As we road these following verses and find one king mentioned and then another, with simply the record of his name, his reign, and his death, we feel how swiftly flows the current of human life, how many generations have come and gone, how slight attention posterity can spare for those who were once great and honoured. Three thoughts befit the theme -

I. TO EACH MAN IN HIS TIME HIS HERITAGE SEEMS LARGE AND LASTING. No doubt Samlah of Masrekah looked eagerly forward to the occupancy of his seat of power; rejoiced greatly as he took possession; said to himself, "Thou hast made my mountain to stand strong;" thought that many days of honour and wealth and joy were before him; was one more instance of the truth that "All men think all men mortal but themselves." His day of authority and enjoyment seemed bright enough to him in anticipation, and he rejoiced in his heritage. To every human eye a long and happy human life seems, at the outset and for some way on, a very possible and desirable thing. But to us, who look back on that which is over, it seems that -

II. THE BEST EARTHLY ESTATE IS A PAINFULLY TRANSIENT THING. What, to all these and to all other kings of all other countries, are their sceptres now? What have they been for many thousand years? Their grave is not more quiet, nor is it better known, than the last resting-place of their meanest subjects. Looking back, it seems as if their honour was but a brief flash that struck a sudden splendour and then went out into the darkness. A brief day is ours below, a little sunshine for a few fast-fleeting hours -

"And then night sweeps along the plain,
And all things fade away." But we have a third correcting thought, namely -

III. THAT OUR SHORT EARTHLY LIFE IS LONG ENOUGH TO HOLD AND TO WORK MUCH ENDURING GOOD. Though our human life is transient, and though its beauty and honour soon pass away, yet it is not lived in vain. Spent in the fear of God, devoted to the glory of Christ, and having regard to the well-being of the world, it has an excellency which true wisdom does not despise. It is not in vain

(1) that it contains pure and ennobling joy;

(2) that it illustrates Divine principles;

(3) that it diffuses bounty and blessedness on every hand;

(4) that it leaves behind it something better than it found - the harvest of its own thought and toil;

(5) that it has been a preparation for a wider sphere and a larger life beyond. - C.

Never let it be supposed that Providence is limited to any one man in the matter of kingship and dominion. Men who are reigning should lay to heart the reflection that their reign is to come to an end. Every man is bound to consider his successor; it is not enough to vacate office; every man should leave behind him a character worthy of imitation, an example that will stimulate in all highest directions. Let every man prepare himself to succeed the king — in the family, in the state, in the social circle: we should always be preparing ourselves for some higher office, and the best way of so preparing is to fill with faithfulness the office which we have at present assigned to us. There is only one King who shall have no successor, and that King's name is Jesus Christ.

(J. Parker, D. D.)