MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 25:25
COLD WATER AND GOOD NEWS
I. Two blessings often ardently longed for. In these days of travel, many more can enter into the spirit of this analogy than in the days of Solomon—the comparative ease by which men can reach the most distant lands, and which in one aspect brings all places and people so much nearer together than in ancient times, is on the other hand the cause of far more separation between those who are bound together by tender ties, and fills far more hearts with an anxious longing for tidings from far countries. No more apt illustration could be used to picture such a condition of spirit than that of thirst; for as it, if of long duration, prostrates the frame and renders every other blessing of life incapable of affording any comfort, so often does a long delay of tidings concerning those most dear paralyse all the energies of the soul, and render it unable to gain comfort from any other source. The wife whose husband has been long fighting for his country on the distant battle-field, or the father whose son has been for years seeking his fortune in some far-off land, turn often with distaste from all the comforts and interests which surround them, and would willingly sacrifice many near blessings in exchange for cheering news from those beyond the seas. They are like the traveller in the desert, whose gold cannot allay his consuming thirst, and who would willingly give a bag of pearls for a cup of cold water.
II. Two blessings bringing like results. Hagar and her son wandered in the desert till the water was spent in the bottle, and then mother and son gave up all for lost and lay down to die. We may take it for granted that neither the youth nor his mother were easily overcome or quickly daunted, but thirst and its attendant evils would soon have slain them as certainly as a band of desert robbers. But when God showed to Hagar the well, and they had drank of its waters, it was as though a new life had entered into them, and hope and energy returned. This is a type of what has happened to many a heart-sick soul since those days. Jacob was going down to his grave still mourning for the son lost so many years ago, and life, we may well believe, had lost its interest for him when his sons brought the astonishing tidings, “Joseph is yet alive, and is governor over all the land of Egypt.” And the old man renewed his youth, and, so to speak, began to live again, so life-restoring often to a thirsty soul are good news from a far country.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
A far-off land sends specially good news because we faint the more, and long the harder, for the very reason that it is so distant. They come more seldom. And our relations with far-off lands are weightier and more critical than those beside us. So much for the secular significance. But oh! the spiritual! The righteous scarcely are saved. (1 Peter 4:18). We are in a wilderness. (Revelation 12:6; Revelation 12:14). Our enemies are legion. (Ephesians 6:12). We run the gauntlet with daily foes, (Ephesians 5:16); and that with daily changes in their attempts to trip us. (Proverbs 5:6). The sinner, wherever he may be met, is faint with fatigue. Our Saviour knew this when He shaped His appeal “Come unto me, all ye that labour, etc. (Matthew 11:28). Now, high over all other modes of comfort is the “good news from a far-off land.” All right there, come anything! A man’s life may have been a perfect failure, quoad the opinion of the world; but if he have Heaven it has been the very best—there has not been an hour of it that has not been “marshalled by a Divine tactic,” the best for the man and the best for his part in the war.—Miller.
We shall especially apply the subject—to heaven—good news from heaven. There are several things that make good news from a far country as grateful as “cold waters to a thirsty soul.” I. If the country reported is altogether unlike our own. The human mind is always interested in what is novel and romantic—strangeness has a strange fascination for the soul. What charms have the reports of Captain Cook, Moffatt, Livingstone, for all minds.… II. If the country reported has conferred an immense benefit on us. Supposing that we had once been in a state of abject slavery, and that the far country reported to us had effected our emancipation and guaranteed our liberty, with what interest should we listen to everything about it—the act that served us would invest all the incidents connected with this history with a special charm.… III. If the country reported contained any that are dear to us. New Zealand, Vancouver’s Island, and many other countries, are extremely interesting to many families in this land, on account of the friends they have living in them.… IV. If the country reported is a scene in which we expect to live ourselves. With what interest does the emigrant listen to everything referring to that land whither he is about wending his way, and which he is adopting as his home. Heaven as a far country pre-eminently meets all these conditions of interest. There is the Novel … How unlike that country is ours. Here is a sphere for the play of the romantic. There is the Benefactor. What benefits that far country has conferred on us! Thence we have received Christ the Redeemer of the World, and the Blessed Spirit of wisdom, purity, and love. There are our Friends. How many of those whom we have known and loved are there. How many such are going there every day. Some of us have more friends in heaven than on earth. There we expect to live. There we expect an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.—Dr. David Thomas.