In words which are purposely dark the writer speaks of the fall of unrighteous tyrants. It is with bated breath that he whispers to those who are writhing helplessly under the oppressive rule of cruel despots, that the coil under which they suffer works its own cure in time, and that those who have their own way at present will sooner or later have to succumb to a power greater than their own. it is with considerable difficulty that the drift of the passage is to be made out, but with this clue in our hands it becomes intelligible. In the sixth and seventh verses there are four statements, each introduced by the same conjunction, כִּי, "for," or "because," and by retaining it in each case, instead of varying it as is done in our English versions, the sequence of thought becomes clearer. The sense of the verses is as follows: "The heart of the wise man will know the time and judgment, and will keep quiet; for

(1) there is a time and a judgment appointed by God in which the wicked ruler will be duly punished (cf. Ecclesiastes 3:17);

(2) the wickedness of man is heavy upon him, and will entail its own punishment, - the misery caused by a tyrant is a weight which will bring him down at last;

(3) no man knows the future, or that which will take place, and therefore no despot is able absolutely to guard himself against the stroke of vengeance; for

(4) who can tell him how the vengeance wilt be brought about? He may look in this direction and in that for the longed-for information, but in vain (cf. Isaiah 47:13, etc.). One thing, however, is certain, that whilst the wicked "are drowned in their carousing, they shall be consumed like stubble fully dry" (Nahum 1:10). The inexorable nature of the doom which will fall upon the cruel despot is described in highly vivid language. There are four things which are impossible for him to do.

1. "There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit." Life can be shortened or cut off at any moment, but can by no art be prolonged beyond the fixed term. The despot cannot by his power escape the (loom of death, any more than can the meanest of his subjects. Or understanding by רוַּה not "the spirit of man," but "the wind," to which Divine judgments are often likened (Isaiah 41:16; Isaiah 57:13; Jeremiah 4:11-13; Jeremiah 22:22), it is as fruitless to try to keep back the Divine judgments as to prevent the wind from bursting forth.

2. There is no one who has power over the day of death, or is able to avert the arrival of that "king of terrors" (Job 18:14); the pestilence walketh forth in darkness, and the sickness wasteth at noonday (Psalm 91:6).

3. There was no discharge granted from the ranks in the time of war under the vigorous law of Persia, and the Divine law of requital cuts off with equal certainty all hope of escape from the guilty transgressor; and lastly:

4. Wickedness will not deliver its master. When the hour of Divine vengeance strikes, the sinner shall receive the meet reward of his actions. "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23) (Wright). By no lavish bribes, by no use of power, by no arts or endeavors, can the evil-doer, however high his rank may be, avert the day of judgment, which may precede, but which, if it does not precede, will certainly coincide with the day of death. And in that time, when he will have to stand before the tribunal of the King of kings, none of his deeds of cruelty and oppression will be passed over. Such is the teaching half concealed beneath the words of the Preacher; but not so veiled as to be hidden from the discernment of a reader made sensitive by the righteous indignation which oppression excites in a healthy mind. His words pass from an apparent servility of tone into a generous anger, and there is a triumphant ring in his voice as he speaks of the immutability of the law or of the will, upon which the moral government of the world is based. But though horror of injustice and hardness of heart is manifest in his words, they are not instinct with any less worthy feeling. He does not justify revenge, or hint at the advisability of subjects taking the law into their own hands when their patience has been long tried. But he raises the matter to a higher level, and makes faith in God the source of consolation; and in his very words of counsel to subjects adduces considerations which are calculated to weigh with their rulers, and make those of them who are still amenable to reason, pause in a course of oppression and cruelty. - J.W.

Of all seasons of the year the present one inclines us most to thought. If, when the old year is dying, or when the new is being born, men will not think, it is very doubtful if they will ever think at all.

I. A MAN WHO IS NOT UTTERLY UNWISE WILL SEE THAT THIS IS A TIME FOR REVIEW. It is said of the Emperor Titus that he used to review each day as it drew to its close, and if he could not recall anything which he had done for the good of others he set it down in his note-book that he had lost a day. It was not a bad rule for a heathen king, but hardly good enough for a Christian man. And yet some of us who live in the mid-day of the Gospel do not aim so high, with the poor result that we hit something very much lower than the mark set before us. We come short of the glory of doing the Divine will. It is bad enough to lose one day, but how about losing three hundred and sixty-five? Yes, unless it has been lived in God, consciously in Him and for Him, we may set it down as lost. Let us all find opportunity for a quiet, earnest talk with the hours of the year that has gone. Look well at the old before you greet the new. It will make the new all the better, and when in its turn it becomes old the task of reviewing it will not be so unpleasant.

II. A MAN OF WISDOM WILL SEE THAT THIS IS AN APPROPRIATE TIME FOR RECONCILIATIONS. Has there been a little rift in friendship's lute? Now is a good time for mending the instrument and bringing back the harmony, music for the King of kings. Take the tide of good feeling at the flood, and be reconciled to those whom for a while thou mayest have been alienated. "When death, the great reconciler, has come, it is never our tenderness we repent of, but our severity." Let us see to it that we enter the new year at peace with God. He is reconciled in Christ to us. Why should we stand out?

III. THE WISE MAN WHO OBSERVETH TIME AND JUDGMENT WILL HEAR A VOICE AT THIS PARTICULAR TIME APPEALING TO HIS GENEROSITY. Yea, there is more than one voice speaking to us on this behalf. There is the very voice of poverty itself speaking in plaintive tones to those who have the sympathetic ear. There is the voice of our own joys and comforts reminding us of the distress of those who are devoid of these things.

IV. THIS IS A TIME FOR CONSECRATION. To consecrate ourselves to God is to recognize the supreme fact of our existence and to act upon it. This is the time of all times for consecration, while the goodness of God is passing before us. As the mercies of the year marshal past us in grand and swift review let us listen to their pleading and present ourselves to God.

(T. Jackson.)