THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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“He heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall g ather them .” He lives to amass and enjoy riches which term inate on himself, but as to th e riches of God’s favor, which are life (Ps. 3 0 :5 ), of precious faith (2 Pet. 1 :1 ; Jas. 2 :5 ), of good works (1 Tim. 6 :1 8 ), of wis dom, which is better th a n rubies (Prov. 8 :1 1 ), lives and dies a beggar.— Jam ie son. v. 21. T reasure fo r him self. He who is rich fpr himself, laying up treasu re for himself, is by so much robbing his real inward life, his life in and toward God, of its resources.— Sel. It is not indicated any more th an in the case of Dives th a t his riches were un ju stly ac quired. His fau lt lay in his forgetting the Giver, forgetting th a t he was but a steward of them , forgetting how soon death m ight make him relax his grasp of them. F a rra r. Rich tow ard God. The best investments are those we store not in banks, but in the lives of others, for God Himself guarantees the interest. .—Meyer. •v. 22. Take no though t. We are bidden not to make ourselves w retched by anxious Carings and apprehensions about th e future, bu t in all cases of difficulty to perform, .diligently th a t which appears w isest and best for us to perform , th en to resign the m a tte r into the hands of God.— Horne. v. 23. Your life. W hat is needed is to restore the sp iritu al life to th e sov ereignty God has designed for it, to re crown th e soul and make it master of the flesh, to estim ate it as God estimates it,' to seek its regeneraion as He did who laid down His life for its sake and declared th a t except a man be born again he cannot see th e kingdom of heaven.— Huntington. v. 25. Which of you. Corroding solicitude will not bring you the least of the things you fre t about though it may double the evil of w anting them. If not th e least, why vex yourselves about things of more consequence?-— Sel. v. 28. How much more. To be a child of the E tern al F ath e r is to have the machinery of the divine government for our protection, the resources of the divine treasu ry for our provision, now the love of God f o r ' our possession, presently the vision of God for our reward. All th a t God is, all th a t God has, is for His people. Knowing us b etter th an we know ourselves, fully understanding how g reatly we are affected by th e outw ard events and conditions of life, He has ordered them
and we are accountable to Him for it. We m istake if we imagine th a t thoughts are hid and free.-^-Henry. W hat shall I do? Not “W hat should I d o ? ||^ T a y - lor. Have no room. There he is wrong. He had plenty of room if he had known it-^-soul room, life room. He measured his room by measuring his barn. Hast thou no room for all th y goods when so many thousands of people are starv ing upon the face of the earth ?|||-Park9r. Bestow my fru its. He did not count th a t he had these from God, but counted them th e products of his own labors, wherefore, separating them exclusively for himself, he said, “my goods” and “my fru it” . His plans of felicity rise no higher than to this satisfying of the flesh, so th ere is irony in makifag him address th is speech bu t to his soul (v. 19). We are here adm itted into the inner council chamber of a worldling’s heart.— Butler. v. 18. This w ill I do. His riches, like those of N a b a l,( l Sam. 25 ), were ac quired not by fraud or oppression, but in th e most innocent way. His crime was his greedy and callous selfishness. He cared not for generous use but for self-adm iring acquisition. Being a fool, his prosperity destroyed him (Prov. 1 :3 2 ).— F a rra r. All my fru its. Not a word of the poor.— Bengel. v. 19. My soul. W hat folly! . A rt thou then so ignorant of th e soul's goods th a t thou pledgest it th e foods of the flesh? Dost thou convey to thy soul the things which the* draugh t receiveth?— St. Basil. Hat, d iin k and be merry. This man was all animal. There was not one little b it of blue sky in all his universe. His universe was a great dinner table or a g reat wine cellar. Many are still doing this— starving their minds and begrudging proper sustenance to th eir souls.— People’s Bible. v. 20. Thou fool. This title is op posed to the opinion of his own prudence and forethought which he entertained. “This n igh t” is opposed to th e many years he promised to himself.— Trench. His folly is four-fold. He forgets the Giver ( “my fru its” ). He reserves all for him self ( “ I will bestow” ). He imagines such things to be food for his soul. He forgets death, which is every day possible.— Stier. Soul shall be re quired. L iterally, “They demand thy soul of thee.” Who are they? Some say God (Job. 27:8) or His death angels (Job 33:22) or robbers, whom they suppose to attack th e rich man on the night that, his wealth bas flowed in.— Camb. Bible. Whose shall those things be? Ps. 39:6.
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