PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE, SELECTED FOR SOCIAL READING, WITH APPLICATIONS. BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE LISTENER," AND "CHRIST OUR PREFACE. THE following reflections are not intended for a Commentary upon the passages of Holy Scripture to which they are attached; as such, they would be found insufficient, and sometimes inaccurate. They are, strictly speaking, reflectionsthoughtful considerations of the text, such as might be supposed to be made extempore, or to arise in the mind of the reader, attentively perusing it for himself; not so much to explain the meaning, as to derive instruction from it. Brevity is in such cases the greatest difficulty. I cannot be satisfied, that in the daily reading of the Bible, the word of God should be so far superseded by the words of men, that a single verse, or two, is as much as the protracted comment will admit of at one time. This must be the case, if the whole meaning of the text is to be developed; and it is to avoid this, that in the following selections, I have considered each passage in a single bearing: I have chosen a single application out of the many that every passage would supply, and confined my remarks to one general impression from the whole, instead of dwelling upon every separate verse. My own feeling has also determined me as to the length of the passages. to read much of the Scriptures at once; to efface the impression of one striking passage, by going on to another. In private perusal, I have found it more profitable to meditate on a short portion, going over it again and again, than to read throughout even a single chapter, if it contains many things. In social reading, if more time is to be occupied than will suffice for one perusal, I should rather recommend that the same passage be read again, after the comment, than that the text be proceeded with; unless the preceding or following parts of the chapter bear on the same point. Such is the case with many of the passages here selected, wherein I should have preferred to take the whole, had I not limited myself to a certain length; without meaning unprofitably to I have never thought it good limit the reader, when more can be advantageously perused; it will be seen, that my remarks frequently allude to the preceding or remaining verses of the chapter from which the passage is taken. In the selection, I have tried to be as general as possible; to give to no part of Holy Writ the preference, nor any particular bearing to the subjects. There are no portions of equal length throughout the Bible, that might not be dwelt upon as profitably; to select was not to choose, where one seemed no more desirable than another, and my only aim was to vary them. It is my intention to publish another volume, should the first be found acceptable, and seem likely to be useful to any class of persons. I have not designed it for any class in particular; I have simply committed to writing what I thought, and as I thought it, assured, that what the word of inspiration suggests to one mind, will seldom fail of adaptation to the minds of others. THE AUTHOR. |