The wicked. Are in darkness, and so stumble. Sin blinds their eyes (St. John xii. 35); they confuse right and wrong. Example: Saul, blinded by prejudice against Jesus of Nazareth, thought he did God service when he persecuted the Christians.
Lessons. 1. Awake, thou that sleepest, arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light!
2. Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.
The Toil and Folly of Sin.
There was a man in a certain town who used, till he was caught, to steal all his firewood. He would get up on cold nights and prowl around, helping himself from the well-stacked piles. A calculation was made, and it was found that he had worked harder and spent more time to get fuel in this way than if he had earned it honestly by hard work. One day he was caught in the act of theft, and was sentenced to three months' imprisonment. "The way of transgressors is hard."
December 4th.—The Book of the Law Found.
To read—2 Kings xxii. 8—20. Golden Text—Ps. cxix. 2.
Josiah, grandson of Manasseh, like him, began to reign very young (eight years), but, unlike him, began well. Now about eighteen years old. Already been two reformations since his succession (2 Chron. xxxiv. 3—7). Now Temple being repaired.
I. The Book Found (8—14). The place. Temple found in great disorder. Amon, the last King, in two years had done much evil—idolatry again. Now Temple cleansed under superintendence of Hilkiah, high priest. Rubbish turned over; large "roll of a book" discovered. What can it be? The authentic copy of Law of God, i.e. books of Moses, kept near the Ark in the Holy of Holies. What a find!
The scribes. Two scribes, readers and keepers of the Law, with Hilkiah when the roll was found. They read it themselves; one of them, Shaphan, takes it to the King; reports the collection made for the repairs, how the work is going on, and the discovery. He reads the book aloud. The King much moved by the words of the Law and God's wrath against sinners (Deut. xxix. 27). Sends to Huldah the prophetess to inquire further of the Lord. He sees how little the words of the book have been obeyed.