ing their days, and unfitting them for the cheerful services of religion. It has not unfrequently rendered them unable to perform those services to God and to his church, for the sake of which a competency of the good things of life is to be valued. We are the servants of Christ, and must not disqualify ourselves for his service, by making ourselves needlessly the servants of men.

The precept here given may remind us, how foolish it is for us to make ourselves debtors to divine justice, to please any friend in the world. When one tempts

you to commit any sin, however small, consider whe ther it would be wise in you to make yourselves debtors even to man on his account.

As we are all in debt to God, let us give no sleep to our eyes, till we implore his mercy. How powerful must be that lethargy which closes in sleep eyes that shall awake in hell, if another day of life is not granted by the abused long-suffering of God! We may be asha med to humble ourselves to our friends, or our applica tions to them may be fruitless. But God is equally glorious in majesty and mercy. He delights in forgiving thousands of talents.

The wise man next proceeds to warn us against the vice of sluggishness, to which he was a constant

enemy.

Ver. 6. Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.

God has taught us more than the beasts of the earth, and made us wiser than the fowls of heaven. But the sluggard equals not in wisdom the least of insects. He complains that he is not able to work, but has he less strength than an emmet? "The ants, (says an‐ other wise man), are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;" they therefore shall be his judges.

Why has God made such a multitude of creatures,

Why has he made some
This is a vain question.

that are of no use to man? that destroy his property? We are sure that God has made them all in wisdom, and that he has made some of them teachers of wisdom to us. The ant devours some part of our sustenance, but it will pay us well for it, if we are wise enough to improve by its lessons. Every ant-hill is a school, and the wisest of men gives these little animals a testimonial, recommending their instructions That man makes a god of his belly, who thinks no creature of anyuse to us but such as gives us its flesh to eat, or its labour to provide for our sustenance or comfort. The wisdom which some of them teach is far more valuable than the food with which they supply us.

to us.

Other creatures are teachers to us as well as the ant. Look on the whole brutal creation, O atheist ! and confess their Maker. Go to the oxen and the asses, unthankful man! and be wise to acknowledge thy Benefactor. Consider the fowls of the air, ye that are of little faith, and trust the providence of God!

Why does the wise man single out the ant as a teacher of wisdom to the sluggard? Agur gives us one reason in the 30th chapter of this book,-their weakness, which may render the sluggard ashamed of his silly excuses. Another reason we find assigned by Solomon in this place.

Ver. 7, 8. Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

The bees are a very industrious people, but they have a queen to require their labour, and if she dies they will work no more. The ant has no guide to set her an example, no overseer to inspect her work, no ruler to exact her task; and yet she neglects not a day

in summer, when the roads are clean and the sky clear; or in harvest, when the grain can be had in plenty. She improves every opportunity to store up provisions, that she may spend in comfort the days of cold and scarcity. And what is the result of all her toil? In winter she enjoys plenty, when other creatures are pinched with poverty, or perish with cold and hunger.

We have guides to set us a good example. We have overseers and rulers appointed us by the King of nations, and the King of Zion. Yet how many sluggards are to be found among us, who spend their days in vanity! They are like butterflies, which wanton away the best days of their existence, when they ought to be like ants, suffering no summer day to pass unimproved.

These little animals have knowledge of the times, and are wise to improve opportunities. They join with the stork, and the crane, and the swallow, in reproving those who know not the judgment of the Lord, and neglect the duty of the day in its day.

There are sluggards who bring misery upon themselves in this world. There are far more who bring eternal misery upon their souls, by neglecting the happy opportunities afforded them by the long-suffering of the Lord, for securing their everlasting interests. They see many days of the Son of man, and enjoy the beams of the Sun of righteousness. They are called with a loud voice to arise and shine, but they are less concerned about an everlasting duration of happiness or misery, than the despised ant about the provisions of a few months. How will they mourn at the last, and say, "The summer is past, and the harvest is ended, and we are not saved!"

The sluggard will not awake from his sleep to go and

learn wisdom, but the wise man goes to him to break his slumbers.

Ver. 9. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard! when wilt thou awake out of thy sleep?

It is a great waste of time, to spend in sleep more hours than are necessary. Yet from the practice of how many does it appear, that they have adopted the maxim of the Indians,—That rest is better than work, and lying better than sitting, and sleeping better than waking, and death better than life!

It is a shame for men to give up to sleep a third part of their time, but it is not less so to spend our waking hours in doing nothing, or in doing what is as unprofitable. All the world would despise a man who should keep his bed from morning till night, though in the possession of perfect health; but in what respect is he better employed, who trifles away in idleness every hour of the day? He is still worse, for want of employment and weariness of life will lead him to seek relief in impertinent and mischievous talk, or in sensual indulgencies, or in meddling with the matters of others.

If a man of rank should come to the sleeper's bedside, while he is dozing away the morning-hours, and should call him to rise, it might be expected that he would be covered with confusion, and instantly shake off the bands of slumber; but here the wise king comes and draws aside his curtains, and expostulates with him," How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard !" The sluggard's ears are heavy with sleep, and cannot hear. Solomon cries again, "When wilt thou awake out of thy sleep?” Does the sluggard now hear? The voice is loud enough to pierce his ears, but he hears as if he heard not. He is nailed to his bed by sloth, and though conscious that he should arise and walk, he pleads hard for a little delay.

Ver. 10. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep.

He forms some faint resolutions to awake, and it is only a short respite from that torment that he begs—“ a little sleep." If that is too much—" a little slumber ;" or if even that cannot be granted, a little folding of the hands to sleep," is but a moderate request.

The sluggard himself cannot vindicate his sloth, and is resolved to shake it off, only he will not do it presently. From time to time he defers the hated reformation, and what is the consequence ?

Ver. 11. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

The house of the sluggard is the haunt of poverty, and it comes not like an invited guest, whose visit is expected, but like a traveller, whose approach is unforeseen. It comes like an armed man, and gains an easy victory over the naked and slumbering sluggard. Had he been awake and busy, he might easily have defended himself against its assaults.

row.

Sleep, sloth, and delay, are the thieves of time. By them vigorous bodies have been often enervated, shining talents covered with rust, estates melted into nothing; and what is a thousand times worse, millions of souls have been betrayed into perdition. The Spirit of God says, "To-day, if ye will hear his voice." The sluggard is not at leisure to-day, but he will hear it to-morTo-morrow comes, but the cause of this delay still exists. A thousand to-morrows pass away, and the sluggard is never awakened to wisdom. At last the king of terrors seizes him with irresistible violence, and hurries him to that place of darkness where there is no work, nor device, nor counsel. The soul must then appear before the awful Judge; and what excuse can be made for these delays of complying with the voice of the great God? If a king were to call us to