ii. 22. _Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his
nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?_
In this verse the whole Bible is summed up. The folly of trusting in
man, and the necessity of trusting in God alone, is its greatest
lesson, from its commencement to its close. This is what we are
taught--+I. By its record of God's providential dealings with the
Jews and other nations.+ Continually He has accomplished His ends by
very different means than man would have selected. Egypt saved from
perishing by famine through the instrumentality of a young slave;
Naaman delivered from his leprosy through the ministrations of a
little maid; Israel rescued by Gideon and his three hundred soldiers;
the boastful Philistines defeated by a young shepherd, &c. +II. By
the grand scheme of human redemption which it discloses.+ In it God
is everything, and man nothing. The only means by which man can be
restored to holiness, to the Divine favour and life everlasting, were
provided by God; man contributed nothing either to its completeness
or efficiency. The benefit is man's, the glory all belongs to God.
Nor in appropriating it does he do anything that is meritorious. In
repentance there is no merit: it is simply that state of mind which
is required of us in view of the sins we have committed. Nor in
faith; it is simply the recognition of the ability of another, and
the consequent entrustment of ourselves to Him, to do that for us
which we confess our inability to do for ourselves.--Blessed is the
man, and he only, who has learned these two things. So long as a man
depends on his own wisdom, power, and goodness, or on the wisdom,
power and goodness of other men, he must be disquieted and unhappy.
We can attain to substantial quiet and an abiding satisfying peace
only when we feel that our dependence is on a Being omnipresent,
independent, and supreme, as well as abundant in truth and love (Isa.
xxvi. 3).--_Joseph Holdech, D.D., American National Preacher,_ xxxvi.
255-265.