was a protest against self-sufficiency, self-conceit and vanity, and also against relying on others. Entire reliance upon God, implied in the words “with all thy heart,” is here appropriately placed at the head of a series of admonitions relating especially to God and man’s relations with him, inasmuch as such confidence or trust is a fundamental principle of all religion. The admonition does not mean that men are not to use their own understanding, i.e. to make plans and to employ legitimate means in the pursuit of their ends; but that, when they use it, they are to depend upon God and his directing and overruling providence. For there is a true and a false self-reliance: that which forgets God is ignorant and impious; that which recognizes Him as the source of all true intelligence is genuine and blessed. “If thou art wise, thou art wise for thyself; And if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it” (_Ibid._ ix. 12). This was a proclamation of the principle of personality, the great truth that each individual, in his single personality, has been endowed with full and equal rights of self-determination and self-control. The old civilizations annihilated the rights of the many in the privileges of the few, and put the manhood of the masses under the heel of power. The very idea of common rights had scarcely dawned upon the minds of men. The grandeur of human personality, as complete and inviolably sacred in every individual, was not discerned. The idea, now so familiar to every civilized human being, that every man is entitled to all the rights of manhood on his own responsibility was originally Jewish. The meaning of the verse quoted above is clear: our wisdom or folly is our own affair, both in origin and consequences. We must reap as we sow, must bear the brunt of the conflict we have provoked. This principle concerns nations as well as individuals. The book of Proverbs contains many maxims with regard to nations:―― “Righteousness exalteth a nation;...” (_Ibid._ xiv. 34). National righteousness consists in the possession of a reverent spirit and the practice of justice, purity, and mercy. In this is a nation’s strength and superiority, for it will surely lead to physical well-being, to material prosperity, to moral and spiritual advancement, and to estimation and influence among surrounding nations. The Pagan view of an eternal, inevitable force coercing and controlling all human action was in conflict with the Jewish conception of a free human and national will: man is not a helpless creature, borne along by destiny. Man’s moral freedom and responsibility is at the very root of all Jewish teaching, and is most strongly emphasized with regard to the nation:―― “Is Israel a servant? Is he a home-born slave?...” (Jeremiah, _chap._ ii. _v._ 14.)