in His works of creation, and providence, and redemption. Solomon, as the greatest monarch of his day, counted this his first duty and his highest glory, and there have been many uncrowned kings in all ages of the world who have set this before them as the aim and end of their life, and in so doing have set a diadem upon their own brows and have won the homage and love of multitudes of their race.

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS

Verses 1 and 2. It was a good saying of a pious divine, "Lord preserve us from a comprehensible God." It is our duty to venerate and wonder, and not to pry with curious eyes into the secrets of God. The history of the fall is an everlasting warning to the sons of Adam to prefer the tree of life to the tree of knowledge.-Lawson.

1. Taking it in contrast with the latter part of the verse-" but the honour of kings is to search out a matter," there is implied the idea that the Divine knowledge is universal, perfect, and free from everything of the nature of inquiry, investigation, effort, in the acquisition. His acquaintance with all things is, in the strictest sense, intuitive, and, in the strictest sense, complete. He requires no "searching out' in order to discover anything; nor is it possible to make any addition to His knowledge. The past, the present, and the future are alike before His all-comprehensive mind. He sees all the present. He remembers all the past. He fore

"

sees all the future. His knowledge is "light without any darkness at all; and it is light that is equally clear through the immensity of the universe, and through all time and all eternity! 2. The language implies God's entire independence and supremacy, as a part of His glory. He "giveth not account of any of his matters," further than, in sovereignty, He sees meet to do. He conceals when He pleases. He discloses when He pleases :-" Who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor?" and who can demand the disclosure of any one of the secrets of the infinite and independent Mind? 3. The impenetrable depth of His counsels is a part of God's glory. His "judgments are a great deep." What line of created wisdom can fathom them ?

"Not angels, that stand round his throne,

Can search His secret will ! "

"Canst thou, by searching, find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is high as heaven; what can'st thou do? deeper than hell ·

what can'st thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." "O the depth of the riches, and wisdom, and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" This is fitted to inspire us, His intelligent creatures, with reverence and godly fear." In the sovereign secresy, the unapproachable reservation, the unfathomable mysteriousness of the Divine counsels in the very requirement that we humbly bow, in adoring submission, where we cannot comprehend, without asking a question, or urging a further disclosure:-in all

this, there is something that gives the Creator His proper place. There is in it a sacredness, an awfulness, that makes us feel, as we ought to do, our infinite distance. This is God's glory.Wardlaw.

Verse 3. There is no searching the height or the depth of the King's heart, any more than the height of heaven, or the depth of the earth, (which in those unastronomic days meant blankly not at all). Give God a universe to rule; and what He must do in that great compass, as a King, is quite unsearchable.-Miller.

For Homiletics of verses 4 and 5 see on chap. xx. 26 and 28, page 596.

MAIN HOMILETICS of VERSES 6 and 7.
SELF-PROMOTION.

I. A wise man will let others judge of his qualifications for a high place or position. Men who consult their happiness and reputation are not so anxious to rise in the world as they are to qualify themselves for rising. A wise man knows well that it is not merely the position he occupies which raises him in the estimation of others, but the ability which he shows to fill the post, and the fitness which men recoguise as existing between him and his high place. He has no desire to step into a position which he could not fill with some credit to himself and advantage to others, knowing well that he would then be like the jackdaw in the peacock's borrowed plumes, an object of derision to all beholders. He would rather occupy a low place with abilities to fill a higher, than be in one which was above his abilities, and he therefore gladly leaves the question of his social advancement in the hands of others.

II. Self-promotion is not likely to result in satisfaction to the only actor in the transaction. 1. It is generally short-lived. If a man is really fit for advancement, some one or some number of people are generally to be found to say to him," Friend, go up higher.' The interests of men in general, are concerned in having the best men in the foremost places; and such men, in the end, are generally placed in them by common consent. But when a man without this call steps into a place of honour, it is very common for others to resent his self-conceit, and to call upon him to give place to a more worthy person. And so his self-constituted triumph is soon over. 2. It often ends in humiliation. It is hard to be obliged to take a lower place under any circumstances, but when we are thus retracing steps which our self-esteem alone prompted us to take the chagrin is great indeed. And as the ascent in such a case is generaly made before the eyes of many onlookers, so the descent will be equally public, and this adds much to the disappointment and the shame.

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS.

Ambition is to the mind what the cap is to the falcon, it first blinds us, and then compels us to lower by reason of our blindness.-E. Cook.

Now, it is not a little said in praise of him to whom it is said, "Come up higher." For, first, it showeth his modest humility, which is the praise of

all other virtues. Secondly, it showeth the worth of his quality, which deserveth advancement. Thirdly, it showeth that to be due unto him which is bestowed upon him. On the other side, it is not a little reproach unto him that is put lower. For, first, his pride is objected to him; the overthrow of all that is praiseworthy. Secondly, his unworthiness is rejected

with an upbraiding of it. Thirdly, the due punishment of being placed lower is justly inflicted. And as

if he were one unworthy for the prince. to look upon, it is not said, by whom thou art seen, but whom thine eyes have seen, as noting also the proud presumption of the unworthy intruder. Jermin.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH. Verses 8-11.

Two WAYS OF TREATING AN ENEMY.

It is undoubtedly lawful, and sometimes indispensable, that a man who has been wronged by another should seek redress from the offending person. These verses seem no refer to an injury done to character and reputation, and seeing that these are a man's most precious possessions, he has certainly as much right to seek restitution from him who has sought to rob him of this wealth, as he has to try and capture the thief who has stolen his money or his plate, and make him give back his unlawful gain. Solomon does not condemn all interference with a neighbour who puts us to shame," but sets before us two opposite courses of action, either of which may be taken in such a case. He gives the consequences

of both.

I. There is the way of inconsiderate passion. This is a bad way, becauseIt may lead us to overstep the bounds of right and justice. A man under the power of anger has no ear open to the counsels of reason and prudence, and under such an influence he will very likely become as great an offender against his neighbour as his neighbour was against him. He in his turn may become a slanderer and a betrayer of secrets (verse 9), and so lose all hold on his opponent; and even be put to shame by the very person whom he intended to bring to shame. He is like a blindfolded man who rushes hastily down a steep path without considering what will be the end of so mad an act. 2. It is the least likely way to convince the offender of his fault. Words of angry recrimination, or deeds which savour of the spirit of revenge, will almost certainly make an enemy tenfold more of an enemy. If he disliked us before without any reason, his dislike will now have some foundation to rest upon, and the gulf of separation will be widened instead of bridged over. The end to be aimed at when a brother man has trespassed against us is clearly defined by Christ. We are to try to "gain our brother" (Matt. xviii. 15), that is, we are to try and win his esteem and love. This can never be done if we go forth hastily to strive."

But

II. There is the way of personal and wise remonstrance. 1. The complaint of our wrongs is to be made first to the person offending. Here the teaching of the wise man and the "greater than Solomon" are identical. "If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone." (Matt. xviii. 15.) To speak of it to a third person is to expose our neighbour unnecessarily, and, perhaps, to blacken his character far beyond his deserts. For, although we may give a plain unvarnished tale of his offence, he to whom we give it may colour it when he repeats it to another, and so what was but a molehill at the first may grow into a mountain before long. But if we go directly to the transgressor himself, we make it plain to him that we have no desire to make him suffer for his offence, and only ask him to deal with us in

the same spirit of brotherly love in which we deal with him. Our willingness to cover his fault will go a long way towards persuading him to confess and forsake it. 2. We are to reason and persuade rather than to upbraid. The discourse is to take the form of a calm debate. We are to ask for the grounds

of his attack upon us, and not be too proud to enter into explanations of any act that he may have misconstrued. We are to try and convince him of the harm he will do to himself if he persist in trying to injure another, and we are to seek to clothe all our arguments and entreaties in language which is the least likely to offend and most calculated to win. Such words are compared by Solomon to a beautiful work of art which is precious and admirable not only for the skill displayed in the workmanship, but for the costly nature of the material out of which it is fashioned. (See Critical Notes on verse 11.) It may be a robe of costly material embroidered with gold and silver, or it may be a basket of wrought silver holding fruits of gold, but whatever the exact form of the production, it reveals skilful design on the part of the artist, and bears witness to his painstaking skill. A carefully framed appeal to lay before an offending brother is a work of art in a higher sphere-it calls forth all the tact and wisdom that we possess to fashion such a garment-to carve such a piece of work, but it is worth all the labour and pains that can be spent upon it, and will bring to its author the goodwill of others and the approval of his own conscience.

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS.

Verse 8. For the sake of illustration, to suppose two or three varieties of this result -1. The hasty man meets his supposed adversary,-some word or act of whom has just reached him. He is all full of the fuming pride of offended self-consequence; very big; very wrathful. In this spirit he makes his charge; and finds it is a mere idle unfounded rumour that has come to his ears; that there is actually nothing in it; that nothing of the kind has ever been either said or done; that there is no ground whatever for all his excitement and transport! -How foolish he looks, when his imagined enemy, against whom he has been breathing out the vehemence of passion, all collected and cool, stands wondering at his agitation,-unable to divine what has come over him!And how is he laughed at for having stirred himself up to all this heat and hurry, all this violence of emotionfor nothing!-2. It turns out that in the cause between him and his neighbour, which he has so hastily taken up, he is in the wrong-that, after all his froth and bluster, truth and justice are clearly on the other side, with all

the solid and satisfactory argument; while on his there is little or nothing beyond the noisy and vehement protestations of self-sufficiency, and he is quite unable to withstand the proofs against him-the verdict of all impartial persons being in favour of his opponent. In this case, he must either, after having his pride keenly mortified, cool down, and own himself in the wrong-which is the best thing he can do, but far from easy to a man of his temper; or the more he is overpowered by evidence of facts and by sound argument, the more must the sense of conscious defeat, and consequent feeling of inferiority, inflame him to rage; by which he will only render himself the more ridiculous, and give cause of more lasting mortification and shame. 3. The same things are true of a controversial dispute on any subject. Generally speaking, the hastiest and most selfconfident is the most likely to fail. Such confidence very often accompanies partial information and superficial and one-sided views. The petulant, consequential disputant "goes forth hastily to strive," in the full assurance th