The wise observance of God's loving-kindness.
The Prayer-book Version reads, "Whoso is wise will ponder these things;" will think about them; will brood over them. The signs of God's active and gracious working, in men's lives, is clear enough, but only to the "wise," who "thoughtfully ponder what the thoughtless pass by."
I. THE LOVING-KINDNESS OF GOD IS NOT APPARENT TO EVERYBODY. Many are stumbling over the severities of God's dealings, and, indeed, over the presence of evil, in the senses of wrong and calamity, in his world. How can the God of love stand aloof, and permit the misery of the earth? How can the doom of vast masses of humanity be consistent with Divine love and Fatherhood? We venture to say that these difficulties are felt because men are carried away by surface appearances, and do not ponder. They look upon the events of a limited time and space, and do not try to estimate God's dealings in view of all time and all space. Mistake follows studying parts; it is relieved by studying wholes. It. is not easy to appraise aright passing things; we cannot see how they fit. A bird's-eye view sets things in places and relations, and so explains a great deal.
II. THE LOVING-KINDNESS OF GOD IS REVEALED TO THE UNBIASED. And they only are the "wise." Every bias, prejudice, preconceived opinion, is a limitation of faculty, a misdirection of judgment. And if man would understand God's ways, it is of supreme importance that he should clear his mind, and come with the simplicity of true wisdom, to such studies.
III. THE LOVING-KINDNESS OF GOD IS REVEALED TO THE THOUGHTFUL. Here the idea is that mistake is made by coming to a too hasty decision or judgment. The thoughtful man is the man who is content to keep on thinking; who wants to see things all round and all through before he makes up his mind. Quietly wait to see the loving-kindness. It is often only revealed when the ends of God's dealings are reached.
IV. THE LOVING-KINDNESS OF GOD IS REVEALED TO THE EXPERIENCED. It is the man who only observes it who is so often misled. The man who feels it will be sure to realize the loving-kindness at last, if not at first.—R.T.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT