Germs of Thought.

SUBJECT:-Light arising in Darkness.

“When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end."Psalm lxxiii. 16, 17.

Analysis of Homily the Four Hundred and Second.

ONE mystery of life is the prosperity of the wicked. Thoughtful individuals, in every age, have been greatly perplexed by it. Often has it led them to rash and wrong conclusions respecting the government of God. Asaph stumbled at this stumbling stone. His "feet were almost," &c. The character and circumstances of the men he beheld excited discontent in his heart, and nearly cast him down from his uprightness. They were proud. "Pride compasseth them about as a chain." It glittered upon them, and was seen in all their movements, like a golden chain on a magistrate, or a monarch. They were violent. "Violence covereth them as a garment." It was manifest in their words, tempers, and actions, like a rustling robe on a person full of excitement. They were sensual. "Their eyes stand out with fatness." They indulged in gluttony and drunkenness, until their animalism was shown in excessive corpulence. They were depraved. "They are corrupt." "The imaginations of their hearts were only evil, and that continually." They were impious. "They speak wickedly concerning" &c. They spoke big swelling words of vanity; asserting their right to oppress the poor; and bold blasphemous words of infidelity;-ascribing blindness to the All-seeing Eye. How strange that such individuals enjoyed prosperity! Yet so it

was.

"Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the

world." They were healthful. "Their strength is firm." Free from painful diseases, a rich glow was on their cheeks, and elastic energy was in their limbs. They were comfortable. "They are not in trouble as other men." Exempt from disquietude and bereavement, they dwelt at ease, amidst earthly gratifications and blooming families. They were affluent. "They increase in riches." Safe from pecuniary difficulties, they added house to house, field to field, and gold to gold. On seeing these things-observing how vice and wealth were linked together, Asaph spoke unadvisedly with his lips. "Verily I have," &c. Startled at charging God foolishly-at saying that God dealt unjustly with the righteous, and that godliness therefore was unprofitable, he paused to consider the logical consequence of the statement he had made. "If I say," &c. By saying that the righteous serve God for nought, he would insult, and perhaps weaken, the faith of the sons of God in their Heavenly Father. Still, the fact that the wicked were prosperous was before his eyes; and when he endeavoured by patient study to ascertain the meaning of this mysterious arrangement, and its harmony with the perfections of God, he found the problem too difficult for him. "When I thought to know this," &c.

These words indicate :--

I. THAT UNASSISTED HUMAN REASON CANNOT VINDICATE DIVINE PROVIDENCE. "When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me.”

First: Because we are prone to err. Our tendency to error is seen everywhere. It develops itself in the vain speculations of philosophy, the absurd dogmas of popery, the gross ideas of savagism, and the grotesque idols of the heathen. The light that is in us is often darkness; and Oh, "How great is that darkness." The reasons of this are obvious. (1) Our intellect is depraved. Estranged from the womb," &c. (2) Our will is perverse. "God made man upright, but," &c. (3) The devil deceives us. “Having the understanding darkened." Through innate depravity and satanic

influence we misunderstand the plainest truths of Christianity; no marvel, therefore, that we misinterpret the mysterious arrangements of Providence. Like wanderers in a fog, we follow meteoric lights, and go astray from the right path, instead of finding it. Bewildered by the deceitful thoughts of our own heart, and by the evil suggestions of Satan, we judge erroneously concerning the dealings of God with mankind, and feel utterly incompetent, without help from Heaven, to demonstrate the rectitude of divine sovereignty.

Secondly: Because we see only parts of the ways of God. Our sight is too dim and our life is too short to survey the entire scheme of Providence. We behold only a few of its wheels, and study their complex movements a very little while. In vain do we strain our mental sight, and employ our time in careful investigation; after all our efforts we perceive little, and we understand less, of the wondrous Plan that regulates human affairs. The causes of our imperfect knowledge are these. (1) The machinery is so vast. "It is high as," &c. (2) The period of its revolution is so long. "One day is with the Lord as," &c. "The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever," &c. It is impossible, therefore, for us, untaught of the Lord, to comprehend His procedure towards individuals, families, and nations. What we witness is too fragmental and small to constitute a comprehensive whole, and enable us to form a correct judgment. If we saw only a little portion of a large machine we could not ascertain its wonderful operations. If we beheld only a few terrestrial objects, we could not know the state of our massive planet. If we looked at only a few brilliant stars, we could not understand the architecture of the marvellous heavens. These analogies illustrate our inability to justify the ways of God. Inasmuch as we observe only a limited number of events, we cannot judge aright respecting the multitude of events that show forth the glory of God, from the beginning to the end of the world.

Thirdly: Because Jehovah does not fully reveal himself. The condescension of God is very great. Jehovah condescends to

tell us some of His purposes and plans; but He does not reveal the whole. Many are kept in reserve; these lie in the depths of the Infinite Mind, like pearls in fathomless parts of the ocean, like gems in unknown recesses of the earth. "Secret things belong," &c. "Clouds and darkness," &c. Nor should we be surprised at this. It comports with the dignity of God, and is essential to moral government. A parent does not reveal all his thoughts to his children; a master does not declare all his plans to his servants; a statesman does not make known all his designs to his adherents; a monarch does not proclaim all his intentions to his subjects. Thus it is with the Supreme Ruler. He does not unfold all His councils to human beings. In love to our souls, He sheds a little light upon us, and intercepts the full blaze thereof, that we may "trust Him where we cannot trace Him." A cloud often comes between us and the sun; its edges are fringed with silver brightness, its central mass is intensely dark; above the cloud perfect glory shines, but we behold it not for we cannot pierce the vapors, and black shades fall around us. "God is light, and with him is no darkness at all;" but He hides the light from us with the shadow of a cloud, whose border reflects cheering rays, and whose body covers us with mysterious gloom. The reasons of many things past finding out, and of wonders without number, are hidden from us. The prosperity of the wicked is only one of numerous mysteries, concerning which Jehovah giveth no account. The origin of evil and its consistency with the goodness of God; the harmony between the foreknowledge of God and the free-will of man; the mystery of godliness God manifested in the flesh; the nature and identity of our bodies at the resurrection ;-these and other problems we would fain have solved; but God refrains from explaining them. With so little light, and so much darkness around us, we cannot reason conclusively respecting the deep things of God. The ignorance that is in us leads us to wrong results. In order rightly to understand the government of God, we want more light. While God sees fit to withhold the light,

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we must walk by faith. A revelation from God would clear away the mystery from all that perplexes our intellect. Such revelation we cannot obtain on earth: it becomes us, therefore, to bow submissively to the will of God, acknowledge our incompetency to fathom the arrangements of Providence, and find consolation in the promise, that "what we know not now we shall know hereafter."

II. THAT THE WAY OF DUTY IS THE WAY OF SAFETY. "Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end."

First We receive instruction. It matters little whether the phrase, "the sanctuary of God," refers to the temple at Jerusalem, or a synagogue, or a room for public worship, or a place of retirement for reading, meditation, and prayer. Wherever we commune with God, meditating on the word of God, and praying, "Open thou mine eyes, that" &c., we are in "the sanctuary of God," and are taught of the Lord. Receiving light from holy scripture, and from the Holy Spirit, our incorrect judgment respecting the prosperity of the wicked is rectified, and we see sufficient to convince us that the Judge of all the earth does right. (1) We see that rich sinners are insecure. 66 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places." (2) We see that rich sinners are suddenly cast down. "How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment." (3) We see that rich sinners are the objects of God's displeasure. "As a dream when one awaketh so, O Lord," &c. These things instruct us to judge nothing before the time. He who sees the end from the beginning gives us glimpses of the perils to which prosperous sinners are exposed, and the evils that often overtake them, even in the present life. Thus we are taught not to form hasty conclusions respecting Divine Providence, but remembering that "he that believeth shall not make haste," patiently wait till events transpire that shed light on mysterious arrangements, and show that just and true are the ways of God.