ich were too high for him to meddle
with; matters about which he had to refrain his soul; to quiet his
feelings; to suspend his judgment; to check his curiosity, and say about
them simply--Trust in the Lord.

We do not know, I say, what these great matters, these mysteries were.
But that concerns us little. Human life, human fortune, human history,
human agony--nay, the whole universe, the more we know of it, is full of
such mysteries. Only the shallow and the conceited are unaware of their
presence. Only the shallow and the conceited pretend to explain them,
and have a Why ready for every How. David was not like them. His was
too great a mind to be high-minded; too deep a heart to have proud looks,
and to pretend, to himself or to others, that he knew the whole counsel
of God.

Solomon his son had the same experience. For him, too, in spite of all
his wisdom, the mystery of Providence was too dark. Though a man
laboured to seek it, yet should he not find it out. All things seemed,
at least, to come alike to all. There was one event to the righteous and
to the wicked; to the clean and to the unclean. Vanity of vanity; all
was vanity. Of making books there was no end, and much study was a
weariness to the flesh. And the conclusion of the whole matter was--Fear
God, and keep His commandments. That--and not to pry into the
unfathomable will of God--was the whole duty of man.

Job, too: what is the moral of the whole book of Job, save that God's
ways are unsearchable, and His paths past finding out? The Lord, be it
remembered, in the closing scene of the book, vouchsafes to Job no
explanation whatsoever of his affliction. Instead of telling him why he
has been so sorely smitten; instead of bidding him even look up and
trust, He silences Job by the mere plea of His own power. Where wast
thou when I laid the foundation of the earth? Declare, if thou hast
understanding. When the morning stars sang together; and all the sons of
God shouted for joy. Shall he that contendeth with The Almighty instruct
Him? He that reproveth God, let him answer.

But, it may be said, these are Old Testament sayings. The Patriarchs and
Prophets had not that full light of knowledge of the mind of God which
the Evangelists and Apostles had. What do the latter, the writers of the
New Testament, say, with that fuller knowledge of God, which they gained
through Jesus Christ our Lord?

My friends--This is not, I trust, by God's