July 7

Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord. - Psalms 119:65.

LET us beware of reflecting on him. He does as he pleaseth; he putteth down one and setteth up another. Suppose a fellowcreature succeeded more than ourselves; suppose he has greater talents than we possess; suppose he is placed in a higher situation than ourselves: whose arrangement is this the effect of? And may not God do what he will with his own? We are to leave others to his disposal as well as ourselves; and we may learn from this consideration, “In whatsoever state we are, therewith to be content;” yes, “and in every thing to give thanks, for this is the will of God concerning us.” Let us remember this in two cases. Let us think of it when we look back upon our past life. God said to Moses, “Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness.”

Life would be a poor business in review unless we could connect God with it, with its crosses and with its comforts. Have we failed in our plans? have our purposes been broken off, even the thoughts of our hearts? have we been sent back in life, or put down? Who has done it? We learn from David: he says, “I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it.” We learn from Job. Job was stripped of all; yet he says, “The Lord hath taken away.” Would Job think of commencing an action against God for damages? So far from it that he said, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Or are we looking forward? who can avoid it? We know not what a day nor an hour may bring forth; we cannot pierce through these futurities and uncertainties. But we can think of God’s all-disposing agency, and say, With him I leave myself; with him I leave my beloved relatives; with him I leave my business; with him I leave every thing that can befall me.

“My cares, I give you to the wind,

And shake you off like dust;

“Well may I trust my all with him

With whom my soul I trust.”

Christians may put themselves and all their concerns on board this vessel, and give to God the entire command of it. Let us not, under any circumstances, call him away from the helm, but leave him to manage all, and say, with David, unto the Lord, “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant,” and “Thou, Lord, shalt choose my inheritance for me.”