2 Kings 5:12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean?… "And Naaman said... Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage" (2 Kings 5:12). We have here another illustration of the truth that a man himself is not necessarily the best judge of his condition, or of the course he should take to improve it. I. OUR ATTAINMENT OF KNOWLEDGE, and of that practical wisdom which fits us for our earthly life. We cannot acquire this without laborious study, patient observation, repeated thought and consideration. The mastery of the elements of learning often seems to be wearisome drudgery, and if we do not "go away in a rage," we are tempted to break off in vexation and to long for the "royal road" to learning and wisdom. But we must accept the method which God has prescribed for us, or remain in ignorance or folly. II. THE FORMATION OF OUR CHARACTER. We wish to be strong and brave, to be characterised by fortitude and endurance, to be masters of ourselves, to be able to respect ourselves, and to command the esteem of the wise and good. We should like to be all that is admirable and, if possible, all that is noble in the character that we form. But how shall we build up within ourselves this honourable character? God has arranged that we do this(1) by the hourly discipline of the home, by parental and fraternal instruction, direction, correction, and even friction; (2) by the conscientious and careful discharge of daily duties, some of them of infinitesimal consequence; (3) by meeting and mastering the vexations, the minor difficulties and disappointments of our lot, as well as(4) by enduring the larger sorrows of life and gathering experience therefrom. But it may not be. "This is the way, walk ye in it." III. OUR ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM OF TRUTH. We want to know all that can be learned about God, about our spiritual nature and its capacities, about our human life and its possibilities, about the future world. We prefer to solve these great problems by the exercise of our mental faculties, by interrogating our own nature, by scientific researches, by logical and philosophical reasoning. But this is not the path that conducts to the gate of heavenly wisdom. We must become "as little children" if we would enter the kingdom of truth — must be docile, trustful, inquiring. IV. OUR POSSESSION OF ETERNAL LIFE. Of all the great questions we ask, the greatest and most practical is this, What shall we do that we may enter into the life which is eternal, that life which is found in the favour, the likeness, the near presence of God? Here we are disposed to insist upon the course which commends itself to our own judgment. (W. Clarkson, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. |
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