Hosea 2:6-7 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. What has been the experience of every man, of every woman, that has tried this world for a portion? Queen Elizabeth, amidst the surroundings of pomp, is unhappy because the painter sketches too minutely the wrinkles on her face, and she indignantly cries out, "You must strike off my likeness without any shadows!" Hogarth, at the very height of his artistic triumph, is stung almost to death with chagrin because the painting he had dedicated to the king does not seem to be acceptable; for George II. cries out, "Who is this Hogarth? Take this trumpery out of my presence!" Brinsley Sheridan, of thrilling eloquence, had for his last words, "I am absolutely undone!" Stephen Girard, the wealthiest man in his day, or, at any rate, only second in wealth, says, "I live the life of a galley-slave; when I arise in the morning my one effort is to work so hard that I can sleep when it gets to be night." Charles Lamb, applauded of all the world, in the very midst of his literary triumph, says, "Do you remember, Bridget, when we used to laugh from the shilling gallery at the play? There are now no good plays to laugh at from the boxes." But why go so far as that? I need go no farther than your street, and possibly your own house, to find an illustration. (T. De Witt Talmage.) Parallel Verses KJV: Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. |
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