joy of beholding the building rise, course by course, under our hands,
but we shall see it one day, though now we have to work in the dark.

There seems a discrepancy between the statements in Chronicles and
Kings as to the source from which the cost of the sacrificial vessels
was defrayed, since, according to the former, it was from the
restoration fund, which is expressly denied by the latter. The
explanation seems reasonable, that, as Chronicles says, it was from
the balance remaining after all restoration charges were liquidated,
that this other expenditure was met. First, the whole amount was
sacredly devoted to the purpose for which it had been asked, and then,
when the honest overseers repaid the uncounted surplus, which they
might have kept, it was found sufficient to meet the extra cost of
furnishing. God blesses the faithful steward of his gifts with more
than enough for the immediate service, and the best use of the surplus
is to do more with it for Him. 'God is able to make all grace abound
unto you; that ye, having always all sufficiency in every thing, may
abound unto every good work, ... being enriched in every thing unto
all liberality.'



PRUDENCE AND FAITH

'And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the
hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man
of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than
this.'--2 CHRON. xxv. 9.